Originally this fic was supposed to have only 3 chapters. The next installment will be the last one, I promise.
This chapter gave me a lot of troubles, first of all for grammar, then Law stuff, I invented everythng. I don't know, maybe I messed it up, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Thank all of you for reviewing. Your appreciation, guys, helps my writing. Thank you very much.
PS: I deleted the 7th chapter because I had noticed a bunch of horrible mistakes. I'm so sorry. I tried to fix it and I hope the chap's more comprensibile now. I'm exhausted. A day for writing it and a week for editing. I need a beta-reader desperately.
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Part 4
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This is the first day of my life
I swear I was born right in the doorway
I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed
They're spreading blankets on the beach
Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
Now I don't know where I am
I don't know where I've been
But I know where I want to go
[First day of my life – Bright eyes]
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.
.
This.
Is.
Not.
Happening.
Cheryl walks up to the witness stand slowly. Chin up. Shoulders back. Like a perfect lady.
However, her face is thinner and paler than the last time and her womb now carries the fruit of her love. In one of her last letter, she had written to be pregnant, and you had imagined a smile brightening her face. Not this. You can't stand to see her so fragile and worried. And, first of all, here.
She casts you a fleeting glance, then looks down, as if she felt guilty and ashamed about the way she has been able to move on. But she shouldn't, you think. You took her fault away from her about two years ago.
It wasn't easy. It wasn't planned. That was necessary.
Why did she not yet understand it?
Until a few weeks ago you really thought that Steven and Cheryl were fine. Well, that has been being, all the time, the only thing that kept you safe from losing your mind and your life.
But you were wrong. None of them was okay.
"I would just like to make a clarification " she says in a soft voice. "I'm Mrs. Tenbury-Newent, actually ."
James clears his throat. "My sincerest apologies, Mrs. Tenbury-Newent." he replies, then puts a file onto the judges' bench. "This is her affidavit. "
In the meantime, you try in vain to get your sister's attention, hoping Cheryl is not going to do what you are thinking about, but her suffering face reveals quite the contrary.
In any case, James was supposed to inform you. And now you feel like betrayed.
After the usual formalities, the judge gives permission to start the deposition.
And so... she starts.
"I was into the club, the night ... the night of the murder. "
"NO!"
Your shout reverberates through the glass cage. Everyone in the audience turns in your direction. Everyone but Cheryl.
"Mr. Brady!" the judge warns you. "Whatever you need to say, please do it after the deposition is ended."
But this is exactly what hasn't to happen.
"Cheryl, please don't!" you beg her, in the hope that she's going to look at you and you will be able to convince her again just as you did that damned night.
"I was in the club ..." she continues in a shaky and cracking voice, "... and I saw what my father was trying to do. It was horrible. He used to be my hero... till I found out It's all been a big lie."
"CHERYL!" you shout at the top of your lungs.
"Mr. Brady!" the judge rebukes you a second time.
If you go on this way you will have no more chance of avoiding the catastrofe.
"What really happened ?" asks James quietly.
"I brought a gun. I had found it. I had no idea what I was doing... but as I saw my dad hitting Brendan... I shot him. "
"NO!" you shout again. "It's not the truth!"
You starts banging your fists against the glass and the fact that Cheryl doesn't turn towards you increases your rage.
"This explains why the victim was shot to his back, at long distance. He was hitting Brendan and you shot him for saving your brother's life. Is it right?"
Cheryl nods.
Then, finally, she turns, her eyes teary. "I'm sorry, Bren. I can't let you keep paying because of me. I can't do it anymore".
"It's very serious what you said, Mrs. Tenbury-Newent" intervenes the prosecution. "This means you lied in the first questioning, you lied under oath in the trial, and now ... we should believe you. Why?"
James approaches the judge, whispering something that you can't grasp, then he hands a small object to one of the assistants. The latter takes seat at the desk and plugs a flash drive into a laptop.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Court, Mrs. Tenbury-Newent will answer for her actions in the right place at the right time. But now, I'm going to show that my client couldn't kill Seamus Brady and you would have understood, at this point, why he has taken on the blame for a crime he hasn't committed. According her own words, Mrs. Tenbury-Newent has been living for years in the illusion towards his father being the perfect man, till she accidentally found out that her 'hero' was nothing more than a pervert, a man who had abused vulnerable children. Actually, we have no evidence that Seamus Brady was guilty of other crimes like that – to be frank just the thought makes my blood ran cold - but we have evidence that he has been abusing his own child for years, and he never stopped acting cruelly,psychologically and physically, against him.
Because of his distorted mind, Seamus Brady kept on abusing his own son, over and over, with hatred and revulsion against his sexual orientation and, at the same time, nourishing his son's heart with feelings of self-destruction and unjustified guilt... which Brendan Brady has been forced to live with for years."
James nods towards the assistant.
Suddenly, a screen on your right, which you haven't noticed till this moment, lights up, and the first thing you recognize is the flat you shared with Cheryl and later you left for living the rest of your life with no more regrets. With Steven. The flat where Walker held both you and your father hostage in a perverse game of tug war between truth and lie, pain and resistance, anger and forgiveness.
Your father's apologies had healed your more superficial wounds; his falsity re-opened the deeper ones. Brendan Brady stopped existing at that moment.
Only Walker was capable to plot such a diabolical plan and, after two years, you realize, he has got what he wanted, even after his death: destroying you and everyone you love. No one excluded.
The show goes on, and you know you need to go to any length to stop this madness.
You start screaming as you've never done before in your life.
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.
.
You're in the cell in the basement under the courtroom, now. You did not get what you wanted but to end up locked and chained up like a rabid dog. Without hope.
Minutes fly silent, then a guard announces a visit. You hear sound of steps getting closer. After you have been rubbing your face, buried in your hands, for ages, you look up. It's Nathan.
You relax your back against the wall behind you and sigh heavily.
"What are you doing here?" you ask as if you had seen him just a day ago, or the past week at most, and had other plans on your tight schedule.
Nathan stays silent for a few seconds, then sits beside you on the bench.
You both remain this way, quietly, for a while. After all, there wouldn't be that much to talk about. Just two years and a baby on the way.
"We tried so hard, Brendan. But the harder we were trying to move on, the more difficult it was getting."
Your upper lip begins to tremble. "You should have insisted... much more than she has. "
He shakes his head. "Do you really think it was that easy? To pretend that nothing was happened... I mean. And since she's got pregnant, Cheryl couldn't think of anything else but this. "
Your lips curl in a mocking grin. "It's because of her hormones."
"Probably."
"It's not fair!"
Your voice sounds like a moan. If someone could see inside of you right now, they would see you're bleeding. "You should deter her, stop her somehow."
"It's too late, Brendan".
You detach your eyes from your knees and look at him straight in the eye, a grimace of pain on your face.
"You don't know your sister at all, Brendan." He adds in a sigh.
Good point.
In a completely different situation, there would be a smile on your face, but not now.
"She'll be arrested". It is not a question.
Nathan shakes his head. "She won't. McGinn assured us that everything would turn out alright and she won't have to spend one single day in prison."
Good guy. Such a traitor.
"Your son..."
"It's a baby girl," he tells you and you can't help yourself to raising a smile this time. And you think about Leah and Niamh's blessed soul, and the fact that if things had gone differently you would have got two daughters now, but this means you would be pleased with yourself and your life. Then you remember what you were going to say.
"Your baby girl will grow up and one day someone will tell her that her mother and uncle are a couple of killers."
Nathan looks at you. He has tears in his eyes.
"You thought about that, didn't you?" you add.
"Her mother is not a murderer ... and neither are you. You two are more like heroes. "
You would laugh in his face if you could remember how to do. Life doesn't go this way. There is no room for heroes like you in this fucking wide world.
Suddenly the guard opens the cell's door, James is behind him. The Court are going to announce the verdict.
James stares at you worriedly as if you were about to loop your hands around his neck. And he's right. You jump from the bench about to throw yourself against him, heedless of the fact that you could go back soon in jail. Nathan stops you before the guard can notice it, holding strongly your arms. You had no idea of his strength till this moment.
James looks hesitant, then as if you would consider other options, calls the guard and tells him to remove your handcuffs.
"Judas" you hiss in his ear, while you rub your wrists. "You're my lawyer. I'm paying you. "
James coughs, clumsy. "Come on," he says simply.
And finally, he walks in front of you, putting a considerable distance between his face and your fists.
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As soon as you enter the courtroom you notice something weird. There is confusion, excessive noise and everything you would not expect in a courtroom. And Cheryl is not anywhere.
"Mr. Tenbury-Newent?"
An officer approaches to Nathan. "Your wife is going to the hospital."
He wide opens his eyes, terrified. You, too.
"Don't worry. Her labor pains has begun as soon as she finished to depose. She said to tell you to join her. Maybe you can still find out of the court. An ambulance arrived to pick her up few seconds ago. "
You see Nathan waving his arms like a chick that has lost all sense of direction. The officer shows him the exit. Your instinct leads you to follow him. James stops you.
"Are you insane?"
"But... Cheryl... " you cry.
"It won't be long. If everything goes as planned, you'll get out of here in less than half an hour. "
"What?"
You think James must have bumped his head... . Is there any remote possibility that you will be a free man? Seriously? Has the world really started spinning backwards?
Your heart seems to fly out of your chest while you keep telling yourself that everything will be okay. Cheryl will be okay. That the baby will be okay.
Steven ...
"Order in the court, all rise!"
As James straightens his wig, you take place beside him and in front of the judges. You still hear some hubbub from the audience and, in your head, the buzz of your heart that is trying to reach supersonic speeds.
It's getting extremely hard to make out what they are saying. Everything is going so fast, and your mom used to say that haste and a good job never go hand in hand.
For this reason, pleasant and unpleasant thoughts starts fighting inside of you like boxers in the ring, and you don't know which of them is going to knock out the other.
Loser or winner.
In or out.
Dead or alive.
"The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has convened on today's date to decide about the instance presented by James Arthur McGinn in the role of defence attorney of the convict in first instance, Brendan Seamus Brady. After careful consideration of the new evidence, emerged in this courtroom, the Court invalidates the conviction for Seamus Brady's murder and absolves the appellant, Brendan Seamus Brady, for not having committed the crime. The Court orders his immediate release. "
You feel a strong pat on your shoulder. You stare at James, incredulously, and he smiles to you. You are not dreaming. It's all true.
"About the request, by the prosecution, to charge Mr. Brady with perjury and contempt of Court, we consider inappropriate to proceed."
As the gavel hit the wood, you startle and completely wake up from torpidity. Later, while you're walking through the corridors along with James, you are assailed by fear that there was a mistake and that someone sooner or later will pop from behind a door and shout to you to go back. So you hold your breath until you find yourself walking down the street. Thank God. Out.
You take in greedy breaths, and as the cold air compresses your lungs, you feel a sweet and sharp pain at the same time, while tears fall out of your eyes without that you realize it.
James guides you to his car, slowly, cautiously, as if you were a child again. And that's how you're feeling. Neither more nor less than the creature nestled in Cheryl's uterus.
Finally, he drives you straight to the hospital.
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.
.
"What name will you give her?"
"Lynsey Stephanie."
You smile. The first real smile after two years.
Although Nathan's face is pale and drawn, as if he was the one who physically gave birth to her daughter less than ten minutes ago, he smiles back to you.
With your forehead leaning against the glass of the nursery, you start admiring again that little masterpiece of nature. Your heart is brimming with pride and hopes that, some day, she will become proud of her psychopath uncle in the same way, maybe even before you will become proud of yourself.
A little while later, a nurse says that Cheryl is finally in her room.
"No more than 10 minutes" she adds. "Mom needs to rest".
Both Nathan and you give a brief nod, in sync, then quietly get in.
Cheryl welcomes you with open arms and a beaming smile, letting you sit beside her.
Nathan gives her a kiss on the forehead. You hold her hand.
It's like had passed a little more than a day since last time that you saw each other, like you had simply left the village just because of your business or for visiting your kids.
"How are you?" she asks you in a faint voice.
"Me? Rather should I ask how you are."
"Just a little tired, that's all" she says. "But I'd jump up for joy. Today... I got the most beautiful gifts that I could want: my beautiful princess and my amazing big brother".
Cheryl starts weeping. "Sorry... it's just my hormones".
You sniff. It will be your hormones, too, you think.
Then you hug her cautiously.
"You're nut, woman, you know?" you whisper in her ear.
"I'm still your sister," she replies, after a deep sigh.
You two have little time to talk, but you try to make it enough, raising any issues, even the most thorny, except one.
As soon as the nurse tells you that time is up, your grim feelings go back all at once. You wouldn't like to go away from her so soon. Because you two are supposed to make up for lost time.
"Where're you going?" she asks with a bit of anxiety in her wet eyes.
You shrug.
"I'm gonna look for a hotel in the area. James gave me the money. "
You put your jacket on.
"And Ste?"
Your heart bounces on your diaphragm.
"I want you to know it, Brendan ... This morning... I tried to get in touch with him. I left a voice mail message, though. "
She smiles. She thinks she made you happy.
Your heart goes up straight to your throat instead.
"So... he knows, does he?"
Her smile quickly drops out her face . Perhaps she didn't expect to hear your voice waver. Perhaps she hoped that, once you had got out of here, you would have rushed looking for him, finding him and holding him tight in your arms as if nothing had happened, and eventually running with him, hand in hand, in the sunset of that long and exhausting day.
"I dunno, Cheryl. I don't really know how to handle all this. "
"I'm sure Ste has never stopped of loving you."
"You don't know it for sure" you replay, shaking your head slightly. "He won't be happy to see me after what I did."
"You never know it till you try. You wanna be happy, do you?"
"It would be a dream, Chez ... but ... the truth is... I'm so fucking scared. "
Your sister cracks a smile, as she squeezes your hand.
"I feel with you. I reckon... few things in this world are scarier than a dream coming true. Go to him, Bren. He deserves it. And so do you. "
On your way out of the hospital, Nathan invites you to his mother's house, but you decline the invitation.
The both of you are waiting for cabs. Nathan's one arrives first. While he is shaking your hand, his eyes suddenly widen in amazement, staring at a point behind you. Instinctively, you turn quick and the world seems to turn around you like a crazy carousel.
Steven is a few feet away, standing under the drizzle that started falling from the sky. A thousand emotions are bottled inside of you right now, insomuch that you could implode at any moment.
You close your eyes and breathe deeply, while your tears mix with the rain. Then open your eyes and smile, step forward, then another one in his direction. Suddenly, you stop. You know the way he's staring at you, and does not mean anything good. As you expected, Steven jumps on you and his punch hits the target at full. You.
"Nathan rushes to help you up, but you tell him you are fine and he has to take the cab. After you have been showing your life and your feelings in front of dozens of strangers, now you just wish this magic moment didn't belonged to anyone else but the two of you.
Steven stares into your eyes, shaking. You aren't capable to say a word.
Too many thoughts cross your mind right now, even the more frivolous ones. You wonder if he still likes you even without moustache, with a bit less hair and a few more wrinkles.
And suddenly you find yourself wishing for all the things you left, just because you thought it was right that way; all the letters you didn't read, rejected visits, all the dreams you've taken away from him and trodden on.
"YOU! YOU!" he starts shouting, breaking the thread of your thoughts. "YOU... just... selfish cock head! Self-"
Steven stumbles over his words and starts hitting you again.
This time, his punches are weaker and almost you don't feel their knocks against your chest. When you try to wrap your arms around him, he keeps on pawing and screaming nonsense phrases. Then he stops and, as he starts sobbing on your shoulder, you hug him as tightly as possible. It's a bit like dying; yet ,you have never felt so alive. Because you were born today, just as Lynsey, who's placidly sleeping in her cradle at this moment.
As you lick a drop of blood off your lips and hear Steven crying, you realize that getting everything back won't be that easily. There are certain things that are simply hard to win back, like the light of his smile, the sparkles in his eyes, the warmth of his skin that used to smell – you remember – like fresh baked bread and biscuits, sometimes also like you.
Now it smells like whiskey and rain.
"It's okay" you whisper, stroking his hair. A shiver rolls down your spine, praying with all your heart that isn't too late.
"It's okay".