Fourteen

Jessie's POV

I was sat in a waiting room. Mike had dropped me off and was now sat in the court hearing. Both of my family members were on trial today. Josh was first. I'd googled GBH under duress. Turns out he may still be charged with GBH but will get a lesser sentence of up to a year if found that he was under duress. That's where I come in. To prove that. I wasn't allowed contact with Josh or anyone else until I'd been in the court room. For the second time. I had been called as a witness for the prosecution. They were going first in the trial. I knew that much. A tall lady came in and signalled for me to follow her. I was shaking as I followed her through the courtroom to the witness box. I was asked to 'tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth'.

"Jessica Thomas, hello. Is this your brother standing trial?" the prosecution asked.

"Yes," I said. The less words I said the better it was for Josh.

"in these video clips is it your brother holding an iron and knives?" I was asked.

"yes," I admitted.

"So he is the one hurting you in the footage?" the prosecution continued.

"In the footage, yes," I replied, hoping my use of the word footage would stir doubt about the situation.

"So that is you that Joshua is cutting and burning?" the prosecution asked.

"yes," I said.

"I rest my case," the prosecution said. The defence lawyer stood up.

"Due to the fact that Jessica is my own witness I do not wish to question her now as this is a traumatic experience for her," Lauren said. That was Josh's lawyer. I liked her. We'd met twice and each time she had told me exactly what was going to happen, and not treated me like I was stupid. I spotted Mike in the crowd. I was stunned to see how many people had turned up to see my brother and mother's trial. I stood down from my platform and went back to my holding room. I knew I could be waiting for hours, dependent on how much evidence the prosecution had bar the video footage and me. Mum wasn't allowed to witness for them as she was also being charged of my abuse.

I waited patiently and was relieved when Claire, Mike and Lauren came in at around 12 with some sandwiches and a drink for me. They sat down. I ate slowly. I felt sick with worry about what was happening and wasn't very hungry. I just wanted Josh back with me or to know the outcome. Lauren turned to me. "Well done earlier. The lack of response you gave them meant they couldn't pick holes and the use of footage definitely made the jury sit up and listen more carefully to your answers. Now we just have to get through our case. The prosecution has finished. Remember they will cross-examine you regardless of the fact you are their witness as they will want to discredit what you say that is against them. You just have to keep a clear head and answer the questions truthfully. I'm calling you up first so that you can watch the rest of the trial. I thought you might appreciate that," Lauren told me. I threw my sandwich back onto the plate.

"Yeah, I'd like to watch the rest. Thanks Lauren," I said. She smiled and walked out, back to Josh. Claire and Mike stayed with me.

"you'll do fine," Mike told me.

40 minutes later I was stood in the same spot as earlier. This time though I was looking at Lauren and Josh rather than the prosecution. I'd been told to look at them when being asked questions but respond to the jury.

"Jessica, welcome back. Sorry about the wait," Lauren started after I'd read the oath again. "Firstly how old are you and Joshua?" she asked.

"fifteen. We'll be sixteen in November," I told the jury. She was clarifying how much I knew about my brother so the jury would recognise the relationship between us both.

"And how long has Joshua had a scar on his nose for?" she asked. The prosecution looked like they wanted to object but held their tongue,

"Five and a half years. I pushed him off the swing at the park and the swing swung back and hit him in the nose," I admitted.

"Very well. Tell me was Joshua burning and cutting you since you've both turned fifteen?" Lauren asked. This was something the prosecution had asked me earlier.

"Joshua has burnt my arms and neck and cut my back and face several times since we turned fifteen," I said keeping my nerve.

"Are you aware of why he did it?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied confidently to the jury.

"And what is the reason?" Lauren asked.

"Our mum had threatened him. She'd told him that if he didn't do as she said she would kill him and me. As a result I convinced Josh that him hurting me was better for both of us as we'd be still be together and still be alive. He wasn't doing out of spite or because he wanted to hurt me. It was in both of our best interests," I said clearly looking each one of the twelve jury members in the eyes as I spoke.

"There is an issue in that though. The prosecution have footage of your living room which show Josh hurting you but never any threats. Can you clear up for the jury where these threats happened?" Lauren asked.

"Objection," the prosecution shouted.

"On what grounds?" the judge asked.

"On the grounds of... objection removed," the prosecution admitted finding no issue with the question.

"Yes. Josh was always threatened outside of the living room, usually the kitchen after mum had thrown me up against the sink or in our bedroom which we shared," I calmly replied. My voice sounded a lot calmer than I felt.

A/N: Thought I'd cut this here as it's getting long. You can read the rest of the trial in the next chapter. Let me know what you think so far, Indigo :)