• ____The 12 men returned, and everyone in the courtroom was silent, waiting patiently. The defendant Eric, however, was almost sweating. He moved constantly shuffled in his seat. He watched intently as the foreman rose from his seat and cleared his throat. “The jury has reached a verdict.” At that moment, it seemed that everyone including the judge was leaning at the edge of his or her seats. The foreman locked his hands together and announced, “We have decided that the defendant is not guilty.”

    ____Three days passed and although the trial was over and Eric was free, he was not content. People on the street who knew about his case eyed him and gave him looks. There were looks that said “You poor thing” and “You’re dangerous!” and “You should’ve been sent to prison.” Regardless of his newly formed reputation, Eric continued his regular daily schedule with the exception of his father calling him on his cell phone to make sure he wasn’t causing trouble wherever he went. But Eric had deleted his father’s number from his phone, unable to contact him ever again. Wherever Eric went, he hung his head in shame and embarrassment.
    ____If only I had caught the real killer that night, he thought. My father would still be here and I wouldn’t have had to be humiliated in front of strangers who don’t know squat!
    ____Eric knew the man’s face, but wasn’t sure who it could have been. His father often borrowed money from friends to support himself and Eric since his mother left her financial debts to them when she passed away. It was possible that maybe the killer was someone his father owed money to, and wanted the money pronto. And now, Eric decided that it was up to him to find the real killer instead of leaving it to the police who seemed to care less about teens in the slums.
    ____As he left his apartment, he searched his mind for information that could help him get closer to the culprit. The knife. We both had the same type and design of knife. Quickly he made his way to the pawnshop where he had bought his knife. It was just a few blocks away, and it didn’t look very welcoming. The building was located on a small street where a small population of the druggies and children played. The shop was called JACK’S PAWNSHOP, but the graffiti on the sign made it read THE JACKED PAWNSHOP.
    ____Someone ought to clean that up, Eric thought.
    ____The bell on the door jingled as Eric opened the door to find the owner reading the daily newspaper with his feet up on the counter. Inside the store smelled faintly of cigarette butts and alcohol. Eric approached the register and tapped the man’s shoe. The man set his paper aside and smiled. “Ay! Eric!” he greeted as he stood up.
    ____“Hey Jack,” Eric greeted back.
    ____“I heard they found you not guilty. That’s too bad. You could’ve ruled the prison with an iron fist. Put some fear into those tough guys,” he joked, gently punching him on the shoulder. Eric chuckled.
    ____“Nah. They would just tell me to be careful to not drop the soap. Now that puts fear in a man.” Jack burst out in laughter. His laugh sounded like a king’s victorious laugh.
    ____“Aha! You’ve got your father’s sense of humor my boy!” Eric clenched his fists and Jack saw that in Eric’s eyes was pain and anger. “I’m sorry,” he apologized with a sympathetic tone.
    ____“It’s fine. Remember when you sold me that switch knife? Well there’s another one just like it and it was used as evidence in the trial.” Jack raised an eyebrow. “Because that’s the weapon that the killer used to stab my father that night. I know you have a few other similar knives. Do you remember who else you sold those switch knives?” Jack rubbed his stubble as he tried to recall his past customers.
    ____“There were two other gentlemen who bought knives that were similar to yours. By the way, where did you put it?” Eric took his knife from his pocket, hiding it from the world outside the window, and placed it in front of Jack. “Hm. I remember an old man had purchased one while your case was still going on. There were five knives of that kind. I sold three, and I’m trying to remember the young fellow that bought the second knife.” Eric blinked.
    ____“A young man? How young? What did he look like?” Eric asked with slight anger in his voice. Jack took out his clipboard. He didn’t have much money to purchase a cash register, so he wrote down everything on his clipboard. Jack scanned the pages.
    ____“Here he is! It was a fellow by the name of Marvin Horatio. Bought it the same day your father was killed. This is his address. I require an address from everyone for future references.” Eric grabbed a pen and paper to copy down the address. He was writing furiously. “He said he had business.”
    ____“Thanks Jack. Tell Benny I said ‘hey’,” Eric told Jack as he dashed out the door. Eric held the paper in his hands, navigating himself through the streets. He heard murmurs among those who noticed him out in the open.
    ____“Doesn’t he have shame?” “What’s he doing out here?” “Do you think he’s gonna kill someone else?” “You’ve heard what he was charged with, right?”
    ____Eric had reached his destination. It was an apartment building much like his on the other side of the neighborhood. The person he was so sure of killing his father was just inside Apt. Rm. 827. Eric could pick locks, so he picked the front door open. He sighed. This doesn’t make me look any less suspicious. He took the elevator up to the fourth floor because he was in a hurry to confront the man. I’ve got you. And it was so easy too. I’ll kill you. He paced down the hall in search of Rm. 827, his heart beating fast and his face growing hot. Then he saw it. Rm. 827. This person wasn’t very smart, thinking he could get away. As if he was in an action movie, he kicked the door open, and stormed inside to capture the criminal with his switch knife in hand. There he was. The real criminal. “Wait. It can’t be!” he panicked. It was his face all right. But it was lying on the floor with the rest of his body as his blood stained the dirty fuzzy carpet.

    END