Page 5 of As the Rain Falls
Calling me a whore, for starters.
“And what happened next?”
“He told me to come with him, and when I wouldn’t budge, he tried to force me.”
“What do you mean by force?”
“He pointed a gun at me, sir.”
“By he, you mean, your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him you didn’t want to go?”
“Yes.” I pause for a moment. Then, I add with a sigh, “I didn’t want to be at my parent’s at all, and he knew that. Every time Nathaniel tried to take me home prior to the incident, I told him as much.”
“And how did Mr. Evans usually react to him trying to take you home?”
I fix a loose strand of hair, placing it behind my ear.
“They butt heads about it,” I admit as my chest tightens. “Beckett usually tried to reason with Nathaniel.”
“With his words or his fists?”
I crack a smile. “Do you often try to reason with your fists, sir?”
A few members of the jury chuckle.
Mr. Lin relaxes again.
I think I’m doing really well.
“Ms. Rivera, please answer the question.” My brother’s lawyer reads his notes again. “How did Mr. Evans try to reason with your brother?”
“He’d tell him to let me go. Beckett tried to defend me, mostly. He’s a good person.”
“And did he try to reason with Nathaniel the night of the incident?”
“Nathaniel had a gun pointed at me. He’d shot near my head once, even. So, no. Beckett didn’t try to talk him out of it.”
Instead, Beckett punched my brother in the face again and again until Nathaniel stopped breathing. We all thought he’d died until the ambulance came in.
“How did you feel?”
“Scared.”
I felt instant relief.
“Did you try to stop them?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Mr. Rivera is your brother, and Mr. Evans is your friend. Surely, one of them would have listened to you, and you didn’t try to stop them?”
Mr. Lin stands up. “Objection, Your Honor. Asked and answered.”
The judge nods. “Objection sustained.”
