Sirens are blaring as the cops are roping off our perfectly trimmed yard. Our house is made of bricks and is raised a couple of feet off the ground because we live near the beach and it floods easily. I stay hidden in my room as my mom talks to the cops while tears roll down her cheeks. The story starts when I was five years old and I started playing football. I wasn’t the smartest kid when it came to school but when it came to football the other team didn’t stand a chance. My father was my biggest fan, and he would come to every game. When I was six I started playing on an All-Star traveling team. We were ranked number one in the nation. When I was seven, I quit playing football because I was the kicker and they replaced me. I started playing soccer instead and I would become the most skilled soccer player for my age in the United States. I played on another All-Star team and we were ranked second in the world. My dad was still my number one fan. When I was eight, my mom lost her job and started drinking. My parents didn’t let that stop me from playing soccer. One day my team was supposed to play in Barcelona, Spain against the number one team in the world. Whoever won would be the world champions for our age group. My team flew over two days before the game in order to get used to the field. The day of the game came and I didn’t see my dad in the crowd cheering for me. We won 3-2 which I had scored two of them including the game winning goal. We became known as the Fearsome Fifteen that day. When we flew back to the United States, I went home and asked my mom where my dad was. My mom had been drinking and on the way to the airport my parents got into a crash that killed my father instantly because he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. My mom was left with a few scratches and bruises. The next day was my father’s funeral. I put my jersey that I had worn the day before because he was my biggest fan. The Fearsome Fifteen lost the world champion ship the next year and disbanded. When I turned nine, my mother got remarried. My stepdad started abusing my mother and me. She told me it happened to everyone. I quit playing soccer all together two months after they got married. I started to become bullied at school because my mother was a drunk and my stepfather was only married to her because she made a lot of money off of a computer program my father had made that she still received money for since she was the co-owner. When I was twelve, the abuse stopped for me, but I feared he continued to abuse my mother.
***
It’s been several years and I have now started high school and started studying harder. I became the top in my class and I was the head of peer tutoring, yet I never tutored anyone. Yesterday, I came home and my mother had a black eye. That was it I had had enough of this violence, so I decided to act. I took a knife from the kitchen unsure if I could actually go through with it. When he got home, anger rushed through me, and I stabbed him three times. He fell to the ground as blood rushed out of his mouth. My mom came in the room when he screamed and she started crying. I called the cops and told them what happened then I went up to my room. When the cops asked my mom what happened, she told them she did not know. At this very moment, I’m sitting in an interrogation room waiting to be questioned. I guess I should tell you a little more about myself. I am currently sixteen and my name is Erik Lamail. I currently live in Jupiter, Florida with my mother who is once again a widow. My father invented a computer program that revolutionized the way you can surf the internet. After his death, my mother married a scum ball who owned a local bar. He did nothing nice for my mother and that’s why I am here. An officer has just walked in the room. He stands at about five foot ten and he’s got dark hair. His dark eyes are piercing and he has broad shoulders. He sits down on the other side of the table.
“I am Officer Fief and my name is Hector Fief. Can you tell me what happened yesterday with your step-father?” asked the well mannered man. I believe it is about mid-day which means I have spent the night and morning in this interrogation room. I’m starting to get hungry and thirsty. After several minutes of silence, the officer exits the room. After another hour, a female officer enters the room with a bag that has the logo of Fred’s Flippin Burger Shop on it. I’m keeping my hopes up that it might be for me. She sits and I now notice her eyes which are amber. They go perfectly with her blonde hair which flows with natural curls.
“Hungry? I am guessing you are since you’ve been here since last night,” she says as I sit staring at the bag. I can see grease dripping through the bag. “For someone who hasn’t eaten anything in a day and half, you sure are quiet.” I still sit motionless. She slides the bag across the table and then leaves momentarily only to return with a drink. I open the bag only to see the Fred’s Original Flippin Burger with an order of large fries. My eyes go wide as I pull the burger out of its package. I consume the burger rather quickly as I also devour the fries forgetting I even have a drink to go along with it. I slowly slurp down the drink after I finish eating. She sits there the entire time.
“Thank you,” I whisper to the woman across the table. She just sits there and nods. “What happened to my mother?”
“She checked out of the hospital this morning after the doctors made sure she was okay. Will you tell me what happened yesterday?” she asked in a way that was discourteous but started talking with complete and utter sincerity.
“It was self-defense,” I said in a voice that showed no weakness. It was the answer that my entire case would revolve around and would decide my faith. The officer left the room after I wouldn’t answer anymore questions. My case would be in a week and in that time I spent it in jail.
***
The first day of my case was just a preview of what was to come. The prosecution had little evidence that I had murdered him for no reason. It was harder for the prosecution since I was claiming it was all self-defense. After a week and a half, the prosecution asked why self-defense made up for the murder of this man. Whenever I started studying hard, I mainly studied law. By law in Florida, if you feel like you’re being attacked or fear that you might lose your life to someone, you’re allowed to attack first even if you end up killing them. When I spoke of this law the entire court room went quiet including my own lawyer. After a week more, the jury voted me not guilty. I dropped out of school since I was sixteen and I had just been accused of murder. The next several weeks I studied even harder.
***
After two months of getting tortured and humiliated in the town of Jupiter, we moved to a city in Mississippi by the name of Long Beach. I promised my mother that I would go back to school once we moved and I did as I had promised. My mom worked at a successful restaurant. On top of that and the money we made from my father’s computer program, which the sales had been through the roof since my court appearance, my mom and I settled down in Long Beach. I became the top of my class for the next two years. I was the valedictorian for my class when we graduated. I thanked my father and my mother for leading me to that moment. For the first time in my life, I was proud of myself for I had made a significant change in my life. I am now an adult and teach my children never to hate and to always try your best because sometimes even though it may seem hard you can still come out first.