Dena sat down at her desk the next day and was sure she’d never get up again. When she headed for the jail in the morning, she thought it would be just a matter of explaining to the police that they had the wrong boy. A simple open and shut case, an instance of mistaken identity. She’d explain to them how Leroy Washington could never kill anyone. In the worst case scenario she thought she’d have to meet with the public defender and take a bit of time to go through all the loops to get Leroy released. She never thought it was going to turn out the way it did.

She managed to get permission to see Leroy even though she wasn’t family or his lawyer. The cop on desk duty had a daughter at Springs who graduated last year and was doing her first year at community college for nursing. The first person in their family ever to graduate from high school. He’d jump over the moon if Dena asked him to, so getting her some time with Leroy was nothing at all.

She was ushered into a room where she waited. After a few minutes they brought Leroy in. He looked swallowed by the orange coverall they had him wearing. He sat down at the table without looking her in the eye.

“Leroy, how are they treating you in here? Are you okay?” Dena asked.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled. Then he looked up and Dena could see he was trying to keep his emotions at bay. “I’m sorry, Ms Leary, I’m really sorry. You had so much hope in me and all. I never wanted to let you down ever. This thing just happened.”

“Leroy, you don’t need to worry about letting me down. What we need to be worrying about is getting you out of here.” Leroy shook his head. “So what are they saying?” Dena asked.

“They’re saying I killed Germaine.”

“Who’s Germaine?”

“He’s the one who raped my sister.” He said it like it was an everyday thing. It hurt Dena hearing those words but it hurt her more to hear the way he said them. This was his life, his everyday life. Things like this were expected to happen in his life because they always did. It was wrong.

“What? When?” Dena asked.

“She was raped last week. Germaine lives in our building. He waited for her in the stairwell, the place where the bulbs are broken.”

“Which sister?”

“Irene, the 12 year old.”

“He raped your 12 year old sister? Why didn’t the police arrest him?”

“Cause we didn’t tell them. My ma said it would cause all sorts of problem. Germaine is high up in the Black Lords. He sells my ma her drugs and stuff. She didn’t want to cause any problems with him.”

Dena tried to keep calm. She’d had run-ins with Leroy’s mother before. All she cared about was getting her next fix. Her kids’ welfare was no where on the agenda. Dena considered reporting her to child welfare many time, but at least the three girls had Leroy, in the system they wouldn’t. Once they were in the system they’d be separated and Dena knew that would not help things. Weighing the options it had always seemed like the better choice was to keep them out of the system and with their responsible brother. “So what happened to him?”

“I waited for him the other night, in the same place. I waited there in the dark until he passed. And then I stabbed him. I had to, Ms Leary, you need to understand that. Irene was scared to death. She couldn’t even leave the apartment. She couldn’t go to school. I was her only hope. I had to protect her.”

Dena exhaled in defeat. The lives these kids lived were so unfair. They dealt with issues even adults wouldn’t be able to cope with. And here was this kid, this kid with so much potential forced to murder a man so his sister could go to school. She felt sick with sadness and furious at the injustice of it all.

Dena knew all about gang vengeance. Leroy was probably safer in jail than out. But prison again would be a problem. The same gangs that operated in the street, operated in there. They would kill him. “So what did your lawyer say?”

“She said I should plead guilty, explain all of that about Irene. She thinks since I’m a minor, I’ll get put in juvenile until next year then I’ll be out. I think it will be okay Ms Leary. I think it will work out okay.”

Dena sat at her desk furious at how unfair the world was. Leroy thought a year in juvenile was nothing. This child killed someone. And then for that child to think it will all work out okay. It wouldn’t, Dena knew this. But she would do whatever she could. She called the social worker about the three sisters. They needed to get out of that place. Without Leroy there, they wouldn’t survive. She talked to the public defender who was representing Leroy. She was one of the committed ones. She knew that it was gang related and she’d already petitioned the court to have Leroy moved out of state to keep him safe.

Dena did all that she could and she knew it was no where near enough. She sat at her desk feeling completely wiped out and was surprised when the clock on the wall said it was only 11:30 am. She still had five hours of work ahead of her. She pulled down the top file from the mound of paperwork on her desk and got to work, anything to get her mind off Leroy Washington for a while.

She’d lost track of time until her desk phone rang. “Hello Maria,” she said to the school secretary.

“There’s a man here who wants to see you.”

“Is he a parent?” Dena was exhausted and the last thing she wanted to see was a parent with a problem.

“No, he says he won’t take much of your time. He just needs to see you for a few minutes.”

Dena was always getting people like this. Her school had become well known in the area for how it had turned around. People wanted to know how she did it. Journalists, teachers, parents. She was always getting people just turning up. She wasn’t in the mood today, but she also knew bad PR was the last thing they needed. “Okay, send him in,” she said wearily.

She went back to her paperwork. Another form for the school board, the source of an endless stream of forms. Where did they all go? There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” she said without looking up.

“Hello Dena.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t need to look up to know that voice. Immediately her heart started beating harder. She couldn’t do this today. Not today. She needed more time. She needed to be ready first. But then she accepted she’d never be ready for this. She’d never be ready to see Shep again.

She looked up. “Hello Shep.”

She stayed sitting. She wasn’t sure her legs would support her in any case. She felt sick. She didn’t want this. Anything but this. She felt trapped and scared.

He stood in front of her desk. Though she’d seen him on TV the day before, it hadn’t done him justice. He was thinner than before. His face looked stronger, the jaw line more pronounced. He wore faded jeans and a blue cotton oxford, which didn’t hide his strong arms. He’d obviously been working out in prison. His new short hair accentuated his crystal blue eyes. He was not the old Shep, the happy-go-lucky top of the world Shep. This was a new, improved, though serious Shep. An older Shep, but a no less handsome Shep. No, Dena thought, no less handsome.

“Take a seat,” Dena said, resorting to her business voice, the only one she felt marginally safe with. “What can I do for you?”

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think of what Leroy did and why?