11
The jury deliberated for nineteen hours.
Cleo did not sleep.
The Freeman family waited in a hotel conference room with Robert.
Renee prayed quietly.
Isaiah paced despite his back.
Denise brought food nobody touched.
Robert reviewed possible outcomes.
First-degree murder.
Second-degree murder.
Manslaughter.
Acquittal on murder with conviction on lesser charges.
Cleo stopped him.
“I know the possibilities.”
“You asked.”
“I changed my mind.”
At 2:14 the next afternoon, the court called them back.
Bart stood beside his attorneys.
The clerk read the verdict.
Guilty of first-degree murder.
Renee collapsed against Isaiah.
Cleo closed her eyes.
The courtroom made sounds around her.
Crying.
Gasps.
Reporters shifting.
Bart did not move.
The clerk continued through the remaining counts.
Guilty.
Guilty.
Guilty.
Jamal did not return.
That fact remained untouched.
Justice did not reverse gravity.
It did not pull him from the ocean or place him back in the apartment hallway.
The verdict only refused the lie.
Sometimes that was all a courtroom could provide.
Bart turned before officers removed him.
His eyes found Cleo.
She expected hatred.
She saw relief.
The trial had ended the performance.
He no longer had to prove Jamal fell.
The truth had finally become permanent.