His grandmother puffed her cheeks out,
"Oh no, you don't! I made us all a lovely dinner and I'll raise JFK from the dead before I let it go cold!"
They all sat around the table in silence, making Sunny extremely more uncomfortable than before. He tried making conversation about something that has been on his mind since he arrived.
"Is grandpa going to join us? Or will he just stay cooped up in his den all night?"
"Oh. Oh, yes. Yes, that's not good. What are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know. And I hate that I don't know. They don''t believe that I did it. But it was me, not Sunny."
No one spoke to answer his question. His grandmother smiled sadly,
"I'm sorry dear, Darryl isn't with us anymore."
Sunny's brain took a moment to comprehend what his grandmother was trying to say,
"Where'd he go?"
"To heaven, bubba." Aunt Jerry whispered, placing a delicate hand on his shoulder. His mouth hung agape as he tried to speak,
"..oh.."
The rest of the meal was done in silence.
Kaiya flopped onto Rylee's bed.
"Everything's become so fucked since Rylee died. Sunny hates me. He doesn't even want to talk to me. I fucked up so badly."
The next 2 hours after dinner was spent in his uncle's office, listening to him ramble on about legal ramifications and the sort.
"Do you understand, son?"
He didn't, but he wasn't thinking straight either,
"Yes sir."
Mason sat down on the bed next to Kaiya, taking her hand. "Did you talk to Sunny?"
"I texted him, but he doesn't want anything to do with me. I don't want him to hate me, but he will if he goes away and I don't."
"Good. You're a smart boy, Sunny. You do understand why this is a big deal, yes?"
Sunny scuffed his heels on the hardwood floor,
"Yes."
"Good." Christain stood up a pulled out some books,
"I know you like reading, so I've brought you some legal studies textbooks for you to go through, I think it'll really help you went it comes to building a strong case."
Sunny grimaced,
"Right."
Christian placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder,
"The legal system is ruthless, son. If the jury want to blame you, they'll go to any length to achieve that. Do your research. Don't make a fool out of yourself."
And with that, Sunny was left alone.
(hey sorry ive been studying for a block exam i have tomorrow)
Kaiya woke up about an hour later to find herself tucked into bed. Mason sat on the bed beside her, asleep. She must have fallen asleep after talking to him and he'd tucked her in. She looked at the time. 11:47pm. Late.
(That's okay, schooling first :) )
Sunny sat in that office for a good 3 hours, writing notes and have small mental breakdowns, till someone thought to check on him.
His cousin, around 12 he thinks, steps in the room, good pulled up and sliding the door closed behind him.
"What are you doin here, kid."
The boy pulls down his hood to reveal a full head of thick black hair. His eyes pierced through Sunny like a salty lake on a winter's morning, moss and algae flooding the surface and making it virtually impossible to see any water.
He stood silencely and waltz around to the front of the desk, sitting in the large chair.
"You're a real creep, ya know? With your 'Ring' looking ass"
The kid, Thomas, just shakes his head,
"Why'd you do it?"
Kaiya looked back at Mason, the older boy's curly brown hair silhouetted softly in the moonlight streaking through her curtains.
The last thing she wanted was for him to suffer from this. It was bad enough that Sunny was in this mess because of her, she didn't want Mason in it either.
"What do you mean?"
Thomas scoffed, sitting up straighter,
"Why'd you kill 'im?"
Sunny narrowed his eyes
"I didn't."
"Uh-huh, and that's why you're being charged with first degree?"
"I didn't kill anyone, Samara. I just took the fall for a friend."
Thomas laughed
"What are you? Fuckin' stupid?"
"N-"
a frantic women's calls interrupted them, the door flung open.
"Tom! What are you doing in here??"
Kaiya put her head in her hands, hiding her face. Why did this have to happen? She didn't think this would have happened if Rylee hadn't died. Or maybe it would, but Rylee would be the one brought into the mess. At least, she could only hope.
Thomas looked up to his mother,
"I'm just talking to cousin Sunny. Is there a problem with that?"
She twisted her face and confusion and disgust,
"No-just- Come here!"
He stood up and shrugged, obeying his mother,
"I'm not done with you, Pogo."
Sunny watched him leave, eyes narrowed,
"Yeah, okay Samara."
Kaiya grabbed her phone, walking out to her balcony and closing the door behind her. She clicked in on and scrolled through her contacts, landing on Sunny's. Should she? She did. Please at least pick up.
His phone pulled him out of his study session.
He sighed, answering in with checking who was calling.
"Hello?"
"Uh…hi, Sunny. It's Kaiya. I…I know you'll never forgive me for everything that's happening. I know because you're getting the fall for what I did just because of my parents. And I don't want it to be the case. But it is. And I don't know how to change it."
"We can't," he answered coldly
"All I can do is fight."
"I…Yeah, I know. We have to fight the legal system. I know I killed him but I can get off on self defense, because that's what happened. We can't do this individually, Sunny. My parents have good lawyers. They can help us."
"I have a lawyer," he spoke bluntly. He was aware he was being childish, and that it would ultimately be a huge flaw in his case,
"My uncle is quite popular in Jersey."
Kaiya inwardly sighed. "Okay, well I was just suggesting. But the court probably won't like it when they find out: if he's your uncle, they might think he's biased because you're related. That's not gonna go in your favour."
"He's supposed to be biased," he sassed
"He's my lawyer."
Sunny felt a pang of regret for treating her like this, but it was drowned out by how pissed he was,
"He's supposed to think I'm right."
"That's not what I meant and you know it, Sunny."
The wind moved through her hair, making her shiver a little.
"Your lawyer isn't supposed to be a relative. It's called manipulation of the court."
Sunny sighed,
"Look- I don't have time for this right now, I'm supposed to be studying for my case."
"Sunny I-" She was cut off by Sunny hanging up. "Dammit Sunny!" She tossed her phone over the balcony, the device landing in the family's pool. Her conversation obviously woke Mason up, because she was surprised by his hands on her shoulders.
He felt guilty, but he had bigger things on his plate right now.
He didn't need to look up to see who entered the room,
"Hey, Gran."
"Don't beat yourself up." she whispered,
"It's not your fault."