Trial
The courtroom is filled with many animals, including a jury. Angel and Leo sit in the front row of the audience (public members) section.
Angel's parents Sasha and Benjamin sit right in the very back row. Everyone in the court is silent as the judge, an elderly male lion sits at the frontbench. He stares directly at the accused, Charlie who has been found guilty by jury, for drug abuse, distribution of illegal narcotics, assault with a deadly weapon, violent assault on a minor, and aiding and participating in a murder. The judge then speaks towards Charlie.
“For your heinous and despicable crimes, you are hereby sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole!” feline Judge booms.
Charlie gives the judge a dirty look whilst Angel breaths a sigh of relief.
In response Charlie growls slightly before he sticks his middle finger up at the judge. The judge responses to this by adding 2 years on to his sentence for "contempt of court."
Two tall guards (a rottweiler and a husky) approach him. One turns him around to cuff him as the other guard shackles his ankles. Charlie stares over at Leo and smirks, before laughing.
“You know kid, Kate should've killed you when she had the chance to. Just like she killed your dad! You think I'm done with you? 27 years aint nothing to me. Just you wait, you little bastard! I'll finish the job, you shit!"
Then Charlies gaze falls upon Angel.
"You fucking bitch!" the Doberman yells at her. "I would have slit your throat down that alleyway......"
The judge slams down his gavel hard, cutting him off.
“Order! Order! Guards, bring him back!" the judge demands. Charlie is brought back to the judge, who adds another year to his sentence.
As the guards escort Charlie out, he continues his death glare at Leo and Angel.
Leo trembles and sobs as he clings onto Angel.
Angel holds him tight and gently kisses the top of his head.
“He's never gonna hurt you, little one. You'll never have to worry about him again” the feline tells him reassuringly.
Leo looks up at Angel with tears in his eyes.
“But he will be out in 28 years....what if...”
“shhhh....where Charlie is going, he wont last 28 years. let alone 10. You'll always be safe. I promise you, my son” the lioness tells him reassuringly as she counties to hold him in her arms.
********
Leo, Angel, Benjamin and Sasha, stand outside the court house. All four mammals are relieved that justice has been served. That awful Doberman who physically abused Leo and attempted to knife Angel on the streets, will now remind behind bars in a maximum security prison, where he rightfully belongs.
“Is it all over, mother?” Leo asks Angel.
“Yes, Leo. It's finally over" the female lion tells him reassuringly. "From now on you'll always be safe, my dear.”
“You'll always be safe with us Leo. We're your family now” Benjamin tells him reassuringly.
“We'll always protect you. You're in good hands" Sasha informs him. "You wont have to be afraid anymore.”
"Thank you" Leo says quietly as he wipes a tear from his eye.
“How about we all head back to my house and I'll make us something nice for dinner” Sasha suggests to the wolf boy.
Leo's face lights up with glee and his tail wags.
"I'd love to. But first I'm wondering if I can pay my father a visit?"
"Of course you can kid" Angel says. "However before we do, lets get him some flowers from the plant shop."
Leo, Angel, Benjamin and Sasha all walk across the street to the flower shop. Angel holds Leo by the hand as they cross. Leo looks up at Angel and smiles, as she too looks down at him, smiling in return.
********
In a padded room, Kate who is clad in a straight jacket, rocks back and forth in a corner, mumbling to herself whilst drooling uncontrollably . A hatch on the door slides open. A doctor (a male owl) looks in, observing Kate.
Beside him stands an assistant nurse (a female mouse).
“Has there been any change in her behaviour?” asks the owl.
“No, none at all, doctor. For the past three days, she has been in the same state, refusing to eat, and being constantly aggressive and hostile towards anyone who approaches her" explains the nurse. "Last week, she attacked one of our orderlies, when they attempted to feed her. We had to sedate her and put her in isolation.”
Kate looks over and spots the doctor looking in through the hatch. She snarls loudly. The doctor responds by closing the hatch. He then turns to the assistant nurse.
“I suggest that she stays in there for another few days. Perhaps we'll see some change in her then.”
“Yes, doctor” replies the mouse. The doctor and assistant walk down the hallway. Kate rocks back and forth once again.
"Leo....I hate you so much...." the she wolf murmurs to herself.
Meanwhile the owl doctor and the mouse nurse walk down a long corridor of the asylum building, before they part their separate ways. The doctor retreats into his office, whilst the mouse proceeds to navigate her way down the maze-like corridors. Two large female orderlies (a polar bear and a gorilla) approach the nurse.
"Why hello Amy. Hello Rebecca" the rodent squeaks to her work colleagues. "How are you two keeping today?"
"We're good like always Mina" Amy the gorilla replies, a hint of sarcasm in her voice tone. "How is that psycho bitch Kate keeping today?"
"Yeah how is she?" Asks Rebecca, the polar bear. "Has she told you any new sob stories about herself to gain sympathy? Or has she confessed to any more crimes that she committed in the past?"
"Not today girls. She hasn't really done anything after she bit Sally's paw" Mina explains to the orderlies. "Doctor Napier has recommended solitary confinement for a few days. Also if she refuses to eat, then we are going to have to force feed her again. Thats bout it."
"Honestly, if the law allowed it, then I'd just let her die" Amy growls "I despise child abusers. She's damn lucky that she's not in a prison because the other inmates would murder her, if they found out what she did to her cub."
"I'm never going to forget that time several months ago, when she proudly confessed to butchering her husband and then getting her male friend to dispose of the body" Rebecca says sounding somewhat disturbed. "She even went into details that only she would know about the murder and gave the exact location of where the body was hidden in the woodlands. Then when the authorities recovered the body, she simply denied everything like it was just a game to her."
"Try not to waste your thoughts on her" Mina tells the duo. "Besides if she keeps on refusing to eat then she's not going to last long."
*********
Meanwhile at a cemetery several miles away, Leonardo down kneels by his fathers grave stone. He places a small bouquet of roses at the grave.
"Hi dad" he says quietly. "I wonder how you are doing in the after life. I hope its nice for you there."
Tears being to blur the little wolfs eyes as sudden memories of his father come rushing back to him.
The time him and his father where at a fun fair and they went on the bumper cars together. He'd been about 3 years old then.....
Then at 4 years old when his father gave him bubble bath after he'd fallen into a muddy puddle outside.....
Teaching him to ride a bike when he was 5......
How he had surprised him on his 6th birthday with an action figure of a robot from Japan.......
A walk through the forest that he'd taken with his dad when he was 10 years old. He had a polaroid photo himself and his dad out in the woods from that day.
"I want you to know that I'm happy with my adoptive family and that they are taking good care of me. I'll see you later dad" Leo whispers. With that Leo gets up from the grave and joins the three lions who stand nearby.
"Are you ready to go love?" Angel asks him.
Leo nods in response.
"Yes, I am."
The sprit of a wolf watches the cub and the three adult lions walk off into the distance. The ghost wolf is an adult male in his late 30s, who looks very much like Leo but is older and taller. He is clad in a tattered business suit, that's stained with blood. He smiles as he sees Angel take Leo's paw, over joyed to know that his son is being taken care of by a nice family. Leo can grow up happy and live a good life.
"Good luck my son" Stephen says before his sprit fades away......
*********
