Jacky Smith

There wasn’t much room for anything else other than beer bottles and glasses. It was raining outside and Jacky’s head was killing her, it was as if a vice was clenched down hard on the outside of her skull, it was bad. She got up slowly from the ground, she was dazed, soar and sick. She got up and walked over to the sink where she drank some water. She was shaking. Her mind casted back to last night, everything was foggy and the only clear thing that she could remember was that she had a couple of friends over for a few drinks, then, that was it. Her brain went in to witness protection. Jacky was around 35 years old and was a care worker at a nursing home just down the road from where she lived, it was easy and she enjoyed what she did, she wasn’t married and she didn’t have any children, she preferred to be alone, for her it was peaceful and she didn’t really like to have company all that much, only now and again for occasions such as last night. She had another glass of water and the shaking eased a bit but her head was still thumping. she went over to the sofa and slumped herself down, looking around. Her table legs were broken and the table tipped to one side, one half was up in the air and the other was laying on the ground. The chair that was opposite her had a huge wet stain on the cushion, the floor was littered in beer and wine bottles, some of which were broken and left little razors on the carpet. Waiting to strike like little army men with knives. She got up to get another glass of water when she heard a knock at her door, she went over to see who it was. She opened the door and in front of her stood 2 police officers looking very serious with their hard faces, one of them was a woman and the other was a man, the both had on hats.

“Are you Jacky Smith?” the lady officer said

“yes” Jacky smith said in a groan

“We are arresting you under suspicion of the murder of Richard Lacey, anything you say – “

“WAIT! WHAT?  WHAT DO YOU MEAN MURDER?”

Before Jacky could say anything else she was in handcuffs and was being led in to the back of a police car, everything went so quickly and Jacky was confused by the whole thing. Richard was dead? Richard Lacey was an old friend of Jacky’s, they met in primary school and were best friends throughout secondary school, afterwards their bond became less and less prominent over the years but they still stayed in touch and would hang out now and again, they used to get on great and Richard was always very joyful and quiet like Jacky. Jacky remembered Richard was at the party last night, they both drank and laughed together, that’s all she could remember before her memories faded in to obscurity.

Sitting in the back of the police car Jacky’s mind was racing with confused and frightening thoughts. She couldn’t believe what she heard; Richard was dead? that’s what they said. But… How? There is no way that she could have killed him, it wasn’t in her blood, she wasn’t that type of person. She just couldn’t see herself doing that sort of thing. She began breathing heavily and she let out a dry cough that was meant to be a cry but she couldn’t get it out. She just couldn’t fully grasp the situation yet, it felt like she was in a dream… a nightmare.

They came to the police station and Jacky soon found herself in a room with a table and 4 chairs, two on each side of the table. This was the first time Jacky was ever in a police station and she almost didn’t notice that she was in there in the first place because her mind was still flooding with horrifying thoughts and images of Richard lying dead somewhere… murdered, bludgeoned, gored. Her own mind was betraying her and she felt sick at the reality of the whole thing.

Two police officers entered the room, they were different this time, one of them looked like he was in his 50s and the other looked quite young, about late 20s early 30s. they were both men this time. the younger one had a tape recorder and he sat it on the table. They both looked at Jacky. Jacky looked down at her hands.

“So, uh Jacky smith, is that your name?” the police officer said

“Yes” Jacky said

“Do you know why you are here?”

“I was told I was under suspicion for the murder of Richard Lacey… is he really dead?” her voice began to shake

“What was your relationship to Richard Lacey”

“We were friends”

“How did you meet?”

“We met during primary school, we knew each other for years, oh my god, is he really dead?”

“what do you do for a living Miss Smith”

“’I’m a care worker, at the old peoples home just down the road from where I live”

“Oakgrove?”

“Yes, Oakgrove care home”

“Did you and Richard get on well? Were you friends?”

“Yes, we were, great friends, we never had an argument… ever”.

“Richard was found last night in a garden, stripped naked, it appears that he was hit repeatedly on the head with a bottle, he maintained numerous fractured in his skull. Forensics say that he was killed around 3 am, where were you at 3am last night miss Smith?”

“Oh my God” Jacky was in disbelief. She thought back to where she was at 3am last night and couldn’t get a clear picture in her head, she remembers getting in to bed at around 12 o’clock, that’s all she could remember. “I was sleeping at 3am”

“It is known from our other suspects that you and Richard were at a party last night, could you tell us more about that”

“Yes, it was my party, I put it together at my house, it wasn’t anything big, we just drank and talked for most of the night, then we danced to some music, it was quiet”

“Who was at the party?”

“Me, Richard Lacey, Ricardo Lopez, Katie Monaghan and Rodney McGill. It was quiet, we all knew each other, we were all friends”

 The police officers looked at each other for a few seconds then turned their heads to Jacky again.

“We have a witness who said they seen you and Richard Lacey walking from your home at around 2:50 am”

“Impossible, I was asleep”

“They also said they seen you with a bottle in your hand, upon showing them the bottle that was used to kill Mr. Lacey, they said it looked like the bottle that you were carrying this morning at 2:50 am”

Jacky was horrified, she tried to remember last night, she tried hard, very hard. Suddenly Brocken fragments of memories started to appear on the inside of her brain like jigsaw puzzles, she could see herself partying with Richard and the rest, she was drinking with them and then she saw them out and waved them goodbye when the party ended, she remembers then going to sleep at around 12 o’clock. She did not go outside. She did not walk with Richard at 2:50 am.

“THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE, I WAS ASLEEP!!!” Jacky started sobbing lightly and put her head on the table.

“We need to get a DNA sample from you to see if it matches the DNA on the bottle, would that be ok with you Miss Smith?”

“Of course, I have nothing to hide”

Jacky was held in a room until her DNA was tested, she cried while she waited for the results. Thoughts of Richard was flooding her brain like a tsunami of dirty water, who would do such a thing? She thought to herself. Of all people, why Richard? The more she thought about him, the more upset she got. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were redder than red.

The police officers came in to the room and Jacky looked at them waiting to hear the good news, the police looked at each other with an unsatisfactory look and said to Jacky “Jacky smith, you are under arrest for the murder of Richard Lacey, anything you say will be used against you in court, you have the right to remain silent”.

Jacky’s heart sunk deep into her body and then came right back up in to her throat, to say she was in utter disbelief would be an understatement. The knife was in her chest, but now, it was beginning to twist and rip through her soul.

Time went fast and soon Jacky found herself in a courtroom surrounded by journalists and family members of Richard and her friends from the party. She couldn’t look at them, even though she was innocent, the shame she felt for even being in that position in the first place was beyond unbearable, she was at the end of her emotional tether, she couldn’t believe what was happening to her.

The evidence was presented to the judge and he reviewed it, you could hear crying in the audience and it didn’t take a brain to know that it was the family of Richard Lacey who were letting out their pain in to the air. That unfiltered slow sobbing pain that was sharper than razor blades and could penetrate far deeper than the sharpest dagger handled by the fiercest warrior. After a while Jacky decided to look up, she could see people in a box next to her and she realised they were her friends. Ricardo Lopez, Katie Monaghan and Rodney McGill, they were all standing upright and had these low pulled dull faces, Jacky could see them looking at her and could sense the resentment in their eyes and hearts. She knew that was the end of their friendship, no matter what she tried to say, no matter who knew what. It was written down, her guilty conscious only mattered if it was written down on paper, that’s all they needed to believe she did it. Jacky looked again with tears in her eyes. She noticed Rodney McGill standing there, he looked different, he wasn’t like her other friends, he was out of place, he didn’t look right. Jacky looked at him closer, she looked at his mouth… he was smiling, why was he smiling? She thought. She looked at him even closer, he was smiling at her. Jacky was confused, her sadness turned in to confused sadness, it didn’t take her long to realise that Rodney knew that she was innocent, he spoke to Jacky with his sinister smile and wide eyes “I know you’re innocent Jacky, but it was either you or me”. Jacky couldn’t believe it, was this real? She thought. She looked again; it was real. Suddenly a memory popped in to her head from the party, Rodney was leaving with Richard but before he left Rodney asked Jacky for another bottle of beer for the road and Jacky gave it to him, then that was it. Richard disappeared into the darkness with death right beside him. Upon this realisation Jacky felt sick and almost vomited at her podium.

The Judge ignored her plea of “not Guilty” and sentenced her to 20 years in prison.

Jacky looked at the floor then to Rodney, her tears turned to fire, both of them looked in to each other’s eyes, then Rodney turned and walked out. Hate still lingered in the room and the smell of death was left behind like puddle of piss.