Casey's hell

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed as his fist connected with my stomach. I stumbled backwards, then fell to my knees on the floor. "Please, Alex, why are you doing this to me?" He kicked me in my side and I fell over, struggling to breathe. This wasn't the first time my husband had hit me, and I knew it wouldn't be the last. He grabbed my hair and pulled me to my feet, then he threw me into the counter, and the corner hit me right in my stomach. I was gasping for air, and I began clutching my stomach. I had enough. I saw the knife on the counter and grabbed it. Everything from that point on is kind of a blur because it happened so fast. He saw the knife in my hand and came after me, and without thinking twice about it, I stabbed him in his chest. I pulled the knife out and began stabbing him over and over until he stumbled and fell backwards onto the floor. Crying, I called the police.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"I think I just killed my husband." I don't really remember anything else about our conversation. The police came, and they took pictures of my bruises and him, and the EMT's pronounced him dead. He was 21, and I was 18. That was over a year ago, and I have been on trial for over 6 months now. The jury has been out for almost a week, and now I am on my way to hear the verdict. My lawyer told me that the longer the jury is out the better it looks for us...he didn't sound happy today when he told me they reached a verdict.
"We, the jury, find the defendant, Casey Stone, guilty of Murder in the first degree." That is when I fainted, and I don't remember anything else that was said. Let me start over at the beginning....
Once upon a time, not too long ago, in a place not too far away, I was your typical 16 year old girl. I got decent grades in school, only skipped on occasion, and had a great group of friends. Ashley Gonzales and I had been best friends since we were 11 years old. She knew everything about me, and vice versa. Eddie Gordon was my best guy friend; we had been friends for 3 years; he also knew everything about me. Then there were the others; Ash's boyfriend Jayson, his sister Stacey, Guido (we have no idea how to pronounce his real name, so that's what we decided to call him), James, Tara, Christie, Alan and Joey (his real name is Ira, Joe is his middle name. I'm the only one out of the group that uses his first name). We were a pretty tight knit group of friends. We had all known each other for 3 years except for Tara; she just switched schools last year, and she fit in so perfectly with our group.
A month after school started, Tara told us at lunch that she was having a party that Friday; a kind of back to school blow out. She was going to invite friends from her old school as well because she wanted all her friends to meet. She said a few of them were bringing people they had met after Tara left, so she was expecting about 75 people to show up. We were all excited; I mean, we love how close we are, but we all know that it's nice to meet new people. For the rest of the week, it was all we talked about.
Friday, after school,l Ashley rode home with me so that we could get ready. As soon as we got to my house, we flew upstairs and started ransacking my closet. After about an hour of trying on clothes, I settled on a pair of skin tight black capri pants and a white tank top to show off my summer tan. Another 30 minutes later, Ashley emerged from my closet in a black skirt and a red halter top.
"Oh my gosh, Ash, you look amazing. Jay is gonna fall in love with you all over again." she smiled to herself and bit her lower lip.
"Do you really think so?"
"Yes. You are so cute. Ugh, I wish I looked like you." she laughed. Ashley has this exotic beauty. She is half Mexican and half Korean. She has this gorgeous skin tone, and these huge brown eyes. She is petite but tough, both physically and mentally. Her eyes slant just enough to give her this mysterious look, and with her naturally curly black hair that she keeps long, she looks good no matter what. I, on the other hand, am just cute, not drop dead gorgeous like she is. What makes her even cuter is the fact that she doesn't see why everyone thinks she is so pretty. I have red hair (it's natural...at least that's what the box says) and big blue eyes (those are mine; people always think I wear contacts). I am also petite, but in an anorexic looking way. I have people tell me that I am pretty, which makes me feel good about myself, but when Ash walks into a room, you can literally hear necks snap.
After another hour we finally had our hair done. She threw some gel in hers and just pumped up her curls. I twisted sections of my hair to make temporary dread locks, and was happy with the result. We threw on our make up and went downstairs for dinner.
"Oh you girls look nice."
"Thanks, dad." we said in unison.
"Where are you girls headed tonight?"
"Tara's party, remember?"
"That's right. Well, it sounds fun, and I hope you girls enjoy yourselves."
"Daddy.....can I borrow your car?" he raised his eyebrow at me. "Please? Tara only lives around the corner, but there are gonna be people from her old school there, and I want to make a good impression. Besides, it's not like I won't leave you the keys to mine."
"I guess. Just this once, though. That car is my pride and joy, and you know that." Ashley and I squealed. We never in a million years thought my dad would let me take his car. He handed me the keys and we ran out the door before he could change his mind. "Love you, bye!" I yelled as I shut the door.
We turned the corner, still excited, and I hit the alarm button. My dad is big into cars, and this was his baby. He restored this car completely, and never even let my older brother touch it. His 1967 Shelby Mustang. This car has balls, and I am not going to let that go to waste.
"Want to ride around downtown for a little while?" Tara's eyes bulged at the thought.
"Are you kidding? Of course I want to ride around in this thing." I laughed at her enthusiasm and started the engine. About an hour later we pulled into Tara's driveway. We had perfect timing; people were standing around outside, and we could see jaws drop as we pulled up. Tara ran over screaming and threw open my door. Ashley left and went to find her boyfriend.
"OH MY GOD!!! He let you take his precious 'Stang?" Her eyes lit up. "Drive me around the block, please." she pleaded. I laughed.
"Get in... do you want to bring anyone with us?" she shrugged and turned to the group of people standing there, admiring the car.
"Anyone want to come with us?" We smiled to each other when 5 guys ran up and fought to get in the car. After three of them made their way into the back seat, Tara and I got in and I started driving. I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed one of the guys looking at me.
"I’m impressed." He said, and I smiled.
"With me, or with the car?"
"Both. The car is a given, I mean, this is a classic after all. And nothing beats a vintage Mustang." I smiled to myself, because this was, after all, my favorite car in the entire world. "And I’m also impressed with the fact that this is a manual and not an automatic, which brings me to why I am impressed with you. Most girls don't know how to drive a stick." I looked at Tara, and she smiled because she knew what I was thinking. She leaned over and whispered in my ear.
"I think he's hitting on you." I tilted my head back and laughed. This guy was not my type at all. I could tell right away that he's the type of guy that is so full of himself he thinks his shit doesn't stink. He probably has all his mirrors in his car pointed at himself. I mean, the guy is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Blonde hair, blue eyes and straight white teeth, and he has a killer body (he was wearing a wife beater). The other two guys were talking to each other about the car and paying no attention to any part of our conversation. I pulled back into Tara's driveway and we all piled out. A few other people had shown up, and the party seemed like it was well under way.
"Beer is in the kitchen, Casey."
"Girl, you know I don't drink beer."
"I know, I know. You know where we keep the liquor, and you know where the fridge is. And don't worry. I personally made sure your liquor of choice was in there." The perfect man laughed at me.
"Beer too strong for you? You have to drink mixed drinks?" Tara laughed when I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Are you fucking serious? Casey doesn't mix anything! She usually doesn't even take a chaser. She drinks it straight out of the bottle." I winked at him and walked into the house. He ran to catch up to me as I made my way through the crowd. I walked over to the liquor cabinet and grabbed out the Bacardi Gold. She scored a pint of it for me; perfect. I turned around and there he was.
"I'm Alex Stone, by the way."
"That's nice." I went to shrug past him and he side stepped in front of me. "So, Bacardi, huh?"
"Isn't there some other girl you can drool on? Because you sure as shit aren't my type." I brushed past him and went to where my crew was standing. Joe's eyes got wide when he saw me, and Guido's jaw dropped, which made me feel as beautiful as Ashley. I started giving hugs out to everyone, and when I got to Guido, he held onto me a little longer than usual.
"Wow, Case, you look great."
"In your dreams, Guido." he let go of me and clutched his chest.
"Oh, that hurts, Case, that hurts." I laughed.
"Cry me a river, build me a bridge and get over it." I turned around and gave Joey a hug, and he proceeded to grab my ass. "Ira Joe! I am so offended!"
"Maybe, but you'll get over it; you know you love me too much to stay mad at me." I laughed.
"You're right." I spotted Alex across the room trying to hit on Ashley and laughed when I saw her blow him off like I did.
"So, Casey, I saw some guy that seemed like he was hanging on your every word." Eddie said.
"Eddie, you know me...he is so not my type. Besides, he was just drooling over Ashley." I told them what I told Alex and they all laughed.
"He isn't a bad guy, Case. I actually think you might really like him." Tara said. I rolled my eyes.
"Sorry, doll, but I don't go for the guys that take more time getting ready than me."
"Alex isn't like that, honest. He's actually pretty cool. A little weird at times, but who isn't? Trust me. I've known him for years." I shrugged.
“Then you date him, Tara.”
“Come on, Casey. You know I’m saving myself for Johnny Depp.”
“Yeah, slip into your P.J’s hun, ‘cause you’re dreaming.” Christie said, and Tara stuck her tongue out at her. “Well, if you don’t want him, Case, I’ll take him.”
“Go for it, Christie. He is not my type at all.”
After a couple of hours of partying, and about half of my pint gone, Alex approached me again.
“Hey again, Casey.” I rolled my eyes and tried to continue my conversation.
“Anyway, Eddie, I think you should go talk to her. She’s cute, and you’re cute, and she’s been checking you out.”
“Really? She has?” Eddie’s eyes got big.
“Yes, she has. Do you want me to talk to her for you?”
“Casey, I was wondering why you decided on a 1967 Mustang.” Alex said.
“It’s my dad’s car, and even if it wasn’t, my dad got me into cars when I was a little girl.” I turned back to Eddie. “So, Eddie, are we still on for Sunday lunch? We got a lot to talk about.”
“Yeah, of course. Every Sunday… when have I ever failed to show up?” I gave him a look. “There was good reason that time, and you know it.”
“So, Casey, what are you doing tomorrow night? Because I was thinking…”
“Is there a reason that you won’t leave me alone? I mean, have I given you any kind of hint that I would be interested in you? I’m not meaning to be a bitch, but I have told you about 2 or 3 times now that in a roundabout way that I don’t want to speak to you. How about this for you… GO AWAY! You are a serious buzz kill. I came here to enjoy myself at a party, not to be followed by some little boy pretending to be a man. You are not all that, no matter who told you that you are. If you don’t mind, I would like to finish my conversation.” I turned away from him, red in the face and livid. Eddie burst out laughing.
“You go girl!” he said, as Alex walked away.