Chapter 7 Just Mercy Novels & Stories

It’s so wrong. But Mom’s face won’t leave my head. The way she smiled at me last week even though she could barely keep her eyes open. And Mara’s angry texts. And Jonah’s drawings of monsters. And Miles on parole, one mistake away from going back to prison, calling me every week asking for money because he can’t hold down a job, can’t sleep, can’t function. And me. Sitting on a bathroom floor at dawn with eighty thousand dollars between my mother’s life and her death.

Something inside me tightened immediately. “She had bruises.” My voice came out flat. Pierce went quiet. I swallowed once before speaking again. “She looked terrified.” And suddenly without warning, another memory hit me. The Mercers. The way they treated me like I was invisible. The difference between being tolerated and being loved. I looked down briefly at my hands. “I’ve seen this before,” I said quietly. The room stayed silent. “She doesn’t look like trouble.” My throat tightened faintly. “She looks like someone who needs saving.”

Scared of what purging our lands of corruption would demand of them. I departed as their words clung to my back. I could have stayed to listen to their counsel, and perhaps I wanted to. But the memory of the yard spurred me forward. I owed my father justice, certainly, but more than that I owed him the knowledge someone remembered what he learned: that mercy in the absence of power is a feast for wolves with nastier teeth. I would push a knife into that foe's throat and say a silent prayer over the wreckage. It would be in payment, and it would be enough. Jennifer knocked on my door a couple of minutes later.

Each one of them gave me bonafide reasons why I should listen but in the end, it was my own decision to make. And trust me, I hadn’t planned on attending the event — even though I had every right to be there. But everything changed the minute I found out he would be there. Daniel. Mercy was weakness. I was taught that as a child, and I’ve lived by it every day of my life. If someone crosses me, they die. If someone takes from me, they pay until they have nothing left. That’s the rule. That’s how you stay alive in my family.

“Set it up.” Brad’s expression darkens. “You’re planning to go to the funeral?” “Yes.” Lamar lets out a whistle. “You? Showing up there? That’ll get people talking.” Good. Let them talk. Let them see that I don’t forget debts or tolerate betrayal. Mercy in my world is the first step toward losing control — and control is something I’ll never surrender. “Good,” I say quietly. “Let them all see.”

My family swarmed me at the airport. My brother, Jonas Houser, griped, "Regret staying with that loser? You could've lived easy here." My mother, Michele Houser, tiptoed and swatted him. "She's home now. Be kind." I felt like I'd escaped a sinking ship, finally safe. Michele planned a trip to lift my spirits, and we roamed from north to south, soaking in every sight. Nature stitched me back together, bit by bit.

Rayden quietly observed Emily’s tense expression. “Shit!” Emily muttered as she continued listening to the interrogation recording, which was filled with the family’s sorrow—in this case, not just as witnesses but also as victims. Her eyes felt hot and teary from the raw emotions she felt as an ordinary human being. People say her heart is as hard as titanium. However, deep down inside, she is tormented by the heinous crimes she encounters.

"Do you even know who you're helping? He's a killer! He's the one who took our daughter from us!" I yelled as loud as I could, hoping to reach whatever was left of Jack's heart. Jack just scrunched his eyebrows and looked down at me. "Back to your sad stories? Is it about our daughter again?" I tried to smile through the pain, bending over and begging. "Please... I'm begging you. Take any case you want, but not this one. Please." I was lowering myself so much, desperately begging Jack for mercy. I knew we would never stand a chance if Jack took the case.

I tried to tell them to stop imagining something that would be difficult that would burden them because after all it was such a terrible thing. I don't want them to be so devastated, let alone think that this is something that is cheating and doesn't need to be thought about again and then they lose their sympathy for Lilian. I then tried to tell Mrs. Mercy to leave immediately because after all I was sure that all the women here would definitely ask more questions and Mrs. Mercy would definitely be confused about answering these questions and of course this would never be of any use at all if every every time we try to be better then every time this matter will be discussed continuously And

"You do not deserve such unfettered venom and malice, especially because you are unable to resist their horrible maltreatment. My heart hurts for the depths of resignation and the stubborn inner fire I saw blazing within you. It stirs up something fundamental and similar in my own heart against these injustices." "I will not stand idly by and let such horrible behavior continue, at least not in my presence. Please believe me when I say that I understand how deeply uncomfortable and wrong it felt to remain silent earlier...but I simply didn't know how to digest or manage such convoluted complexity, let alone go against my flesh and blood. "That excuse now seems hollow and cowardly, even to my