Strong Island Page #9

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and went back into the garage.

That's when William looked at me

and he just kind of went,

"That's the guy

that cursed out my mother."

I was like...

William turned. He didn't say anything.

He just turned and he walked.

And he got to the doorway. He made a left.

So then, we heard a pop.

"Stop! I'll shoot you! I'm scared!"

No scuffle, no fight.

William turned and was shot.

I don't understand the self-defense,

because there were options.

There had to be a back

door to the place.

He could have went

that way.

I'm sure some door had a

lock behind it.

Even when they say,

"This happened a month ago,"

or "He was afraid," or

this and that...

OK, so a month ago, you

were afraid.

If that even was the

truth that night.

And after leaving...

the Grand Jury,

I kind of got in the car,

and I kind of knew... what they were at.

I didn't know if it would work,

but I strongly felt

that everything was being made

to present a case of...

"Mark was scared.

He did what he did because he was scared."

"Gunshot wound of the right chest.

Hemorrhagic wound track,

perforating right chest wall,

mediastinum, heart, left lung,

and left chest wall.

Front to back,

right to left and downward.

Deformed, non-jacketed,

small caliber bullet recovered.

There is no evidence of gunpowder

stippling or soot deposition

on the skin around the wound."

There is no evidence

of close range firing.

How do you measure

the distance of reasonable fear?

What are the

contours of fear?

What do your eyes tell you?

Do you see my brother?

Dredge the river

and you will find him.

Or someone who could have been him.

So you tell me,

whose fear is reasonable?

"The body is cold,

and rigor is present and fixed to

an equal degree in all extremities.

There is an earring hole

in the left earlobe.

No tattoos or needle tracks

are observed.

The irides are brown,

the cornea are cloudy,

the conjunctivae are unremarkable.

The liver is unremarkable.

The kidneys are unremarkable.

The heart...

is unremarkable."

I looked at... the Grand Jury.

I looked around.

I saw who was paying attention.

OK?

How could you come to a viable decision,

if you're reading a magazine,

if you're doing a crossword puzzle,

if you're talking with somebody?

I think serving on a jury,

and particularly a Grand Jury,

is one of the greatest... privileges

of citizenship in this country.

And you shouldn't take it that way,

based on race, creed or color.

You should judge the content

of the evidence presented.

My feelings were

that they just didn't give a damn.

And if I die today,

tomorrow or the next day,

I will die believing

that they didn't care,

because my son was a young man of color.

I will always believe that. Always.

Until the day I die.

It was election day and...

four o'clock in the morning,

the phone rings.

I knew because of the time

that something was wrong.

And there was this...

one day,

before she was in a coma,

where I thought that she was trying

to pull herself up in bed.

And I had given her my right hand,

to, you know...

I had offered my right hand,

for her to grasp with her right hand.

And I thought she was trying

to pull herself up.

And really she was trying

to pull me toward her.

And...

it took me a good five minutes

to realize that...

I was trying to make my mother

more comfortable in bed,

and what she wanted was for me to hug her.

You stumble out of the

garage and into the yard,

where you fall.

You lie on the ground,

hole in your chest,

another in your lung.

You feel the pain and know you

will never see your sisters again.

Your mother. Your father.

You wonder how

your family will survive this.

You realize

that you will not survive this.

You realize you starved yourself

for 32 days, for nothing.

You lie on the ground,

bullet through your heart.

You can't speak, and no

one speaks to you.

You do not know your death

may, in fact,

be the actual death

of our family.

You do not know

that we are silent in our grief,

even with one another.

You do not know your killer will say

he had to shoot you.

You do not know your killer

will make you out to be a monster.

Mark Reilly will make you out

to be a monster,

and people will believe him.

You do not realize

that there will be no trial.

You don't know

that 23 white people will decide

no crime has even been committed.

You realize there may be no Heaven.

There may only be the ground.

Let's have some fun

You only live but once

And when you're dead, you're done

So let the good times roll

I said, let the good times roll

I don't care if you're young or old

You ought to get together

Let the good times roll

Don't sit there mumbling

Talking trash

If you want to have a ball You've

got to go out and spend some cash

And let the good times roll, now

I'm talking about the good times

Well, it makes no difference

Whether you're young or old

All you've got to do is get together

Let the good times roll

Hey, you all, tell everybody

Ray Charles is in town

I got a dollar and a quarter

And I'm just ringing the clock

But don't let no female

play me cheap

I've got 50 cents more

Than I'm gonna keep

So let the good times roll

I tell you all I'm gonna let

The good times roll now

Well, it don't make no difference

If you're young or old

All you've got to do is get together

Let the good times roll

Yeah, no matter whether

Rainy weather

If you want to have a ball

You got to get yourself together

Oh, get yourself under control

Let the good times roll

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