3: 3
"Don't play innocent. This is all your fault. You're the one who killed my daughter."
"Everyone, you be the judge. What did my daughter ever do wrong, to be bullied like this?"
Florence kept wiping at her tears. "And now the man who hurt her stands here swearing up and down it has nothing to do with him. Is there no justice left in this world?"
"My daughter was such a good girl. How could something like this happen to her? I don't want to live either. I don't want to live anymore."
"Mom, stop. I'll get revenge for my sister." Jerome shoved up his sleeves and rushed at me.
"Don't do anything stupid, don't." Norman grabbed hold of him. "Son, do you think your father has no backbone? Do you think, when your sister was wronged like this, that I, her own father, didn't have the guts to raise a hand against the man who did it?"
"I wanted to. I really wanted to." Tears rolled down Norman's face. "But... but..."
He pointed at me. "But this bastard filmed a video. That video is the reason your sister couldn't face living anymore, and I didn't dare do anything rash. That's why I only asked him to turn himself in."
Norman dropped to his knees in front of me. "My daughter killed herself. She's already dead. If you have any conscience left, go turn yourself in. Let her rest a little easier. I'm begging you. I'm begging you."
He knocked his forehead against the ground, again and again.
Florence knelt and kowtowed with him. "I'm begging you. You don't even have to turn yourself in. Just delete that video of my daughter being hurt. That's all I ask."
"Dad, Mom..." Jerome's fists were clenched, his eyes red, his whole body shaking. He slapped himself across the face, one crack after another. "Sis, you died so unjustly. So unjustly."
"He's an animal. That's what he is." A neighbor pointed at me. "I'd really like to beat a beast like that to death."
"What is the world coming to? The victim's family having to kneel in front of the criminal."
"Get up, all of you. We'll call the police for you."
"No... no..." Norman scrambled to stop them. He looked at me and slapped himself twice. "We got carried away. Our daughter's dead, we really got carried away. It was our fault. We won't call the police, and we won't ask you to turn yourself in."
"Just delete the video. Let my daughter go with her name clean. I'm begging you."
Around us, people were tearing up too.
I watched it all calmly, quietly took out my phone. "I'll call the police."
