Free Tarnished Steel by Carmen Faye Page B

your turn,” Knight said, and stepped back.
     
    Halo stepped forward, his face a mask of concentration, and Cyn could see his fingers were shaking slightly. From the look in his eyes, they were probably shaking with rage.
     
    When his voice came though, it was clear, and even passionate. And Cyn realized that he really was going to give his position his best shot.
     
    “Derrick has spoken out in the past. Yes. Normally when he’s emotionally charged. He has said some hurtful things at these times — but who hasn’t? Who, in this room, while enraged, or in pain, or hurt the way only love can hurt, has not lashed out and said something they knew they shouldn’t have?”
     
    Derrick eyed the room, and he boldly looked at the trio. “No one? Not a single man or woman in this room has done exactly what we are bringing to Derrick’s door?”
     
    Halo paused, and took a breath. “Because the truth is, Derrick has broken no code. The truth is, he is an asshole, and since coming out of prison, he’s been a serious asshole, but never has he broken a single code. Not once! I defy anyone to name a code that Derrick has broken!”
     
    Again he searched the room and boldly met the tribunal’s eyes. “Again? No one? This man, our brother, is being held like an animal, and he’s broken no code, and though an asshole, who probably needs some serious help, has done nothing more than anyone else in this room has admittedly done.”
     
    Halo finished, and then he turned away from everyone and walked out into the night, and he stood there in the cold air.
     
    “Hang on, baby,” Cyn said, squeezing Daphne a little with her arm.
     
    Daphne shook her head. “It’s not over,” she whimpered.
     
    Knight nodded his head and stepped forward again. With a further nod he said, “No, Derrick never mentioned any names. So, he never actually broke the word of the code. He said, ‘My partner in this crime is tall, with brown hair, green eyes, a stupid spider tat on the side of his neck, rides a blue Lowrider, and he hangs out in a club bar, in rural Lakeside.’ But, no, he used no name.”
     
    Chuckles and laugher broke out throughout the room.
     
    “When he was told that his lawyer was there to sit with him during questioning, he said, ‘Makes a better fence.’ Result? Larry faced possible disbarment for nine months during an investigation which tore his life apart for that whole period of time. But Derrick did not mention his name.
     
    “Derrick did not mention the name of this club bar, but they didn’t seem to need to know the name. They came here, and for almost a year, they harassed, prodded, and searched everything they could. I personally was investigated by the alcohol bureau commission. My liquor license was nearly lost, which would have been a cost to the club of more than the million invested in that one piece of paper. But, Derrick broke no word of code.”
     
    Knight took a few pacing steps, and then said, “Halo asked very good questions, and did a fine job for Derrick. When Halo looked me in the eye and asked me his questions, I felt doubt. I really did. I began to wonder at the trueness of this tribunal, and at the trueness of my own motivations over the last few years to push Hank to have it.”
     
    He stopped his pacing and looked around. “Yes, I too have bad days, and yes, I too have said things in anger, or in pain, or in emotional turmoil, that have hurt and even maimed my brothers and sisters in this club. But afterward, when I recognized what I did, I said I was sorry, and I sought to make amends. Whether those amends were a beer at the bar and a few moments of time to assure my brother or sister than I really did not mean to harm them, or to be there when that brother faced a dark mile so I could ride with him, I did my best to earn back his respect.
     
    “What I did not do,” Knight said, turning back to face Derrick, “is to go home and devise new ways to continue the pain, increase the