Turnaround

Destructive forces of the city ended her son’s promising life as a professional skateboarder on April 9th, 2005. The long and unending wake continues to reveal what one must live through to keep hope alive. Ms. King’s unfolding narrative reveals how love reigns over destructive forces looking for a hasty reaction. The crowd always calls for justice, but few know what it means to stand beside her.

After sitting for four and a half hours inside a Greyhound Bus on a velvety blue captain’s chair Ms. King arrived at 15th and Long Beach Boulevard. Family members drove her to the Long Beach Courthouse at 415 West Ocean Avenue. Putrid ship emissions settled in the downtown district. The sun kept rising near 8:00 in the morning. The soft light sparkled as people stood outside the weapons checkpoint. Traffic rushed by. A paper vendor played soul music on a small radio. It made everything feel alright. Then Henry Mancini’s “Theme From A Summer Place” whirled around the sturdy columns.

She bought orange juice for her two daughters and a large coffee from Rick Lopez’s cafeteria. His joyful demeanor toward others was heightened by his blindness. Those he spoke to were stunned by the way he listened to their courthouse journey. Super sensitive ears blinded the patrons he served as a government building vendor. Waiting outside the elevator on the first floor took a long time. Some people who exited the vertical carriage had spouted their colorful attitude on those who waited to enter. The elevators stopped at the fifth floor. Ms. King exited through the slow opening elevator doors and walked to the right down the busy hallway lined with brown commercial brown linoleum floors splattered with black and white specs.

At the end of the hallway on a wooden bench she waited to enter the hardwood encased courtroom where Judge Gary J. Ferrari presided over the murder case. Ms. King said, “We’re here for justice.” She looked out at the dazzling floor patterns for a moment of solitude. The criminal proceedings would not begin until 10 a.m. inside Room 520. The light floods over the view of the Queen Mary berthed on the harbor. You cannot see Iowa By The Sea. District Attorney John J. Lonergan Jr. walked toward Ms. King with evidence files organized in manila envelopes for the People versus Williams and Jones. There were hugs all around. She turned around to enter the courtroom. John briefed Ms. King on the flow of events for the day not knowing exactly how long everything would take. After Gary and John discussed the flow of evidence and what to expect the meeting was done for the day after a half hour. Ms. King was surprised at how short the time was in comparison to the hours spent leaving Riverside County to arrive at the Long Beach Courthouse. She began the long haul back to Perris, California thinking about how D.A. Lonergan Jr. mentioned how justice is a “slow-turning wheel.” Slow turning wheels like when the Greyhound Bus departed from the station.