In the courtroom in chapter 26 of Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings, the characters J.T., Digger, and Brady have an experience that they will never forget. At first, Brady thinks that he'll have to testify against his friends, but instead they plead guilty. Hearing this gave me a sense of relief and worry. Pleading guilty means that they will definitely be sent to some sort of juvenile detention, but it also means Brady won't have to stand up in front of his friends and incriminate them. That's why I was extremely surprised when they pleaded guilty. Even if they are guilty, doing that guarantees them punishment for their crimes, instead of having any sort of chance.
J.T. and Digger's honesty is very important. Although they didn't intend for anyone to get hurt, it did result in someone's life being taken. They seem truly sorry for that and willing to take any punishment that is given to them. I think that it was very brave of Digger to take all of the blame for it, although it wasn't necessary. J.T. is still at fault for his actions and not saying anything about it. Another key moment in this chapter was when they only received 9 months of forestry camp. The way the judge was putting it, I thought they'd be held in a detention center until they were 21. If i were in their situation, I'd probably feel so guilty that I would plead guilty myself, especially if I were digger. Just thinking about one of my siblings dying because of someone else, and that person not owning up to it would make me immensely sad and angry. If I were in J.T.'s situation, I would feel like I deserve the same punishment as Digger, and that everyone should stop making me look like a saint. I would want to own up to it and wouldn't want one of my best friends to take all the blame. If I were Brady, I would be upset that my friends were probably never going to forgive me, and that I might never see them again. Overall, if I were in any of the character's places, I would be dismayed because of the outcome of drilling holes in the kayak and and petrified of what's to come. Brady babysat Ben, the DiAngelo's young son one weekend. They watched the lion king together, then Ben asked Brady why why the hyenas turn against the villain scar. Brady replies, "Because he's bad." After thinking about it, Ben said, "Scaw's not bad. He's just being mean." Brady learned that even though people, in his case his friends, did a bad thing, it doesn't mean they are bad people. Just because they did one thing wrong, it doesn't mean that everything that they did that was good doesn't count anymore. They still deserve forgiveness. Sometimes it may be hard to forgive, but it's what you would want if you were them, especially if you were truly sorry for what you had done. I can relate to this because I have gotten into fights with my friends and family, but we always work it out in the end and admit to what we had done wrong. I am always sorry for anything that I have done wrong, particularly if it caused emotional or physical pain for someone else, and so are the people I love. We always find a way to resolve it in the end, as long as we both try to fix it.
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