Noughts And Crosses

Sephy asks her sister Minnie for advice on her decision to attend boarding school. Minnie reveals she also asked to attend boarding school a few weeks ago and that she knows Sephy has been drinking. Sephy breaks into tears. Minnie comforts her and assures her she is working on getting their father’s approval for both of them to attend boarding school and that both of them will be gone by September.

Callum attends his father’s trial, and he notices his father’s face is bruised. The jury consists of all Cross men and women, which does not bode well for justice to actually be served in the case. The judge asks for Ryan McGregor’s plea on the count of political terrorism. Callum calls out for his father to plead not guilty, which he does. The judge calls out the murder charges, naming each of the victims, and Ryan pleads not guilty to each of them as the crowd becomes more and more agitated. The judge removes all the people who had come to observe the trial, but Callum is overjoyed by his father’s pleas.

Sephy is shocked to receive a subpoena to testify in court. Both her mother and her sister chastise her for her relationship with Callum and claim it is the reason she has been called to court. Her mother is angry that her involvement will mean bad press for their whole family, and Sephy’s father will be upset. Her mother storms off.

Callum testifies in court. The prosecutor questions Callum on his and his father’s involvement with the Liberation Militia, and he denies they were involved. When asked for his opinion on the Liberation Militia, Callum states that “[n]oughts and Crosses should be equal […] I support anyone who tries to bring that about” (290). The prosecutor shows a video of Callum running through the shopping center and dragging Sephy through an exit minutes before the bombing. The video shows Callum was aware of the bombing before it happened and implicates his involvement. Callum tells the court he dragged Sephy out of the shopping center to show her something outside and that he was running to make sure Mrs. Hadley didn’t catch them together, which pleases Callum’s attorney.

It’s Sephy’s turn to testify. She tells a partial truth when asked about why Callum was running with her out of the café. By not telling the court everything, she manages to confirm Callum’s story. The prosecutor asks Sephy directly if she knows who planted the bomb, and she vehemently denies knowing anything, which is the truth.

Callum is back in the public gallery to watch the trial. His father’s lawyer Kelani Adams calls retired Cross police officer Leo Stoll to testify. Kelani establishes that Leo would not be interested in doing a nought a favor since he had been injured by one and forced to retire. Then she asks about seeing Callum the day of the bombing, and he confirms that he asked Sephy if she was okay when he saw her being dragged out by a nought boy. He tells the court she had told him her friend just wanted to show her something, which confirms both Callum’s and Sephy’s story. The courtroom erupts in cheers.

Sephy watches updates on the trial every night and frets over what Callum and his family are going through. She sees that “Callum’s house burnt to the ground” (305) and is frustrated that she has no way to get in touch with him. She hopes to see Callum at the beach, but he never comes. Sephy wonders how Callum’s mother got a renowned Cross attorney to defend her husband, but she hopes that Ryan McGregor is found not guilty.

Callum attempts to write a letter to Sephy in which he thanks her for being his family’s anonymous benefactor, but he can’t find the right words. He feels frustrated and resentful that he doesn’t seem to have any control over his life. Callum remembers a recurring nightmare he has been having of being trapped in a box and bloodying his hands trying to punch his way out. At the end of the dream, he realizes he’s actually in a coffin, and he decides to just lay there and wait to die instead of fighting to get out. It is this surrender that frightens him more than anything else in the dream.

Sephy flips through TV channels searching for more information about the trial as the jury deliberates. She feels like she’s the only Cross in the world who believes Ryan is not guilty.

Callum and his mother hold hands as they listen to the jury’s verdict. On the charge of political terrorism, the man states the verdict, but Callum is unable to hear it. When the verdict is announced on the first murder charge, Callum does hear it, but the chapter ends without the reader knowing whether it is guilty or not guilty.