Never Judge

"I don't understand." Cedric said, tilting his head to the side. 

"Dave and his brother were exactly alike, trusting those scholars when everyone knew exactly what they were, leeches!" A woman hissed.

"My wife was classmates with Mr. Lazaro and his older brother." Her husband said as he placed a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"We told Derek, Dave's older brother, not to trust that boy too much." The woman said, rolling her eyes. "Derek never listened. Those Lazaro brothers are just too hard headed."

"What happened?" Cedric asked, more curious than ever about what happened to Dave's older brother.

He was there when Derek had died, the man had entrusted his younger brother to him after the car crash.

"In our class we had one scholarship student." The woman explained with a frown. "His name was Joey, his father was a garbage collector and his mother worked at a nearby mall as a sales lady. Joey was brilliant, so brilliant that he managed to trick Derek."

Cedric nodded as he listened to the woman's story.

"Derek pitied Joey because everyone bullied him and everyone avoided him. Joey ate lunch alone, did projects alone, no one wanted to talk to him." The woman said as she recounted what happened in their youth. 

She looked at her husband and reached out for his hand, as if asking for emotional support. 

"At that time Derek was my boyfriend." She said with a frown. "Everyone had told us, don't treat those scholarship students as your equals, all they are after is your money. Derek was a kind person, he didn't believe that of people."

"Because not everyone who is poor is as greedy as you think." Adrianna said, unable to resist the urge to join in the conversation.

"Not all, but most." One of the parents said, finally admitting that they had generalized a whole socio-economic class.

"We just don't want our children to be a repeat of the Ramirezes or of Derek." The woman telling the story said.

"What happened to Derek? What did Joey do?" Cedric asked, returning the topic back on track. 

"At first everything seemed fine, we actually thought Joey was a nice guy. We saw how honest he was with Derek." The woman said, frowning. "It all started when Joey began to invite Derek to start hanging out with his friends outside of school." 

"Was he in a gang?" Cedric asked, assuming that the poor boy could have been associated with bad company.

"We aren't sure, to be honest until now I have no idea what happened." The woman said sadly.

"Baby, you don't need to tell them, I know it still hurts." Her husband said as he rubbed her back, attempting to comfort her.

Cedric could see that the woman's feelings were torn all over, she had been hurt by the change in Derek caused by Joey.

"No, I can do it." The woman said with a nod.

Cedric simply nodded letting her continue with her story.

"One day, I noticed that Derek wasn't the Derek I loved anymore, but I was willing to accept his change. What shocked me was when out of nowhere he just broke up with me." The woman said with a frown. "It hurt so much, he said things, horrible things. He called me horrible names."

Cedric frowned, he didn't know what to say. Clearly what had happened years ago still hurt the woman and it had greatly affected how the parents, teachers, and students at the school viewed poor people.

"We soon found out that Joey had somehow started coming to school in a car, and wearing branded clothes." The woman's husband explained.

"You knew Derek too?" Cedric asked.

"We were bestfriends." The man said with a nod. "Dave was like a younger brother to me. When Derek suddenly started behaving oddly because of Joey, I started watching out for Dave."

"I'm guessing you two got together after Derek and she broke up?" Cedric asked the couple. 

"We got together much later than that." The man said with a laugh. "I saw her as my ex-best friend's ex, it was weird if I dated her." 

"What happened to Joey and Derek?" Adrianna asked, curious to hear how the story ended.

"No one really knows." The woman said with a shrug. "He rarely spent time with us, he was always hanging out with Joey. Then one day we heard that they became business partners, a year after, Derek ended up dead."

When she mentioned Derek's death Cedric could see how badly she wanted to cry. He guessed that she had never truly gotten over tha man and was simply with her husband out of duty.

"One Joey and one Jen does not mean that everyone else is rotten." Adrianna said, shaking her head.

"Joey and Jen were not the only scholarship students to make the other students into their victims." A parent said, shaking her head. "This school has had a history, and when you step out into the real world you see poor people scamming others."

"Rich people aren't saints either." Adrianna hissed.

"Adri." Cedric said as he tried to calm his wife down. "You can't have extreme emotions, remember?" 

Adrianna frowned and sighed.

"Thank you for telling us your story, but I think my wife needs some fresh air." Cedric told the other parents seated at the table as he helped Adrianna stand up.

"Please, take your time." Derek's ex suddenly said in a kind tone. "We know our views are different, but we hope you come to understand our side as well."

Cedric simply nodded and walked out of the trophy room with Adrianna.

As they walked past a garden, Cedric was surprised to see Dave smoking on his own.

"Adri, do you mind?" Cedric asked as he gestured towards his clearly distraught assistant.

"Sure, I'll speak to Mae." Adrianna said as she planted a kiss on Cedric's cheek.

Cedric walked over and stood behind Dave.

"You know you aren't allowed to smoke inside schools right?" Cedric asked, surprising his assistant. 

"I don't care. It's not like they would throw me out." Dave said as he threw his cigarette to the ground and put it out with his foot. "Did Baby tell you about my brother and Joey?" Dave asked.

"Baby? That's her real name?" Cedric asked as he laughed. "I thought her husband was just being affectionate."

Dave shook his head and joined in Cedric's laughter. 

"No, her real name is Baby." Dave explained. "And her husband is named Boy, their parents were not very creative. They are good people though, hurt, but good." 

"They told me about your brother and his friend, yes." Cedric said with a nod.

"What they told you was completely one sided." Dave said with a frown as he sighed. "Baby is just bitter because my brother broke up with her, and Boy is just mad at Joey for stealing his best friend."