“We are here today because someone broke the law. I am here to say, whoever did it, man up and step forward!” says the commander. I glance at the other soldiers. No one steps forward. “I said STEP FORWARD!” Then, I see that the commander is walking towards John, who looks nervous and is sweating. “Did you do it?” says the commander. “Uh-I-I” “-I know you did it!” The commander pulls John in front of us. I wondered, “what did he do?” 

“Explain to me why you’ve stolen the gunpowder from my quarter! You knew stealing was against what a righteous man believes. And you still did it. Tell me why!” I stare at John. John was a new soldier, but I knew he was off from the moment I met him. 

“F-fine, but please don’t hurt me! I stole the gunpowder since a rebel bribed me and I accepted, he offered a lot a-and I don’t get paid enough, s-so I took the money and gave him the gunpowder. I am sorry, please forgive me!” I looked at John with disgust. How could he accept a rebel’s bribe for money? He’s disrespecting his majesty! What a fool and coward he is! He doesn’t need money, he should’ve been grateful to serve King George III.

“Soldiers! Go back to camp while I deal with him,” says the commander. We all march to our camp. 

“I can’t believe John would do that impeccable thing!” says my friend, Thomas. Thomas and I were best friends ever since we were small boys. We both went to the same school and our fathers were partners in war. He and I both dreamed of serving the King with our bright redcoats. Now, look at us! “I knew something was wrong with him the moment I saw him,” I said. “What do you think is going to happen with him?” “He’ll be executed, of course! After what he did, he won’t see daylight no more!” My blood boiled just thinking about it. “These rebels have got out of hand, and they need to be pushed back and put back into their places of being loyal to the King!” I said.

The next day, the commander told us to occupy Boston, Massachusetts. These rebels have gotten out of hand, disobeying the King. We marched until we reached a granite road. Captain Preston told us to stand in place. As we listened to Captain Preston, an unruly group of colonists taunted us. They threw rocks, snowballs, and sticks at us. One guy was holding a club. I was mad, why must they taunt us like that? But, I was civilized and had self-control, so I stood my ground. But then, I thought I heard someone say, “Fire!” I then heard a shot, but I didn’t know who shot it. I didn’t fire until I saw the other soldiers firing. “Stop firing!” We all stopped firing. I looked around and saw a bunch of people injured, and probably 5 dead. “Why’d you fire?! I have not commanded you all to fire! Who shot first?!” I looked at Captain Preston and then at the people. A lady crouched down towards an injured man. She stared at me. Even though it was an act of self-defense, she looked at me with hatred and the word “murderer” in her eyes. We messed up really badly. 

Captain Preston couldn’t find anyone to defend us in court. All the lawyers refused to defend us. I could see Captain Preston was worried. But then, a loyalist merchant asked Captain Preston if he should try to convince John Adams. “I doubt that he would defend us in court. Isn’t he a patriot?” I told Thomas. “Well, he’s our only hope.” 

The merchant went over to John Adams's house. I and the rest of the soldiers waited. We waited until we saw the merchant come back with John Adams. “I will defend you in court because I believe in fair trials.” We all looked at each other, and then I looked at Captain Preston. I could tell he was relieved. “Let’s just hope the judge will listen and get this incident out of our sleeves,” said Thomas. “Yeah, I hope so.”