The Trial

The judge’s voice continued to drone away impassionately as he laid out the fate of my future in front of a small congregation in the court. The room felt more like a funeral service than a court proceeding.

I wasn’t even interested in the judgment because the man that held my interest was sitting directly in my line of vision, smiling mischievously. He was the reason I was about to lose it all. I wanted to kill him.

“…You are hereby sentenced to twenty years imprisonment without bail…”

Even though I had just heard myself crashing to the floor, all I could think about was making the bastard in front of me feel the same pain I felt. He was still smiling stupidly and I started to question my sanity when I suddenly found my fingers scratching his face.

“I’m going to get you, bastard! I will find you and kill you! I swear on the blood from my broken hymen that I will cut off your balls and skin you alive, then roast you up for dogs to eat!”

The police officers pounced on me and I could feel batons hitting me into submission before I fell unconscious.

I’ll get you, I promise. I’m not going to let you go scot-free after destroying everything.

***

A Year Ago

“Argh! I can’t believe I’ve been in 100 level for three years because of this stupid ASUU strike! Like, what the fuck, Amy?! It’s not like I probated or my grades were horrible. We’ve seen two different sets of freshers get admitted into this same university, even though the school has barely recovered from all the back-and-forth strikes in the past three years.”

“This is bullcrap!” Amy was looking just as pissed as I was, and I loved it.

“Tell me about it! I’m a twenty-year-old freshman because of the stupid education system in Nigeria. I just feel like going to kill every one of our ministers and officers in power one by one. Their kids are in private universities abroad, living large, but we can’t even run a full session without going on strike every three months!”

If the object of my anger had been in front of me, I would have thrown a sharp object at him. All my secondary classmates that were rich enough to afford private universities or study abroad were already in their finals, preparing for their long essays.

They posted videos of them preparing for their seminars and presentations on their stories as if they were the first set of students to attend a university. It was disgusting, to say the least.

“All these oversabi people…”

“…uh? What did you say, Shantell?”

I shook my head and walked over to the mini fridge we both shared in our self-con apartment. It wasn’t exactly luxurious, but it was comfortable enough.

Definitely better than dealing with overbearing parents.

Amy scooted over to my side and she had her puppy eyes on. I immediately knew she was about to ask me something she knew I would say no to and prepared for my unwavering rejection.

“Babes, I know say you dey vex, but remember that party wey we suppose attend? Na this night oh. We no fit miss out on this opportunity. With wetin I don hear, many big big politicians go attend the party. Abeg, make we no dull for this one.“

I couldn’t believe my ears. As if I wasn’t already dealing with a full plate with my H.O.D breathing down my skirt so I would sleep with him, Amy was here telling me about a stupid party. I had already failed two A courses because of the stupid man.

There was nothing I didn’t try. I even begged him that I would give him the sum of two hundred thousand Naira just so he would leave me.

The whole thing still has me in shock because I went as far as lying to the bastard-of-a-man that I was engaged and my fiance used magun to stop me from having sex with any other person since I was still a student. This man did not agree. He said he knew a stronger herbalist.

I should open my legs for someone that knows a real-life herbalist?! Tufiakwa!

He eventually agreed to five hundred thousand naira, but it’s not like I have half a million sitting around in my account, waiting to be used.

“He must have thought that I would give in after hearing the amount. He doesn’t know the kind of woman I am. I’m going to pay that bastard his money. No man will have his perverted way with my body!”

Amy looked up from the pot of spaghetti she was scraping.

“What was that about, babes? Is it because of the H.O.D matter? Just chill… by the time we come back from that party tonight, five hundred thousand will be a problem of the past. Shey, you trust me na? I don fail you before? Oya calm your mind. We gather dey for this matter.“

***

Later That Night

When we got to the party, I had to ask Amy who she really was because I did not expect to meet the calibre of people that were there. In less than two hours of my arrival, I had spotted two ministers and one commissioner. One of the ministers was surprisingly the minister for education.

I walked up to him, ready to pour a drink in his face since there were no sharp objects around. My legs wobbled, but they moved all the same. It was a mission I had to carry out, even if it meant serving a jail term.

Right when I closed the distance and prepared to attack, he looked up at me from the man he was conversing with and smiled the most charming smile I had ever seen.

The awkward, all too loud cough of his partner broke us out of our reverie. Our rude interrupter turned out to be my beloved H.O.D. Apparently, they had been close friends since high school. The minister immediately took interest in me and abandoned his company. We were then led to our special suite by his bodyguards.

From the corner of my eyes, I watched as my H.O.D’s eyes followed us with every step we took. There was so much pain and hatred in his eyes that I got scared for a second. It was almost as if the minister could read my mind because he immediately held my right arm and smiled brightly again.

When we got to the room, the minister was nothing short of fatherly to me.

“I don’t know why but when I saw you, I immediately got reminded of my daughter who is currently studying Medicine in the U.S. She should be around the same age as you. With beautiful melanin complexion too.

I don’t know… I felt if I left you there, those men would disintegrate your body tonight. Lol, and I didn’t want that. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you. You can just keep me company while we talk into the late night. What do you say, my dear?”

It felt weird but I strangely felt comfortable around him. I had thought being in the same room with a sugar daddy would be awkward and uncomfortable, but I sunk right into the bed and poured myself a drink.

I didn’t know if it was because of the drink, or because I simply felt comfortable around him, but I found myself gisting about everything with him. I talked from my annoyance about the incessant strikes, to how infuriating it was that ministers like him could afford to send their children abroad, and even about how my H.O.D wanted to sleep with me.

He listened quietly through everything, even when my drunk ass insulted all the politicians in power, placing special emphasis on the ministry of education. He listened attentively and when I finished my drunk rant, he used the duvet to cover me quietly as I drifted off to sleep.

My eyes had not closed finish when I saw the minister arguing with my H.O.D. Apparently, my H.O.D had entered the room unannounced and the bodyguards outside had tried to bounce him out, much to his annoyance.

“You think you’re better than me?! Just because you wound up in the ministry of education and I am a university lecturer?! Just because you got a young woman lying in your bed?! Do you think you’re better than me, Farid?! Well, you’re not!”

It was all I heard before a loud crashing sound jerked me fully awake. Red stained the milk rug in the centre of the suite and I saw the minister struggling to produce his last breaths. I ran towards the door so I could get his bodyguards to come to help him, but my H.O.D got to me first.

“Help! Somebody help! The minister! The minister is dying! Please! Someone!”

“No one is going to hear you, my dear. These doors are for high-profile individuals, so of course, they had to be soundproof for when they are busy with their businesses. No one will hear your cry for help to save him. Or you.”

Save me?! What does he mean?!

I heard two slaps across both sides of my face before I felt them. He must have slapped the drunkenness out of my eyes because I sobered up immediately after. He pounced on me and started tearing my clothes. It was the worst experience of my life.

I knew I couldn’t keep up with the tough girl act anymore so I started begging him not to rape me. You would think that losing a lot in your life would make it easier to lose one more. I had lost a lot in my life, but I didn’t want to lose my innocence to a rapist either.

After thirty minutes of intense violation and desecration, he finally opened the door and left the room. He had locked all three of us in when he entered and the Minister’s bodyguards were not at the door when he opened it.

Whether he tipped them off or they went to get back up, I’ll never know. All I did know was that they came back an hour later and met me in the room with the dead minister.

After the rape, it was impossible to get down from the bed, much more walk away. I didn’t even think to run away. If anything, I had thought it would only make me appear more suspicious at the time.

Little did I know that the Nigerian police did not give a damn about proper investigations. All they wanted was someone to pin the murder on and I had presented myself on a gold platter.

I was arrested for the murder of the minister of education, Mr Farid Limbo.

After several interrogations and court proceedings, the court agreed to my rape plea and ruled it manslaughter instead of rape. I continued to plead my innocence and told them that my H.O.D was responsible for the murder, but there was no evidence to back up my claim.

Besides, it’s just as they say…

“Dead men don’t talk.”

Against a university professor, my words don’t hold water. I was charged with manslaughter and I awaited my sentence in the final ruling.

***

Twenty-One Years Later

The judge’s voice droned softly as I listened to my second life sentence. Only this time I had no anger or resentment inside me. I watched as people whispered to each other about the forty-two-year-old woman that was about to get sentenced again after her second murder.

“Miss Shantell, any closing words before I read your verdict?”

Any final words, uh?

It’s funny how this is my second trial involving the death of someone. I once had faith in the justice system of this country. I cried to the justice system that not only was I innocent, but I had also been raped. Just because I didn’t have class or connections, my words fell on deaf ears. Now, what? Second trial?

My entire life has been a bloody, goddamn trial.

After I came out I had only one purpose– to get justice for the man the justice system failed to apprehend. I wasn’t going to continue allowing a rapist and a murderer walk freely on the streets.

Even if it costs me my own life.

“In this case, I do not plead innocent. I killed the man. I plead guilty. And if I had it to do all over again, I’d still kill him. If you could not listen to the cries of an innocent little girl, this fool at forty has nothing to say to you.

My entire life has been a trial. You were only opportuned to witness this one in court. I am not ashamed of what I did and I do not deny it. You can do whatever you want with my life now. It’s not like I have a future to look forward to anymore.”

The judge nodded slowly and read my lifelong sentence out to me.

“Court!!!”

All images are sourced from istockphoto