I woke up around 7 on that Sunday morning. I made sure my phone was on so that I didn't miss any calls from Steven. After an hour of lying in bed and checking my phone a thousand times, I finally decided to do a breathing exercise just to try and relax. I felt like I was about to get a panic attack. While doing the exercises, I felt better but as soon as I finished, I found myself anticipating the result of the case again. What if? What if we lose? What will I do if we lose?
Although it was still early, I decided to go and take a shower just to keep my mind distracted on something else other than Yoké. When I was about to step into the shower I heard a knock on the front door. I heard Rosalie open the door. I hope that it isn't my father. When I came to the door, she was standing there with a bouquet of roses in her hand. Pink roses.
"Good morning ma'am." She greeted, holding the flowers towards me.
I frowned moving the flowers to one side, looking for a note. There was. The flowers were still in her hands.
Making sure that you are still thinking of me. Your one and only. Nat.
"Rosalie, please put them in water." I told her.
"Okay ma'am." She said, walking away.
Rosalie was the only maid I had. I didn't want one after coming back to Duran but mom insisted that I needed as much rest as possible, especially after she heard my water well experiences. So I had no choice but to get one. Rosalie doesn't stay with me. She stays at the mansion, only gets here around 6 in the morning and leaves around 6 in the evening. She usually just cleans, cooks and does my laundry. Much like Gamu. The only difference was that we were not friends. Rosalie couldn't even begin to be friends with me. She feared me so much even though I didn't give her a reason to.
I went into the bathroom with my phone and placed it on the toilet pot so that I could get to it quicker if it rang. I didn't sing in the shower this morning. I kept the water pressure low and avoided any unnecessary noise that could cause me not to hear my phone.
When I finished dressing I decided that I should go to the courthouse. I couldn't bare sitting here like this. Waiting wasn't doing me any good. I had to be there and watch everything unfold before me. It was now a few minutes past 9. As I was about to leave the house my phone began ringing. I panicked and started rummaging my purse for it. To my dismay, It was not Steven calling. It was Nathan.
"Hey." I said in monotone.
"Hey baby." He said on the other side. "Get the flowers?"
"Oh!" I realized that I hadn't even called to say thank you or texted. "Yeah I actually just received them and was about to call you now."
"You like them?"
"Of cause. You know I love roses." I told him.
I started loving roses after Yoké's lesson with the village kids. The three men lesson. I felt butterflies in my stomach suddenly. Feeling nervous. Nervous for today's outcome.
"Yeah I knew you'd like them." He told me as I stopped in front of my black mustang, the door already opened, for me. "Anyway, Raphael just told me that your mom decided to throw a party tonight. So suddenly."
"Yeah... That's my mom..."
"So I'll pick you up tonight then we can go together." He told me. "Sounds good?"
"What time is the party?" I asked him.
"All your family parties are always in the evening. You forgot?" He chuckled.
"Yeah sure then. It sounds good." I said.
I got into the back seat. I was waiting for him to hang up so Finn could start the car.
"Alright." He replied. He sounded so relaxed on the other side. As if he was not planning on hanging up anytime soon. "What are you doing now?"
"I'm still in bed actually." I told him.
"Yeah me too." He responded. "Wish you were here..."
For a second I didn't know what to say. Just sat there impatiently tapping my foot.
"Yeah, hey?" I responded. "You know what. I think I'm gonna go take a shower now. I'll call you later."
"Sure babe." He said.
"Alright."
"Love you..."
I had to be evil not to, so I replied, "I love you, too."
***
When I got to the courthouse, I covered my head with the hoodie of my coat. But what's the use? People seemed to recognize me anyway. With Finn behind me as usual, we made our way to court B3. Yoké wasn't there, like Steven had said. There were only a few people in the courtroom sitting down. Steven was in front, standing before the prosecutor and talking. It was mostly law jargon so I didn't understand most of the things he was saying. He was mentioning laws and sections and numbers and letters.
There was another man sitting at the front that kept interrupting him and saying "Objection, your honor."
I sat in the last row and looked at Finn next to me. He returned my gaze. He looked back at me like he was about to ask me why I was so concerned with the Danlie Forbes case. But he knew that it was not in his job description to question or intervene in my private matters, unless it was related to my safety, of cause.
I sat through an hour of "your honor" and "objection" from both Steven and the other lawyer. After that, the prosecutor retired to her chambers.
I came up to Steven.
"What's happening?" I asked him. "Are we winning?"
"That state lawyer is really good. He keeps finding ways to make my points seem so weak." Steven said fixing his glasses on top of his long nose. "Just keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. At least a lighter sentence."
After he said that I just felt completely hopeless. Like when you know there's no chance of something you want happening but still stand there waiting.
"When the prosecutor comes back, she'll tell us her final decision."
I didn't know what to say so I went back to my seat and sat down. Lauren told me that whenever I am in a difficult situation, I should always try to think of something positive about that situation no matter how bad it is. So I tried to think of something more positive that could come out of this. Well,, at least now Steven would put me on Yoké's visiting list and I would be able to visit him all the time.
The prosecutor came back from her chamber.
"All rise." The same policeman at the door said.
We all stood up and then sat back down when the prosecutor sat down. When she began speaking my heart started beating faster. It was as if all the other little noises were now muffled and only her voice reigned. I heard every word she said this time. I still can't remember in which order she said it, because it didn't matter after I heard the most important part of her speech. The verdict.
“I took in account that this is the accused’s first felony and hereby decide that he can be let out on bail. But if the accused is to commit another felony within 5 years, his punishment will be tight.” She banged her gavel. “This case is closed.”I almost screamed with excitement. I even hugged Finn! He didn’t hug me back, obviously. I didn’t care. I jumped out of my seat and struggled out of the bench. I ran towards Steven and hugged him too.“Oh my God!” I said placing my hands on my head, my mouth in an ‘o’. I still couldn’t believe this.“We did it.” Steven was smiling at me. He didn’t look excited, just wore a professional smile.“Oh my God…” I said. It had still not completely registered. It all just felt like a dream and I was afraid I would wake up anytime and have to face the odd rea
Yoké was asking me for his child. It then occurred to me that he didn’t know anything, not what happened. I had to tell him everything. It is his right to know and here he is demanding an answer.I instinctively looked around as I realized that we were in public. The officers with nothing better to do at the gate were already watching us. Dad had warned me about the public, about protecting our company and not giving people reason to doubt our assurity. What worse reason than to be here in front of a prison with an ex-convict demanding for the child that was taken away from him? A child he now wanted to meet.“Yoké, we can’t talk here.” I told him. “Let’s go to my apartment.”“I don’t want to go anywhere with you, I want to know where my child is.” His voice firm and his face still with that frown.“I know, but right now we are in publ
Yoké frowned as if he was trying to figure me out.“Why aren’t you telling me where my Risa is?” He asked me. “Who is she with?”A tear rolled down my eye. I quickly wiped it away, took a deep breath in and held my breath. “She’s gone, Yoké.”“What do you mean she’s gone? Gone to where?”“Our Risa is dead-" I couldn’t control myself anymore, I let the river I had been holding back all these months finally flow. I began to cry. “She was born still.” His facial expression didn’t change, he just continued to look at me with that frown.“What are you saying?” He asked me shaking his head like I was saying something that he couldn’t believe. “Yoké she didn’t cry. She died in my stomach. I didn’t even get a chance to hold her in my arms.” I told him. “I didn’t even see what color were her eyes…” Yoké’s mouth fell and it stayed that way for a while before he shook his head. “No. That’s not true.”I clapped my hand over my mouth as I almost cried out loud. I felt so heart broken, the whole
There were dark marks all over his back and arms. I came to sit next to him on the couch to have a better look but he began fixing his sweater. He pulled his hoody back on and sat with his arms on his thighs and his head in his hands.“Who did this to you?” I asked him.“They would have killed me if the officers didn’t walk in on time. They told me that that was going to be my last day on earth.” Yoké said. “But I’m fine.”“Do you remember their faces?”He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter-”“Yes it does, Yoké.” I told him. “I’ll report each one of them for doing this to you and make sure they never set foot outside those walls ever again. You could have died.”“Living… dead, why do you care now?” He shrugged.&n
“Yoké how did you get here?” I asked him suddenly feeling a bunch of emotions rushing in. “Why did you let me go Yoké? Do you know how it felt living without you?”I began crying.He reached out and wiped my tears but didn’t say anything.“The only reason I decided to move on was because I had her. I was gonna have a little you around me, that’s the only hope I was hanging on to but-”“Shh…” Yoké interrupted. “Come here…”I laid on his chest, he covered me with the blanket and put his arms around me. He was still warmer than normal. I wiped my tears and closed my eyes for a while. Tranquility, that’s what I felt. How did I survive more than a year away from him? How did I survive it? I hugged him tighter and tighter as I realized how much I’ve been missing him.
“That’s my father coming in!” I lied. “He can’t see you here.”He sighed heavily and shook his head. “And why not?”“Come on.”“So it’s fine for him to see you and Nathan kissing but simply seeing me here is a problem?”“I’m really sorry. Come, you’ll leave through the back door.”“Why? Because you don’t want your fiancée to see me?”“What do you mean?” I asked impatiently, aware that Nathan would be on my front steps any minute now.“You are lying to me.” He said. “I know that’s not your father.”I gulped.“Look how easy it has become for you to just lie to me.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen enough of you all on
On the whole drive to the mansion, I couldn’t stop thinking about Yoké. Was he okay? Did he manage to get home? Where was his ‘home’? Would I ever see him again? I still couldn’t get over the fact that I let him walk out of my life once more. I’ve always told myself that if God had to give me one more chance to go back and do things differently, I would have made sure we never got caught. Been more careful. Just so that I would never have to live a day without Yoké. God gave me that chance but I threw it away again. How could I let him walk out of my life again? But then I remembered, Yoké knew where I lived now. I was certain that he would realize that he had made a huge mistake and come knocking again at my front door. Well the securities would never allow him inside the premises so he’d be at the gate, ringing the bell. Either way, he’d be back. That gave me closure.“Why are you smiling by
She smiled at me softly, and I smiled back.“Oh Delilah!” Mom came to break the spell. “You didn’t even come say hi to me.”“Oh Leticia!” Delilah exclaimed back.Mom took Delilah’s hand away and they walked away. I looked over at the refreshment table where I had spotted dad and Alice but they were no longer there. With my eyes, I followed mom and Delilah up the stairs and watched them enter mom’s office.“Couzie!” Francis suddenly hugged his arms around me from behind.He turned me towards him and gave me a big hug, almost leaving me breathless.“We thought you wouldn’t come!” He beamed, showing off his perfect white teeth which cost him more than 2000 dollars per tooth.“Why wouldn’t I?”“Nathan said you were