“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 reality. “His free…”
“Yes, he is.” Steven told me. “He’s being let out on bail.”
“How much is it?” I asked him.
“The bail is paid down by administration, you’ll find out there.”
“Can you take me there?” I asked grimacing. Steven had already won the case for me, I felt like a burden now, still bothering him.
He didn’t respond, just grabbed his case from the desk and lead the way.
“And will he be set free right away?” I asked Steven as we took the stairs up.
“After about an hour of the bail being paid, for protocol reasons.” He pushed his huge classes above his nose. “They’ll have to do his stats.”
“Stats?”
“Vital signs… STD’s and all.”
When we got where we were supposed to pay the bail. There was a queue.
“Oh my… I have to be there when he is set free.” I told Steven as the realization hit me. “He doesn’t know anyone in this city.”
Steven didn’t respond. Just looked at me, like it didn’t matter to him what I chose to do with my life. “I’ll leave you with my bank card and give you my pin.” I told him.
“Uh… I’m not sure you are supposed to do something like that miss Genesis.” He told me frowning slightly.
“Steven, after what you did today, I completely trust you.”
I took out my bank card and put it in his hand. I told him the pin.
“Miss Genesis…” He was still trying to change my mind.
“Thank you so much Steven!” I said kissing him on the cheek as he moved away from me awkwardly.
A few people that had seen this happen giggled.
“I’m sorry!” I shouted back at him as I ran out of the area.
I ran all the way out of the court until where we had parked the car. The smile on my face, from ear to ear. Finn was behind me running too. I didn’t even have to tell Finn where I was going. It was so obvious.
“Should we go?” Finn asked me as he quickly put on his seatbelt.
“Yes.” I beamed.
He started the car and we were on our way to Duran State Penitentiary. I felt like shouting out of the backseat car window, shouting the news for the whole world to hear. Yoké is free!
When we got there I did a quick face check in the rearview mirror. I had applied make up before leaving but not the going-to-meet-the-love-of-your-life type of applied. I took out my portable make up bag and began applying; grateful that my mom had gotten me that see-through little bag with all that I needed, to look beautiful for Yoké. When I finished, I quickly removed my jacket and threw it in the back seat. I was wearing navy skinny jeans with a plain purple hooded jacket, what was I thinking? I fixed my hair up a little. Gosh I hadn’t even put on perfume this morning! Either way, I came out of the car and sat on the trunk facing the big electrical gates, like the girls normally did in movies. Waiting.
Yoké would be walking out of here at any moment now! Finn was standing next to me with his arms behind his back and those black shades he never removed. It felt like forever, Yoké was still no where to be seen. What if there was another exit and he had already left years ago? Or worse, what if he did leave through here but before we arrived? I was about to step down from the trunk to ask the officer at the gate but then I saw him… It was really him, in the same black jeans and black hoodie. He was accompanied by a chubby officer with a potbelly. They were strolling down the pathway that lead to the electric gate. When I saw him I got down and took a few steps forward. Yoké hadn’t seen me yet, he was just walking aimlessly. Isn’t he expecting to see me here, waiting for him, like he expected me to be in the courtroom? When he raised his head and his eyes caught mine staring, my heart started to race.
He kept his eyes on me even as the big electrical gate buzzed open. Even as the officer beside him told him something, which he didn’t respond to. The potbelly officer stood there and let Yoké continue alone out of the gate. The gate closed behind Yoké and he stood there just looking at me as if he was seeing me for the first time. My Yoké was right here, a couple feet away! An inevitable grin stole over my face and I found myself running towards Yoké to hug him. I just wanted him in my arms. I just want him to hug me back tightly, for a long time. As I ran to him, I remembered how it felt to be in his embrace, I remembered his scent. Oh his indescribable scent. That’s all I wished for right now. Him and only him.
I finally reached him, with my arms stretched out wide I was ready to receive him in mine. With my hands half way around is neck, he held out his hands towards me, which stopped me from hugging him. It made me stagger back a little.
“Hey!” Finn said and made a move to catch me from falling. I didn’t fall. The impact wasn’t that great. Finn then stepped forward, hand on the butt of his gun from under his suit jacket. I put a hand out to stop him from intervening. He looked towards me. I shook my head once, a clear sign to step back. He did.
But Yoké… Did Yoké just stop me from hugging him? I looked up at him, he was not smiling. He had a frown across his face. His eyebrows touching like they normally did each time he frowned. But this frown was not the one he had on the first day we met, when he was trying to figure out which language I understood. There was a mixture of sadness, anger, hate, and hurt on his face. My smile faded into a confused frown.
“Yoké?”
“Where is my child?” He asked me, not breaking eye contact.
That question struck me like lightening, unexpected. I didn’t know what to say. I just stared back into his angry eyes. I couldn’t find the words to answer.
“I’m asking you,” he said through gritted teeth and then emphasized his next words by pausing after each word. “Where. Is. My. Child?”
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
After dinner the guests started leaving. As they left one by one I was trying to spot Delilah but she was no where to be seen. She had a red dress on, so it should’ve been easy for me to spot her. I still don’t understand what could have went wrong between mom and her. The smiles on their faces when mom came to take her from me… now all this anger?I felt an arm around me, it was Nathan. He squeezed me tight and kissed my cheek.“Who you looking for?” He smiled at me.“No one in particular. Just watching the guests leave.”“Oh they had a great time, Leticia is such a great host.”“Yeah they really did.”Nathan turned me towards him and put his arms around my waist.“What’s going on in your pretty little mind?” He asked me staring deep into my eyes as if h