The following day came and, it was time for James and his cellmates to be taken to court. In the lorry, they got and away they drove under tight guard. After a short while, they were already at the court. They alighted and shown where to stay in wait for their trials. This morning, James could not meet with Vero. The only person he could meet with before the case was Jude, his lawyer.
Jade went to see him to update him on what they had and to encourage him. Jade had already prepared the questions and the defending speech in the court. Since Jade was one of the very best in the town, James had a reason to smile. He knew that Jade would not let him go down the drain for a crime he did not commit.
On the other side, Carol being the plaintiff was also to be at the courts this day. She also had found herself a lawyer to represent her. She seemed happy and confident that she was to win the case. More so, she was happy that she was about to get revenge on James and Vero. By t
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AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 22
JUDGE: Objection overruled. You may proceed with the question.JADE: Thank you your honor. So, Susan, you say that, you believed what Carol told you because she was your friend and hurt, right?SUSAN: Yes. Carol is my friend and I believed her every word. She also looked to be in pain and she was half-naked with her inner clothes torn.JADE: Did you notice anything apart from what you have just told the court?SUSAN: No, that is all that I saw.JADE: So, there was no blood on Carol’s clothes or torn inner wears?TIMON: Objection your honor. It is obvious for the victim who is Carol in this case to bleed after James forced himself on her.JADE: Your honor, it is necessary for the witness to state whether she saw the blood on any of Carol’s clothes when she met her.JUDGE: Objection overruled. You may proceed with the question.JADE: Thank you your honor. So… Susan, did you see any blood on Carol&r
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 23
After Susan and Damaris finished giving their testimony, it was time for Carol to give her side of the story. She was the plaintiff. The prosecutor called her to the stand. As usual, she started by saying her names and swearing that she was to tell the truth. She placed her right hand on the Bible and went ahead to swear. After she was done, it was time for her to give her story.TIMON: Can you please tell the court your official name as it appears on your I.D card.CAROL: My name is Caroline Njema Mutuku.TIMON: Carol, can you tell the court what happened on Friday afternoon.CAROL: I had just finished my classes and got back to my hostel room. My friends and roommates had gone out and therefore, I was alone in the room. As I was tidying our room, I heard a knock at the door. I went forward to open. It was James. I welcomed him inside. He asked me of Vero’s ware bouts and I told him that, she had gone out. He tried to call her but her
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 24
After Carol gave her side of the story, it was time for James to give his side of the story too. The court clerk read him his rights and he decided to cross over to the other side to the witness stand. At this stand, he was sworn and he was viable to be asked questions. He was sworn by his counselor and on he went to tell his story.JADE: Can you please tell the court your full name as indicated on your I.D Card?JAMES: My name is James Mwendi Kaburia.JADE: Can you tell the court where you were and what happened on the afternoon of Friday last week?JAMES: Yes. I had just come from my morning classes and had no other lesson that day. Since it was a weekend, I decided to surprise my girlfriend by visiting her without telling her. I left my hostel and walked to Vero’s hostel. When I arrived in their room, I knocked and the door was answered. I met Carol, who was busy doing her tidiness. I greeted her and asked her of Vero’s ware bouts. She told
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 25
JAMES: It is because no one was in the rooms. Being on a weekend, they had all gone out to various places. If I had escaped, how then did the police find me in the room when they arrested me?TIMON: How then did your shirt end up torn and with bloodstains in the hands of Carol.JUDE: Objection your honor.JUDGE: Objection overruled. Answer the question please.JAMES: I cannot know how she got the shirt blood stained and torn but what I do know is I had left it with my girlfriend Vero when I visited her.TIMON: You say you did not force yourself on her but the results from the hospital indicate otherwise. How is this, James?JAMES: Well, I did say that I slept with Carol but she claimed to love me and begged me to do it. What I did not do is force myself on her. Whatever that happened after I left the hostel, I cannot explain.TIMON: Are you saying that Carol is lying to the court?JAMES: No. I have not said such words. What I a
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 26
After the two weeks were over, it was time for the verdict by the jury. James, Vero and Jude went to the court for the listening of the verdict. Carol and Timon too were present for the hearing. The results from the hospital had been done and given to the court. This day, there was no listening of the case anymore but the final verdict by the jury. After a short while of waiting, the judge entered and the hearing session began. The judge read the jury’s verdict.JUDGE: The final hearing of the case of Caroline Njema Mutuku against James Mwendi Kaburia. The test results from the hospital were forwarded to the court as requested and the jury was able to come up with the verdict for this case. From the testimonies that were given against James in this court, it is clear that, none of the witnesses actually witnessed the incident. Therefore, it was hard for the court to prove that in deed James forced himself on Carol. However, the results from the hospital sh
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 27
A few years later, Vero graduated from college. She had not gotten herself another boyfriend because she was still in love with James and was willing to keep on hoping he would come back. Carol too and her friends graduated from school but had not done as well as Vero. Most of their time in college was spent on partying and exploiting whomever they could for money to pay for their parties. James’ parents had already given up hope of their son ever coming back home or getting in touch with them again.For James, his money was no more. He had nothing from his land sales. He was now depending on odd jobs for money to pay for his companion. One day, he took a little too much. He also mixed it with the stress from his life. Normally, when alcohol and stress are mixed inside one’s system, things do not go so well. It becomes a very explosive and deadly mixture. This is what James had done. The mixture did give in and he decided to get it out on people. He fought one of
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 28
James did not respond to any questions she asked. He was in a bad state of hangover. The officer did not mind and just kept at asking the questions. Finally, James got himself together and started answering the questions. She wanted to know why he would waste his life so bad. James gave lame answers all the time. He did not tell the officer anything about his life nor why he did whatever he was doing. Every time he would tell her that, it was his destiny and that life was not always fare.This got the officer even more interested in knowing more about James. She finally released him. James could not comprehend why an officer would care about his life. It was not in the nature of police officers to care about the wellbeing of the people to that level. He could not get the reason for her interest and that is why he answered questions in a lame manner. As it seemed, the only time a police officer would care to know about someone is if the person is in trouble or has caused some
AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape Chapter 29
This was hard for him to accept but promised to do something about it. He was also advised on maintaining his cleanliness to avoid being mistaken for someone he was not. He was to shave his overgrown hair and beard as well as shower regularly. He promised to do all this. Finally, the officer was done and she left. James was so much astonished by the fact. He could never comprehend an officer caring so much about anyone. He realized the world still had people with humanity and doing the right things the right way.All day long, he just thought of what the lady officer had told him. To some point, it all made sense to him to get in touch with his loved ones. In fact, this being away from them made him even worse. He decided to head to the bar and have a drink as he thought about it. He sipped bottle after bottle. This day, the beers would not cut it. He decided to go for a stronger choice. He decided to take spirits. After draining two bottles of this direct injection, he switc
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