2022-01-22 20:42:13On his way home, James could not understand why life had proven to be so tough on him. To some extent, he thought something he did that God was not happy about and suffering was the punishment. On the other side, being a Christian, he properly understood that God could never do such a thing to him. He is a forgiving God. In conclusion, James thought of it as the suffering he had to go through to salvation.
Mr. Peterson had been a principal for such a long time to know that students can be cunning sometimes. He sent James on the suspension because he needed to release the tension in school and so that he could have a good time to know the truth about the matter.
He knew that once Julia saw James go, she could show her reaction and from this, he could tell what happened. After all, he was sure that Julia would eventually want to show herself to the others and tell them the whole story.
One thing there is for a fact is that a teenager was, is and will always be a teenager. One can never conceal their emotions at this stage. At least not for long before, they explode. A teenager is a ticking time bomb. This was the case for Julia. She felt such a winner and she had to prove it to the rest of the students.
Julia went ahead to share her story with her friend telling them that she had found the best way to be immune to the teacher's wrath and to be feared. She told them of what she had done to James for refusing to honor her request for seduction. She could not mask her feelings and ego to keep these stories untold.
Lucky enough for James, the students hated their teacher’s absence. They shared this information with the principal and volunteered to testify against Julia in the next hearing of the case. Julia was not aware of this.
Everybody in school had learned of who Julia really was. Before the episode, Julia was still a hard nut to crack. She was the kind that did not care about anything including her studies.
She was in school just because her parents had paid the fees and because it was normality for all to go through schooling. The other teachers including the principal knew about this but they could not rush to the conclusion that she was lying.
On the other end, James' life was proving to be tough. He had no job currently and all he had was to sit in his room for days thinking about the outcome of the case and many prayers asking God to deliver him from Delilah.
He never imagined that his life of being a teacher was to be ended by a student like that. The worst part of this story for him was that his parents had learned about his suspension and the case. He never thought of them that much against him but he was surprised that even they thought that he wanted to rape the girl.
The reason they had to prove this is that James was a dictator and one who could not listen to anybody. This was why he had to run away from home. Above this, they said that he went to rent his own house away so that he could be soiling these young schoolgirls without anybody knowing about it.
These accusations made James' brains to boil as he was in search of a solution. The worst for him was how to explain the story to his girlfriend to prove his innocence. Lucky enough for him, she was not the type to jump on things anyhow and she listened to him.
In the whole saga, she happened to be the only person in support of James though he thought she could be the first to bail out.
One morning, he was woken by the tunes from his phone. It was a message from one of his high school buddies. It was on Valentine’s Day and James had no clue whatsoever. This text message got him up to speed.
Without any more waste of time, he had to make the best out of the day and get the pressure off his head concerning Julia’s case for a while. It was time for him to be with his love. Time to offload!
He called his Girlfriend Maxine to invite her over to his place so that they could celebrate together. Maxine on the other side was very excited by this call from her lover James. Without waste of time, she prepared herself to go meet her love and spend the day together.
Before she could leave, she was supposed to notify her parents of her ware bouts. In the African community, it is a taboo for a girl to visit a man privately before marriage. Be that as it may, Maxine did not care about that.
Those ethics were meant for their parents and not them. To her, they had already been passed by time. She could not tell her parents that she was going to visit James though. She knew that if they found out about it, her day could be ruined with the rumors that were ongoing about James.
She made up an excuse in order to get permission to leave her home. Their parents were not aware of this relationship yet. It had not come time for them to know about it. Away Maxine went on to meet her love.
On the other end, James went out to prepare in wait for his love and to get her gifts. From Maxine’s home to James' place, it was not a long distance. It was just a short walking distance and then a ten-minute travel distance.
Thirty minutes later, Maxine was at James' place. James was so happy to see her. It had been quite some time without James having shown a smile on his face. This day was different. He had to make it up for those others that he had been sad and deep in thoughts.
Just like the rest of the population of lovers, these two lovebirds made the best out of their day and shared many promises about not leaving each other, as it is always normality during this day.
As the day was ending, James and Maxine had the best of it. Maxine encouraged James not to give up and to strive and stand by the truth. Birds of a feather flock together. Maxine was a Christian just like James. Just to let you know, James and Maxine were from the same church.
Apart from them being from the same neighborhood, they went to the same church. She was deep in faith just like James. With all the comforts from her, James got his strength back and was ready to face Julia in the next hearing.
Finally, it was evening and they parted after spending the day together and visiting a few places for fun. Though James had been comforted by his girlfriend, he could not get the whole fear out of him.
He still could not help thinking about what could happen if things did not go to his favor and his losing the job afterwards. On the other hand, he was afraid of the people’s rebukes even in the church where he was a leader and of what he was to say and do if, everything turned sour.
It was time to let go and meditate on the beautiful moments he had with Maxine during the day. It was time for him to let bygones be just bygones.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Somewhere, in one of the great and iconic countries of East Africa was a small town. It was in this small town that two among God’s wonderful creation met and fulfilled one of the greatest commandments. They fell in love. Not too long after, a miracle happened and a boy child was born. No amount of effort could fade the joy and smile on their faces upon holding him in their hands. It was a miraculous and glorious moment.As it turned out, they surely had a reason to praise God in thanksgiving for the special gift. Years later, he grew… no, wait a minute… well, I grew to fulfill my destiny, as it was the will of God. The name of my Country is Kenya, and, that of my town, the great Meru. It was after very many years of challenges and what some might refer to as ignorance and failures that I finally figured myself and the true purpose of my birth.God Almighty brought me to this earth as a messenger of his True word to his p
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
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
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
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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
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
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
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
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
