AFTER THE SHADOWS: A Thin Escape

Chapter 6

After a few days later, it was time for him to have his fate sealed. He could not imagine what was awaiting him back at school. He prepared himself and left early enough.

Maxine still could not leave his side for she was the first to wish him victory via a text message that morning. This got James warmed up and elevated his hopes that God was to stand by his side and be his Judge.

James did not have the fear of losing the case for nothing. In the current world, James knew that being accused of rape and getting off the hook was a miracle. A girl child was not to be easily defeated on this matter.

Indeed, things did not go as bad as James thought. During hearing of the case, Julia still stood by her accusations against James. On the other end, James stood by his innocence. 

Luckily enough, the students were willing to testify to save James from Julia’s satanic trap. Julia was not aware of this and she never could expect anything of that kind. As far as she was concerned, James' time in Munyari Secondary School was over. 

After James and Julia made their stand concerning the case, it was time for the principal to give a speech about the same and bring to light the existence of witnesses.

“It is clear that even after the time that we gave for both James and Julia to think about their stand on this matter; nobody seems to have changed their minds. This makes it difficult to decide who is innocent and who is lying. Luckily enough, God came to our rescue and some students came to us and offered to testify in favor of their teacher. I thereby ask for your patience as these students testify,” the principal said.

The students were called into the office to give their testimonies. They witnessed that, ever since the day James was suspended from school, Julia had been telling them that she was willing and ready to stop at nothing to see him go completely and that James did not want to rape her but turned her request to become friends down. The rape was a payback for him refusing to play along.

To her shock, all the students that gave testimony said that Julia had them fooled and accused James falsely. Upon hearing this, Julia had nothing else to do rather than feel shame. As much as she hated it and least expected the case turned against her like an angry and hungry beast in search of its next meal. Her parents more so the father could not comprehend this. Their daughter was not only a dictator but also a terrible liar all along and an outcast in the society.

“Actually Mr. Principal, I am deeply sorry for all the problems my daughter has caused you. I am also very sorry to have been so tough on you and Mr. James. I was only doing my duty as a parent; wanting the best for my daughter. It is a shame that she had to tell such a lie against Mr. James and to all of us. Mr. James, please have it in your heart to forgive us,” said Julia’s father.

“It is okay. I have nothing against you. Any parent would do the same for their children. You have done no mistake at all. On the contrary, your daughter is not as innocent as you are. She made the mistake of lying not only against me but to all of you also. I assume she did not know what she was doing and therefore, I have forgiven her too,” said Mr. James.

“Thank you, Mr. James, and if there is anything that we can do to cater for your losses please let us know,” said Julia’s father.

“It is okay Mr. Anderson. The school will take care of Mr. James' losses. All that is required for you is to take time with your daughter and talk as well as find another school for her.,” said Mr. Peterson.

“Of course Mr. Peterson; thank you so much. (Turns to daughter) As for you, I am very disappointed with you Julia. How could you tell such a lie against your teacher? You should be ashamed of yourself and this is unforgivable. Mr. James and the principal might have forgiven you but I will not! If you must know, I will not find another school for you. You will find it yourself and after you get one, be ready to pay the school fees because I will not again! You are such a disgrace to our family,” said Mr. Anderson.

“I am sorry papa…,” said Julia.

“Do not papa me Julia. I am very disappointed in you,” said Mr. Anderson.

“I did not mean to disgrace you like this. Please forgive me, dad. Mr. Peterson, please beg him for me. I will never do this again,” said Julia.

“Julia, as you can see, your father is very disappointed in you. Whatever you did was beyond humanity. As it seems, you have to do better than just apologizing in order to win your father’s heart and trust again,” said Mr. Peterson.

“Mr. Peterson, do not waste your time with her. She never would listen, neither will she now. I thought she had changed when I brought her here but as it seems, she is one hard nut to crack, just another fox in sheep’s skin. As a lesson to you and others like you, you will spend the whole year out of school. This way, you will know the importance of school and mannerism too, period.” said Julia’s father.

“Just go easy on her Mr. Anderson. She is young and may not know the intensity of what she has done. Just give her a second chance,” said Mr. Peterson.

“A second chance you say Mr. Peterson but tell me, if I told you to give her a second chance in your school, would you do it? Just tell me Mr. Principal! For how long will she remain young and not knowing? It is time she paid for her sins. Too bad she has to grow up like this.” asked Mr. Anderson.

“I just wish I could have her back but as you have just witnessed, her classmates rejected her. This being the case, there is not much that we can do. Just think about forgiving her. She is still your daughter you know.” said Mr. Peterson.

“It will take time to get this off my chest but I will try. Thank you for everything, Mr. Peterson. I appreciate the way you have handled this matter. In fact, if only all the teachers were like you, our schools would be better places for our children. Once again, thank you,” said Julia’s father.

After everything was over, she was expelled from school and James was accepted back to teaching. He could not believe it that his students had saved nine. He knew that they loved him but not that much. Afterward, Mr. Peterson apologized to him and congratulated him for not losing his hope.

He was compensated for the two weeks lost and the damages caused. Later, he could not thank the students enough for what they had done for him. On the other end, they told him that they did nothing for him but did the right thing, to root out the evil in their school. At last, akwaura kirang’a, the gecko was off his back. He was finally a free man once more.

Having this ending so well, James told his love Maxine and they made merry about it. For James’ parents, they could not get words to express themselves. They had done what no parent could have done just for the fear that, they could take care of the fines and charges that James could be fined if he was found guilty, hence the harshness.