Two Worlds - Season 1 - Episode 67

Episode 4 years ago

Two Worlds - Season 1 - Episode 67

The High Court was larger than the Magistrate’s Court where the preliminary was heard. Here, everyone was able to secure a seat, worsening the side talks. Richard was glad he didn’t have large ears to hear the talks.

Erneto Aives staffs dominated the first row. He wished they could know how innocent he was, how innocent their CEO was. Ivie and Jide sat on the last row, carrying faces which were like a guilty verdict. The white girl sat beside them, her white face now black, but not black enough to hide that she believed he shot the man. Ezinne sat behind him, where his eyes couldn’t reach, and he wouldn’t turn to have a glimpse of her. Everyone waited for the Her Ladyship, everyone except him. The woman best remained in her chambers or wherever she was.

The door behind the counter opened and Her Ladyship walked in. The court rose. Richard imagined the words that would be coming out from those rounded lips of hers.

She assumed bench and the court returned to the seats.

She studied a file on her desk, raised her head to Richard and drew the microphone closer to her mouth.

“You’re Mr Richard Djebah Fayemi?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Here with me is a copy of the indictment against you. Have you read a copy?” She sounded like the magistrate that heard the initial appearance and the preliminary, like every legal practitioner he had heard speak.
“Yes.”

“Have you and your attorney discussed it?”
“Yes.”

“I will now read you the charges filed against you.” She bowed her head to the file. “The court, as it is under its jurisdiction, presents that the defendant, Richard Djebah Fayemi, a native of the State of Lagos, deliberately and feloniously attempt to murder the person of Bakare Obafemi Damijo, on the seventeenth day of March, in an unnamed cherry orchard, in direct violation and against the peace, amity, and dignity of the State and Country.” She raised her head to him. “Do you understand the charges read against you?”
“I do.”

“And do you understand that if convicted, you might be sentenced to eight years imprisonment?”
“I do.”

“Do you plead guilty or not guilty to the charge?”

Pleading guilty would bring up a chance to bargain, and that could lessen whatever cross that would be placed on him. Most elites in the country gained freedom through plea bargains. A not-guilty plea would only forward the case to trial, and trials never had good endings. He turned to his lawyer who looked fixedly at him, and at behind his lawyer was Jide’s head bowed to the desk. Ivie’s eyes bored into Richard’s and in those eyes were the right words to utter. Richard fixed on Her Ladyship and stated the words to her. “Not guilty.”

The woman gazed at him. Her lips shook and moved. “Mr Richard Fayemi, based on your not guilty plea, your trial is set for July 6th, 10 A.M. All pre-trial matters must be filed before then.”

Richard stared at the woman. A male judge would have been better.
“Any motions?” she asked.

Mr Victor rose. “Yes, My Lady. The defence requests bail.”

“I’m sorry, Mr Victor, for I cannot grant bail in this case.”

A male judge surely would have been better.
Her Ladyship closed her file. “Mr Fayemi, you are to remain in jail until the trial.”
A corporal marched to Richard, and Richard gave his hands to the cuffs.

He fixed eyes to the door as the corporal led him out of the courtroom. From one hell to another.


The courtroom was getting empty. Erneto Aives staffs stopped by Jide before they headed for the door. Some asked if anything could be done to get their CEO out of the mess. Jide told them Richard was not guilty but refused to explain how. He told them to go home and pray the truth unfolded itself. Most left without smiles and few left with smiles. Lauren wondered how those few managed to smile.
She glanced at the few remaining in the courtroom and found she wasn’t the only one without smiles. The woman sitting by her was without, the one Jide said called Richard to the crime scene. Lauren wished she could hate her.

The woman rose and properly wrapped her camisole with its jacket. “I’m leaving, Jide.”

Jide offered a ride. She declined and stalked to the door. Lauren watched her and felt a speck of her pain.
“She must be very close to Richard,” Lauren said to Jide.

“Yes. I suppose she needs some time alone. I can imagine what she would be feeling.”
“How about you try talking to Rick’s wife. If she confesses and—”
“She wouldn’t. Rick’s lawyer said she shouldn’t be contacted.”

She gazed at the position where the wife had sat during the hearing and tried to carve out the look on her face, the look when the charges against her husband were read. “She might confess. She might.”
Jide looped a hand round her neck, faced her and muttered. “Nobody likes prison. Getting her to confess would be impossible. Proving it is better and more possible than a confession.”

His dimple marks had completely disappeared. A meandered vein followed the edge of his head, and the blood caged in them struggled for freedom.

“I would love to visit Richard,” she said.
“You are not on his visiting list.”
“Can’t you make it happen?”
“You could come with me on my next visit.”
“That will be when?”
“Thursday. I’ll pick you.”

Thursday was free, or she could make it free.
“I want to go home. Dad must have begun worrying.”

He removed his hands from her neck. “If you touch the steering now, the police might ask for license.”

She unzipped her purse and brought out a license card.

“They would know the difference between a fake and a real,” he said.
“This is real.”

His eyes sharpened as he took it from her.
“I clocked eighteen last month.”
“You didn’t tell me. I would have tried a birthday present.”
“With all of this going on, I wouldn’t want a present.”

She stood up and his eyes followed her up.
“You’ve grown tall,” he said. “Tall and beautiful.”

Every man said those to a woman, daddies told their daughters. It could mean nothing. It meant nothing.

“Thank you.”
“Drive safe.”
A tiny dimple formed on his cheek. There was no dimple, only an imagination. Sometimes, imaginations were good.