My Father's Son

The trial part 1.

"Sabrina,  your lawyer is here.", Tara said as the cell doors opened. In my handcuffs, I went to the visitors' bay to see which lawyer the government had provided me. I found him sitting with his back facing me in a clean, crisp grey suit. It reminded me of someone I knew. I was hoping it wasn't one of the fancy lawyers who only cared for a payday and winning cases at all costs without a care about their clients' needs and opinions. When I sat down facing him, you can not imagine the surprise I got. Marcus had chosen to be my lawyer. Thank the heavens! 

I went to hug him, but the guard's voice stopped me, "No contact with the prisoner!". I had so many questions to ask Marcus but the ones I could come up with were, " Why did you choose to represent me? Won't Jake be mad at you? Won't this ruin your friendship?" 

Marcus replied' " Whoa whoa, come down  Sab, I believe you are innocent and about Jake,  he can handle himself,  besides am doing him a big favor and if he can't see that, that is his loss. Also, I am doing this pro bono, you don't have to pay me. So let's begin from the beginning."  So I began to narrate to him all that had happened and we agreed to meet the following day in court. That night I could not even sleep, I was so anxious, a gazillion butterflies in my stomach kept me awake. My mind was on overdrive with all the possible scenarios of how the trial would go. The one that kept replaying was the one where the court gave me life imprisonment because, for one,  Jake's family were quite influential considering that his father was a  billionaire and they were going to get the best lawyer in the country or even pay the judge to change the ruling in their favor. At some point, I fell asleep and when I woke up it was morning,  time to face the music.

On our way to court, I had to hide my face from all the journalists with flashing lights and cameras and microphones, who wanted to take pictures of and interview the woman who murdered their beloved celebrity billionaire.  They were like a pack of vultures, wolves who had found the finest piece of prey to devour. They all wanted me to be a piece of their 7 pm news headline. Once in court, the session began, as the presiding judge took his seat.  The case of the state against Sabrina Zawadi. Quite a highlight!

 The prosecutor was invited by the judge to give an opening statement, he began, " We are gathered here today to seek justice for our fellow citizen and most outstanding patriot, Jacob Milano who was murdered in cold blood by his son's girlfriend  Sabrina  Zawadi who is here with us today. Thank you, your honor."  The judge then called upon the defendant's lawyer, Marcus to make an opening statement. 

Marcus began, " My client is a victim of s****l abuse which was committed by the deceased and we have evidence, your honor, to prove that my client was sexually assaulted and the presumed murder on ...." in the middle of Marcus statement I lost all touch with my surroundings because I could only focus on one person in the room, Jake. He looked like a hot mess. I could not read any other emotions from his eyes but only hate, loathing and he was staring straight at me telling me  with his eyes,  ' I hope you rot in hell.'  His eyes then moved to Marcus and if looks could kill, he would have murdered Marcus.  I was jolted from my stupor when I heard the prosecutor say,  " Your honor allow me to call to the witness stand, the deceased son, Jake Milano."  When he walked to the stand with confidence and determination, I knew I was in for a long ride. He was not going to leave this war without a war.

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