#THE_MINISTER’S_SON
EPISODE 13
“Yes hunnie, alive and kicking.” She giggled. I was more than excited, I prayed that it won’t be a dream, it would be so terrible for me.
The truth was that my Serena was alive, I was very eager to know where she was and what made everyone including the media believe that she was dead. My mother decided to explain everything.
My Dad had paid the cops who were guarding Serena in the hospital, I had obviously requested the judge to make sure that Serena had security in her ward that is in Kenyatta hospital. I wasn’t aware that one of the cops as-signed the duty to guard her was Juma, the cop that had vowed to work with me. My Dad was not aware of it when he approached Juma and his colleague, offering them half a million each and promotions if they helped him to have Serena killed. Such a hvge offer couldn’t be ignored, Juma was aware that in case he turned the offer down, his p@rtner would do it and get the double pay. Juma was interested in saving Serena’s life as per our agreement, he arranged with one of the nurses whom she termed as a good Samaritan and they shifted Serena on the same night that she was supposed to be injected with a poisonous syringe. In the same hospital, a young girl of almost Serena’s age had died the same day as she was delivering a child, the kid survived but the girl died. The nurse therefore decided to replace Serena with the corpse of the poor girl. Unaware of it, Juma’s p@rtner c@m£ with the poisonous Syringe and injected the dead girl believing that it was Serena. Juma took some snaps as the b©dy was being carried away to the mortuary and s£nt them to my Dad who paid them instantly. Later on that day, every media reported about Serena’s death which to them was mysterious because she had been recovering, according to the doctors, she was out of danger but ‘maybe her wounded spinal cord had blocked or coll@psed, postmortem would pl@yits p@rt.’ By then Serena was on a hospital be-d in Mombasa. I was so moved by the story, I hadn’t imagined such a great job from Juma. I couldn’t help shedding tears of joy. I vowed never to loose Serena, I wanted to be out of prison to protect her, I wanted to marry her right away, I wanted her to bear me my first child. She had miscarriaged after the accident but I knew we would make another child.
I requested my mother to s£nd a million shillings to the Juma’s account but he objected.
“Sir, I must say that I would be doing myself a great injustice by continuously ma-king money from your struggle for a better nation, you struggle for us to live well, we should support you with no pay, I won’t take any cent from you anymore, besides am now being promoted and my salary would double my previous one.” I was moved by Juma’s words, there was no doubt that he was as wise as my late servant boy Brian. I didn’t oppose him but I thanked him for his loyalty.
“Thanks a lot Juma, thanks mom and Rozina.”
“Welcome my son, remember that the girl that died had a newborn, what do we do?”
“Oh that! If no one takes the child then will definitely be my kid, my child with Serena, what’s it gender?”
“A girl.” Mom replied. I wished it was a boy child but all in all I would be excited to adopt her as my own, she c@m£ when we nee-ded help, her existence saved Serena’s life. I proposed her name to be Victory Njeri, Njeri was my mother’s second name.
According to Juma, it was not wise to make regular calls to Serena, someb©dy might track the line and trace her. The best thing was for me to try and get out of jail so that we can try and file cases to all those who were involved in trying to kill Serena. On that evening, Juma introduced to me Detective Mwangi who would be investigating cause of the accident in which Brian and the driver died. I was determined to have Dad face the law for I believed that he was involved in all that had happened.
On the same evening I met with Maccain, my fellow lawyer whom I had requested to meet. Previously I had wanted him to file an appeal for my case in which Serena would be accused as the one who sh0t Joyce and I, now that I knew she was alive, I wanted him to advice me on what to do.
“Am sorry for everything David, I will try to help you, meanwhile we have to give your late Serena a good s£nd off.” He as well believed that Serena was dead. Her burial was to be in two days time, sometimes I got sad about it only to realize that it was a fake burial, they were to burry the wrong person. I wondered if my mother and Juma hadn’t pla-yed a trick on me, how comes no one had discovered that the corpse didn’t have Serena’s appearance? I had no choice than to remain in faith, I had hopes, big hopes.
“Yes, she must be buried like a queen, she was a queen to me. I have to revenge for her death, legal revenge.”
“First of all, let’s approach Joyce and convince to have you re-leased.” That was a good idea, the best at that time, Joyce was now at home and almost fully recovered. I wondered if she would have me re-leased.
“Knowing that Serena is dead, Joyce will have you re-leased so as to have a family with you.” He adviced, I saw some lights and I smiled at the idea.
I had not given Maccain my feedback when the door was pushed open, I raised my face to see Joyce Ndegwa and behind him Judas followed.
“Hello David.” Joyce greeted we didn’t hvg as used to do before, a cold handshake was enough. Judas shook my hand as well.
“So at long last am remembered?” I tea-sed. Judas smiled but Joyce didn’t.
“I don’t think anyb©dy would forget you David, my dream was to come and get you out of here not to see you as a prisoner, you deserve better.” Joyce remarked, she was bitter as she said it.
Judas shook his head in agreement with her words. I knew there was something behind them coming to get me out.
“David you have been a loyal friend to me since childhood…”
“But you betrayed me Judas, you weren’t loyal to me!” I felt so agitated, my few weeks in prison had no doubt changed me.
“David, I only wanted the best for you, I knew you would never be happy with Serena…”
“And you were to be happy with her? You tried to s£dûç£her Judas! My own fiancee, yet you call yourself my friend? Give me a break!”
Judas was a real idiot, Serena had told me everything, Judas had promised to marry her regardless of her condition before she had an accident and a miscarriage. How could he promise to marry a lady who was pregnant with my child?
“David am so sorry about that but it was your Dad’s plan.. ” He said apologetically.
“My Dad’s plan?”
“He paid me to do it, I did it believing it was a way of helping you.”
“My Dad paid you?!”
“Yes.”
“And like an idiot, you betrayed me because of money?!”
Our argument was so frictional and Joyce had to intervene. I hated Judas for that, though I promised to forgive him, I doubted if I would ever trust him again. How I wished Brian was still alive and get to know our betrayer. He would have said..”Sir! I told you sir, I warned you against trusting Judas..” Poor Brian, was he seeing everything from the world of dead? How I wished he lived to fight the battle of injustice with me.
“David.” Joyce broke the silence.
“Yes Joyce.”
“Its not my joy to see my husband in prison, now that the enemy to our marriage is gone, you have to get out of prison and build our family with me.” She stared at my face to notice any reaction, I kept calm.
“What do you say?” She inquired.
“Nothing.” I answered shortly, I still wasn’t sure on what to do and how to do it.
“You don’t want to be free?” Joyce sounded annoyed, annoyed because I had not appreciated her offer of getting me out.
“Well, how do you plan to get me out?” I was curious.
“I only nee-d to stand infront of the court and confess that Serena, the village girl sh0t me, it wasn’t you.” She explained. I cleared my throat, struggling to remain calm.
“In that case, I prefer dying in this prison. If we must use her for me to be free, am sorry , am ok here.” I headed for the door.
“No David!” Joyce was in front of me with tears.
“David! What is wrong with you? You are my husband! You know I love you, why are you so difficult to un-derstand?” She was crying. I pitied her, would she cry the whole of her life? I saw Judas and Maccain get out of the room.
Joyce was crying uncontrollably.
“Sorry Joyce.” I held her into my arms.”if you love me Joyce…”
“You know I love you David, I would do anything for you, am sorry I lost our child but we…” She said between sobs, she sounded so desperate.
“Alright alright. Take it easy, prove this by telling the court the truth, that you fell on your own gun and sh0t me accidentally.” I requested.
“But I will be jailed David!”
“Nob©dy will jail you because I won’t file any case against my wife.” She was moved by my words, she looked up into my eyes.
“Sure? You mean your words?” Her voice was so weak with emotions.
“I mean my words.” I lied looking aside and avoiding her sharp eyes. She wiped her tears.
“David I love you so much, do you love me?” She shook my b©dy.
“But I said it earlier.” I f0rç£d a smile.
“I want to hear it a million and one times.” She demanded.
I decided to give her a k!ssthan lie to her. Someb©dy pushed the door before I did it. If I was with Serena I would have gotten annoyed but now I saw it as an advantage.
“Your time is over David!” A cop from the door called. I knew I had taken more than the usual time that day.
Our agreement with Joyce was to have my case appealed after Serena’s burial. She wanted it to be done the following day but I requested her to let us s£nd Serena off first. She even volunteered to help in planning for her burial. She was obviously happy to have ‘me back’. All I wanted was to have the whole case cleared and she would never see me again.
************
During the burial, in the village where I had almost met my death. The compound was full of people, the media was there too. I was esc-rted by two armed cops into the burial, ‘Serena’s buria’. Most of the attention was on me as I approached the tent. My mother had promised to attend, I expected to meet Judas and Joyce as well. I was about to get into the tent, when Daniel, Serena’s young brother pu-ll-ed me by my shi-t.
“Hello Daniel .” I was excited to see him. I loved him.
“Sir David,that coffin there doesn’t contain my sister’s b©dy, that is not my sister.”He cried loudly attra-cting some attention. I was confused! She had seen the corpse alre-ady. Joyce and Judas stood behind me……
#THE_MINISTER’S_SON
EPISODE 14
I was totally confused, if Judas and Joyce weren’t with us, it would have been my ripe opportunity to tell Daniel that his sister was alive.
“Daniel plea-se, lets go this way Daniel.” I led him behind the houses, I never expected Joyce and Judas to follow us there. I promised them that we would be sited together ones I was throu-gh with comforting Daniel.
I made him sit on the green gras-s as I sat next to him. We clearly heard the proceedings of the funeral via the public address.
“Daniel, I loved and I still love your sister so much, she is all that made and makes my heart joyous.” I might have been emotional, my heart was warm towards Daniel, he had some qualities of my Serena. His look gave me hope, I felt that I wasn’t so far from Serena.
“But sir, you should have protected her, now we can’t even trace her b©dy for burial! Is that love?” He sobbe-d.
“Come down brother, Serena is as precious to me as she is to you.”
“She is gone sir! Gone and forgotten! You have alre-ady a new lover, do you expect me to get a new sister? Huh?!” He sounded bitter and desperate, having lost his mother and now allegedly loosing his sister Serena.
“Daniel? Do you trust me?”
I asked raising his chin with my right hand to look on his troubled face.
“Not at all sir, not with my sister’s b©dy missing!” He protested.
“Do you know why her b©dy misses? Because your sister is so much alive.” I saw him stare at me, as if he had seen me for the first time.
“Yes, its a long story, some people wanted her dead and so we had to take her to a hiding place and fake her death. We have to burry that b©dy in order to rescue your sister’s life.” I saw his face brighten but there was confusion written on it.
“Sir? Did you say My sister is alive?”
“Yes Daniel.”
“I want to talk to her, call her right now!” He ordered with joy written all over his face. I explained everything to him even why I wasn’t supposed to call her regularly but I promised to let him talk to her after the burial.
My joy to see Daniel happy was short lived as I saw the widow behind us open, someone had heard everything I had told Daniel, he or she had entered into the house behind us and neared the window, there was no doubt that it was no longer a secret.
I didn’t find Joyce among the congregation, Judas informed me that Joyce had a call from home and that she had to rush.
“You should have taken her.” I recommended.
“I wanted to remain and stand by you, I know its not simple with you buddy.” He said pas-sionately.
“Sure, I really loved Serena, I appreciate your concern bro.” I thanked,still wondering whom our eavesdropper was.
Daniel didn’t show any sign of sadness anymore, he had believed my words. The ceremony had many speakers from the village, all praising Serena’s personality and I was so proud of her, I wished my parents were there to listen to the qualities of my wife Serena. I couldn’t un-derstand why my mother had failed to attend, it would be a better place for us to meet and plan.
Later on that evening, I was esc-rted back into the prison after saying goodbye to Daniel and Judas. So many journalists had seeked to know why I didn’t look sad yet I had claimed to love her, I just ignored them with a smile. A smile that was at the headlines of almost all the newspapers.
**************
*Two days later.*
Joyce, Judas and I met in the court as agreed, the fact was that since the burial, Joyce had not visited me in prison, he used to s£nd Judas.
I was glad that she had kept her promise of getting me out of prison. She had promised to confess that she fell on her own co-rked pistol as she tried to shoot Serena and I . I still didn’t like her cold look in the courtroom. The judge opened her file. I saw my mother’s face brighten.
“David Kamau Mutua.” She lowered her spects to look at me, I wondered why they all did that.
“Yes your honour.” I responded innocently.
“This court requires you to produce Serena who is believed to be dead but she is alive. You are accused of faking her death and kidnapping her to hide some truth.” I was about to protest when I saw Daniel enter the courtroom and stand beside Joyce Ndegwa. There was no doubt, I was in trouble.
“Your honour, I beg to object, as per my knowledge Serena is dead and buried, I have been in prison for a month now, how did I do all that?” I saw the judge note something on her file. A tall black guy with a suit who was obviously the prosecutor cleared his throat.
“Your honour, I beg to ask some questions to the accused and then to our first witness.” The judge nodded her head to give him a go ahead sign.
“David Kamau Mutua, did you attend Serena’s burial?” The prosecutor asked.
“I obviously did.” I answered shortly.
“Did you had a talk with any of the Serena’s family member?”
“I don’t remember holding any conversation, after all I was guarded by two police officers.”
The prosecutor thanked me and now turned to the Judge.
“Your honour, my other questions goes to our first witness. One of our policemen who guarded him in the burial.” The judge noted something down then raised her face.
“Francis Njoroge, swear before this honourable court that the information you are about to give is nothing but the truth.” I saw the cop hold a Bible and swear. The guy had no choice than to speak the truth, he said that I left the tent and took Daniel at the backyards where we seemed to have a conversation for long. The judge seemed so busy writing, my hope was now on Daniel, if only he was wise, he would deny everything, he would say that he never saw me in the burial, the court would have no choice than to believe him.
The judge was still writing when I saw Joyce coming to my direction. She c@m£ close to my ear and whispered.
“David, you are finished, you have only one option, confess that Serena tried to kill us, give her to the police and I will st©p Daniel from witnessing against you.” She p@rted my shoulder as though she was comforting me and left to the benches. I felt so agitated, there was no doubt that Joyce was behind everything. My mother was wiping her tears. The prosecutor, as if he knew what Joyce had told me.
“Your honour, I open this chance for the accused to deny or object the charges or even give us more details about it.” He bowed to the court and sat back on his bench.
“Your honour.” I cleared my throat. “I know nothing about these accusations, if at all this court finds it just to judge me let it be done, the truth will come to be known one day. I am done your honour.” I must have been emotional. Joyce had no choice than to have Daniel confess against me. Daniel answered all the questions as expected, Joyce had obviously corrupted his mind.
He told the court that I confirmed to him that his sister was alive, I even offered to let him talk to her via phone.
“Your honour, its clear that my accusers have corrupted and mislead my brother Daniel to confess against me. Its so unfair for them to accuse me of kidnapping my own girlfriend and faking her death when I still have great pains for loosing her.” I mourned but the judge seemed so busy operating something on her desk. I knew I had lost the case but all was not lost, I would never give out Serena. I would rather die in prison than get her accused.
It was now time for the judgement, I knew I would have more than ten years added on t©p of my seven years jailterm, that would make up to about twenty years in prison.
The judge opened her file and switched on her microphone.
“First of all I want to inform this court that in this courtroom we have fixed some microch!pdevices, whatever whispered on those benches where the accused, accusers and the witnesses are is audible to the judge.” She st©pped to stare at the direction where Joyce, Judas and Daniel were sited, she then stared at me.
“During the proceedings of this case, Joyce the accuser, shifted to the accused benches and whispered something to the accused, David, plea-se inform this court what Joyce told you, the information might change the direction of the judgement.” At last there was hope, I felt like laughing loudly and mocking Joyce for her inconsiderate action.
Should David say the truth or hide it in order to save Joyce as-s?
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 15