"What do you mean by what you just said?" Their parents chorused in unison, fixing her a sullen grimace. She stared back with a defiling look.
"I meant what I said mom, dad. At least, he wouldn't bring so much Shame to the family anymore."
"Yeah, you are right. I've brought nothing more than shame to this family says someone who can't keep her marriage," he shot back at her and then went off before they had the chance to call him back.
His words shook his sister to the marrow. She had never imagined that he'd say something to nasty to her. Well, it was his fault.. it was entirely her fault because if she hadn't married her husband against her parents advice, she wouldn't be in such mess.
"Are you okay Steph?" Her mother asked when she noticed a tear drop from her eye.
"I'm fine mom. I'm fine.." was all she could say as she traced her way to her room.
Diana stood at the entrance to her house as she waited for her ride. Her car was at that mechanic and she hadn't been chanced to go get it. Her work schedule had been so heavy that she barely had time for herself.
It was a Saturday but yet she had to be in a meeting with the parents of her client. It was regarding the case she was handling, the same one under judge Clinton.
Her client had been accused of murder when it was only in self defense. She was returning from work one night when she was accosted by three men who tried to force themselves on her.
She struggled and struggled but she was no match for them. Luckily for her, she found a iron sitting abandoned on the floor. She yanked it up and hit it on the guys head and then darted off as fast as her feets could carry her.
It was later discovered that the guy she hit the rod died and unfortunately for her was the son of an assembly member. He had taken the case up, insisting that she must be jailed for life.
She had been remanded in jail until the trial is over, to avoid a case of she escaping, so judge Clinton had said when she asked why.
It was almost ten am and she feared that she was going to keep them waiting just like the last time. She hated lateness with all her heart but at this point, there was absolutely nothing she could do since the driver had decided to punish her by not arriving in time.
When he did arrive, it was a few minutes after ten.
"I'm sorry I had an emergency," he said as he opened the door for her to step in.
"You always have an emergency," she muttered, and knowing she Found him out, he burst into laughter.
"Where to ma?"
"Starbucks, the one close to the city library."
"Alright ma'am, off we go!" He gave a mock bow and then sped off. The road wasn't as busy as it would be on a weekday, most people were in, and considering the fact that the elections were drawing near.
Diana stared out of the window, breathing the fresh air that blew. The air was different and quite satisfying in comparison to the artificial air the car blew.
It's been five years since she'd been practicing and it's been five years of pain, happiness, joy and misery combined to make a stale combo.
She had achieved things that those who had spent twenty years in the field hadn't achieved and that was partly because of her nature. She was a rugged beast and gave no damn about anyone when it comes to her job.
She was so strong headed that so many judges didn't like her and didn't want any case she was handling to be assigned to their court and she wasn't one that was easily bullied because they are judges and in a place of authority.
She would fight on the case until justice is served and that was the major reason why people sought her.
"Do you have a wife?" She suddenly asked, taking the uber driver by surprise.
"Why do you ask ma?" The driver responded with a confused grimace.
"Nothing. I just felt it."
"Yes, I have a wife and three wonderful children and that's why I work so hard. I want them to have everything good. I don't want them to suffer the way I did." His words brought tears to Diana's face.
"I understand. I know the feeling because I was once like you. My parents were killed by goodness knows who and since then I had to take care of myself. My aunt took over my parents company and gave me one thousand dollars per month, for school, clothing and feeding."
"Wow! Your aunt is such a wicked soul."
"Yeah, you can say that again, but we least she's better than her useless husband who didn't want her to do anything for me."
Just at that moment, they arrived at Starbucks. It was quite populated.
"We are here already ma."
"What's your fare?" She asked as she took out her phone from her bag.
"Twenty dollars ma'am!"
She fiddled a minute on her phone and then got down after showing proof that she had paid. She gave him a few dollars as tip
"Thank you ma!" He yelled after her as she went into the shop.
Her eyes darted around the crowded room in search of who she saw to meet. She soon saw them and immediately walked up to the table they had reserved.
"Good morning! I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. My ride didn't arrive on time."
"It's okay attorney, we haven't been waiting long."
"Okayyy," she heaved a sigh of relief as she took her seat.
"What do you think we should do lawyer?" The young lady's mother asked with a swollen face. It was obvious she had been crying all the while.
Diana fixed her gaze on them, took a deep breath and then began, "At this moment, there are only two options on our plate and that is to either get the boys to say the truth, which we know might not be possible considering who is involved, or we get the CCTV footage of that night when the incident happened."
"But do you think we'd be able to get that?" The father asked with anxiety..
"We can't be so sure. All I can assure you is that my team is working on having the footage of that night.. we have spoken to someone in the security department but we've gotten no response yet."
"Oh, okay attorney, but do you think the truth that our daughter didn't commit a crime would be revealed?"
"I can't say for sure because the person we are going against is an assembly member and may want to use his position to pervert justice.
"Oh, so we shouldn't raise our hopes right?" The woman said with sadness. It was her daughter they were discussing of at that moment.
"I'm sorry but that's the truth!" Diana responded bluntly. "There's a possibility that we would win and there's a stronger possiblity that we might not win."
"Yeah, attorney. Thanks so much! We really appreciate!" The man said, stretching his hand for an handshake.
"You're welcome, don't forget to contact me if you need to ask Anything!" She responded, locking her hand in his for a few seconds. She watched them leave a few seconds later. She stared after them, wondering what pain they must be going through especially when their daughter was only trying to protect herself from Rape.
The News of the prison jail spread through the country like wildfire, making Everyone wonder how possible it was, especially with the level of security at the Travis county state jail.
"We tried to stop them from leaving, but they overpowered us." Those were the words of the prison jailer. Fear began to grow in people's hearts as they remembered the last jail break and its repercussion.
The last jail break happened seven years ago and after that, for the next few minutes, killing and robbery became rampant, most especially Robbery. People suspected that the escaped inmates were behind the atrocities as they needed to survive.
Now, it had happened again and it was worse this time around because they were more. There were over two thousand of them.
The mayor couldn't get his head straight after his secretary informed him of what happened.
"How in the world did it happen?" He yelled in all his might.
"We do not know sir, but we have a suspect in mind!"
"And who would that be?" The mayor asked with impatience