Chapter 48: Court Summon!!!
A few days passed after the incident involving the Children of the orphanage home being let loose on the street.
Clara, Shalia, and Veronica were court summoned to be punished for the incident.
Clara was not feeling happy as she went, she felt very dejected from all the depressing thoughts in her mind.
The courtroom was not very far from the orphanage home, so in less than 30 minutes they had all arrived.
The proceeding started with the judge listing all the offenses labeled against them and asking the sisters to plead their case before him.
Shalia had been throwing flirtatious looks at the judge who had been unmoved by it as he waited for her to speak.
"My lord, the running of the orphanage home is such that we take turns to watch over the children, to ensure the smooth running of the place and extra time for ourselves once in a while."
"According to our timetable, today was supposed to be Clara's turn. We were on our way back only to meet Clara on the way heading to the orphanage home, and by that time, the children had been out wandering the street".
The judge became silent and listened attentively,
"Do you have any evidence supporting this rotation?" The judge asked.
Shalia nodded with a faint smile, "Yes, I do my lord" She then brought out a shit of paper that contained doctored signatures.
On this paper Clara's signature appeared, it was designed to look like Clara agreed to such conditions.
The paper was brought before the judge who checked it and scrutinized it before returning the sheet of paper.
Veronica was next, she had a calm expression and had rehearsed words in her mind so many times that it felt natural.
"Miss Veronica, what do you have to say?"
Veronica looked like she was going to cry as she adjusted her face to feign sadness.
She was a well-horned actress with top-of-the-class acting skills.
"My lord, it's all Clara's fault, we both agreed on allowing rotation of the supervision of the orphanage home amongst the three of us, but she always complained and wanted the two of us to share her portion of the work while she earned more money, she really has been slacking off and skiving off, she nearly endangered the children," Veronica said as she added a few fake sobs in between.
After that Clara was finally called to the stage to give her side of the story. Clara remained quiet for a while before she spoke,
"Your honor, all these allegations against me are false, all the papers produced are also fake.
I never signed such a document."
"The orphanage home has been my responsibility for the most part of 5 years now. These two.."
Clara said sternly as she pointed to Shalia and
Veronica,
"...barely come around, in fact, they only do so when it is time for payment, and they have been taking half my pay even with all that, I can call my neighbor to the stand as a witness, I also have account details to prove the other point. Besides the CCTV camera could also bear witness..."
Before Clara could say more, the judge had banged his hammer, and then he pronounced judgment without even taking into consideration Clara's point.
"Because of willfully endangering the children and not holding on to agreement signed by you, you are therefore to leave the orphanage home , and also to undergo 30 days manual labor without pay, 2 hours per day you'd be summoned"
The Judged banged the hammer again and the court proceeding ended.
Some people in the crowd were stunned, they felt something was wrong with the judge's rule over the proceedings but it was out of anybody's hands now.
Unknown to anyone, Shalia had slept with the judge on the days leading to the proceedings and she had obtained the backing of the judge and the doctored story.
Clara sat on the chair as tears flowed ceaselessly from her eyes. She couldn't get herself together anymore. Some people took notice of this and felt for her, some thought she was guilty and didn't care, and some were confused.
"Something is wrong with the proceedings, the judge didn't even consider her evidence, he just slammed judgment. I think this girl is a victim of a corrupt ruling."
"Yes, I think so too, she is likely innocent, something is happening behind the scenes that we are unaware of."
The issues and side remarks went on as the courtroom gradually emptied. Clara got up and was led outside by the law enforcement officers. Her eyes were red with tears, she felt so lonely, she didn't even have a place to stay, she decided to visit Lancelot Jr in school, as he was the only one she could speak to at the moment.
She didn't have any friends or life for that matter, she had devoted her life to earning money and raising funds.
Suddenly a rich business tycoon came into the passage of the courthouse from outside, he was dressed in an expensive 3 piece suit. As he saw Clara walking slowly as if her energy had dissipated, he walked promptly towards her.
"Hello, you must be Clara, I am one of the people donating to the orphanage home, I naturally heard of everything that happened, and I know how unfair things have been, I'm here to help you"
Clara was quiet as she listened, but her mind wasn't really on the discussion.
"Thank you..." Clara said as she ignored him to continue moving.
Clara stumbled and fell on him, he managed to get a hold of Clara as he desperately clutched her in his arms and watched her pass out in his hands.
immediately after, the two people that accompanied him came and carried her, they gently put her in the huge limousine that brought the wealthy businessman to the
courthouse, and they drove Clara away. Veronica and Shalia witnessed all these and they smiled,
"she has been kidnapped'
They said simultaneously and beamed before walking back to take a cab to the orphanage home.
When they got back to the home, there were law enforcement agents around the place to ensure there wasn't a repeat of the incident.
The next-door neighbor had also attended the court proceedings, she wasn't happy with the ruling, she knew something was off but it was none of her business so she kept quiet and watched.
She always felt pity for Clara but there was nothing she could do to help.