My Nigerian Fairytale (Completed)

Chapter 44-Epilogue

   "....she would cut me under my armpit and feet. Places people won't notice and sometimes pour methylated spirit on the wounds or hot water, whichever suited her. She won't me step out of the house during those periods She...she always said it was because I didn't deserve to live. I should have died along with my mother who stole my father from her."

   "Stole your father from her?" he asks.

   "Yes, " I look down, "She told me how she and my dad used to date and were going to get married, but he abandoned her for my mom."

   "And what did Amelia do then?"

   I heave a sigh, "Nothing. She was never in the room with us."

   "So you are saying that this woman in front of you physically and emotionally abused you?"

   I look at my stepmother eyes boring holes into me. Her eyes are full of hatred and I shrink back from their intensity.

   "Miracle look here," I hear Tobi say and turn to him. He is sitting with his mother and my friends. They all give me encouraging smiles. Even Mr. Iyare is present and he gives me a blinding smile and a wink.

   Slowly sitting up straight I look at the lawyer, "Yes. Every time she beats or cuts me, she always reminded me of how I deserve to die, that I was useless. At some point I started to believe her I lost hope. She punished me for the slightest thing, and soon I started to live in fear of her," a shiver goes through me as memories come up, "That's all I can say. Too many memories..." I trail off at the final word.

   The lawyer turns to the judge, "Your honour, this is the woman who was trusted by this young lady's father. His dying wish must have been for his family to be happy but this woman destroyed my client in the most inhumane way. Your honour let's remember that she still has to stand trial for the accusation made by the dead father's lawyer of her having a hand in his death. I have nothing else to say," he walks back to his seat with confidence.

   The judge turns to the defence lawyer beside stepmother but he shakes his head. Nothing to say.

   "I adjourn this court to later today by 4pm when I will make my final verdict."

   Everyone stands up after the judge gets up to leave. I also get up with shaky legs but Tobi is immediately by my side to assist me. I can't believe I just did that!

   Mrs. Adetoye engulfs me in a hug, "I'm so proud of you."

   One by one they all hug me. Mr. Iyare gives me a tight hug and says, "God is with you my dear."

   I look around at my biggest form of support and smile.

   Of course, you are wondering what the hell happened, so I'll fill you in. Amelia was found with exam questions of all the subjects, shocking the whole school and even her. Truthfully, it had all been Tobi's idea. He wanted to use her tactic against her so he found the boys she paid to break into the teacher's office and steal the questions. After baiting them with the promise of not getting incriminated with Amelia when she is caught, they agreed to steal other question papers. The next step was Richard convincing her friends, Mariam and Faith, to help him pull Amelia down which they readily agreed to after also getting the promise of their names not coming up when she is punished. His charm also had a part to play because, for some reason, he is irresistible to them. Some friends. All Mariam and Faith had to do were stand as witnesses and tell the Principal they had seen the question papers in Amelia's bag and soon Naomi was singing like a canary under the pressure. She confessed about Amelia bribing her to slip the question into my bag and lie against me. Mrs. Edith was spitting mad. She had yelled at Amelia for hours on integrity, and human compassion, and what have you. Then her verdict came. She decided she could not harbour a student vile enough to frame another student in such a horrendous way and so Amelia was expelled. Naomi also got expelled, Mrs. Edith was not taking any prisoners.

   Stepmother was pissed when she came to pick Amelia. I saw the promise of terrible things in her eyes when she looked at me. Luckily, I wasn't going home with her. Tobi had called his mom and she had arrived the previous day, and through my friend's support, I told her everything. She was distraught at first and cried with me, but soon she was calling her lawyer. The case was immediately taken to court, but Mrs. Adetoye was out for blood which led to her digging farther in her bid to ensure stepmother goes to jail and stays there. She found my dad's former lawyer and convinced him to take stepmother to court on the suspicious grounds of my father's death. I think Tobi got his devious planning trait from her.

   I don't know how to feel knowing there is a possibility my father was murdered so I don't think about it. I just want this whole thing to end so I can finally gain peace. The case has dragged on long enough. We just finished our third term exams and Tobi, Richard and Emmanuel were done with secondary school as a whole. Mrs. Edith let us leave school even though it had not vacated yet so we could attend the court session and so I could testify. All that's left is the graduation party.

   I inhale and exhale heavily. We are in an eatery not far from the court and everyone is chatting happily around me but I'm lost in thought. Tobi who is beside me glances at me before turning back to the conversation, but I feel his hand grip mine under the table. He has been my rock since the case started.

   "Miracle come and help me please," Richard cries, "Answer truthfully is Wizkid not better than Davido, right?"

   I look at him perplexed, "What are you saying? Davido owns a great record label. Do you know how many talented artists he has produced?" The entire table burst into laughter at Richards expense.

   Richard looks at me like I have betrayed him before quietly saying, "I rest my case."

    "What is the big deal with this Davido and Wizkid characters?" Mr. Iyare asks and Richard's eyes light up at the possibility of gaining a supporter, but Patricia has already launched into a speech about them, and not one to be outdone Richard tries to talk over her which causes Emmanuella to jump to her defence, leading to so much noise at our table. Other customers throw us irritated looks. Mrs. Adetoye finally silences them when an attendant comes to tell us we either leave or keep our voices down.

    "Wizkid is sha better," Richard whispers, glaring at Patricia.

   "I said enough!" Mrs. Adetoye scolds, then she adds, "But wizkid isn't bad though, I loved his song with Beyonce," the look Richard gives her like he could worship at her feet that moment.

   "Aunty I love you," He says with so much adoration.

  Mrs. Adetoye makes a face, "I'm not supporting anyone and please don't say stupid things."
                                           
************

   Soon 4pm comes and we return to court. The judge arrives and we all rise till he sits. He looks at stepmother and the whole court is enveloped in tense silence Stepmother looks as aloof as ever, Amelia isn't present. Mrs. Adetoye told me she has never attended any of the court cases since it started but she found out she is staying with a distant relative who might become her guardian soon.

   "I have thought over it objectively even though I felt slightly bias because it is quite appalling the things this young lady went through, " he gestures at me and my grip on Tobi's hand tightens, "After proper deliberation, my verdict is this. The accused is found guilty of domestic abuse and under section.....will be sentenced to .... years in jail. He brings his gavel down hard. The court is dismissed."

    I never got around to choosing a proper sentence for stepmother. But it's finally over! Thank God! Also I am very sorry, really sorry for the delay. My phone became obsolete...*sighs sadly* but I'm back now!
   This is the first and unedited draft. The edited draft is on clouddust so go check it out!