Abandoned

Chapter 2 The Verdict ..

The day of the verdict had arrived and she went through her morning ritual, wake up at 4 am,have a cup of coffee, say her morning prayer at 5,be on the treadmill at 5:30, be in the shower at 6,be dressed by 7 am, have a cup of coffee at 7:05,eat her toast by 7:30, say another prayer and be on her way for work. The only difference with today is that she got to kiss her brother goodnight
The drive to work seemed slower than usual, the traffic was moving at a snail’s pace and that gave her time to think about the verdict. She was pretty confident that she had won the case but for the first time in her legal career she wished she had lost this one. She felt sick at the possible outcome, her, the lawyer who stood for what’s right aiding a rapist to walk the streets of the city free and proud of what he had done. She had studied law to stop such men, what had happened to her, what had change, what had happened to doing what right? Was her career now more important than her morals? Those that her mother had told her to keep? She was losing her way and she knew it, she was losing herself
in her career. Before she knew it she had arrived at the courthouse and her client waiting on her inside the court halls. They exchanged complementaries and headed straight for the court to take their
seats and wait on the judge. The judge slowly and majestically entered his courtroom from his chambers and everyone was upstanding, they sat down and waited for the verdict.
The judge gave a brief summary of the case and slowly turned to the jury and asked, ‘Has the jury reached a verdict?’
‘Yes your honor’
‘Can you please tell us what your verdict is’
‘We the jury find the accused… innocent of rape and assault’
The courtroom was full of mixed emotions, some were happy and others were obviously not. The one person who took the verdict the hardest was Mercy. She felt her insides turn and felt nauseous. She had to fake a smile for her client who quickly grabbed her in a tight hug and led her outside to meet the media so that he could speak to them.
‘I told you I wasn’t guilty and my lawyer and the jury agreed to that. The system works for the just and for those that stand for what’s right’ he boasted on the courts steps. Mercy looked lost, her mind racing on what she
had just done to that poor innocent girl. The first time she had never enjoyed a win in her life. Yes she had won, yes her bank account was larger but her conscience wasn’t at rest. She had done exactly what she stood against..
Back home Jake watched from the TV what was happening, he looked at his sister and knew she wasn’t at peace with what had just happened.