Andy & His Half Clogged Brain

Part-1

Present

A glass of water is offered to me. I'm sitting in front of two officers, one is sitting while the other remains standing. This also indicate the position and the power they have here. The officer who is seated has a file in hand which I'm guessing is something to do with me.

"Drink it", the officer with the file commands. The badge attached to his breast pocket gives away his identity. My parched throat and dry tongue are instantly relieved . He brings his chair closer to the table , leans forward, and begins to read from it.

" You have been charged with the murder of your wife Melina. The weapon of murder is a 9mm handgun which is licensed under youre name ,so it belongs to you. It was found near the crime scene and the forensics report prove so . The report also claims that her body was covered with bruises to be specific they were on her arm, stomach and in the inner thighs area which indicate she was a victim of domestic violence."

He takes out few pictures and holds them up for me to see. All of them are pictures of bruises which are currently on a dead Melina's body. Maybe my saying this won't establish anything or even prove me innocent but I say it anyway

"Not my doing officer"

"Heard that one before" he says. I shake my head and raise the pitch of my voice in desperation

"No, Not me. It was her husband. Ask Sofia, every time Melina needed any medicinal care she use to attend to her".

Listening to this both officers exchange looks

" You mean Sofia the neighbour?" Mark asks

"No, I mean Sofia the wife. My wife."I intentionally put emphasis on the latter part. Mark gets up and whispers something to Toby to which he nods and walks out of the room. Mark shifts his attention from me to his working force through the glass wall.

Minutes later Toby appears on the other side of the glass wall, accompanying him is a woman. The sight of her makes me stand up from my chair but one look from officer Mark and I'm going back to my previous position. Sofia's eyes are puffy. They exchange a few words after which she silently leaves without even glancing my way. I'm still staring at the spot where she was earlier when Toby enters the room and reports to Mark.

Mark who had now stood up had his hands inside his pockets and addressed me

"You have the right to make a phone call to any family member or friend. Toby here would provide you with a phone for that and would later bring you to your holding cell."

He turns and walks to the door while Toby handcuffs me. Panic starts to spread throughout my body.

"I'm sure Sofia must be doing everything in her power to get me out". He chuckles as if being in my situation was funny to him.

" Yeah ,she's doing everything to keep you in". That being said we make our way to Mark's office. Im not given a chance to be seated and straight away handed the telephone to make a call. I shift closer to it as its cord is not long enough but it was just a lame attempt to buy some time to rake my brain for any face or number in my head stored in my head.

"There has to be someone you can call", Toby says when he notices my hand have been hovering over the dial buttons for far to long. The time I took was surely longer than Toby's patience. With no one to turn to I dial in a number which I surprisingly still remember by heart even after such a long time.

In spite of the shivering cold , the discomfort my body feels lying on the stone slab is nothing compared to the storm brewing in my mind. The smell of her perfume reaches me before her voice does.

" Andy", there's sympathy in her tone. Looks like a little luck is still on my side. My view of her has been obstructed by the black bars of the police cell.

"Zoe I'm sorry for dragging you into this".

" You should be, what's going on? the officer says you killed you're wife", Zoe seems horrified. I did hesitate to call her at this hour but my only way of getting out of here was through her.

Zoe did you get what I asked you to?. She doesnt like the situation and its obvious to anyone who looks at her face or the way she was going through her handbag right now.

I got you something even better, she say and extends her hand through the cell bars. Taking it , I have a good look at the visiting card and listen to her simultaneously.

Hes a friend of mine totally different of what you told me of googling and noting down the first phone number. I smile at her gesture of generosity, she stops talking. Suddenly things turn awkward and the seriousness of the situation creeps in as my normal facial feature dig in and 'I missed you' smile is wiped off.

"Andy you're in deep trouble. I have a family to go home to, don't drag me into this".

"Yours was the only number I remember", I honestly confess and this was all I had to say. She looks up in exasperation.

" Don't call me ever again" . She doesnt wait for my response of thank you and leaves as abruptly as she had entered.