NORTON

Summoning the Law

CHAPTER 14

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There were three police vans outside his house when he returned with Pumla and two officers immediately approached him and demanded that he produce proof of identification. After verifying who he was, Mercy was cuffed and threw inside the back of the police van. Kim ran for one of the officers and asked why Mercy was being accosted and was told she'll have to come to court the following day to get her answer. Kim took her daughters' hands and walked inside the house with neighbours watching the drama ensuing at their place. They kept the doors and windows locked and sat in silence till it was time to go to bed. Pumla looked ready for work the following morning and Kim advised her to take a day or two off. "What if your father shows up again and causes problems for you at your work place, Pumla?" Pumla assured her mother that the manager will not let Aayan inside his shop especially after talking to Mercy. Kim needed to get to the court house for Mercy and stopped wasting time on trying to convince Pumla to stay home. She took Zam with her because she didn't feel comfortable living her with the neighbour like Zam had wanted. Zam spends a lot of time with the neighbour's daughter and she would have loved to stay there but Kim saw them watching their drama the previous day and didn't want to explain anything to anyone.

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The court house was filled to capacity with many people standing on the sides of the room. Kim and Zam were also forced to stand while the judge addressed cases that were way ahead of Mercy's. The first and last time Kim had had to come to court was to officialise her marriage to Aayan. Only she, Aayan and the two church leaders, their witnesses, were present and the proceeding went smoothly and quickly. Today was a very different story. The proceedings were long and draining for Kim to listen to. Zam started to lose her patience thirty minutes into it but Kim couldn't take her outside for fear they'll miss Mercy's part. After two hours of listening to people pleading "not guilty" to crimes like shop lifting, assault, arson, theft and breaking traffic rules; a young man got on his feet and offered his seat to Kim. Zam sat on her mother's lap and Kim was more than okay with that. She was very relieved to get off her feel. Forty minutes later, Zam was starting to fall asleep on her mother and Kim wished she could do the same. She had spent many hours lying awake at night thinking about what could've possibly had Mercy detained. She also didn't have an appetite for food the previous night and she was starting to regret that. She was feeling hungry, weak and tired. Zam sleeping on her wasn't helping too but she was grateful to be sitting down. When more people left the court, Kim shifted Zam to the empty seat next to her and had her rest her head on her thigh. She knew Mercy's case would be heard soon judging by the number of people left inside but the court judge announced he was taking a break to go eat. They walked to a cafe across the court building to also get food. Zam stuffed her face with steak and kidney pie like she was the one who had not eating since the previous day. They bought a few snacks to take with then headed back to the court house. It was already an hour after the judge took a break but proceedings were standing still. Another thirty minutes went by and Zam was sleeping again. When the presiding judge approached and they all stood then sat after being told to, more petty theft cases were called but Kim wasn't impatient anymore. There weren't many people left and she knew she was going to see Mercy soon. After the last group of people left, the bailey asked her what her case was and she explained what had happened and how she was told to come to court for her partner. The bailey left her to go have a few words with the judge then returned to tell her that the case she had come for was postponed to the following day because it was an issue for the family court.

Kim walked out feeling angry with the system and whoever else was involved in having Mercy arrested. After settling herself and Zam inside the taxi, Kim switched on her phone and saw six missed calls from a local number she didn't recognise. She dialled it back and a voice she didn't know answered and asked her who she wanted to talk to. The authoritative voice told her she had called a number they give to accused people to call their loved ones. She thanked the person and cut the call. Back at home she showered and had Zam take a bath too before they fell asleep in front of the television. When they woke up, Pumla was home warming the previous night's supper for everyone. Kim didn't feel like eating but she was preparing herself for another day of sitting for hours on a hard chair not knowing if the case she had travelled for would be heard. She forced the food down and again tried to convince Pumla to stay home the next day so she could also stay with Zam. Pumla couldn't because Wednesdays were the busiest in the coffee shop thanks to the buy one, get one for free of anything special. The management wouldn't appreciate her staying away on that particular day so Kim was again forced to travel with disgruntled Zam. The twelve-year-old had already lost one full day of relaxing and fun in her school break and wasn't pleased with having to return to court.