Unfolding

Chapter 11

It's Ingo's bail hearing day, she sat next to her lawyer on the other side of the courtroom while the number of people sat behind her, heavily weighing on her. She wore a black suit, she could see Siphokazi and Londi sitting next to her parents, whom she hasn't spoken to ever since she got arrested and haven't seen in a very long time. She would look in opposite direction should they catch her looking at them, she was embarrassed by her situation. She did not see Sabelo anywhere, "All rise in court!", they all stood up as the judge came in. The prosecution provided their reasons as to why she should be denied bail, "My Lord, if this lady", he pointed at Ingo, "can perform such heinous crime and frame her very own husband, she's been with since university, then she is a very dangerous person. She should not be let out, who knows, she might try something to cover her tracks.", he explained. Her lawyer stood up, "My Lord, this is my client's first offence, she should be allowed bail", he continued giving million other reasons, but Ingo noticed that he did not say anything about her being innocent of the crime. They were given a break before the judge could announce his final decision, "Mama, Baba, when did you get here?", Ingo asked when she finally got to talk to her parents. She was really happy to see them, she felt like crying but every move she made was watched so she posed a strong character. "My child, what is going on here? All of this is confusing for us", her father asked, desperate for an explanation because the daughter they raised would not get herself in such trouble. "I will explain later, Baba, I promise", she said.

The judge got back, and they all impatiently waited for his final decision, "Due to the evidence provided placing Mrs Ingo-Musa Mthethwa at the hotel on the day and time of the crime, gives me no other choice but to deny her bail", some in the courtroom cheered while some mumbled in disagreement. "I told you her lawyer is useless", Mabutho was amongst those who were not happy with the judge's decision, "Bro, I think you should let her go, this is beyond us", Nkanyiso suggested. Mabutho dragged his best friend to this courtroom today, he wanted to hear his opinion about the case and Ingo's chances of winning the case from someone who knew a lot of legal stuff. "You think she's losing, right?", he asked seeing it on his friend's face. "It's rare in our country to be denied bail, they just set it on a high amount, but to deny it? I don't know man", Nkanyiso became honest with him. "Okay, just visit her once, maybe you can find some piece that her lawyer is missing, please man", he begged, "Why did you give her husband the evidence if this is how you feel about her?", Nkanyiso asked confused with this whole ordeal, "I thought I was doing the right thing then, but I see I made a mistake", he said. Nkanyiso searched for his notebook at the same time when Ingo was handcuffed and ushered out of the courtroom, she looked back at the people and spotted Mabutho, they looked at each other as her tears rolled down her cheeks. He saw that she was scared and vulnerable, he just stood there and watched until she was out of site.

"Baba, our daughter won't survive that place", Nomakhosi has been crying since she heard their daughter was not coming home with them, "Our daughter is stronger than you think, don't worry yourself, my love, she will take care of herself", they were back at their hotel room. They started planning out how they are going to help her on her case, "I need to go talk to her tomorrow, Baba, she needs to take care of her finances first and I don't trust Sabelo anymore, he did not even come to her bail hearing", Nomakhosi told her husband. "I told you that boy was bad news the moment he got a second wife and acted as if everything was okay, he and his family did not even bother to let us know when they did that to her knowing her situation", he roared with anger. Xolani once suggested that Ingo-Musa divorces Sabelo because he made empty promises and was unreliable, but Nomakhosi was completely against it and Ingo-Musa loves him and would hear nothing. "Baba, what do you think happened?", Nomakhosi was now asking about the murderer, "I don't know, Nomakhosi but I know Musa did not murder a pregnant woman", he said, "What if she did not know that girl was pregnant?" "Nomakhosi, what are you trying to say? That you think our Musa is capable of murder?", he was puzzled, "I don't know, Baba, she's been acting very strange lately, she didn't tell us when her husband got arrested, the prosecution provides evidence, her lawyer doesn't deny the murder, and she's been denied bail, who gets denied bail in this country these days?", she explained. Her husband saw her point, "I hear you, my wife, but I think we should stand by her and hear her side of the story", he said.