Shy and timid, Onika lives in a dilapidated Detroit neighborhood with her abusive uncle. She is hopelessly in love with Marshall Mathers, a troubled young man that lives next door to her in their rough hood.
Marshall is rude, agressive and uncouth...
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The moment they had pushed my uncle into the court room in a freaking wheelchair, with his hands cuffed and his jaw seemingly still wired shut, even though this man was appearing to be absolutely defeated and harmless, I still couldn't help but feel terrified.
Because you see, to most people, Rashaaad probably appears to be like this completely broken man, but to me he is a monster that used to beat and abuse me my whole life, ultimately getting ready to commit the worst crime against me.
Marshall who is sat right next to me on the bench in the front, squeezes my hand protectively the moment my uncle in wheeled in, and I lean into his body slightly, swallowing the knot in my throat and mentally reminding myself to keep breathing. But the truth is, I feel cold all over, a chill settling all over my bones.
I had thought that I could do this, that I was seeing enough to face my abuser, but apparently I can't, because I literally want to throw up right now.
"You'll be okay, Nicki. Just stay cool, yeah?" Marshall whispers into my ear then, and I nod stiffly in response to his words. Feeling his lips brush lightly against the side of my head.
Uncle Rashaad looks at me from where one of the COs parks his wheelchair.
And his eyes are completely empty, the expression on his face unreadable.
But the thing is, this man doesn't look sorry at all for everything that he's done to me.
I force myself to sharply inhale though my nose, then exhale though slightly parted lips, just as Marshall's fingers continue to squeeze mines.
The DA and the lawyer for my uncle then both walk in.
I had originally thought that Rashaad couldn't even afford a lawyer, so they would provide him with like one of those shitty court appointed ones, but apparently this woman here, Ms Clark, she's actually somebody he's somehow managed to pay out of his own pocket somehow.
Meanwhile, the persecutor is also a woman, this much younger lady named Ms Hines. I've spoken to her on the phone a couple of times before, and she's given me pointers on how to prepare myself for the trial and how to act once I'm called to the stand to testify, but honestly? None of it goes quite as planned almost right off the bat.
Ms Clark, my uncle's defense attorney, quickly announces that due to his injuries, he won't actually be able to speak in court, as he's apparently not able to so much as open his mouth right now, his already dislocated jaw having apparently having to he re-broken after it was found out that it wasn't healing correctly, and then wired shut all over again.
So, instead of verbally testifying in court, or answering to any of the accusations being made against him, Rashaad has instead written a statement that he would like for Ms Clark to read.
But first, he pleads NOT GUILTY to both the charges of false imprisonment and attempted sexual assault against me, via his lawyer. But he does plead GUILTY to the charges of battery.
