Death Row

With the murder weapon still in his hand, he took a leap and grabbed the top of the not-so-high fence of the company's premises, scratching his shoulder against something sharp - he didn't know what; he hadn't time to look - and was soon crash-landing on the other side. Then he got up and ran!
He ran as though a million demons were on his tail. He could still hear the loud piercing scream of the secretary... He could still hear the grunt made by Chief Zacks' huge frame as he hit the ground, and see how his eyes bulged as though they meant to pop out of their sockets... All of these played and replayed themselves in his head. His head banged... banged... banged... There was a searing pain in his shoulder. Still he ran, a mad dog.
"Damian!"
He almost stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her, but either commonsense or the trouble he was in made him quickly check himself. Rather, he quickly grabbed Doyin by the hand with his free hand, making her drop the dustbin she was holding, and he literally dragged her with him to the bush behind her house where she was coming from when she saw him. She didn't have time; maybe she would have played twenty questions; but she followed him, her mind running wild with passionate excitement at the sight of him, and also with a barrage of questions that kept mounting with every step they took.
They found the trunk of a tree lying far in the bush, and there he stopped with her to catch his breath. She too was panting. He sat her down and sat down beside her. Her eyes had been fixed at the back of his head all the while they stumbled through the shrubs and rushes and now, as he turned to look at her, they simply locked with his. He gathered her into his hands and began to kiss her. Savagely at first, but he soon slowed down as they both closed their eyes.
Oh! I love him! I love him!! I love him!!! Doyin's heart sang, as she savoured the sweetness of his lips. She believed she could never have enough of him. He was a volcano who would certainly one day erupt in her, blowing her into Love's own oblivion...
She thought she heard him sniff more than once. Her eyes flickered open and, yes, there were tears running down his cheeks unchecked. Greatly alarmed, she pulled out of the embrace and their lips separated. He opened his eyes and in them she saw the eddies of sorrow so overwhelming flowing from their twin pits.
"Damian! What is the..." she began and then she stopped. Her eyes dilated horrifically as she now saw the pistol. She was so shocked and completely confused she didn't know what to say.
"I killed him... He has to be dead... I shot him in the head..." Damian stopped. He blew his nose and said no more. There was silence all around them, but certainly not within. The company would be amok by now, he thought. Have they called the police? Winifred wouldn't hesitate to. Hasn't she be seeking to nail me ever since I left her for Doyin after that bitter quarrel? Doyin the understanding one, the beautiful one, the calm...
But Doyin at that instant began to hit him on the chest with her small fists as she wept. "Oh, Damian! You said you would, and you did?"
"But I didn't mean it! He pulled a gun at me this time. There was a struggle, and he soon lay dead. It would have been me!"
"But you said you shot him in the head! Where is the struggle in that?" she asked. She then saw the frightened look in his eyes as he looked around. That was when she realised that she had been shouting. She kept her voice low after they had ascertained they were still safe. "Where was the struggle in that? It appears to me as if he was the one who was on the defensive, and this is how everyone will see it," she said in almost a whisper, and she turned her gaze to the gun still in his hand.
Damian sighed and said, "Will you at least hear me out?"
And as he ran through the event that happened in his boss' office, a fog of grief beclouded her heart. Oh! Damian! Damian! Her heart sobbed. Why would it have to be you? What is going to happen to us? To me? To you? And fresh sobs shook her.
"Darling, that was what happened! Why give me the sack letter because I complained that I was due, and have been due for the past two and a half years, for a promotion? I refused to accept the sack letter from his hand, and told him he would be hearing from my lawyer. But as I stood up to leave his office, he opened his drawer and told me to stop right where I was. I turned back to look at him, and he had this pistol trained at me..."
"It's okay!" cut in Doyin, trembling with emotion. "I heard you the first time."
Again they were enveloped in silence, as each was preoccupied with different thought, though linked together by a single thread: Where is the way out of this?
Finally, Damian heard her say, "Dee, you have to turn yourself in."
"That's impossible, Dee!" he spat out bluntly. "Who is little me against the almighty Chief Zacks, especially as a corpse on the floor of his office murdered in cold blood by yours truly?" he asked sarcastically.
"From your tale, it doesn't appear as a murder case to me. That's manslaughter; and I think the Court of Justice would say so too," she opined.
"The Court of Justice? Did you say the Court of Justice? Dee, you seem to have forgotten who the victim is here. I am! Not even the dead Chief Zacks, its me! Dead as he is, his money will still speak for him, one way or the other, and the Lady Justice that I know will only become blinder when her palms are well greased, and more pieces of cloth would be added to her blindfold. Then the scale in her hand would tilt against me, and I will hang!"
"I don't think so. Lekan is a good lawyer who has so far never lost a case. Then I also believe the court house still sits a few good men who would turn a blind eye to bribery rather than take it. I believe that you still stand a chance to a fair hearing, Dee, please! Or else, you would become a fugitive to be hunted down and probably shot at sight!" They both shuddered at the thought of that.
Doyin's argument sounded reasonable, despite the odds, and Damian eventually gave in. "Okay, I have heard you. But we still don't know how this will play out, do we?" She was silent. "Come here. Let me spend this time with you; it could be our last time together," he said, as he drew her close, placing her head on his chest. Their future together, all those plans and arrangements... they all seemed to appear bleak. Damian looked up at the sun and saw that it was already headed to the west. The clouds were drifting with it, having no silver lining...