The Test

The Act

"Okay, send him in."

A man walked in. It was Christopher, a charming man in his late 40s. He was tall and he seemed very confident, a good sign for a lawyer.

"Let's start right away Jane. Tell me a-"

"They accuse me of murdering my husband."

"Okay. Can you tell me what happened the day of your husband's death?"

"My memory is very foggy, I was in shock."

"I understand,but I need to know the details."

"Yes of course. It happened yesterday night.."

I despised his attitude. When I first met him he seemed perfect, so kind and sweet. I truly loved him until a few months ago. His behavior? Insufferable. He treated me like I was a toy, something he monitored. And when I defended myself, it didn't end up well.

Yesterday was the day I snapped. And I didn't regret one bit of it.

He came home from work later than I did. His first comment was :

"Why is home so dirty? Didn't you clean anything?"

"Peter, I work too you know. I was exhausted."

"You're the woman here, I expected you to do the housework but no. What are you good for anyways?"

This infuriated me. I make the most money in this household and I get absolutely no recognition for it. All I get is childish complaints from a grown man. His standards were too high for everyone and he reminded me of a classic 50s man. He didn't use to be like that.

"You know, you have to stop treating me like shit. I'm a member of this household too, and you can't act this way."

"What did you just say to me?"

"I won't take your shit anymore Peter. Stop behaving this way or I'm leaving you."

In my head I sounded confident but now that I think about it, I was probably very scared.

"You know this won't end well. I'm very tired from work and I won't stand this nonesence for any longer. Do you see what you are doing to me? You make me do things I regret and it's all your fault Jane."

He tried to convince me that it was my fault he behaved in an abusive way. He didn't try to solve our problems and never showed empathy. He just.. Was monstrous.

" I'm not backing down now Peter we must end this."

He stood up looking furious. I don't know what happened to him at work or anywhere else and made him this easily triggered.

I looked at him determined and frightened at the same time. He came close to me and raised his hand discreetly but I noticed it. He went to slap me but I ducked and stumbled on the floor. I ran to the kitchen, to get out from the back door.

Even though we have a medium sized house and the kitchen is right next to the living room, it seemed to me like I ran for minutes. Reaching the kitchen isle, I felt dizzy but I found the strength to walk to the back door. I pushed the door but then I realized that it was locked. I was terrified.

"Where do you think you're going?"

My eyes fell on the knife rack.

Oh no.

Then came the idea. It was the permanent ending, a solution to my problems. The end of the abuse.

I immediately grabbed a random knife from the rack and hid it behind my back. My legs and chin were shaking because of the combination of shock and terror. I was scared for my life.

He arrived after walking from the living room. He stood in the kitchen entrance and stared at me, infuriated. Like he didn't want me to resist and run away. After standing still for a few seconds he ran to my direction. I screamed and closed my eyes but when he came close to me I swinged the knife with all of my strength but stopped when I felt resistance.

I opened my eyes and the resistance was Peter's side. He looked at the bleeding wound and suddenly his expression changed. He became worried, almost scared.

"You crazy bitch."

He started coughing and he fell on his knees. Apparently the knife hit an organ because these were his last words. He fell flat on the floor afterwards, and a blood pool was formed a few seconds after.

I stood in awe in front of this body. Stumbling backwards, my body hit the glass backdoor.

I can't be sent to jail. This will ruin my reputation.

I have to stage something. The first thing that came in my mind was a robbery. How would a robber act?

I smashed the door and made it look like it was broken into. Then I saw the knife. I had to get rid of it.

I used bleach to clean the handle and left it on the floor. Then, I called the police. I had no clues against me. I was a witness to a robbery. I felt fulfilled, like I should have done this a long time ago.

"So Jane, to sum it up, a robber broke into your house, your husband discovered him and then he killed your husband. Afterwards, fled from the back door."

"That's right Mr. Myers. The police found me in the kitchen, where I discovered his body. I was shocked."

"I understand. If you are innocent as you claim, you will be free to go once you pass the blood test."

"The.. what?"

"The blood darkness test. They will take a blood sample, and do a procedure which will show us if you are guilty, depending on your blood's darkness. You probably haven't heard about this because it is quite new technology and it was recently applied to police interrogations. It is proven to be highly accurate. "

I felt cold sweat run down my back. A new procedure? These should only be an interrogation and then I would be just free to go. What am I going to do now?