https://unsplash.com/photos/man-holding-gray-dagger-W1J8mMlkmXY
"Oh really?" She asked, getting up from the place she'd been seated since the lawyer entered.
" Well then, prosecute me! Prosecute me, but I know I'm innocent. Laide's voice had left whispers and was on par with shouting. To the public, Mallam Salihu was that one man who was made a role model for other husbands, especially the cheating ones. To his wife, he was the nightmare she had wished against when she was still very young. He would always come home with concubines.
"1, 2, 3...16. 16? No, 18 now, 23?." She counted till she lost count of the ladies he'd always bring home.
She gave up and would only peep when he came before going to her room to cry.
Last week, he brought back a new one. It didn't matter to her again. She had stopped crying a while ago and just wanted to know how cute or well-endowed they all were. She peeped and looked at the lady's physique.
"Not bad." She muttered and turned to head back to her room, eager to see the new girl he'd bring next week.
Only he wasn't on the list of participants for next week. He died before he could bring in the next girl.
She had just come back home that day and saw him lying on the floor. She thought he was being his drunk self and walked past him, only to go back hours later and meet him right where she left him.
She touched him. He was cold. She checked his pulse. It was gone. She placed a hand below his nose. He wasn't breathing. He was dead.
Immediately, she called the necessary numbers. Emergency, parents and whatnot. After some time, they pronounced him dead. His parents knew he was a cheat, but they say she killed him. Say they'll press charges. Say they'll sue her.
His lawyer knew she endured the most. But that was in the past. He had been bought. Now he says people change. Says she's the killer. Says he'll make sure she's prosecuted.
Her only child knew she was suffering all along. Offered to take her out of the country with him. She turned him down. He's back in the country. Promising to sue too. To sue the dead man. To sue his parents. To sue his lawyer. He says he'll hire the best. Money doesn't move him.
His "wife" is infuriated. She has lost her cool. She says she doesn't care anymore. Says she didn't leave even though he wasn't human. Says she's tired of crying she's innocent. Says they've all turned on her. Says she wasn't going to beg anyone. She's beating her chest. Daring them all, but her son. To prosecute her!
"Prosecute me! I don't care anymore! Prosecute me! And when I'm found guiltless, I'll definitely press charges. You'll all pay!" She shouts.
Their brows are all creased. Each person is willing to press charges. Might the innocent ones, win?
Schoolgirl.