The Lady Yves

Chapter 21

A set of keys jingled as footsteps made their way down the stairs that led to the holding cells.

"It is time," the guard said as he unlocked the doors, shackling the prisoner's hand and feet.

The prisoner followed, dragging their feet to prolong the sentencing for as long as possible as they were led to the small court where a judge from out of town was seated in his high chair, his looking glass perched precariously over his right eye. His thin sandy hair was sticking to his scalp at an attempt to gel it back.

As soon as the prisoner was settled, the court proceedings started.

The judge cleared his voice. "You are hereby charged with having sexual relations with a negro woman  and defiling yourself before the bible as well as the law, knowing that it is strictly forbidden for black and white integration. State your case."

The prisoner looked up, tracing his hand on the scabs on his neck. His hair had been cut so short you could almost see his scalp. "I, Yoshi Manley, have nothing to say, your honour," he replied, looking around the court room.

There were only a handful of people in the room and his mother sat in the farthest corner of the room, dabbing her bloodshot eyes with a cloth. When her eyes met Yoshi's, she stood up and left the room.

When he woke up in a hospital some two days ago, he had been shocked to find himself shackled to his bed with a priest praying over him while his mother fixed his blankets,crying her eyes out. The last thing he remembered was the soul crushing pain he had felt when Freedom had burned his neck with a hot poker. Then he had embraced the darkness that had been calling to him.

Then he had woken up to the prayers of the priest.

Yoshi turned back to the judge who was staring harshly at him.

"You are sentenced to a public whipping, Yoshi Manley," the man said. "Case dismissed."

Yoshi looked at him with disgust. "Where is Freedom Yves?" he blurted.

The judge looked at him, irritated. "The negro you lay with? Ah! She and her companion shall be whipped and hanged, like they deserve. The high council has given their approval. Now...Yoshi Manley, you shall be led to the public square to receive your punishment."

The guard pushed Yoshi out before he could start speaking again. He was thrown into a cart that was drawn by a horse, to be taken to the square.

A crowd had already gathered as he was taken to the platform and stripped naked before being tied to a post. He quietly looked around and in the crowd, he saw some of his female negro servants who were silently crying. He knew that the men would not be here because they were either dead or captured together with Junior.

The sheriff came onto the platform with a long leather whip, looking at Yoshi Manley.

Then without warning, he threw back the leather and whipped it through the air, causing it to crack loudly just as it landed on Yoshi's back! Yoshi held in the scream in his throat and gritted his teeth, breathing heavily as spit flew from his mouth.

The sheriff cracked the whip on him again and this time the tip of the whip folded around him, hitting him in two places at once, one being between his shoulder blades and the other being that wounded spot on his neck. He went stiff, his fists clenching and his veins popping all over his arms, his face and his neck as he went red, still not screaming,refusing to give the sheriff the satisfaction.

The whip landed many more times, sometimes tearing open some skin as Yoshi's silent tears fell, the scream the sheriff wanted to get out of him lodged painfully in his throat.