Munachi

|Chapter 9|

Presently.

“Please,” I plead. I'm crawling away from him. He slowly follows behind me, reach down, grab my legs and draws me back.

I'm kicking him, and a kick lands on his stomach. He groans, and yet his grip on my legs are impossible to escape from.

“Get away from me!” I shout, kicking still. “Help!Somebody help!” . . .

I wobble to my feet, grab the knife next to him, lift my arms up in the air and plunge the knife into his chest.
I hear a sharp sudden gasp and I look towards the threshold, Doris standing wide eyes with her hands to her mouth . . .

I gasp into reality. It's just a dream, I realize, my heart clenching in so much agony. Looking around in my cell, with reality dawning on me, I break into tears. I hear the door open and I look up to see the warden. That can only mean one thing. It's time for more interrogations, more torturing.

“Get up. You have a visitor.”

As I'm being escorted out of my cell to the visiting room, I wonder who the visitor is since I've never had one before ever since I'm locked up. But of course I should've known, I thought, as I see the woman sitting in front of me, wearing an exciting expression as if nothing pleases her more than seeing me in this heart wrecking state I'm in.

“Hello, Barren.”

“Hello . . . Ma,” I say, sitting in front of her.

“Oh, you have no damn right to call me that. Not after what you did to my son. My only son!” I see tears welling in her eyes, and her lips quivering as she speaks.  “It took me five good years until I was able to conceive that child you took away from me. You will rot in that cell, that I promise you. I'll make certain of it that you never see the light of the day ever again. You murderer!”

I remain silent, keeping a straight face.

“Don't you have anything to say? Not even a little remorse?”

“What is the point of talking when no one listens or believe me? I didn't kill your son. Moreover he tried to kill me.”

“Lair!” She pounds her fist onto the table. “You're a lying slut! You killed my son. You stabbed him and left him to bleed to death.”

“Stop it,” I mutter.

“. . . you ungrateful . . .”

“Please stop.”

As Ma continue to rant and rave, I hear voices and distance whispers in my head:

“Leave me alone, don't touch me!”

“Get away from me!”

“Who the hell do you think you are, telling me what to do?”

“Help! Somebody help!”

And then the sound of the knife piercing through his flesh . . .

“. . . you ran and left my son to—”

“Stop, stop, stop it!” I yell, cutting her off mid-sentence and suddenly gripping her by the throat. I'm strangling her. My grip so tight around her neck.

I hear the door burst open and the warden rushes in, trying to yank my hand away from her throat. Realizing what I'm doing, I immediately remove my hands around her neck. Then I watch her cough, gasping for air.

“Are you all right, madam?” asks the warden.

Ma shoots him a death stare. “Are you blind?! Do I look all right to you? Didn't you see she was trying to strangle me to death?!” She coughs again, running her hand through her neck.

“I'm so sorry about that, madam,” the man apologises.

“I want her dealt with. Torture her more, every minutes, every seconds. Make sure to get an answer from her. A confession. And as for you,” she faces me, “strangling me has just made things twice worse for you. You're never getting out of that cell. You will never have your freedom I promise you that. Not as long as I'm still alive. I'm done here. Take her away.”

“Get up! Up!” the warden yells at me. He takes me by my arm and pull me up.

“Please, Ma. Get me out of here,” I plead, I can't take another minute of torture. “I'm telling you all the truth, I didn't murder Nate. I didn't kill my husband.”

“Please take her away.” She folds her arm over her chest and watches as the warden drags me away.

“Please, Ma!” I continue, screaming. “I didn't kill him! I didn't kill your son! Please!” My ear-splitting screams ring out in the almost empty room.