Munachi

|Chapter 21|

WITNESS STATEMENT #2
(Actual Confession)

Doris Emeto:

My Mistress, Mrs. Munachi Adichie didn't kill her husband . . . I did.
I was afraid to mention it to her that Mr. Nathaniel Adichie, her husband, was having sex with me.
Every night, ever since the fighting and quarrelling between them, he'd come into my room and forcefully sleep with me.
He threatened me never to breathe a word of it to anyone including his wife.
I got tired of his threats and sexual assaults. So that night, while they were arguing as usual, and my Mistress screaming for help, I took the kitchen knife.
I wanted to help her. I wanted to save myself as well. So I snuck up to their bedroom.
Mistress was lying on the floor with her husband standing above her. With the knife in my hand, I stabbed Mr. Nathaniel several times on his back and chest before dropping the knife and hid outside the bedroom behind the wall.
When I peeked into the room, I saw my Mistress stabbed her husband on the same chest. I was surprised and I panicked before running off to my room.
Later on I discovered that my Mistress had taken the car and ran off. To save myself, I phoned Mr. Nathaniel's parents and framing the whole incident.
I never wanted for this to happen. I was only trying to save myself.

As conscience flows back into my body and the fog clears from my eyes, I become confused at the strangeness of my new environment. As I sit up in bed, a depressing feeling overwhelmes my entire being as I take in the strange looking white bedsheets and the smell of disinfectant. I feel the walls of the hospital closing in on me. I begin to scream. I scream louder and the walls echoes my cries.

Suddenly, the door open and a nurse runs in with a bespectacled young man, in white lab coat.

“Take it easy,” the man says as reassuring hands tries to calm me down.

“How did I get here?” I ask.

“Please, try and lie down and you'll be fine,” the doctor soothe me.

Yet I continue to sitting up. “No. I don't want to lie down.”

“Maybe we should sedate her, doctor,” the nurse suggests.

“No, I don't want to be sedated,” I shout.

“In that case, you'll have to stay calm,” the doctor admonish me.

“All right, I'm calm.” I'm nodding. “I'm calm.”

I watch as the nurse beckons the doctor to a corner, whispering to him and then glancing at me. I can't make out what she's informing the man, but deep down I can feel something is wrong.

“Okay,” I hear the doctor say before turning to me. “You should rest now. Please if you need anything, don't hesitate to call on the nurses.” He turns to the nurse, whispers to her before heading out.

“I-I need to use the bathroom,” I say to the nurse. This is my only chance of getting out of here. Something seems fishy between the doctor and the nurse.

“Um, why don't you wait until the doctor returns,” she says to me.

Wait until the doctor returns? I thought with a slight frown. Why do I need the doctor's permission before using the bathroom? “When do I know when he's returning? Besides he just told me if I needed anything I should inform you.” I see the nervousness in the way she looks at me. And that moment, my conscience tells me to RUN! “Look, I really need to use the bathroom.”

As I climb off the bed, the doctor indeed returns. But he isn't alone. He walks in with two police officers.

“Mrs. Munachi Adichie,” one of the officers calls, collecting a handcuff from his partner. “You're under arrest for the death of Mr. Nathaniel Adichie. You have every right to remain silent, for whatever you say now will be used against you in the court of law.”

“No, no! You don't understand. I didn't kill him. I didn't kill him!”