First Degree

Chapter 19: Guilty until proven guilty

I sat in court with my nice, new suit from Ann Taylor. I washed my dreads and had them nicely pint up. My lawyer, Gina Macintosh, sat next to me wearing her glasses and writing in her notepad.

"When does it start?" I asked. She looked up at me with a smile.

"Don't worry about anything. You are going to be fine." She smiled. She made me feel so much more comfortable. NYPD walked in intimidating me and the jury. There was a woman police officer with soft blonde hair in big curls. She gave Gina a look of hatred. Beside her was a male police officer with a rather confused look. He seemed confused as to why he's even here.

Gina didn't seem phased. She actually waved at them. I hope she knows what she's doing.

"Don't look nervous. I want you to look like a wife that has been beaten for years." She said as she gathered her papers together in a neat stack.

That won't be so hard. I've been looking that way for three years. I looked back at Khi and Tess. Khi gave me a soft smile that made my stomach catch butterflies. Tess was mugging the hell out of the NYPD that walked past their aisle.

My mom refuse to see me like this. I wish she would be a mom and be by my side during a time like this. I literally have no family here with me. They're either still in Jamaica, dead, or like my mom and not want to bother with me.

"All rise! The honorable Judge Padelski presiding." The bailiff spoke. Everyone in the court room stood up. Me being a clumsy fool, I stood up later than everyone else. I was shaking in my Jimmy Choo heels.

I was a nervous wreck. My hands were sweating and my legs were shaking.

The judge walked in with his intimidating look. He looked very careless. He was a very buff white man with little to no hair.

"You may be seated." The judge spoke as his dry voice spilled through the tensed room. I slowly sat back down and cleared my throat.

"Breathe." My lawyer whispered to me. I looked at her and she looked very confident. She made my nervousness slightly go away.

She stood up and ran her hands down her tight skirt.

"I call you here today to talk about the murder of a man everyone knew. He was a very known man in the limelight. Liam Angels." She spoke. I just watched her every move. She appeared to be comfortable by the way she sashayed around.

"What you do not know about the amazing model was his dark side. Liam Angels was arrested multiple times for assault against police-"

"Your honor! I object this line of attempts!" The lady police jumped up from her seat.

"I accept the line of attempts." The judge agreed with Gina. I was smiling from the inside. Gina smirked.

"As I continue, he assaulted police, co-workers, and lastly, his wife." She turned to me causing everyone in court to look at me.

I felt embarrassed, so I dropped my head.

"Head up." I could hear Khi whispering. He's always making me lift my head. I slowly lifted my head and looked at Gina.

"Exhibit A." I heard her say. I watched her turn the television on. There was a slideshow of my bruises on my body. They were very graphic. The jury all sighed as they watched the horrific slideshow in silence. Gina continued to flick to the next picture. The last one made a tear come from my eye. It was my missing teeth. That man knocked teeth from my mouth.

"This mane was no angel." Gina stated.

"He was a monster and my client was forced to defend herself." Gina took a long look at the jury before taking a seat. She didn't appear to be nervous a bit. She actually smiled a little.

The NYPD stared at her with pure disgust. The blonde stood up and walked to the front of the court room.

"We all are aware of dealing with famous people. They have groupies. They have fans.  They have the entire deal. What this man and his wife had was a typical jealous relationship. Liam was jealous because his wife was cheating on him with a Sports Illustrated journalist." She turned to me with a smirk.

How did she even know any of this? I could see Khi staring at me from the corner of my eyes.

"Your honor, this is off topic." Gina announced as she chewed the top of her pen.

"Detective Lowery, proceed back on topic." Judge Padelski said. He is totally agreeing with everything Gina is saying. I'm convinced they are screwing. Like Gina is so not worried about anything. She is sitting next to me drawing butterflies in her pad.

I leaned in and put my hand over my mouth.

"Are you hearing this?" I asked. She giggled and shook her head as she continued drawing.

"Kelly Lowery is a screw up if I've ever seen one. She's going to talk herself into a grave soon." She laughed. I looked up and saw the detective still talking.

"If Mrs. Angels was in any harm's way, she should have called the police. Yet we never received a call from the residence. We are not even sure Mr. Angels put those bruises on her. She was stepping outside of her marriage while her husband was working for them." She said.

This woman is making me sound like a whore right now. It was so believable.

"If your husband was hitting you, would you call someone? Police? Parents? Friends?" She asked. The jury nodded their heads in unison.

Yep, I'm fucked.

"I rest my case." She turned on her heels and went back to her seat.

"I'm about to hit this bitch where it hurts." Gina mumbled to me as she stood up.

"I call to the stand, Jeffrey Morgan." Gina said.

I looked around confused as I waited to see who would stand up. There was the guy from the car that drove me and Liam home the day I killed him.

He looked at me with sorrow. I quickly turned away to await what Gina was going to force him to say.

"Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?" Gina asked as he placed one hand on the Bible and the other in the air.

"Yes." He stated. She smiled.

"Is it true you have been driving for Liam Angels for three years now?" Gina asked.

"Five." He said.

"Oh? So you knew him when he met my client, Genesis Angels?" She asked as she looked back at me.

"Yes. I rarely drove her. She never really left home." He said.

That was true. That's why I've never seen him until that day.

"Can you describe their relationship?" Gina asked.

The guy scratched the back of his head in an uncomfortable way.

"Ummm? They never had any chemistry to me. I always thought Liam was with her because she was a beautiful lady. He always had different women in the car when I drove him." The guy said. People started gasping as if they didn't know Liam was the devil.

"I actually drove them both the day that Liam was found in his home." He said. He looked over at me and I looked away.

"Describe the ride home." Gina asked as she leaned against the podium.

"He told me to go to Walmart where Mrs. Angels and a guy was. He told me that he was going to get his wife, Genesis. I did as I was told. I didn't know he was going to kidnap her and have me take them home. While we were going home, he made several threats of what he was going to do to her when he got home. He slapped her around in the backseat and I was forced to shut up and drive." The guy spoke nothing but the truth. It broke my heart that Liam would go through so much to ruin me.

"When you say threats, can you be more specific?" Gina asked.

"He talked about beating her up." He said. Gina smiled at him and nodded.

"Thank you Mr. Morgan." Gina walked away as the guy left the stand.

"Now that's how you shut a bitch up." Gina mumbled. I looked down at the detectives and they were in complete awe.

I think I just got away with first degree murder.