Your Honor

33

MONTHS LATER

JOHN'S POV

I staggered into the office, holding a bottle of whiskey in my hands. I slurred incoherent words from my lips as I struggled to find my way towards my seat. Drinking became my escape from depression and anxiety. Mama was still in a coma, James was still missing and Eniola was well gone for good.

I sat down groggily and picked up a newspaper. I dropped it flatly on the tilted floor as soon as I read the newspaper headlines.

The door snapped open and Kemi strode in wearing a faint smile.

"Good morning sir." Kemi greeted, dropping her handbag on her desk.

"Get me another bottle of whiskey, this one is almost finished." I replied, shaking the whiskey bottle.

"Sir, I don't think I can do that." Kemi replied, adjusting her shirt collar.

"What did you just say?" I inquired, shattering the unfinished whiskey on the floor.

"I can't do it, because these days you are either drunk in the court or you ask me to delay the trial. I am sorry sir, but you have changed ever since Eniola—" Kemi began, folding her hands in nervousness.

"Don't ever mention that name again. Who gave you the right to speak to me that way? Get out before I send you out with a sack letter." I yelled, causing Kemi to flinch in fear.

"Alright sir," Kemi replied slowly, walking out of the office door.

I held my forehead in my hands and sighed deeply. Kemi was right, I had transformed into a drunkard over the past few months. Eniola's death shattered the will to keep up the act in the law firm and James's sudden disappearance caused me to brood every night. I thought he travelled without wanting to say a word but now it was strangely starting to turn into a catastrophe.

"Everything was my fault, I did this to myself." I mumbled, placing a shaking hand on the desk.

"But I won't give up, I will find you even if it's the last thing I do. I won't accept that you are dead. I will search the entire planet to find you. I will find you, James." I whispered, patting my throbbing head on the table softly with determination.

JAMES'S POV

I awoke to someone hitting my head brashly with a stone, I grunted in agony as I shifted my body away from the person inflicting pain on my head.

"Well, well. You finally woke up after three months. I am amazed at how strong and resilient you are in staying alive." David grinned, crouching low to reach my gaze.

"You have stayed in this small bug infested room with little oxygen for you to breathe, feeding on expired food and you still have a stubborn determination to live. Give up already." David added, patting my throbbing head.

My throat was hurting because of insufficient water throughout the months, my bones crackled because of malnourishment and my skin was covered in hideous bruises. Everyday, David bathed me in faeces and urine causing me to stink like an animal in the wild. He also taunted me regularly about Eniola's demise, trying to break down my walls.

"But you have stayed silent. Does that mean you accept that you are finally ruined?" David chuckled, slapping me on the cheeks.

I let out a sharp groan and squeezed my eyes shut, the resounding sound of the slap emptying itself into my eardrums.

"Just say one word, or are you still mourning your dead girlfriend?" David sneered, pouting his lips in pretense pity.

That statement gave me the willingness to speak out the words that refused to come out of my lips in the last two months.

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to success is to always try one more time. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. When the world says give up, hope whispers in our ears to try one more time." I stated, my voice shaking with every word that spilled out from my lips.

David chuckled and got up on his feet, refusing to break eye contact with me.

"Bring it on, Your Honor." David whispered, bolting the wooden door shut that sent the small room into a void of dimness.

              

                                                       THE END

                           BUT THE END IS ONLY A BEGINNING IN DISGUISE