Love Bait

It was another lonely morning for Sofi. All she could do was sob and ask questions. All these guys spoke a language she didn't understand and that terrified her.

"Is he going to kill me?"

She asked one of the guys who would sneak in more food to her after she had been fed. She was referring to William who had caused commotion in a language she didn't understand and kept on pointing at her in his long ferocious rant.

"No he won't love to but he can, but that depends on how fast your mother comes back"

She was baffled.

"Mother? She was here? Why did she leave me here?"

He answered while smoking from a dying cigar. He spat disgustingly from time to time but she preferred him to the rest of the guys. At least he had a heart.

"She isn't allowed to see you yet. She is in some big mess but she can make it out if she is a good girl like you."

"Mommy is a good girl."

"Then you have no reason to worry at all."

"Did she go to the hospital?" Sofi asked.

"No one knows."

"But you say she is in trouble…" She added "My dad would come for me if I had one"

"You don't?" She shook her head in response.

******

At the central police station. The sun was setting and Liana was still in the police custody. Lee came alongside two cops and they wanted her to write her statement over the accident. Lee was desperate to see her out.

"This should be the last thing you do then you are going home. Tell them everything you saw before the accident."

She sat opposite the public prosecutor that evening trying as hard as possible to recall everything. She told them about the weather, the slippery road and the discovery that she had hit a man.

"What speed were you going at?"

"I am not so sure but I normally drive at 50 on the feeder before I get to the highway."

"Do you know you were supposed to get your car inspected two days ago?"

"Yes sir. I am a nurse and sometimes I work up to late I didn't manage to do that but I was going to do that this evening straight out of work."

The rest of the questions had to do with her psychological state and general health then she was on her way home in Lee's car. She still didn't want to talk about him or herself or Sofi or anything. She would lead herself into trouble.

She cut a lonely figure and looked through the window throughout half the ride. She remembered William on the wheel and she was on the backseat that night. She remembered how she looked through the window at the passing darkness like now.

She remembered the syringe, the pale-yellow liquid, the arms and the hazy face. Everything caved in until all she could see was her nose. Then Lee's tap on her shoulder awaken her from the land of misery.

"How is Sofi? Can I see her?"

Liana got a call the evening she took a matatu to the station to meet the public prosecutor who wanted to get some details regarding the case. She had missed two consecutive calls from a private number and couldn't call back.

The first call came when the public prosecutor was telling her that that the sons of the man she had hit were considering the incident as more than just an accident and wanted justice served to the murderer of their father. The second call was during the brief about the old man's condition.

"He is worsening and we are just letting you know that your team should prepare for the worst"

She knew it. Lee had told her that things would go south if the man died. She had spent two nights all by herself in the church trying to find the right words to tell God. She prayed for her life and Sofi's.

She prayed for the old man she had knocked down. She went to the confession booth but didn't have the courage to spill the beans even to the man of God. She looked across the hallway and turned away when she met the father's eyes. She didn't know what was right for her and her daughter.

She got the call and a third time. It was still from a private number. She recognized the voice from the other side. It was William. She made a face of defeat, hit her left thigh and groaned so loud everyone in the matatu turned to look at her. She picked the call and she was shaking from just hearing the voice.

"You can't afford to waste any more time Dr. Liana. Everything depends on it. Her life for example."

She curled in pain when she heard a terrified shrill Sofi calling mommy from the other side and crying. She puts the phone on her lap and sobs silently.

"Is everything okay madam?"

A lady sitting next to her asked concernedly.

"I'll be fine. Thank you."

The caller had hung up, and the screen was an indication a received call from a private number one minute ago. Just a minute's decision would save her all these troubles. Just a minute's swift decision would fix everything as well. She knew she had to do something and do it fast, but she wasn't sure what exactly she was supposed to do.

Lee called to check if she is doing fine. He also wanted to know when Sofi was coming home from the school trip to Fourteen falls. That's what she had told her to keep the secret even safer. She said she would tell her as soon as she learns about it from the class teacher. Lee wanted to come over and check on her if she had the time.

"I can stay for the night if you want me to." He had added.

"What about your wife and family? Let's not complicate things farther Lee. Right now you are my attorney and I am your client."

Of course, that was what she was. A client. She had notified him about the briefing at the Public prosecution office and he warned her against taking on them without him. It was simple. Anyone tries to ask her about the accident she plays the 'I can't speak without my lawyer" pawn.

Even when they were together, he had to approve which questions she would respond to and which ones she would skip because she had the right to.

Liana alighted at her gate and took the same feeder road where she had knocked a man down. She could feel eyes screening her down and people talking in whispers as they passed by. She passed the gate without even noticing it. She found herself in her room. Her mother was in the same posture she had left her in the morning, terror-struck. She hadn't eaten the breakfast in front of her.

She locked herself in her room and sobbed like you would if your daughter was in the hands of people who shot others dead and recorded the act on their tablets, your car was impounded at the criminal investigation department for an accident that could amount to death and, you are facing an attempted murder lawsuit and your defense lawyer is the man who you swore never to talk to again in this life or the next.