VERDICT.

"I know he has done an unforgivable thing, but please let him live, Lord! If not for anything, for me, dear God, I don't want him to die. I ask for your mercy and compassion over his life, please. Just one more chance, one more chance to see him and hear what he has to say."

Camille's prays fervently, kneeling on the floor of her bedroom. Since the news of Michael's accident broke, the media has been agog with speculations and rumors, with no one knowing the details of his condition. His parents have been fiercely protective of him, keeping his condition out of the media.

Lara walks silently into the bedroom, touching Camille's shoulder to notify her of her presence. She had earlier left on Camille's account to try to find out news about Michael since his totaled car was recovered from the water under the bridge.

"I am back, cuz."

She announces, sitting on the bed.

Camille jumps up to her feet, and looks at Lara anxiously for information.

"So, what did you find out?"

Hissing in disgust, she crosses her legs.

"Don't tell me you have been praying for him."

Wiping her tear-streaked face, she sits sniffling on the bed beside Lara.

"No matter what he did, he doesn't deserve what happened to him. I was just praying for his healing."

"You were praying for his healing despite what he did to you? How stupid can you be?"

How can you be so callous? No matter what he did, he is still human, and his life has meaning. Besides, he still owes me an explanation. A part of me doesn't believe he released those pictures; he loves me, and he just proposed. What could he stand to gain by doing that? No, I don't believe it."

"What more proof do you need? He does that kind of thing habitually, and those pictures of you were leaked from his Instagram account. Are you so in love that you have lost your sense of reasoning? He deserves to rot in hell for what he did."

Shaking her head as fat teardrops fall from her eyes,

"Please don't say that; he doesn't deserve to rot in hell. I need to hear him tell me why he did it, if he did. I still don't completely believe he did that to me. Something smells fishy, and I can't place my fingers on it. Perhaps if he hadn't been talking to me on the phone, the accident wouldn't have happened. I caused this."

She sobs.

"Oh! Shut up! With your stupid self-righteousness."

Punctuating her words with her forefinger,

"It is all on him; it's not your fault at all. If he hadn't done what he did, he wouldn't have been in that position. Why feel guilty because a grown man made a decision to be irresponsible?"

"You don't understand; I trust him; he couldn't have done it."

"If I were you, I would stop thinking about him and think more of myself. You are in a whole world of shit! Your parents have been calling me to speak to you because you haven't been picking up their calls. The whole city is labeling you a prostitute and wondering what sort of woman with morals sends nudes to a man who's not even her husband. If only you knew. I pity you, because shit has gone crazy out there."

"I can't talk to my parents yet; I can't face them right now. I am sure they must have condemned me in their minds already. My father must be so disappointed in me. As for people labeling me, just please refrain from telling me about it. I have read enough comments to make me suicidal. The only thing I care about right now is Michael's recovery; he owes me an explanation."

Shaking her head in disdain,

"I am afraid he's not going to be doing any explaining. I am so sorry."

"What do you mean? You haven't told me what you discovered from your outing."

Standing up to envelope her in a hug,

"I am always here for you, because you just know that. Together, we would overcome this."

She pulls out of Lara's embrace and steps back.

"What are you talking about? Tell me what you heard."

Averting her gaze,

"I am so sorry, but Michael is dead. I went over to his parents' house and confirmed it; they are keeping the news quiet because of the press, but..."

She stops when she notices Camille has slumped on the floor. Rushing over to her, she calls her name several times, with no response. Checking to see if she is still breathing, she rushes to take her phone from her bag and call an ambulance.

THREE WEEKS LATER.

The doctor checks Camille's vitals and pronounces her of sound health. It's been three weeks since she fainted after hearing the news of Michael's death; she has since been discharged from the hospital and is recuperating in her parents' house under their watchful eyes.

"So, everything is okay with her, doctor?"

Her father anxiously asks their family doctor, who came to perform a check-up on her in the house.

Doctor Mark pauses in the middle of packing his tools to reassure him.

"Everything seems to be in order; she just needs a lot of rest. You have to make sure to keep an eye on her and try to make sure she isn't left alone to fall into depression from too much thinking, you know what's going on with her. Her medications are also very important, ensures she takes them always."

He resumes packing his tools and is soon set.

"Sure, we'll pay attention to all that."

"Please let me know if anything changes."

"I will, thank you so much, Doctor; I am grateful."

"Thanks, Doc."

Mrs. Williams, who has been silent since chips in.

"Enjoy the rest of your day, Sir and Ma."

Mr. Williams sees the doctor off to the door, and turns back to face Camille, who seems to have shrunk in size since hearing the news of Michael's death,

"I guess you are well enough to talk now."

Nodding her head slowly, she gives her assent, knowing the "talk" has been a long time coming and the only reason her parents haven't had it with her is because of her fragile nature. Not eager to talk but wanting to get it over with, she pulls herself up to a sitting position, propping a pillow behind her.

"Yes, Dad."

He pulls out a chair beside his seated wife.

"It is an understatement to say you have brought shame, ridicule, and reproach upon this family; we raised you up to be a virtuous woman, and this is the only way you can repay us. Your mother and I haven't been going to church for the past few weeks because people have been saying nasty things about us. I am an elder in the church, and it shouldn't be my daughter who would disgrace me like this."

Pausing to study her facial features,

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

Using her hands to wipe the tears that have begun to flow freely down her face, she sniffs.

"I don't have anything to say except that I am sorry for everything that happened. Saying anything else is not necessary. I am deeply sorry, Mom and Dad. I am sorry for the embarrassment I have brought upon this family."

"I am going to ask the obvious question here since we haven't talked about it yet. What do you intend to do about the other issue? It needs to be addressed too, you know?"

Mrs. Williams asks,asks, earning her husband's supportive nod.

"I wish you both would just leave me alone to deal with it myself. It's my decision to make, and it should be left to me to handle."

She says it says it firmly.

Leaning closer to her on the bed, Mr. Williams comments sadly.

"You know it's bad enough that you decided to embarrass us by making yourself a laughing stock,stock, but it's even worse that you went ahead to......"

She interrupts him by raising her hand.

"Don't say it, Dad; it's my mistake to deal with. Just leave me be, please."

Setting her chin stubbornly, she turns her face away from her parents who exchange disturbed glances.

Her mother decides to take the rein of the conversation and moves to sit beside her on the bed.

"You are an adult sure and you can make your own decisions no matter how terrible they turn out to be but sooner or later you are going to have to make a decision."

Turning back to regard her mother sullenly, she replies in a subdued voice.

"You both would be the first to know when I make that decision, just please let me take the time to think."

"You don't have much time to think before  making a decision, it has to be soon. I take it you don't know yet."

Mr. Williams says.

"Know what?"

Camille asks.

"A mail came in with a letter of acceptance into the residency program you applied for in Canada last week."

A faint flicker of interest flashes across her face but disappears almost immediately.

"Took them long enough. I am no more interested in going. It couldn't have come at a worse time."

Fury flashing across his face, Mr. Williams stands up to his feet.

"You, my dear must be joking. Do you realize we spent good money for you to apply and write that exam? In case you don't remember, you went to one of the most expensive private universities in the country that I paid for. It seems we have been treating you with kid gloves. You don't know the gravity of what you did, do you? I have been suspended from the church on account of your recklessness you selfish girl! Now you want to throw everything away right after dragging us through everything you put us through. I will not, I repeat, I will not allow you to waste my money and throw your dreams away cause of a circumstance you created yourself."

Raising his voice in anger, he bellows at her.

"You have been lying on that bed for weeks at our expense and it was a relief to know that you have been accepted into the program you have been longing for, at least it would get you out of the country and the whole noise would die down. You are a selfish, ungrateful brat."

Mrs. Williams stands up to pacify her husband.

"It's okay darling, I am sure she would see reason. You know she's dealing with so much, let's just resolve this matter calmly please."

Softening at the sound of his wife's voice, he relaxes and allows himself to be dragged back to the seat he vacated.

"What your father is trying to say that you don't seem to understand is that there's nothing for you here in Nigeria, it has always been your dream to have your residency outside the country. You can't throw it all away because of what happened. We have spent a lot of money on you and we can't watch it go down the drain because of what happened. What you did not only affected you but us as well, it's a lie that we stopped going to church cause of the nasty things people were saying although we had more than enough of that, your father was suspended as an elder in the church and we have been too ashamed to show our faces. The least you can do is buckle up and make us proud. You still have your whole life ahead of you and this too shall pass."

Mrs. Williams says to the sobbing Camille.

Too overcome with anger to be moved by his daughter's tears, Mr. Williams declares.

"I would begin to make arrangements for your departure as soon as possible. I expect you to get your head straight and face your business squarely once you leave the country. I would brook no resistance from you on this. Do you understand?"

In a barely audible voice, Camille responds.

"I do. I have a request please."

"Yes, what is it?"

He asks her impatiently.

"I want to pay a visit to Michael's parents to offer my condolences before I travel. I also need to inform them of the situation, they deserve to know."

"Wait a minute! Are you mad?"

Turning to face his wife,

"did you hear that? Everything you did is not enough for you, is it? I thought you had more sense than this. What am I even saying? You don't have any sense cause you wouldn't have gotten involved with their son in the first instance if you did. The family has always had a bad reputation and yet, you chose to date one of them. I am surprised releasing nude pictures of you is the only thing he did. I forbid you to go to their house and you are not to step a foot outside this house except when you leave for your travel. Have I made myself clear?"

"I thought you had the spirit of God in you, why can't you forgive and forget as Christ taught us? No matter what he did, he did not deserve to die like that. I should at least pay my respects before I travel. Is that too much to ask?"

"You better shut up that mouth of yours before I shut it up for you. How dare you lecture me on scripture? If you had followed the scripture as Christ said, would you be having premarital sex? Would we all be in this position? You this uncouth girl!"

He clenches and unclenches his fist in fury.

"You are an elder in the church and if you can be like this, it's no wonder you didn't forgive your brother and left him to rot in a wheelchair. So much for family."

She replies in fury almost matching her father's.

He opens his mouth wide in shock before turning to face his wife.

"You better talk some sense into your daughter before I show her the unpleasant side of me she has never known."

"Maybe you should leave us while I talk to her. It's okay darling, she would come around."

Mrs. Williams calmly suggests.

He stands up and exits the room staring hard at Camille.

"You know the subject of your uncle is a sore topic for him, you shouldn't talk to him like that."

She turns to talk to Camille as soon as he leaves the room.

"I am tired of his holier than thou attitude all the time. He puts up the front of being a God-fearing man when he can't even find it in his heart to forgive. That's just hypocritical."

She insists stubbornly.

"I would not tolerate you talking about your father like that. He's an honorable man and he did the best he could under the circumstances besides, it's you we are talking about, not him. He has forbidden you to go and I stand by his decision."

"So, I can't even offer my condolences to his parents?"

"No, you can't. I am sure the press would be circling their house like eagles. Now, what do you think would happen if you were sighted? I shudder to think of how that would turn out. Just get your affairs in order for your travel. Take care of your eatery and other properties however you want to before you travel."

"Okay Mom, I will."

She says resignedly.

"You have to understand that all we are doing is because we love you, it's going to be hard enough to cope with the stigma of what happened. You shouldn't despise us for wanting to protect you, everything we do is borne out of the love we have for you. Don't you ever forget that."

"I love you both too and thank you."

Smiling at her, "you are welcome. Now get off your butt and stop wallowing in self-pity. I want you to go out into the world and make us proud, put Nigeria on the map and fly your home country flag proudly."

"I will, Mom."

"Do you promise?"

"I do."

"What happened doesn't define you, if anything, it's just a test of your strength and resilience. There's still so much the world has to offer, go explore it."

"Thank you, Mom. It's just I don't know how I am supposed to get over Michael, he was my everything. I still can't believe what he did, still, he shouldn't have died without giving me an explanation, at least for closure. I would never love another man the way I love him."

"Closure is a thing of the mind, no one can give you that except yourself, close the chapter within yourself and stop trying to understand it. Believe it or not, we can't always get the answer to all our questions, we just have to get ourselves closure from within and move on. You are going to remain stuck in your mind if you are looking for closure, just move on. I know it seems like you would never love another man again but you never know what God has in stock for you. You might just be in for a surprise."

Shaking her head vehemently in disagreement,

"No surprise is going to be worth losing Michael, I know we only dated for a short while but my whole life revolved around him within that little period. I would face my task and excel but it's going to be difficult."

"I know daughter, I know it's going to be difficult but you are strong. God won't give us challenges we can't overcome. He would never test us beyond our faith. One more thing."

"What is it?"

She looks at the ring on her finger,

"Your first step towards healing is getting rid of that ring."

She raises her hand and starts to twist the ring on her finger.

"Sorry Mom, I can't. Maybe later but certainly not now. This is the only thing I have left of him, I can't take it off please."

"Whatever you say but sooner or later, you are going to have to."

Getting up to her feet,

"We have kept you up long enough. Get some rest."

She nods her head in agreement.

"Okay Mom, thank you."

"You are welcome."

She exits the room and closes the door quietly behind her.

Camille continues staring at the ring and twisting it on her finger, overwhelmed with emotions, she lays down on the bed pulling the duvet over her head and sobbing quietly into the pillow.