Deception -Prologue

‘Mrs. Kunda, can you once again tell us your relationship to the deceased before judgment is passed’, her Lordship asked me.

I looked at her with my blood shot eyes. I didn’t know what to say to her. I had exhausted all my energy and I didn’t have anything else to say. Either to the jury, the court or the Judge herself.

‘Mrs. Kunda, this is your last chance…any last words’, she asked again.

I stood up from my seat, I could feel all the eyes crawling on me. I could feel the hate and hurt, the pain, the hunger to kill me was intense. Justin’s mum was also in the court room, she came to bid farewell to her son’s surviving widow and coming here today was the only way to avenge her son.

‘You can start by telling us your relationship to Mr. Kunda and Ms. Hamonga, both in question are deceased.’

‘uhmmmmmmmmmmmm’,  Was the response from the court room.

‘Quite!! Quite now’. The Judge ordered the court

I wiped a tear from my cheeks before I spoke up.

‘My names are Felicia Mwamba Kunda, widow to Justin Kunda who was found dead with…’ I kept quite before continuing, tears streaming down my face.

‘Murderer, you Murderer. You were not woman enough to bear my son a child, to make matters worse you killed him and the only hope he had of having an heir.’ My mother in law, Justine’s mother bitterly cried.

‘I said order in the court, Madam Kunda if you do not keep quite at once I will be forced to throw you out of my courtroom.’ The judge barked

‘I dare you to do so Ma’am, if you were in my shoes you would have sentenced her to hanging already.’

‘Mayo ikaleni naimwe (Mum sit down)’, Justin’s half-sister Priscilla cried out to her mother who was now up facing the Judge.  

‘Are you threatening me or the accused’, the judge asked.

They was silence in the room…

‘I thought so, Mrs. Kunda you can continue.’  

‘My names are Felicia Mwamba Kunda, I and the deceased; Justin Kunda met five years ago and were married for three years. The lady he was found in bed with Chimuka Hamonga; at the time of his death, was a maid I had fired two months ago.’

‘Thank you Mrs. Kunda, court adjoined to Friday.’ The Judge announced.

 The guards led me to my cell and locked me up. In the three months I had been here, I had cried, prayed, talked to lawyers but all seemed in vain. Two days from now my fate would be decided, I loved Justin so much I would never hurt him and I know he would never cheat on me. What was killing me was how he got in that bed with Chimuka, I had so many questions and it seemed to me that he had died with all the answers.

Justin’s parents had refused to bury his body until they saw to it that I was behind bars; two months of my husband’s body being in the morgue. Now here I am, alone in this cell and at this point am starting to believe that maybe I did kill him.

When the world is totally against you, even your inner voice sounds like a liar. Maybe I did murder him, or maybe am just going insane.