Wild West of the Heart
NINETY EIGHT

The moment Fiyin mounted the stands, a mouthful of breath escaped from his lips. Her palms grazed the surface of the bible as she pledged to say nothing but the truth, her nails shimmering in the blue black color she had painted for

graduation.

She was in a well tailored suit that Deborah's mum had lent her, sitting from the gallery with tears in her eyes as she looked to Tobi who had also dressed his best. "I didn't know" He whispered, that feeling of guilt seeping through his veins as he watched his daughter stand beside the judge and right opposite her abuser-Collins McPhersons.

Fiyin wasn't exhausted by the breathes she took, instead it bought her some time. The mic gave an echo as she made eye contact with her people, Ola and Obi. And Deb, sitting right there.

"Thank you" Tobi looked to Deb's mum as she reached for his hands. Truth be told, she was the mother Fiyin never had. And even her dad knew that. "She's got this" Ola whispered to a zoned out Obi. It wasn't until he waved in his face that he drifted back. "What's going on, Obi?" They locked eyes before Obi turned away, gripping the court railings. "Nothing" He muttered.

"She's about to speak"

"My name is Fiyin Bamidele Omolara" Her voice raged the courtroom, not only was she the accuser, Fi was also defending the claims Collins had made it was all false. And he was countersuing for defamation against a seventeen year old. Fiyin couldn't speak, instead she burst out into tears, cupping her head to face the wooden podium. These were the tears of a girl who'd been wronged her entire life. A girl who didn't have to be so strong so young-a girl who deserved the bliss, the joy that came with childhood. A girl forced to change and alas,

—a girl that deserved so much better than this. This destiny, this fate. She raised her eyes to look at Collins, he was filthy next to any lawyer that dared make a statement for him. And he looked perfect in that bland orange jumpsuit. Fiyin knew she couldn't lose this, not when there was Marissa and there was his own wife confessing against him. So when she had let out all the tears, she stepped away. "My name is Fiyinoluwa Bamidele Omolara. I'm a seventeen year old high school graduate. I don't think i'm a good person, all my life i've been trying to understand the difference between good and bad, the characteristics that deems one either"

"The thing is i don't think i'm a bad person either. Not when people like Collins McPhersons exist. Everyone can be a little bit of both but this man before you is evil. Beyond human comprehension, and understanding. And explanation. This man raped me on the seventeenth of September, last year two thousand and one. It was supposed to be a good day" Fi scoffed.

"Because i finally spoke to a long time friend, a person who i'm pretty sure i liked my entire life and i was supposed to meet him later that day and probably tell him how i felt. I know you're probably wondering what this has to do with anything, but you have to understand that it does. That what happened that day changed everything, it changed my entire life. And i never got to meet that friend, i never got to tell him how i felt because it was as if everything was taken from me the moment he held me against that desk and told me i didn't matter" She pointed to him with an intense glare. "I can't make this up" Her voice cracked.

"And for what? For a bad biology grade which Collins later turned to an A but at the expense of my body. I went to him for help and i remember him standing up" She closed those eyes, taking herself to the exact moment she was sitting there, in his office.

"I remember hearing a door click and i turned around to look at him. I turned around to see his void eyes, Collins had the key and i couldn't escape. I remember yelling as he inched closer to me, touching me with his tongue before his hands. His cold, hard wrinkled hands. One over my mouth and the other loosening the buttons of my school skirt. While my friends were going out, i was locked in there with him" She pushed a lump down her throat.

"He was gentle at first-" She shook her head, a tear falling down her cheeks. "But everything changed the moment he pined me against his wooden de " She stuttered, a crack in her voice. "Objection my Lord" Fi's lawyer stood.

"The defendant is clearly not in the best condition to—"

"I got this" Fiyin interrupted from the stands. "Objection overruled" The gavel hit the table as she nodded. "I've got this" He tapped her feet against the floor, muttering again but this time maybe to herself.

"He started with my skirt which i still have blood on. I could never look at it, or wear it. Or touch it. Just like my own body. At first i was scrubbing each time so hard that i would turn red with sours that stung but then i just didn't care anymore. He's had it, i would say. He's taken a part of me forever" She added.

"A part i would never get back"

"And when he was done "

"Your honor, would you kindly ask the defendant if there was any penetration between her and my client because as far as Mr Collins here can remember-" "Quiet" The judge ruled as Fiyin scoffed. She wiped her eyes, stepping out of the witness box.

"As far as he can remember?" She echoed as Tobi felt his fingers fold up in a fist. As far as he was concerned, he could shove that fist up that man's asshole to make him feel twice the pain he put his daughter through. But that could never be the case.

The painful reality was that he still had to be tried, he stills had a voice with that much evidence against him but that wasn't even the scariest part, the scariest part was that Collins could still win this after all of this. Because that was how society was. Designed to favor people like him. Designed against women, girls with Fiyin.

And Mo, who still had to watch this. And Marissa as well, and all the other victims of Collins who couldn't be here. Who hadn't found a voice, who was still afraid, scared of him. Because of the goddamn society they were in. "As far as you can remember?"

"You don't remember thrusting in me even as i pushed against you. Repeatedly. For twenty two times, i counted in my mind. I counted to keep myself alive so i don't consciousness. I counted to stay alive, to go through all of that but you didn't even care if my eyes were closing Collins. You didn't care because of the monster that you are. You're a bad person. you're the devil Collins and that thought haunted me as i carried your baby for months inside of me❞ Fiyin held her stomach with tears in her eyes.

"As long as you can remember huh" She scoffed. "Then why did i sit up with legs open on a cold metal bed to have a piece of you removed from me. Like raping me wasn't fucking enough" She yelled the last part, pointing at him. "Like raping me wasn't fucking enough for you and now have to deal with it, i know"

"The woman always has to. Deal with the fact that i may not have another child because of this, deal with the trauma. Deal with the loss and the grief for something i never even wanted" Janet sat forward, holding her handkerchief to his face. "And i still have a long way to go in terms of healing. In terms of completely moving on but I'm glad. I'm glad of how far i've come. And it wouldn't even have been possible without my best friends and the most supportive family. I forgive you, Collins" Fi said. "I may never forget what you did to me but i do forgive you"

"For me" She walked to his stand, taking off her suit jacket. "I don't think i can ever forgive a rape apologist though" She turned to his lawyer, wiping her eyes. "You're even worse" She added.

"And i guess that's the difference between you and me.l

"Worse. You're the worst kind of people to ever walk this earth. And next to you, i know i'm a bad person. I may not the best too but i know i didn't deserve what happened that day" Collins couldn't face her. He looked as helpless as she was that day, finally admitting guilt and maybe regret. Or maybe he was ashamed if he ever felt anything. But then and there he knew

-he had lost this battle. Fi turned around to the judge. "That's it" She walked back to her stand with her lawyer squeezing her palms. "I'm so proud of you" She whispered in the silence as a few left the gallery. She turned around to see Janet leave too.

"You have now heard the evidence and testi-" The judge's voice zoned into her ears as Fi stood from her seat. "The court will now take a recess while the jury deliberates" There were murmurs in the room as Fi raised her hands in the air. "If you may your honor"

"You may be excused" She paced through the aisle that divided both rows before walking out of the courtroom doors. By that time, Janet had already taken a stand against her husband and on getting out there, Fi saw from a distance crying by the stairs.

Her arms immediately fell as she made her way towards her. Her hands reached out to her shoulders and Janet turned around. "Oh, it's you" She exhaled, wiping her red nose like a reindeer. She scoffed as Fiyin inched closer. "I'm so sorry" She whispered, seeing her in that condition but Janet shook her head. "No, Fi”

"I'm so sorry for this and for everything, i thought i cried everything out yesterday. This must be so embarrassing" She walked past, stretching out her arms. "Twenty five years" There was a crack in her voice. "We were married for twenty five years. I was married to a rapist, and Collins he was-" She sobbed.

"He was preying on young girls. He never wanted a child because i would've given him, i would've given him like i gave him everything and now i thank God that i didn't have a babygirl that had to survive her own father. I'm sorry" She whispered. Fi nodded. "It's okay" She replied. "My husband hurt you so much"

"Collins did. My husband did"

"I don't know what happens now, Fiyin. I'm so sorry" Fi held her hands. "You did the right thing bringing Mo and yourself to the station. Don't let anyone convince otherwise❞ Janet nodded. "It's like i always knew, the kind of man he was" She added.

"But i looked away. I wanted to look away, to harbor myself in this safe fantasy that i still had of him. Of both of us. He always said no one would ever love me and deep down, i was scared that was true. So i stayed" Fiyin knew how familiar that story was. "I know now that i would rather say unloved than to be involved with Collins in another life" She whispered, holding Fiyin firm. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that" Janet continued.

And the doors opened again, this time Ola standing there.

They turned to him, hands still holding unto each other. "The jury has a reached a verdict" He said, and a chill went up Fi's spine. "Come on now" Janet whispered. "We've waited so long for this"

-

"Will everyone please rise"

Ola stood beside his mother, and everyone but Mira, who had been taking care of Silva for the past two weeks, was here. He looked to Obi who seemed to have something on his mind-

-he hadn't been himself the past few days. And he didn't say much. Ola looked to the judge and then the foreperson of the jury that stepped forward. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" His voice raved through the walls of the court. "Yes, your honor. We have"

Fiyin paced all the way the desk, standing opposite Collins who was already on his feet. "The charge of conspiracy and defamation against the defendant-" Fiyin heaved in a deep breath. "The jury finds the defendant" She took a suspenseful pause as Ola gripped his feet to the ground.

"Not guilty"

Fiyin gasped, wailing with tears as Janet held her hands together. Relief filled the halls with heavy breathes. He then turned to Collins whose eyebrows were furrowed.

"On the charge of the rape and sexual assault of one Fiyin Bamidele, Marissa Jones and Mo Giddi, the jury finds you Collins Mcphersons, guilty" There was a hesitation as Fiyin immediately hugged her lawyer, finally heaving a complete sigh of relief. No holding back-this was it. This was the final moment, the feeling she's waited for for so long.

And it was natural. Victory.

"We the jury, sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility parole" Collins wrists were cuffed as he stepped from behind the desk. His lawyer had his palms in his face as the guard held tight to his client like the criminal he was. Fiyin watched him, walk away and then he did turn his back once but she stood her ground-

-ascertaining some level of power of him, that this weren't the hallways of Hillway High where he had all the power. This was real life, something school doesn't teach much about. And they locked for the last time, her lawyer pulled away from her just as the gavel hit the table.

"Court dismissed"

Deborah's mum fled down the aisle, grasping her daughter's best friend. "Oh Fiyin" She exclaimed. "Thank you" Fiyin had tears in her eyes as she turned away from the door. "Thank you so so much for believing in me when no one did" She said.

"It's nothing Fiyin" She looked up at her dad, hanging by the edge of the gallery, a walking stick in his right hand. "You know who to thank" Umma whispered into Fi's ears as her eyes darted to Deb who had her hands together and tears falling from her eyes. "Thank you" She mouthed inaudibly, though Deb knew exactly what she said. "We did it" She whispered.

"We did it" Ola crept beside her, looking at Obi still in his seat. Deborah put an arm around him, pulling him close and he scoffed. Fiyin was the third that joined them, rocking both her closest friends side to side. "Thank you guys so much" She whispered, holding them like she was never going to let go-

"Now we can focus on brighter things. Better things"

She looked to Ola. "Graduation. It's tomorrow" He laughed and her jaw immediately dropped. "Shit" She cussed. "Come on now, let's get out of here" Deb pulled away.

"Obi?" Ola called out and he inched closer to them. "I'm so proud of Fiyin" He held her hands. "Are you okay?" She asked, an arch in her brows. "Yeah i am" He scoffed before Deb hit him lightly in his shoulders. "Come on now-"

And before you knew it, they were out of there, running into the sun. This feeling was strange, this ease, the sunshine and the relief. There was nothing holding them back. Holding their hands, they yelled at the skies-Everything was good again.

And both Vlad and Collins were bound to be best friends in the same jail cell-now what were the odds? Because one of them was still going to kill the other, it was honestly a matter of when.

But that wasn't any one's job but the jailer's to worry about. In that moment, they all just wanted to stay there. Under the firy Lagos skies filled with so much possibilities and good-

for the first time, everything was good.

To be continued...