Condemned Daughter

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 2

“Why can’t Rosa Harrison just be like her elder sister, Dominic? Dominic finished school with good grades and with a clean record. There have never been a day that Dominic school called me to inform me that she caused trouble but all my life, it has always been Rosa! Rosa broke someone’s leg today, Rosa locked up some boys because they looked for her trouble, Rosa helped someone carry marijuana, Rosa! Rosa! Rosa! Now murder? That girl will rot in jail! I have disowned her! She is condemned already!!!”. Hilary fired as he hunched over the window.

Tears filled Jessica’s eyes. “But is there a proof that my child did that?”.

“I don’t care about any proof! But I am tired of that girl!!!”.

“What if you give her another chance and she changes this time?”.

“Do you know how long I have been hearing that Rosa will change? That girl can never change!”.

“Rosa will change only if someone makes her see that all she is doing is wrong”.

“How many times have we done that?”

“It might not be in our hands”.

“Whose hand then?”.

Jessica sighed frustratedly. “I am just saying…”.

“Do you know how many times that stupid girl has increased your blood pressure?”.

“She is our child. Even if she kills me, she is still our child”.

“Rosa must learn her lesson and now is the time”.

“Raymond Maxson’s father is Judge Joel Maxson, right?”.

He glared at her. “Why do you ask?”.

“Judge Joel is like family to us. Let us grab this opportunity”.

“Even without Joel, I can get Rosa out of jail but I want her to learn her lesson a bit”.

“Rosa Harrison? Is that the name of the ex-convict?”. Ryan asked with mischief in his eyes.

“How many times will I answer that?” Raymond rolled his eyes and continued going through his laptop.

“Her father was a childhood friend of your father”.

“So???”

“Your dad will butt in this time”.

“Who cares? I am in for justice and I don’t even need a proof to tell me if Rosa Harrison is a killer or not because she has a bad record. Can you imagine that people call that girl Mrs Benson? She can smoke twenty packs of Benson in a day! She drinks like hell and never gets drunk! Do you need any proof to tell you if such a person is a killer or not?”.

Ryan cleared his throat. “You mentioned all this but you never related anything about murder. She has no record that relates to murder”.

“Why? Are you really supporting Rosa?”.

“No, but I am trying so much not to be sentimental. You can’t expect everyone to be like you. Because she smokes and drinks doesn’t make her capable of murder”.

“Rosa had a fight with the deceased that same day!”.

“Rosa and Gretta fought almost everyday. Sparkles workers added that too”.

“She was also the only one in the building the day the deceased passed on”.

“How do you know that?”.

“The security guards confirmed it”.

“Security guards can be wrong”.

“Just shut up and stop supporting that girl because you have a crush on her”.

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Call it whatever you want but if you really want to find the killer, don’t zero your mind to everyone and focus on one person! Everyone is a suspect! Not even Rosa Harrison just because she was the only one in the building”.

It was the longest I have ever stayed in prison. Other days were like six to seven hours but it was forty nine hours already and my daddy was nowhere to be found.

Did he believe that I killed someone?

Or was he finally tired of me?

I smelt my armpit and grimaced at the awful stench coming from it.

We were only allowed to bath once at the cell but after being crapped up in that very small cell, you will be itching to bath I tell you.

The mosquitoes, hard floors and no ventilation!!!

My Barbie room…

I missed it.

That princess life…

At least that comforted me from my past…

My past…

(FLASH BACK)

(Twenty years ago)

Mummy and daddy had not come to pick me up from the church that fateful Wednesday evening.

I had waited with the pastor.

PASTOR was someone everyone trusted right?

My bad….

I trusted my pastor that evening and held his hand with my seven year old small chubby hand.

But suddenly…

He lifted me and placed me on his shoulder.

I relaxed.

He was a PASTOR.

Someone everyone trusted right?

But I found myself in a dark room.

I never knew that we had such a room in the church.

It was very small and damp.

The room was obviously quite abandoned.

Our PASTOR placed me on the bed and tied my hands and legs to it.

It was very frightening especially with the expression on Our ‘pastor’s’ face.

I had never seen that expression before.

He carefully undressed me and suddenly I felt a sharp thing enter into me.

The most painful thing that had ever happened to me.

I wept uncontrollably.

I wept until my voice cracked but no one had rescued me from such pain.

I didn’t know what exactly our ‘PASTOR’ had done to me so I didn’t even know how to explain it to my parents.

The only way I could give them a clue was by telling them that I didn’t want to go to the church anymore.

Guess what?

They assumed that I was possessed by an evil spirit.

That made them make me go to visit the pastor more often than I had done before so that he will bind out the evil spirit in me…

Well, he did the perfect binding.

That binding that pierced into my opening again.

That painful piercing had pierced my heart forever.

I no longer lived.

I was dead to everything.

Even till now….

(The present)

Till now, I don’t care if I go to jail or not…

I just needed a more comfortable cell.

This one they dropped me in was killing me with mosquitoes.

Defend myself?

Why should I defend myself that I didn’t kill Gretta when deep within me, I am even happy that she is gone for good instead of disturbing my early morning duties everyday.

“Rosa Harrison?”. A police woman called me out of my thoughts. “Detective Ray wants to see you. Come out”.

Whoa…

The handsome detective.

I haven’t spoken at length to the handsome detective before.

It would be fun, right?

The handsome self righteous detective…

Here I come baby…

We sat facing each other, almost glaring at each other.

I winked at him. “Xup?”.

He shook his head in disbelief. “Are you not going to confess to the charges raised against you?”.

I shrugged and blinked cluelessly. “What charges is that?”.

“Are you really asking me that?”.

“Who else is here?”.

“Look here Rosa, this is not your sheltered mansion, this is prison…a place you might rot in if it is meant for you”.

“What if it is not meant for me?”.

He stared at me without saying a word.

I hiccupped. “Please I need Benson”.

He smiled to himself. “You can’t have Benson here”.

“Says who???”.

“Says the almighty ‘Raymond Maxson”.

I scoffed. “You are just a nosy detective and your father is a mere judge. What is ‘almighty’ about that?”.

He chuckled. “I didn’t know you had such sense of humour”.

“Beautiful girls always have a huge sense of humour”. I chuckled.

“What do you think men call beautiful these days?”.

“Who cares what men think? I am not beautiful for men, I am beautiful for Rosa Harrison”.

“Have you ever thought of the fact that you will be married someday?”.

I burst out into laughter. “Marriage is for Dominic, not me”.

“Why do you condemn marriage ?”.

“I condemn marriage because I am already condemned as you can see”. I waved my handcuffed wrists at him and winked again.

“Don’t you have a desire to be redeemed?”.

“Look here naive boy, I am happy that Gretta is gone. That girl was work!!!gosh!!!”. I spat into the air.

He grimaced as he stared at the spittle on the floor. “You are from a rich home right?”.

“Why? Rich children don’t spit in the air? You know a common thing about rich children? We don’t care. Just like me. I don’t care”.

“If you don’t care, I am your father and I will always care even if you are very stupid”. My father said angrily as he walked into our midst.

I gasped immediately I saw him and rose to my feet. “Daddy…”. I whispered.

My dad swallowed bitterly. “I know that fifty hours was too hard on you but I just wanted you to learn a bit of a lesson. Look how lean you have gotten”. I could hear the pain in his voice.

Raymond fumed. “Hilary, are you aware that you won’t have your way this time?”.

My father met his eyes daringly. “Raymond Maxson, are you aware that before you condemn my daughter, you must get a proof?”.

A police man appeared and uncuffed me.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?”Raymond fired.

My father pulled his lips close to Raymond’s ear. “I am not every other rich man you have come across, I am Hilary Harrison”. With that, we both walked out of the station.

THE CLASH BETWEEN THE…

RIGHTEOUS DETECTIVE

AND…

THE DANGEROUS RICH MAN.