Assassin at Greenbelt 4

Sibling Rivalry VI: The Verdict

December 7th. The day of Nina's judgment. There lies the question, will the court prove her guilty?

On my end, I arrived at the lounge near the court at 8:30 AM, with Attorney Tan welcoming me.

"Attorney Tan!" I greeted as I sat down the sofa in the lounge. With me sitting on the leftmost end of the sofa he sat on the rightmost end. Then he invited me to come closer to him, but I chose to sit on the middle.

He barely noticed me, but after a few seconds he greeted me, "How are you?"

I replied, "I'm OK. Thanks."

Then, Attorney Tan asked, "May problema po kayo? (Do you have a problem?)"

I replied, "Ang takot ko po kasi Attorney eh, mapawalang-sala si Nina. (My fear, Attorney, is that Nina might be acquitted.)"

He heard the anguish in my response, knowing that the case has gone so far as presenting expert testimony. Deep inside, I knew that presenting expert testimony will not guarantee a guilty plea to Nina. All he could do is stay silent and look at me in the eye, followed by shaking his head. He grounded my thinking by saying, "We already presented the best evidence we could find. Let's hope for the best, in the sense that Nina gets convicted. However, don't put your hopes sky high."

After Attorney Tan's words struck me, I sighed. Then Anna came in which took me by surprise. Perhaps she wore the same dress as she wore during the trial. Plus, she bragged, "Hey there! I had my Ferragamo bag repaired. It looks good as new." (Come the verdict, Nina would be wearing her black catsuit; yes, that catsuit that she wears in Tekken 7 when she was second-in-command to Heihachi Mishima.)

Seeing her new bag, I laughed, shaking off the tension that came with anticipating the verdict.

I laughed her off, "What? That's like, about a large partof my monthly salary! Anna, the heck you got the bag repaired?"

She continued with her braggadocio, "Why, don't you want to look presentable as always?"

I dismissed her, "Whatever, Anna. At least you got your stuff done, right?"

I checked my watch. It was 8:47 AM. Attorney Tan invited me and Mr. Musico (who just came) to go to the court room already to hear the final verdict of Nina's case. Anna followed but quite far behind ensuring that she finds her seat on the court audience.

Then, 8:55 AM. I was seated on the right next to him on the prosecution table, with Mr. Musico on the left. While waiting for Judge Monsod to arrive, I saw a solemn, empty court audience area which will seat but one guest: the sister of the accused. Perhaps no one wanted to go to court that day.

Then, 9:00 AM sharp. Judge Monsod came to court and the court interpreter asked us to rise.

Judge Monsod asked us to be seated. Then, her voice echoed throughout the courtroom. I wonder why, but the environment of the court on verdict day was silent, solemn but still tense. Judge Monsod asked the court interpreter to read the verdict, slowly and solemnly.

"The court has established in Criminal Case Number 874200 that on ground of reasonable doubt, the accused, Nina Williams, has been acquitted—"

As soon as I heard the word "acquitted", I clenched my fists and pulled my hair using my clenched fists, followed by crumpling my face and shaking my head. I uttered under my breath, "How could this be?"

While I was about to explode in fury, the court interpreter continued reading the verdict, "of these charges, namely: Act of lasciviousness without consent, slight illegal detention and possession of dangerous drugs. So ordered."

Then the court session adjourned. The court session may be brief, but it left a dent that I cannot erase—in my memory and in my consciousness, it won't go.

The second the word "acquitted" replayed in my mind, I fumed in rage, a rage that won't leave me until the second or third day after Nina being acquitted of her crime.

Nina, on her end, sensed this solemn verdict reading as her victory; shaking hands with her defense lawyer, Attorney Peña.

Attorney Peña was ecstatic, grinning widely and said to himself, "We did it, Nina!" followed by shaking her hand.

Nina was excited, but she still had a flat face. Her expression suggests relief instead of joy. Then she shook Attorney Peña's hand, "We did it nice and easy, Attorney. I knew that him bringing me to court would be his knee-jerk reaction." (Nina was thinking, "I knew all along that he can't resist me. I'm everything he wants, if not for crime.")

She wanted to seduce me to recruit me as her accomplice again, thinking that she could get away with her scheme. 

Anna, on the other hand, was staring sharply at her with her eyebrows crossed. She mused, "Ah, Nina! Here you go again."

After Judge Monsod laid down her verdict and she adjourned the court session. I sat with Anna and I told her in an acrid, urgent tone, "I think we need to talk this over before we leave!"

Anna gave me one final warning. "Call me any time if my sister is bugging you. Whatever happens, I'll find a way out for you. But, be extra careful in taking calls." A few moments later, Nina, touched my shoulder gently, followed by her whispering, "You think you'll run away from me? Don't be sure with Anna... you'll never know what you're running into... See ya!" followed by a gesture resembling a flying kiss and the Evil Mist move in the Rabid T. Nina's exit gesture infuriated me.

From that day on, I had this lynching fear that the seemingly stoic seductress will get me back to her loop. By heck, would I even trust Anna? Each choice thereafter would be darn ugly!