A reason to live

Part 1

He didn't even feel the cold sting of the cuffs round his wrists. All he could feel was anger, boiling anger and hatred for the judge, the jury, the police, the reporters present, hell even the cleaners who cleaned the court room. He bowed his head as he was led into his holding cell. He sat in the dark claustrophobic room going through the events of the day while awaiting transfer to the maximum prison. "After reviewing all the evidence against you and consulting my fellow judges, i have reached a decision. Mr. Okoye Tochukwu, you are hereby sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with hard labour and no option of bail. This is my judgement". He banged the mallet on it's pedestal twice. The sound did not even register in Tochukwu's mind as all that the he could hear was the brusque voice of judge Vincent giving him the 25 years sentence as punishment. He froze, still processing unable to move any part of his limbs. Then he snapped. He lunged forward, arms shooting out of the defendants box in a feeble attempt to grab hold of judge Vincent "It's not fair, it's not fair, I want the death sentence. Give me the death sentence" he screamed amidst horrified gasps from the people present in the court. " I murdered him in cold blood. I want the death sentence" He screamed hysterically. The police officers present were able to restrain him on the ground, snap the cuffs round his wrist and led him away. He had a plan. He was in control. There was no way that he was going to spend 25 years in jail. Hell there's no way that he was going to spend a night in that hell hole crawling with savages, sadistic animals and bloody homosexuals. Oh and how many tales of how those homosexuals forcefully had their way with new comers. "No way" he said to himself "i would rather die". As he sat in his cell waiting, still deep in thought, his wife Cynthia was was ushered in by the guard. "You have just ten minutes" the guard said as he dipped the naira notes Cynthia bribed him with into his pockets. "Tochukwu" No reply. "Tochukwu look at me" she stretched her hand to caress his cheek and Tochukwu tried to dodge but he was not fast enough. And soon as her hands landed on his face, he knew he was a goner. He slowly raised his head to look at her tear soaked face. Oh she was his Achilles heel. The only woman he would kill for, die for...and live for. She talked endlessly about how she loved him and how she would continue to wait for him and they would continue from where they stopped and with the money that he got paid for doing the job, they would be comfortable for the rest of their lives and when she said " I'm pregnant Tochukwu, we are going to have a baby" he grinned for the first time since he was convicted. He kissed her softly, savouring her lips because he knew that he would miss her very much. But he also knew that he would live for her and their unborn child. He would look forward to the future and wait for it to come. And as Cynthia was escorted out of his cell, he had a new mindset. He was going to survive.