The Turbulence✔️ (#1 in the Our Side of The Dice series)

43: Prison Reunion

"Gaius Giakas shall be sentenced to six years imprisonment with hard labor!" the judge hit the gavel against the desk after passing on his verdict as he yelled, "COURT!" and everyone present in the court rose to their feet, watching as procedures required that the judge leaves the courtroom first.

Yemisi heaved a sigh of relief as she pulled the cream wig off her head. She was so happy it was over. No class had stressed her this much emotionally. She never even thought a case could affect sentiments she didn't know existed in her. It was never not surprising to see life throw surprises.

Now, she could have six years at most to ensure that Gifty's unhealthy attachment to Gaius dissipates completely. As the policemen walked Gaius side by side to prison, Yemisi pondered on whether to look at Gaius' face or not.

What did she expect to see in his facial expressions? Why was she expecting a facial expression? And why was she interested in knowing whatever his face looked like at that moment? She knew he'd been showing remorse, but she didn't like him very much talk more of caring about how he was feeling about the verdict.

Would it change anything? She'd spent hours arguing the matter thoroughly with the bastard of a defense lawyer that Gaius' Dad assigned to defend him. The scumbag was busy standing upon the grounds that Gaius was twelve years old when the incident happened. It was insane that she was even able to win the case eventually.

The Court trial was a ton of stress, so she wasn't about to start harboring stupid feelings from watching him go to jail. The burden was lifted off her shoulders at last. So, she looked away and packed her belongings, stuffing them into her handbag. She had to meet with Karen but quickly remembered she had to make a call - a call to Russia.

*****

Gaius is now in prison. His clothes are taken off him and replaced with the prison uniform, his shoes substituted with rubber slippers and confined to a dingy cell. His full, lengthy hair is trimmed to a fade. He has the look of a prisoner.

He had longed for this punishment all his life. Now that he was here, what next? Where was his redemption going to come from? From sitting in between the four cold, foreign walls with negative thoughts as his master?

Mental disarray.

Was that the real punishment that awaited him, but he never knew? What then did he expect from staying in prison if it wasn't that? How did he think that merely being a prisoner would redeem him of his sin?

He wanted to be guiltless. He yearned for something positive. Maybe the hard labor aspect of the imprisonment would help get his mind off from the flashbacks, gory images, and demons, but how about the cold nights he would spend alone or probably with fellow snoring cellmates? What if he came out different but terribly after serving his imprisonment term?

Maybe the ill-treatment from prisoners that have stayed for a long while would be the punishment he needed for being a terrible person, but this wasn't an American prison, and it would surely not operate like how he'd seen in a few movies. He didn't know how the Nigerian Prison worked.

After several minutes of thinking of how to live his way into redemption in prison, he is brought back to reality when he hears several noises. Then he notices that many cellmates are walking out of their cells and heading towards the field.

Many are dragging their feet, murmuring, complaining, and yelling. Gaius could even hear the sound of a cutlass kissing the floor in the distance.

It was time to work. Gaius rose so he could join the others. The warden in charge approached him on the field. "Go and join that middle-aged woman over there. Pluck the weeds with her." Gaius obeyed the instruction and walked towards the end of the field, where the woman was digging through the grass with her bare hands.