Bound by the Heart

by Ashley Goss

  “I will keep trying to find things. I am going to dig into Dwayne’s past to see if I can find anything else that will help. I will also be digging into Elijah’s past. Hopefully, there is nothing that is going to hurt his case. I am going to meet with Elijah right now to see if there is anything I need to know about before proceeding.”

  “I would like to come with you!”

  “Please meet me there then.”

  Chris and Rachel agree to drive me to the jail so I could accompany Jolene to speak with Elijah today. I need to see him and make sure he is alright.

  “We are here to meet with my client, Elijah Barnes.”

  We walk down a bunch of long hallways and go into a tiny meeting room where Elijah is already waiting for us.

  “Hey guys, what took you so long to get here?” he says jokingly.

  “Apparently, it’s like a maze in here!” I laugh.

  “So, let’s get serious. Elijah, I have found some things that I feel might help your case. However, I need to keep trying to find more. I would rather be overly prepared. Do you have anything in your past that could help the prosecuting attorney’s case against you?”

  Elijah is just twiddling his thumbs, and I could tell that he is contemplating things in his head.

  “If there is, I need you to tell me. This is not the best time to hold back!” Jolene states angrily.

  Elijah sighs and says, “Nope. I don’t think there is anything.”

  “Okay, I am going to dig into Dwayne’s past to see if we can find something else that could help us!”

  “Okay, I need you to do me a favor,” Elijah says to Jolene.

  “What?”

  “I need you to get in touch with my ex-cellmate John and get him some money.”

  “How much money?”

  “Just like $500. My cell mate needs it to feed his family. I don’t want him to end up in here again because he has to steal food for his family!”

  “I will track him down and get it to him. You are a very kind man, Elijah. I really hope that I can get this case resolved for you.”

  “May I have a moment with Elijah?” I ask Jolene.

  “Sure, I’ll step outside. But hurry up, the guard will wonder why I am leaving you alone,” she says as she shuts the door behind her.

  “Elijah, are you doing okay?” I ask him as I put my hand on his cheek.

  He grabs my hand and says, “Yes, I am okay. I will be better once I am out of this place. I am glad you came to see me. I need to see your beautiful face.”

  “We are going to get you out of here, and when we do, you will be able to see my pretty face whenever you want to,” I say with a smile.

  I lean in and kiss him on the cheek and leave him behind.

  Chapter 18

  Elijah

  It’s the first day of the trial and boy am I nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. As I sit at the table in front of the judge, I couldn’t help but feel like this might be ruled in my favor. The judge is a female. That might mean she would be more sympathetic to my case because I had been protecting a woman from her abuser. Jolene tells me to stay calm and focus on wanting to get out. They will try to push me into getting angry, and it would only show that I have a temper issue. It would only hurt my case.

  The jury is brought in, and I couldn’t help but notice that seventy-five percent of the panel is women. Jolene looks at me and smiles. She is thinking the same thing as me. Good sign. Women will be more sympathetic to the situation than a man possibly would. I look behind me, and there is Nikki, Chris, and Rachel. They keep telling me to be strong and it would go my way. I couldn’t help but not be as optimistic as them. There are not the ones sitting in jail. Nikki looks beautiful as always. I hope I get out of here so I can tell her how I feel.

  The trial has officially begun. The prosecuting attorney, Paul Whitman, is an older gentleman.

  “Your honor, I would like to start off today by discussing the incident in question first,” Paul says.

  “Please proceed.” the judge replies.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are here today to discuss the incident that happened between Dwayne and the defendant, Elijah. Unfortunately, we do not have Dwayne

  here with us because his life was taken. So, we will just have to go off what we know. I would like to call Elijah to the stand.”

  I walk to the stand, sweating bullets.

  “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?”

  “I do!”

  “Elijah, did Dwayne break into the house on the night in question?”

  “No, he did not physically break into the apartment.”

  And so, it begins. I still don’t understand why just because he didn’t physically break in that it hurts my case?

  “How did he get into the house?”

  Take a deep breath, it will be over soon, and you can get off this stand.

  “I saw him outside of the house lurking around, so I opened the front door to see what he was doing out there. This was when he proceeded to force his way inside.”

  “What happened next?”

  “He started to hit me. That’s when Nikki came out with my gun.”

  “So, she came out with your gun. You didn’t already have it?”

  “That’s correct!”

  “At which point did you get the gun?”

  “I got the gun after Dwayne had taken it. He was using it to force Nikki to leave with him which she did not want to do.”

  “Why did you discharge your weapon?”

  “I asked him to leave, and he charged at me. So, I fired my weapon.”

  “Twice?”

  “Yes, twice.”

  “Your honor, I would love to give you some paper that has Elijah’s shooting scores on it. It shows that the defendant has an almost perfect aim.”

  “Elijah, why did you shoot Dwayne twice instead of just once?”

  “I wanted to make sure that he was hit.”

  “But you have almost one hundred percent accuracy on targets. Are you sure that is the reason you shot Dwayne twice?”

  “Yes!”

  “No further questions.”

  My lawyer steps up and starts talking next. She didn’t seem happy about what he is trying to imply.

  Did my accuracy have something to do with how many times that I shot him? What did it mean?

  “Your honor, my client’s accuracy on targets does not pertain to a real live hostile. He was defending himself and Nikki in the middle of the night from an attacker.”

  “Do you have more to elaborate on, Ms. Wentworth?”

  “Elijah, did you feel threatened by Dwayne?”

  “Yes, I feared for my safety and Nikki’s. There were previous instances that happened that made me scared of the altercation even happened that night!”

  “Like what?”

  “Like when he put Nikki in the hospital after beating her and leaving her unconscious on their apartment floor.”

  “So, Dwayne was known to be violent before this incident, is that correct?”

  “Yes!”

  “No further questions, Your Honor,” she stated.

  “Let’s take a recess.”

  Jolene and I went into the meeting room to discuss what happened already.

  We went back out and the rest of the day is pretty much just the prosecutor trying to build his case against me. He pretty much only talks about the scene of the crime. I’m thankful that I didn’t get questioned again today. I’m done with it. It’s only hurting my case.

  The second day of court went a little better. This is the day that witnesses are getting questioned. I had no idea what they were going to ask these people about me. I’m still not exactly sure who they were going to have testifying today. I had been having nightmares thinking about this trial.

  “We are going to have Nikki’s doctor testify today on the physical abuse, and we found some neighbors that heard things from ot
her nights of abuse. I am hoping that this will help your case.” Jolene says.

  “Okay, hopefully, it helps.”

  “Your honor, I would like to call Nikki to the stand!”

  Nikki walks up to the stand, and you could tell she’s nervous.

  “Nikki, did Dwayne hurt you?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many times?”

  “Three.”

  “Is it true that he beat you so bad that you ended up unconscious and had to be taken to the hospital?”

  “This is true.”

  “Can you tell us about the attack made on you before your hospital trip?”

  “That morning, he had hit me and given me a busted lip and a black eye. I went over to my friend Rachel’s house to ask if I could stay there until I could get on my feet because I was going to leave him. When I got home, he was waiting for me. He hit me repeatedly while I was begging for my life and the next thing I remember, I was in the hospital.”

  “So, even after begging for him to stop, he continued hitting you?”

  “Yes!”

  “Can you tell us what happened the night of his death?”

  “Elijah came to stay with me because I didn’t feel safe staying alone. Later that night, we heard someone outside of my apartment. After checking, we saw it was Dwayne. Elijah told me to go to the bedroom, and not to come out. I heard some ruckus and opened the bedroom door, and Dwayne is on top of Elijah, hitting him. That’s when I pulled the gun on him and told him to stop. Somehow, Dwayne got the gun from me and then threatened me with it and tried to make me go with him. I was going to do what he asked when Elijah took the gun back from Dwayne. He then told Dwayne to leave. Dwayne then proceeded to rush Elijah to get the gun, and that’s when Elijah shot him.”

  “So, he was asking him to leave before firing the weapon?”

  “Yes.”

  “Was he a threat to you and Elijah?”

  “Yes.”

  “No further questions for Nikki, Your Honor. I would like to call Dr. Jenson to the stand now.”

  Dr. Jenson walks up to the podium to take the oath and sits down. He looks nervous. It seems this is the first trial he has been a part of too.

  “Dr. Jenson, is it true that you treated the woman in the audience today?” she asks while pointing at Nikki.

  “This is correct.”

  “I have her medical records here in case you don’t remember. Can you tell me what the injuries were?”

  “She had two very swollen eyes which made her vision subpar, a broken cheekbone, and a broken rib.”

  “Thank you for your testimony, Dr. Jenson. You may step down now.”

  “I would like to call my client, Elijah, to the stand.”

  “Elijah, can you please tell the courtroom what happened that night?”

  “He was stalking outside of her home, and I saw him. I got up, opened the door, and told him that he needed to leave. That’s when he began beating me. He threatened her and was trying to drag her out of the house. He even took my gun from her to force her to leave with him. I waited until he wasn’t paying attention to me anymore and took the opportunity to get my gun back. I told him to let her go and leave, but instead, he charged at me, so I pulled the trigger twice. He was trespassing and a threat to both of us!”

  “No more questions for this witness, Your Honor., I would like to call my next witness, Rose Taylor.”

  “Can you tell the court your relationship with Dwayne?” She asks.

  “Sexual.”

  “How often did you two see each other?”

  “Once a week, at least.” Rose replies. The look on her face meant she did not want to be on the stand.

  “Was Dwayne ever abusive toward you?”

  “Yes, he hit me a couple of times before I ended things.” She looks worried like maybe he would come after her, but he can’t. She’s safe to speak to the truth.

  “Why did you stay after he hit you the first time?”

  “Because I had feelings for him. He said he was sorry.” Tears start streaming down her face showing she really did care for him. Everyone in the court room feels bad for the girl. She didn’t get into the relationship thinking this is how it would play out.

  “No more questions, Your Honor.” Jolene states.

  Jolene and the prosecutor go back and forth making their closing statements to persuade the jury one last time. It’s all up to the panel from here.

  “The jury will need time to reach a verdict. We will recess, and we will let you know when it has been decided.” the judge says.

  I couldn’t breathe. There is no more time to win the jury over. Everything is done, and my fate’s in their hands now. What if they found me guilty? They escort me back to my cell until they get the call that my fate has been decided.

  “This might be a good thing.”

  “I hope so.”

  We get into the courtroom, and all eyes are on me. This is the moment of truth. My fate has been decided. What is it going to be?

  Chapter 19

  Nikki

  I couldn’t control myself. I’m ecstatic to hear the verdict. I knew no jury would convict Elijah after hearing what Dwayne did to me. I knew that once I got on the stand at talking about what Dwayne did to me and then my doctor stated my state when arriving at the hospital that no jury would convict him. They would be crazy to. He’s now a free man again. I run up to him and give him a hug as tight as I can. I think he is still in shock that he won the case.

  “You won, Elijah. You are free!”

  “I know, but I just can’t believe it.”

  Of course, we must wait for him to get released from jail before we could go out and celebrate. It’s not every day that you got accused of murder.

  Chris, Rachel and I wait outside the jail for him to be released. I couldn’t explain how I feel right now. I am just happy that we finally got this taken care of and it’s over. We could all move on from it.

  We decide to take him to enjoy some real food. He must be getting sick of that nasty crap that they serve there. I couldn’t imagine having to eat that crap every day. We sit down at George’s and decide to go ahead and order some drinks. We need to celebrate the victory. We need to celebrate the fact that Elijah is free. He can now go back to living his life.

  “How are you feeling, man?” Chris asks Elijah.

  “I don’t know yet,” Elijah replies.

  It didn’t take long before Elijah’s ready to go home. I imagine he wants to sleep in his comfortable bed. Those mattresses can’t be comfortable to sleep on. He just didn’t seem excited right now. What is going on with him? He had been found not guilty after spending a month in jail. Shouldn’t he be happier? I just want everything to go back to normal now. He is staying with me since he didn’t have a place to stay. He got evicted from his apartment while he had been incarcerated because of non-payment and lost his job. He is going to have to start all over now.

  “I’ll take you back to our place. I know you would like to get some rest.”

  “Yes, I would. I would like a real bed, please.”

  We make our way home, and I let him sleep. I know he needs it. I would be drained too if I had to go through a trial for murder. Especially the not knowing if you were going to be in jail for the rest of your life. I sit around and watch TV while he slept. I didn’t want to be too loud. I need to give him some space and let him readjust to being out in real life again.

  When Elijah gets up and is moving around again, he seems a little better.

  “Feeling better?”

  “Err, I feel better, sure.”

  “Well, let me know if you need anything.”

  “I would love a beer.”

  I get a beer out of the fridge and hand it to him.

  “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but it’s finally over. We can get back to our normal lives.”

  “I’m not sure how long it’s going to take me. I guess I am going to go look for a job in the morning. I�
��ll be getting out of your hair in no time.”

  He’s already talking about moving out. He hasn’t even been out but a day so far. I didn’t want him to feel like he needs to move out right away.

  “You are more than welcome to stay here if you need. There’s no rush!”

  He starts asking me about how things have been since he has been in there. We didn’t get to talk or see each other much.

  “How are things with you?”.

  “Good but better now that you are out.”

  “Nightmares gone yet?”

  “Yes, they are finally gone. After everything that I learned about Dwayne, I think that helped.”

  “Anything else new?”

  “Nope, not really.”

  I wondered what he is questioning me for? What does he really want to know? It’s nice to know he’s worried about me. I know we both had nightmares for the longest time, but now we are over it. We know the type of man Dwayne really was, and it didn’t faze us anymore. Why should it?

  I want him to feel better. I could tell that he is happy to be out, but he wasn’t all there. I didn’t want to pry at him to see what’s bothering him. I did not want to be pushy. I figured he will need some space. He would need to get used to not being in that place anymore.

  A couple months later, Elijah’s moved out and on his own again, working a construction job. I try going on a couple of dates, but it just didn’t work out. Elijah has a girlfriend that I have yet to meet. Once he moved out, we didn’t talk as much. Chris has met her and wasn’t very impressed, or at least that’s what Rachel tells me. Rachel wants to plan a party, so we could all meet her. Elijah seems happy with her, and that’s all that matters. I have seen him a couple of times, and he looks happy. At least, I could say that. He needs a girl. He needs to know he has worth.

  Rachel and I have been getting together every Friday to just have a girls’ night. Tonight, we are just sitting around eating junk food and talking about random topics. Elijah gets brought up.

  “So, what do you think about Jess?”

  “Well, I haven’t met her. I’ve heard about her. What do you think?”

  “I haven’t met her either. We need a party. That way we can both meet her and see what we think. We need him to be with someone that we get along with.”