Hassan
stood in his Apartment and took in a long breathe but a short exhale repeatedly,
he has always thought it to be a weird way for his nervous system to do this
whenever he was relieved. Two months ago he was behind bars for a crime he did
not commit at least that's what he claims, "She deserved to die, they all
deserved death", he adjusted his couch, tightening his teeth as a response
to the scratching sound it made while being dragged along the cold bare floor,
and laid down clamp shelled, his breathing was back to normal, as he dozed off,
he thought of how much he missed his house, the annoying sound of his old
rusted fan, his only gray couch he inherited from his parents, the only thing
they left him aside his name, his plain walls, the rest of the house he barely
entered, because they were almost empty but still it was his.
"Holy freekballs, please shut the
door" he groaned as he turned the other side only to be met by another
light source "how many windows does this shithole come with?" he mouthed as he
stood up, 2 months in prison and his home was not anymore familiar, he sat on
the couch going through the bag he must have brought with him at night and
brought out a chips bag as he chewed.
"knock, knock"
Came
a voice from behind the door followed by an actual hit on the door, he froze
"who could that be" he thought
"It's
the police" another voice answered as if reading his mind, he felt suddenly
cold but he knew the only way out was swallowing fear, he counted his steps as
he dragged his legs toward the door trying to clear the voices in his head
telling him he'd be going back to prison, he practiced his routine breathing
and opened the door just in time before a third knock "Yes?" He asked, staring
directly into their faces as if trying to read their minds.
"Mr. Hussaini?" One of the officers
questioned
"No"
he responded "No, that's hussaini's door" he exhaled in relief as he
pointed to the next door "yes, we're both labeled 12C" he continued as he
watched the officers eye shift from his door to the next, "yeah we've spoken to
the house agents about this but no one has showed up, I'm Hassan Alao" he
said and pulled out his ID card which was still in his coat pocket "oh, oh,
we're so…rry" the officers responded checking his card with the paper in
their hands before walking towards the next door. Hassan shut his door and
walked to his couch, knowing that the only thing worse than being free to await
trial would be to be held under monitored
house arrest until trial. He chewed as silently as he could, afraid that
any noise he made would attract the police
"I'd have to go out anyways" were his
last words before sleeping
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Stand
up"
Hassan
repeated to himself in a whisper between his breathing routine, this time he was anything but not relieved.
"Mr. Hassan"
A
voice pierced into his thought and brought him back, he still couldn't bring
himself to get up
"it's your turn" his lawyer called out
again
According
to the autopsy she was pregnant, 7 months, the rare kind and with the court's
approval on a paternity test, the baby's matches Mr.Alao
The
words struck him again, the Latino had claimed to be on birth control
"Your honor, my client and I would like to take a short
break"
His
lawyer broke the court's silence, he stared blankly at the judge who seemed to
be running out of time herself
"Court adjourned"
she said and all he knew was his lawyer
dragging him to the bathroom. Freeing himself, he headed to the closest wall
and started hitting his head gently on it, mumbling in low whispers
"if I were you I'd stop" his lawyer
said out from where he stood "you are not giving me a lot of options other than
to plead a mental case, Are you mad?" He walked up to him with no intention of
stopping him,
Hassan
paused for a minute before staring at his lawyer
"So I'll take that you didn't know she was
pregnant or that the child was yours" his lawyer said again
"I am no murderer" Hassan responded
seeing that his lawyer was doing that thing he did whenever he was in doubt
"So if your intentions was not getting
rid of the baby then what was it?" His lawyer spoke again "The district
attorney has more than enough evidence against you can you at least give me
something, anything" he begged "Hassan, you have to tell me how you killed her
without leaving any detail" the lawyer continued as he walked towards the
mirror to adjust his tie
"This is not the 1st
girlfriend of mine to die just because they chose to break up with me"
Hassan
said out but still his voice was low "I just happened to be at the scene for
this one...."
"What
do you mean?" His lawyer cut him off
"Jennifer Ignatius, Humphrey Comfort, Azizah
Bala, Lynn Painter….."
"So
now what? You're a serial killer?" his lawyer interrupted him again
"I
just didn't know if telling the police this would cause me more harm than good"
Hassan whispered
"Yeah
sure man, whenever you're in doubt, speak to your lawyer first" His lawyer
responded in a sarcastic tone as he turned his gaze to Mr. Hassan who was
having a panic attack
"Okay
now is not the time for this Mr. Alao, the odds are not in our favor, so I need
you to fucking calm down" he said between gritted teeth,
"Alright, Jesus Christ" Hassan
responded, pinching his fingers into his skin and stopping at the wild stare
that met him
"Here's
what I think, we plead the mental case, the dual personality shit….."
"Wait,
that's a real thing?" it was Mr. Hassan's time to interrupt
"Why
have you been seeing a shrink ?" His lawyer asked
"Jesus Christ!, its not for you to know"
Hassan raised his voice for the first time
"Jesus
Christ? You think he'd help you with the way you're treating this case?" the
lawyer said as he paced around
"Yea
I know, heaven helps those who help themselves" Hassan responded feeling
guilty
"No,
no, no, That's not a real thing" the lawyer walked up to him and stared
directly at him "That's just a phrase logical oriented people say to get
believers off and right now it'd take a miracle to get you off, do you better hold
onto this Jesus, this heaven's help,
like it's your fucking dose…." His lawyer said "Wait is there anything you aren't telling
me?"
Hassan
stared blankly wondering if his lawyer was a mind reader before shaking his
head and himself out of his grip
"Why though" he questioned, "Because
here I am asking God for ideas and strength to face the court and he keeps
telling me I'm missing the whole point by not listening to you, So yeah Mr.
Hassan Alao I'm all ears, what else don't I know?"
"wow" Hassan responded "you do
believe in this God" he continued using the air quote for God, he paced
around the room wondering if he could trust his lawyer not to think him crazy,
should he just plead guilty instead because he'd rather that than be locked up
in a psych ward, could he really trust this God of his or would he too bail on
him when the going gets rough, or worse, worst.
"I saw someone" he said but didn't
stop pacing so as not to catch the lawyer's eyes "He was…" he paused "He looked
just like me but..."he said as his voice trailed off
"But
what?" his lawyer said and for the first time touched his shoulders "But what
Hassan?" he repeated calmly
"He was wearing short" Hassan said and
was met with a raised eyeball which he knew was confusion
"Yes, I know that, we saw the clips of you
leaving through the window....wearing short"
"I
did not leave through the window, I chased him using the stairs and when I gave
up I went back and called 911" Hassan cut his lawyer short
"Correct
me if I'm wrong Hassan, you're saying the killer has your voice, your face, but
since he was wearing short you can't be the killer, why's that?" His lawyer
asked innocently but he was still lost in his thought repeating the scene over
and over again
"Mr.
Alao, it is taking me a lot to just stand here doing nothing but listen but
here I am doing just that " His voice trailed off "wait, what are you doing?"
Hassan watched his lawyer take a few steps back as he unbuckle his belt, making
his trousers fall off
"The reason I see a shrink, is because I only
feel relieved when I cause myself pain"
His
lawyer stared at the nightmare before him,, Hassan's leg had Scars, Injuries,
Sores and Wounds both old and new and it dawned on him why he's just seeing
this
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh" "he was wearing short"
The
lawyer said as he jet out off the door leaving Alao nodding at his realization
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"God, thank you for
today"
Job
said over his gentle worship song that played in the background, his house was
the complete opposite of empty, his bedroom where he currently laid has a
fridge, neat wallpapers, his frames that had Bible scriptures most of them from
the book of Job, he sighed and began singing along to the song before he soon
feel asleep, today he had managed to subdue his anger and listen instead, he
had also had a win in his case that his client didn't murder the victim and he
had proof, all he had to do now was just wait.
"For fuggs sake it's midnight, a man needs
his sleep" he got up from his bed and walked over to his desk where he
keeps his phone "Job's on the line" He said "what?" he responded to whatever
was said to him, rushing to the door he was grateful he still had his cooperate
wear on.
"why's my client here?" he asked the lead
investigator who say opposite Hassan
"Well, Judge Keisha is dead" the
investigator responded
"Wait what?" Job fell on the closest
seat and when he was balanced
"Why's my client here?" he asked again
as if he didn't get how its suppose to make sense
"Judge
Keisha is ....."
"yeah
I heard that" he cut the investigator "but how's it my client's business"
at this, the investigator signaled an officer who went out and came back with a
laptop, he placed it in front of Job who pressed play to the video on it, Job
sighed in relief
"I'd
advise you release my client" he said and got up to the surprised faces "Uncuff
him!" he shouted this time to the confused officer "if you had done your job
well, you'd have noticed that my client and I were in the court's bathroom
while Judge Keisha was being bludgeoned" he said this time to the investigator
who was already on the system
"what?"
the investigator said looking at the time stamp on the video, when the door
opened and other officers, maybe detectives walked in and uncuff Hassan
"Mr.
Alao let's go" he said as they left the room
"Job"
A male voice followed behind them, he stopped and waver for Hassan to wait
outside
"For
a Pro bono case, this is going to be a hard one" the voice said when he caught
up
"When
you called me, I imagine you had a deal to cut?" Job returned coldly
"Well
I'll cut to the chase, he pleads guilty on a mental note and he gets to go to a
psych ward instead" the man said
"Why?"
Job asked not waiting for an answer "Because if the people know there's a
serial killer gone wild, then it'd be chaos and havoc?" he continued
"The
only deal you'd be cutting for my client is your office dropping the charge,
Now if you'd excuse me" Job said before walking off
"You
got a deal as long as your client doesn't go around blowing any whistle" the
man called after him
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I
don't know why I'm even shocked, the fact that all charges has been dropped, or
there's someone out there that looks and talks like me or that everybody now
knows what I do to make myself feel better.
Hassan did his routine breathe control
thing as he sat on his couch and stare at his bare home,.