King

The adoption certificate was beautiful. With a big smile, I turned it over.

Esther Daniels.

A name had never sounded so beautiful. The paper was grabbed from my hand. Uti ran out of the parlour laughing. I ran after her, grinning at the thought that Esther became a Daniels before her. She locked the door of my room in my face. I knocked more than twice but that sexy stubborness didn't open.

"Uti, open the door." I banged on the door but her laughter only seemed to grow. "Utianle."

The door creaked open. Uti peeped outside, lips tilted in a mischievous grin. She opened the door wider for me to enter. I lifted her off the ground and into my arms. Her giggles tickled my ears as I lowered her on the bed.

Stalking her like a hunter, I peppered kisses all over her face. She kissed me back for only a second. I sat and pulled her to my lap so her legs were on either side of my hips.

"Are you jealous, ehn?" I said. "This woman. You're not yet a Daniels, shey you know?"

"It's me you're calling this woman?" But her eyes were smiling. I stuck out my tongue and she nodded knowingly. "You will marry yourself." My jaw slacked. But I was joking. Observing my facial reaction, she burst into laughter. "I was joking o. Of course I want to marry you." Uti ran her hand over my chest, shoulder. "See as you fine like two people."

What the fuck kind of compliment was that? I laughed along with her, sliding a hand into her gown so I could touch every inch of her properly. Her scalp shone from the oil she applied to it. She was back to rocking her really low cut. I tipped her jaw, searching for the emotions beneath the smile, the laughter.

Her grey eyes misted. The laughter was gone, replaced by a familiar sadness. The ache was no longer soul eating but it was present. It would always be present but we would grow better at masking it. I tapped her nose and winked.

"Tomiwa was thinking of moving his wedding." Her head was already shaking in the negative before I could finish talking. "I don't know. It's not a bad idea. I don't mind."

"I know he wants to do it for me and I do mind," Uti replied. "I don't want people to stop living their lives because of me, King."

"They don't mind."

One glare from her shut me up. The wedding was this Saturday. Today was Thursday. Our next trial was Friday. His point was to have the wedding at another date so we wouldn't arrive at the venue with an air of melancholy hanging over us. In his opinion, doing it after the case was closed was better. It made no sense having something as joyful as a wedding when justice was yet to be served.

"King, don't let him cancel it." Uti palmed my cheeks and my resolve dissipated. Her lips turned up in a frown. "Anything can happen."

True but I didn't want to get her hopes high. I kissed her. "I'll tell him you don't mind." She nodded and I kissed her again. Taking her hand to cover the erection stretching my shorts, I pouted. "Star boy wants something."

"Star boy?" Her hand slipped into my shorts, curling around my member. "You call him star boy?" Another nod. I couldn't be the only man who had a name for his dick. Her finger brushed the opening at the top, my eyelids fluttered and I saw stars. "You are mad."

"I'm mad over you, girl." The throbbing in my groin intensified. Uti crawled down from my lap to pull down my shorts. She knelt on the floor, between my legs. Seeing how slow she was, I pumped my dick to motivate her. "But look at him na, he resembles a star." A smile was all I got. She retracted my hand to wrap hers around my star boy. "We need to get married, wifey. I want us to marry fast, fast."

"Me too." Her tongue flicked over my penis and blood of Jesus, my thoughts trailed off. "I was thinking after the case is closed. Or after the baby." I shook my head. Waiting till we had the baby was too far. "I don't want to have a bump in the pictures. Or look too fat."

"You're not fat," I reprimanded her. In fact, she didn't look as bloated as other pregnant women would usually do. Fat wasn't in her nature.

"Even if I was fat, you won't say it."

Uti inhaled my dick in one move. Everything I should have said in my defence fled from my head. She lubricated my dick with her spit, making a throaty sound as she took me in to the back of her throat. Once she was fully recovered from this pregnancy, I would give her another baby. Pregnant Uti was the best.

So horny, so caring, super touchy and easier to please. She was still her regular self but an upgraded version and I was here for the whole ride. For more random blowjobs in the middle of a conversation. I sucked in a breath when she came up for air. Barely giving me a chance to recover, she took me in again and my load shot into her mouth.

In a few minutes, she moved away from me and jumped on the bed. I smothered a laugh when she pulled off her gown and spread her legs for me to worship her. This version of Uti was from another world. I cleaned up and humbly accepted her unspoken request. My lips covered hers in a brief kiss. Her boobs filled my palms and her moans grew frantic as I fondled with her sensitive nipples.

The best part of not having Esther in the house was this. The second best part was not having to cook. All we had to do was order out. I pushed her legs further apart and sniffed her. The smell of her femininity travelled through me and I licked my lips. 

Our eyes met once before my tongue dipped into her wetness. Uti groaned. I tasted her once, gently at first, then my demands and teasing became urgent. My nails sank into her thighs, she bruised my shoulders with her nails, moaning out my name and other gibberish. Her arousal flooded my senses. I could only taste her and I spent the next few minutes pleasuring her. Her body bucked. An unholy sound left her lips and I knew she was close.

"Uti," I murmured against her vagina and she went deathly still. The warm liquid hit my nose first, then a torrent flowed out as she gushed over my face. I lapped on her juices as much as I could, taking in everything. Leaning up, I kissed her softly. "Our wife."

"Who's the our?" Uti's eyes were hooded, she would need to sleep soon. Curling her fingers in my beards, she touched her lips to mine and whispered, "Baby daddy. I love you."

"I love you."

I carried her to the bathroom and set her down in the shower. Memories assaulted me, all of them ungodly. Sinful images upon images of Uti on her knees, stroking my dick drilled a hole into my chest. Tomorrow would be a long day. We both needed rest so I couldn't let my dick get ahead of both of us. I sponged her body and she did the same.

"Are you nervous? Worried?" I asked.

Uti palmed my chest. "Are you?" I would be a liar if I said I wasn't. Water jetted down on us in torrents. She laughed when we were both rinsed off. "I'm nervous too. I'm worried."

Without my baby mama saying it, I knew what her worries were. I shared the same. I touched her forehead to mine, taking away some of her worries. Her body relaxed against mine and she hugged me. Water fell everywhere around us as I stroked her back.

"It will be fine," I heard myself say.

Uti didn't look up, she didn't say a word but our hearts aligned. She hugged me tighter.

* * *

Tension was thick in the air. We were here again to decide the fate of a murderer. The protesters were not as many today and I was a bit glad about it. What I wasn't happy about was the space between me and Uti, the plaintiff. She was seated beside the lawyer while I was forced to sit among the audience. My friends were near but it wasn't the same thing. I needed to be close to her.

As if hearing my thoughts, Uti looked over her shoulder for me and her lips tilted in a smile. My woman. Once this trial was over, we were tying the knot. She didn't want a bump in her pictures and there wouldn't be any if we got married as soon as possible.

"You need to relax," Tomiwa said. Junior was on my left with him on the right. "It will be fine." On cue, my eyes shot to the defendant. Umoh. He was dressed in a suit similar to that of his lawyer. They both had a smug smile. I clenched my fists. "Relax, King."

"Guy, relax," Junior added.

I took a breath and released it slowly. I had to calm down for myself and Uti's sake. The last thing she needed was a distraction. I tapped a finger to my knee. Uti's eyes roved the courtroom till they settled on Umoh. Her face morphed into a mask, she stared at him for more than a second, then looked away.

What was going through her head?

A voice rang throughout the court and we all rose to our feet as the judge walked in to claim his seat. He hit the gravel and we sat.

Umoh's lawyer was the first to present his case. My fingernails dug into my palms as the typewriter click clacked away on the rusty old machine. Couldn't they have gotten a better one? My heart beat faster as one of the witnesses was called forward to the witness stand. Uti spared me a calm look.

After the questioning, he was discharged. I said a quick prayer as Uti's lawyer rose up to continue the questions. The witness provided perfect answers to each question like he had rehearsed this so many times. He was with Umoh that evening, they were both in the car. I ran a hand through my hair. What would it take to put an end to this torture?

Death. Killing both of them.

Oz would have been more than pleased to hear that from me. He didn't fail to express his annoyance when I laid him off. His work on this matter was done. Uti's former job as a stripper would never be mentioned again.

I shook off the fragments of our conversations but it stayed somewhere at the back of my mind. Junior's hand clamped on my wrist when Uti was called to the stand. If only that coward who called me to give the hospital location had showed up, things would have turned out for the better.

The judge adjusted his wig and I offered Uti a smile when she was asked to place a hand on the bible to swear. She didn't need that, she would tell the truth. In fact, my woman was the only person here telling the truth. Bloody bastards. They all deserved to die.

"Objection!", "Objection overruled", "My Lord", "Sustained", was fired back and forth as the lawyers battled it out. Uti closed her hands around the railings and my heart nearly poked through my chest. My woman was scared.

"Overruled," the judge said to the last comment.

The judge motioned for Uti's lawyer to carry on and after a last round of questions, she was allowed to leave. My lips never stopped smiling. It was the only way to comfort her. She didn't smile back but she turned a few times to look at me. She would be fine. Once we were given the order to leave here, I would treat her to the best akara on earth.

Next, it was Umoh's turn. The hall became quiet. He raised a hand as requested of him and said the words before placing his hand on the bible. How could anyone lie with the Bible? Didn't they have the fear of God?

Why was I even surprised? That man killed our baby and denied it. Lying would be no big deal to him. Junior nudged me and I smiled. I was glad they showed up for me. Just him and Tomiwa but their presence was enough.

The questioning started with Uti's lawyer but Umoh was prepared. His alibi was solid.

A feeling of loss swept through me. We could not lose. If God cared at all, He wouldn't let us lose this case. I held my breath with each question Umoh answered. The judge had not once looked at Uti with a hint of familiarity and I had to wonder if Mother was right about Gabriel knowing the man.

Silence fell over us again. Uti's lawyer rolled a pen between his thumb and forefinger. He smiled at Umoh. "One last question." I gulped hard. The tension was crippling my insides. "Did you or did you not drive into them?"

Umoh's eyes found Uti. She hugged herself and my heart gave away to her. I wished I could be there to hug or say something to soothe her. He looked away and my smile fell. This was over. We could not win this.

"I did."

Jesus.

Jesus is Lord.

Did he–? I was not the only one stunned. A woman in the room screamed, "I knew it."

And she was rewarded immediately by the judge with a, "One more word from you and you will be held in contempt of court."

She sat.

I stood, then sat back. Didn't anyone hear what Umoh said? Uti's lawyer snapped out of his shock. "Can you please repeat that?"

Umoh leaned back in his chair. He was looking at Uti when he said, "I did." It seemed as if the lock was broken. Once he started, he didn't stop. "It was a mistake, an accident. I was drunk and I wanted to talk to her."

For days to come, the only words I would hear was: I did. But for now, my eyes zeroed in on him. He just fucking confessed. Uti pressed a fist to her mouth. She was holding back the tears and I was holding back my scream. This was not the end yet.

The next few minutes were a blur as Umoh was taken back to his seat. My body tensed when it was time to announce the verdict. The judge adjusted his glasses.

"On the case of Miss Utianle Agbah versus Umoh..." He looked towards Umoh, then Uti and I was certain my heart would fly out of my chest. "The defendant is guilty."

Oh, God. Sweet Jesus. I could cry. Oh, I was crying already. My cheeks were wet with my tears. Fuck. We won? He was guilty? Lord.

"You are hereby sentenced to thirty years in prison without an option of parole."

Murmurs broke out in the courtroom. Junior was squeezing me in a side hug, Tomiwa was hugging me from the right. We did it.

We won. Our boy would be able to rest well.

* * * * *

Writing and reading this chapter made me happy. I hope it makes you happy too.