The Devil Wore a Wedding Ring

paper, stale perfume, and that sharp tang of Dettol that

ide the trembling, eyes fixed on the judge's bench. I could feel a hun

hing. Not a tear. No

I'd imagined fre

it made me somebody special. Now it clung to me like a b

idow of Lagos." "Did Love Turn Deadly?" "Beau

ofessional. Her black Armani suit looked like it belonged in a magazi

e. Not once since we

d make judges stutter and prosecutors sweat. The same woman who used to braid my hair bef

of everything we hadn't said. Everything I'd

o reach fo

t that righ

. "Before we begin, I want to remind everyone that this is a c

y heartbeat thundered so loud I

rning - memory bl

d pulled into our driveway like he was racing th

ill pumping. "You always d

s smile that used to make m

ying the game we both k

brushing my chin with decepti

ha

me, I had

ing the whole world feel small and conquerable.

my firs

d come three

AC

, muscle memory kicking in before my brain could catc

silence. The version of him that only came out when th

I used to be, piece by piece, long

ed like she ate defendants for breakfast. Kiki straightened in h

en down at his papers, then directly at me. His

ilver," his voice rang out like a death sentence, "accused

hit me lik

small word for

. Like I'd sat down with a calendar

t, the past wasn'

s Exh

ind out if the truth

ry me