The Havenwood District Court was abuzz with predictable excitement. Twenty-one-year-old Jake Taylor had been pronounced guilty of tarnishing the dignity and privacy of countless women in the district.
The excitement bandwidth climbed to immeasurable levels as the judge read the final decree in a harsh sing-song voice, “ …. five years of rigorous imprisonment and five lakh to be paid as compensation …….”
One look around the courtroom and Jake grinned, ironically for the first time since he had been arrested for a grave crime.
His phone had been recovered from the ladies’ changing room at the up-market lingerie store where he worked part-time to fund his university fees and lodging.
Only a few months ago, he had cried hoarse for justice.
“I had myself given a complaint about my missing phone last month! How can you arrest an ethical student with a clean family history for a felony? Someone in the shop has framed me.”
But his cries never softened the walls of the Havenwood District Court. Maybe, the gossip-ridden air loaded with apathy and sarcasm had hardened them. His heart ached for his single mother who had to pay for a crime she never imagined.
He had come to Auckbridge University to do his Masters in Journalism with a suitcase full of dreams, which remained unopened.
And now the loud clang of the prison doors slapped it shut, bringing him back to reality.
******
In the years that passed, the slight breeze that dared to squeeze through the tiny window in his cell calmed him. He didn’t have the money to fight another case in his defense but there was something he could do.
He thought of the months he was in court fighting for redemption. He realized that his mind had peeped in through the courtroom doors where several legal battles were wrapped and unwrapped. It had recorded the details to near perfection and now played it in front of his eyes. The images increased his appetite to study law.
The more he thought, the more confident he became. As nights changed to days, he weaned towards the right side of the law. The jailer sneaked in books and reference material for his study. He spoke to other prisoners and added a few nuggets of wisdom to his simmering cup of knowledge.
After his term ended, he enrolled in a law college, took the bar council exam, and graduated with honours. He began his career as a defense attorney, using the power of law not just to punish but also to protect.
Today, almost ten years later, Jake stood in the same courtroom, ready to defend the confidence his clients had in him.
He placed his suitcase on the table and gently opened it. It had a different set of dreams which nobody could take away.
Every time he fought and heard the verdict, “Not Guilty” a wave of relief washed over him. He thanked God for helping him start the race from the finish line.
(500 words including title)
Written for Artoonsinn Writers Room- Feb prompt- #Full Circle(where the protagonist comes back to the same place he started from)