Guilty Innocence

The night appeared to be a dead one. Leaves rustled outside the windows.  An attractive woman was lying on a leather sofa. She twisted her soft blond curls with long fingers as she emorsed herself in a Nicholas Sparks romance novel. The lady read by candle light, although dim, it made the whole room glow. There was a knock on her door. 1

   "Come in," she responded. "It's open." The doorknob clicked just before she turned around to see who it was. Derek Graham; her lawyer.2

  "I hear you're a muder suspect," he started, "Would you like to tell me what happened?"3

   "Don't you think the press has covered it by now?" she replied. 4

  "Carla, you know the rules by now. If you want at least half of a chance of winning this case I need both sides of the story."5

   "Derek you know by now that I like to play by my own rules, don't you?" Carla's lips spreaded into a suductive smile. 6

  "Don't play games with me."7

   "Ahh, that's too bad. I was hoping we could have a little fun."8

  "Carla..."
  
   "Fine." She shrugged. "It was Saturday. Jake had been at the sports bar downtown. He came home drunk and started yelling. He complained that the T.V. was giving him a headache...What an idot. His hazed eyes glared at me because I wouldn't turn the noise off. Jake then gripped my arms and started shaking me. I felt weak and when my body hit the floor, I could hardly move. I attempted to crawl to the bedroom where we stored the guns. I could feel his shadow engulfing me. I had almost reached the nightstand when something tugged on my ankle. I struggled to escape...Actually I didn't. I just inched closer very slowly until I felt the surface of a pistol."9

  "And you shot it?" 10

   "I didn't think I had a choice. What was I supposed to do? Surrender? My finger wrapped around the trigger. Jake tried to wrestle the gun out of my hands. That's when the first shot went off. He backed away and I aimed for his chest the second time. He fell: first to his knees, then to the floor."11

  "So, you're saying this was self defense."
  
   "He's the one that tried to kill me. All I did was love him and what do I get? A drunken idot." Derek pondered for a moment, letting the words sink in. Carla stared into his eyes and asked,12

"Do you think I killed him?"   13