TESTIMONY

  • 31 Aug - 06 Sep, 2019
  • Salaar Laghari
  • Fiction

Simeon stood up and starred at Benjamin. But then he smiled, almost teasingly at him.

“Did you buy Stephen off?” Benjamin asked furiously.

Simeon chuckled and then

sat back where he was

seated before.

“Forget about him. You have bigger problems to worry about,” he said to Benjamin.

“What? What do you mean

by that?”

“Just relax pal. Sit down.”

Benjamin walked towards Simeon.

“If it makes you feel any better. We promised Stephen that we would pay him three times the amount you did. And you know what? We only paid him twenty percent of what he deserved. The rest we aren’t going to,” Simeon said to him.

“Well that definitely makes me feel good. But I want to know your further intentions.”

“I don’t have any cruel intentions for you. But there’s something you must know. I know that it might change your feelings for Evelyn. And you might forgive me for what I did.”

“I can never forgive you. That woman was my life. She was my future. And you took her away from me. I know that it was an accident. It happened unintentionally, but I can’t forgive you for all the wealth in this world.”

“What if I tell you that it wasn’t an accident and not unintentional, would you then?”

“What?”

Mr. William was passing by the room stopped and he overheard them speaking. He peeked and saw Benjamin talking to his son, he hid outside and listened to their conversation.

“You’re telling me,” Benjamin asked Simeon, “that Evelyn’s death was not an accident? It was an intentional murder?”

“Alright fine I’ll tell you from the beginning,” Simeon smiled.

Benjamin sat on the sofa next to him.

“It’s all about money, you know? It’s all about money,” Simeon began.

“I’m listening.”

“Evelyn was never serious with you. She was not at all serious in this relationship. She was using you.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I knew her long before you did.”

Benjamin was surprised on hearing this.

“Commitment. There was no such thing in her. She was dishonest with you and she was unfaithful to me,” Simeon continued.

“What? So you both were in a relationship before me?”

“You can say that but we weren’t just in a committed relationship…”

“…Hold on first. Tell me why you killed her. Was it some kind of revenge? Were you trying to make things even with her in someway?”

“Hold it,” Simeon put up his hand. “I’ll explain everything. Just calm down and let me finish. Evelyn and I were a lot more than a committed couple. We were married to each other.”

“What?” Benjamin’s eyes opened out wide.

Mr. William who was secretly hearing their conversation was also surprised because he didn’t know about this.

“What the hell are you saying?” Benjamin asked him. “Do you think I’m going to believe this nonsense?”

“You don’t want to believe, then don’t. I’ll show you the marriage certificate, just wait here.”

Benjamin’s eyes were left wide open. Simeon took out a file from the closet nearby. He took out a marriage certificate from inside the file and handed it to him.

“Here… You can see it for yourself.”

Benjamin looked at the marriage certificate. A tear fell from his eye. He wanted to but he couldn’t speak.

“Like I told you before, Benjamin, like I told you. Evelyn was not serious with you in this relationship. This relationship was like an amusement park’s trip for her. She was just killing time,” Simeon continued.

Benjamin tried to control his tears but he couldn’t.

“Wherever she is right now...” Simeon added. “She deserves to be there. And I don’t think you’d disagree with me.”

“I cannot believe what has happened with me.”

“Give me your phone please.”

“What?” Benjamin asked, confused.

“I’m saying that if you’d hand over your phone to me, I will feed my number on your WhatsApp.”

“Why? Is there any need for this?”

“You just said that you don’t believe what happened with you. What I’m going to do is send you videos on your WhatsApp. You can see and hear by yourself.”

“What videos are you talking about?”

“The videos in which Evelyn was making fun of you. Videos in which she is sitting with her friends and confessing the truth regarding her relationship.”

“You liar. She could have never made fun of me.”

“Hand over your phone or turn on your bluetooth, now! I will prove it to you.”

Benjamin reluctantly took out his phone from his pocket and handed it over to him.

“But you said…” Benjamin asked trying to clear his confusion, “that it was all about money.”

Simeon was working on the phones.

“How come it’s about money when she had no family? Her parents weren’t alive or were they?”

“They weren’t,” Simeon answered. “But that’s not how it worked.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain that afterwards. What you need to understand is that one must face reality. These videos that I am forwarding will definitely open your eyes.”

“I don’t want that to happen.”

“What?”

“I mean I don’t want to. I don’t want to see her real face. It will break me.”

“Aren’t you already?”

“I am but I can’t take it anymore.”

“Watch these when you go home.”

“Just tell me something here first,” Benjamin asked. “How is it about money?”

“Evelyn, my wife, she loved me truly unlike you. She trusted me more than anybody else. And I did what I had to. I misused her trust. I took advantage of her blind trust.”

“And you are not ashamed

of it?”

“She misused you kid. So the same happened with her. It’s only fair.”

“Anyway,” Benjamin said.

“Go on.”

“I had bought an insurance policy on her.”

“Oh my God,” Benjamin exclaimed as he understood

the game.

“That insurance policy is supposed to give me a million dollars if it’s proved that she died in an accident. Barron’s statement has proved that her death was an accident caused by him!”

“So you killed her to become a millionaire?”

“Yes.”

William clenched his fist with anger as he heard all this.

“Actually no…” Simeon changed his answer, “I killed her not to become a millionaire but a multimillionaire.”

Benjamin listened to him for a while.

“There is a great plan. After my father passes away, I get all his wealth. Then I will obviously…”

“…Please,” Benjamin stopped him from speaking, “don’t even go there.”

Benjamin stood up.

“I can’t believe people like you exist. You are even worse than animals,” he said.

Simeon smiled as if teasing him.

“Although your great plan has a little defect. The insurance company definitely knows that you are not insane but now you have made them suspicious of you by making a false plea in court.”

Simeon was quite surprised as he hadn’t thought of it before.

“I’m leaving now,” Benjamin finally said.

“Wait, before you leave,” Simeon said sarcastically, “I want you to tell me that, can you forgive me now? For murdering that lying woman?”

Benjamin thought for a while.

“Actually I can still not. Evelyn was not an evil person since birth, I believe. Your love, your deceptive love made her evil.”

Benjamin left the room. Simeon was disappointed with his answer.

He sat back on the sofa and felt uncomfortable, he stood up and walked towards Benjamin who was leaving. As he was about to step out of his room, his father came and stood right in front of him. Simeon stepped back, a bit startled.

His father stared at him with severe anger.

“I-I was about to…coming for…” Simeon stammered.

“You murderer!”

“Murderer? What murderer? What kind of murderer? Whom are you calling a murderer?”

“Getting you a lawyer and spending a huge amount on you was the biggest mistake of my life.”

“What are you talking about?” Simeon asked moving backwards.

“But I can redeem it. I think I can atone for my sin.”

“What on earth are you trying to talk about?”

“…I heard everything,”

William spoke after a moment of pause.

Simeon remained silent and looked aside trying to avoid the eye contact.

“So you were planning on taking over my property?” William asked.

“No!”

“I’ve heard plenty Simeon.

A guy who can murder his

own wife…”

“…I did not murder my wife. Do not blame me for…”

“Shut up!” his father exclaimed.

Simeon was scared and looked for a way to escape.

“I’m asking you for the last time. Admit your crime in front of me, now!” William screamed.

“I won’t”

Simeon looked straight in his father’s eyes.

“You beast!” William screamed, provoked by his stare.

“Call me whatever you like,” Simeon answered with no shame in his eyes.

His father grabbed his throat tightly and pushed him towards the wall. William kept choking him. Simeon tried to resist but he was unable to.

Two servants came by the door of the room and

looked closely.

Simeon’s eyes were getting red and his tongue was coming out as his father was strangling him with all his strength. One of the servants tried to walk in and stop but the other one stopped him by holding his arm.

Next minute, William let go off Simeon who fell on the ground. William was standing furiously while looking at him. The servants came inside the room.

“Is he dead?” one of

them asked.

“He better be,” William replied.

v v v

Next morning, Benjamin was standing at the beach. He was looking at the waves of the water and was thinking about his life. He was specifically thinking about what he had gone through in the last two months.

Life is a hurtful journey. He thought. Either you can change others or you can change your self.

He walked towards the water.

Falling in love with Evelyn was perhaps the biggest mistake of my entire life. But the good part is that I’m not really upset about her passing away. And probably nobody in this world is. She had no family except for that wild beast.

He got several thoughts regarding the day before. The face of evil rich guy appeared before his eyes. He tried to change the thought but he couldn’t help it.

His phone vibrated. In order to change the thoughts of his mind he immediately answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hello Benjamin?” his father spoke from the other line.

“Yes father?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the beach. All by myself.”

“Can you come home right now? There’s this news on TV.”

“What news?” Benjamin asked curiously.

“William has murdered his son.”

Benjamin was shocked.

“What? Are you talking about Simeon?”

“Yes, Simeon. According to the news he has been strangled to death by his father.”

“Well that was inevitable. But it happened a lot sooner than I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. I’m coming home. Just give me twenty minutes.”

They hung up.

Half an hour later, Benjamin entered the room where his father was standing and watching the television. He joined him and watched the news channel. The news channel stated:

“Simeon found dead in his house. Servants claim this to be an attempted murder by his father.”

The pictures of dead Simeon lying on the ground were being displayed in the news channel.

“So what do you think?” Mr. Schimberg asked his son.

“I believe that this is an act of God. He made these people an example. An example of how sinful people end up. Only He made it happen a lot sooner than we expected.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

They stood for a while and kept on watching the TV.

“So what about Evelyn?

Have you overcome her?” his father asked.

“Yes, this dead guy made it easier for me.”

“I understand. But you should not be happy about what happened to her.”

“I know.”

Benjamin left the spot after saying this.

While he was walking towards his own room, he wondered:

It was a tough journey. But it taught me something really important. Blind love can be a dangerous thing. Blind trust can be fatal. Evelyn and Stephen were both birds of the same feather. People like these do not deserve our trust. And it is because of people like these, we must carefully examine personalities

before we give them the key to our heart. •

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