“Put your hands up!” These were the first words Regina heard as she was about to step out of her old white Hilux. She was astounded by the tone of the masculine voice that said those words and he was very hostile. She immediately raised her hands and turned. And she saw three men pointing their guns toward her, seeing this, she became more afraid. It was 5:30 PM and she was about to resume her duty as a waitress at the bar right in front of her. As she looked at the other side of her car while her hands were up, she saw four other men and all were wearing black clothes. One of the men walked forward and took her hands to her back and handcuffed her.
“What did I do?” She asked with full confidence despite being afraid. She had never seen something like this before the few people standing in from the bar watched as they pulled Regina towards one of their cars.
“What did I do?” She struggled and asked again and she saw their badges, they were detectives.
“Do you have any idea why we are taking you away?” One of the men asked.
“No! You guys got me scared. Am I under arrest?”
“Yes. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you.” They put Regina in one of their cars and they drove away. These were seven detectives and Regina had no aorta of why they were arresting her. She kept quiet as they drove away and started processing what had happened. In her heart, there was a mixture of both fear and anger. And inside the car was quiet and two detectives were sitting with her.
Fifty-five minutes later, the cars stopped in front of a police station. One of the detectives helped Regina to get out of the car.
“This way, let's go in," he said and they walked towards the left and two detectives were following her. One on the left and the other on the right. Regina was in her waitress' clothes, black trousers, a sparkling white sleeve well tucked, and a black bow tie on her neck. But during the process of arresting her, there were stains on her sleeves.
The two men took Regina into one of the offices. The room was empty except for the table and three chairs in the middle of the room.
“Sit down,” one of the men said and he removed the handcuffs from her hands. The other detective brought out a sheet of paper and a pen and placed them on the table. Regina was looking at them and her heart was beating uncontrollably.
"Take the sheet of paper and the pen. Tell us how it happened," one of the men said with a dominating smile and was looking straight into Regina’s eyes. Regina wondered with her eyes and lips.
"What did I do?" She turned her face towards the men as they were about to leave the room. One of the men left and the one who handed over the sheet of paper to her stepped back and said,
"I will be of great help to you if you cooperate with us. Do not hide any information from us. To give you a clue of what we are looking for, tell us how it happened three months ago. Put them in writing. You have ample time to do that and before Regina could say a word, he had opened the door and went out, then he jammed the door.
"Three months? Are these guys crazy?" She thought and took the paper closer to her eyes to see what was written. At the top were spaces for her name and address. She took the pen and wrote down her name and returned the paper to its former position and placed the pen on it.
At that moment, countless thoughts were running through her mind. And these thoughts made her blood pressure increase and she angrily removed the bow tie from her neck.
"What am I doing now? What're all these?" She took a deep breath and folded her hands. She suddenly summoned some courage and waited for the men. It wasn't long before the two men came into the room again and they sat on the two chairs facing Regina. The first thing they did was to gaze their eyes on the paper to see what Regina had written. And when they saw that Regina didn't write anything except her name, one of them smiled and placed a white file he brought into the room on the table.
"Do you know Mr. Reuben James?" He asked.
"Yes!" She spoke with some confidence.
"Where is he right now?" He asked again and the second man stood up. Regina was continuously moving her eyes left and right and was looking at their faces. They wanted Regina to focus her eyes and one of the detectives left the room.
“Where is he right now?" He asked the third time.
"He is in prison," she replied.
"What is your relationship with him?"
"He is my elder brother." She demonstrated with her fingers.
"What do you mean? Born of the same father and mother?" He asked.
"We didn't know our dad. Just our mother.
"Are you happy with the life sentence of Reuben?" The detective knew it was a rhetorical question and he placed his right hand on his chin. Slowly, he rested his back on the chair and looked at Regina. Regina could not hide the emotions in her eyes, they were plainly seen.
"Reuben is my elder brother, we have the same blood flowing in our veins. Though he deserves what happened to him. But his absence all this while has caused us great pain."
The detective pulled himself from the chair and opened his file and brought out a picture of a young lady and showed her.
"Is that why you murdered Valencia?" He asked.
Bolts of lightning-like feelings went through Regina's body, from her brain down to her feet.
"Me?" She shouted and used her right hand to touch her chest and there was a great shock in her eyes.