Free Truth or Dare by Tania Carver

next thing you knew you were in that building.’
    Darren nodded.
    ‘Taped to the chair.’
    Darren nodded again, eyes tight shut.
    ‘Who’s Wayne?’ asked Imani.
    Darren shrugged. ‘Mate.’
    ‘Could he have done this? Been responsible for what happened to you?’ Imani again.
    Darren opened his eyes. ‘Nah, man.’ He sounded appalled.
    Phil leaned forward once more. ‘Do you have any idea who could have done this? Who would have wanted to do this? Any idea at all?’
    Darren’s sense of discomfort was growing. As the questioning became more and more insistent he began thrashing around in his bed like he wanted to escape but lacked not only the strength but also the ability to issue the correct commands to his body.
    ‘No idea at all, Darren?’
    Darren shook his head, wilder this time.
    ‘So what did he want, Darren?’ Imani. ‘Why did he do this?’
    Darren began to shake. Any harder and he would vibrate his body into pieces. His mouth all the while twisting and contorting, like he wanted to speak but the words wouldn’t birth.
    Phil pressed on. ‘Why, Darren? Why did he do it?’
    Darren continued to shake, his mouth twisting. Phil and Imani stopped talking, waited to see what would happen next. Then the words came screaming out.
    ‘Justice… justice… he wanted… he said he… I had to have… had to give, to give justice…’
    Then a scream that became a sob that trailed away into the horrible, dying whimper of an animal that Phil had never encountered before.
    The nurse pulled the curtain open and stepped in but Phil was already on his feet, issuing orders and walking to the exit.
    Justice
.

14
    ‘L et’s run through that again, shall we?’ Glen Looker stared at his client, tried to keep the exasperation, not to mention sarcasm, out of his voice. ‘Only this time you don’t mention the trainers.’
    ‘But they were my trainers.’
    Glen Looker put his head in his hands and shook it slowly. Eventually he looked up.
Nope,
he thought. His problem hadn’t gone away. He was still sitting there, larger than life and twice as stupid.
    ‘Yes, Leon, I know they were your trainers. You know they were your trainers. And you know how the blood got on them.’
    Leon smiled. ‘’Cause I kicked Milton in the side when he was bleeding.’
    Glen sighed. ‘Leon, if you mention that outside the confines of this room…’ He paused.
Confines
was probably too complex a word for his client. ‘… outside of this room – which I might remind you is a special room in that you can say what you like in it and it doesn’t matter at all – if you tell anyone else that then they will put you in prison, Leon. Do you understand?’
    Leon frowned.
    No, thought Glen. He doesn’t understand.
    Glen sighed. ‘Let’s go through it from the top, shall we? You were out one night going to your favourite chicken take-away, is that right?’
    Leon’s face lit up. ‘Yeah. Chicken Cottage. Love it. Do fries an’ all.’
    ‘Right. You were going to buy a meal for your family because you like to support your family and provide for them when you can.’
    Leon frowned again. ‘’Snot right, Mr Looker. No.’
    ‘What d’you mean it’s not right? This is what we agreed on.’
    Leon shook his head. ‘No, Mr Looker. I went there ’cause I had beef with Milton. Went lookin’ for Milton. He’d been dissin’ me. Heard that. Can’t have that. Was gonna shank him.’ He smiled. ‘Got him good, didn’ I?’
    Glen sighed, closed his eyes. This wasn’t the way I thought my life would go, he thought. Why me? I thought I’d be in one of those swanky law firms with gorgeous secretaries and lines of coke for lunch. Instead, I end up representing the dregs. Why do I bother? I should just let him take the stand, spout his gibberish, get sent down
.
He nodded to himself. Yeah, he thought. Do that.
    ‘So can I go now?’ asked Leon.
    ‘Where would you go, Leon? Back to your cell? Are you in a hurry to go back