JUDGED SEVEN – BEN AND DYLAN
Somehow the news of Sapphira's pregnancy reached Ramon Kyriou, who accosted Ben and his wife as they were strolling through the market one day. Ben had told Kyriou to stay away from them, but was deeply upset by the obvious terror Sapphira had felt. She'd clung to Ben that night, and jumped at the tiniest little sound outside the house that they now were able to afford to rent together.
Dylan and Dervla had called round the next day. He was shocked to see how uneasy the couple were, and had asked Ben to go and see him privately the next day.
"I'll leave Dervla with you" he told Sapphira, "She's harmless but she's a big dog. People like Kyriou are cowards. If he sees her he'll fear the worst."
In Dylan's cellar he revealed how he would deal with burglars or intruders.
"A gun?" Ben, the pacifist, was horrified.
"I'm not telling you to blow anybody's head off" Dylan had joked then, "But it's amazing how the sight of one of these things can send intruders running home to Mummy."
In the end, against all his principles, Ben allowed Dylan to buy a gun on his behalf and teach him how to use it. He never confided this to Sapphira. Maybe if he had, she might have felt secure after all.
Things were quiet for a little longer, then one night Ben, Dylan, Sapphira and Dervla went out to the usual Taverna for a meal. It was to be a celebration of Ben and Dylan's friendship and of Sapphira's pregnancy.
"What about Dervla?" asked Sapphira, stroking the old dog who lay quietly at their feet.
"And the sheer glory of Dervla!" Ben had laughed, stroking the animal gently.
Kyriou had lurched in, drunk. He'd begun to bluster and insult Sapphira, calling her a slut. Dervla had struggled to her feet, barking loudly. There had been chaos, and in the melee, Kyriou had managed to knock Sapphira flying before Ben, totally out of character, had punched him. Sapphira was rushed to hospital, with Ben holding her hand in the ambulance. By morning, Sapphira had lost the baby. The doctor had told her gently but firmly that there would be no more babies.
A broken-hearted Ben had done his best to comfort her. He'd held her, wept with her, assured her time after time that he loved her.
"Do you want to go back to the UK for a while? Just to get away?" he'd asked tenderly.
She'd nodded, shuddering against his chest, and Ben had sorted out the visas and tickets for them.
Dylan, always blunt about his feelings, had told Ben he and Sapphira would be missed.
"I never thought I'd be saying this, Ben, but you've become like a younger brother to me. Sapphira's one of those rare women who were born with brains and I'll miss her too. Don't stay away too long, will you?"
Ben had astounded Dylan by seizing him in a bear hug.
"Well, I'd always dreamed it would be Angelina Jolie doing that, but you'll do" Dylan had joked.
Ben had gone round for a drink with Dylan two days before they were due to fly home. Sapphira had said quietly that she would be fine on her own:
"He can't take any more from me, Ben."
So, reluctantly, Ben had gone to enjoy Dylan and Dervla's company for a couple of hours. He'd not suspected anything unusual.
He'd got back and had called to Sapphira to let her know he was home. There was no response.
He ran up the stairs, foreboding eating at his soul.
Sapphira lay on the bed, her colour drained, an empty bottle of the pills the doctor had given her to make her sleep by her side. She'd left Ben a note:
"Sweet Ben, you almost made it work for me. You managed to give me a reason to keep going. Then HE took everything. I love you but I can't live like this. Not without a future, not without children. God bless you, Ben."
Ben was still cradling her lifeless body against his heart when the doctor had arrived.
He'd walked like an automaton into the town and asked where Kyriou was. Not realising what he intended to do, one or two people had directed Ben to a sleazy bar. Kyriou was propping up the counter, guzzling wine and sniggering.
"Kyriou."
Ben's voice had been soft but it carried nevertheless.
Kyriou had turned round.
Ben had taken the gun from within his jacket and fired once into Kyriou's forehead. No pain; instant oblivion. Even this new, broken Ben couldn't be entirely cruel.
He'd sat there like a calm little boy until the police, themselves armed, broke in. They realised they wouldn't need weapons to arrest Ben. He walked out with them quietly.
After the trial Dylan had desperately begged people in the UK to sign a petition. Several had signed, including the shocked members of Ben's family, but it had not been enough. Ben was lethally injected a month after the petition had been submitted to the Valamanian government, and rejected by them. He was told his mother wanted to come over and visit him, but he'd not let her. He'd asked, in the final note he sent her, to remember him as he used to be. As somebody who wanted to help everybody. His one request had been granted; that a photograph of Sapphira was buried with him.
Dylan, eaten by shock and guilt, did nothing to help himself when he was arrested for supplying Ben with the murder weapon. He was sentenced to six years in prison, and went about his life on auto pilot. His fellow inmates expected him to be paroled in a year. Before that, however, he made the mistake of disagreeing with Stellios, a long-term prisoner with a vicious temper. A fight ensued and suddenly Dylan felt the sensation of a stabbing pain between his ribs. Then blood coming from his mouth.
Then seeming to travel through time and space, and finding himself sitting in the cold room once more.
The floppy-haired young man looked aghast.
"You'd have walked free if you'd lived in the UK" he protested.
"Yes" David's cold voice cut him off, "But he chose to leave everything he had for one woman so he had to abide by a stricter law."
Ben smiled sadly at Max.
"He's right."
"Your story is so unfair" the beautiful Oriental woman sighed.
David turned to her.
"Your opinion. But let's see who thinks your own story is fair, Lily. Tell us what you did."