Chapter Twenty
Rabia
Rabia watched on the monitor as her mother put her hand to her mouth, shock widening her eyes. Her father leaned forward to speak angrily into the microphone on the podium before him.
“Volume, volume!” Omesh was saying, and Rabia stood on her chair to reach the monitor controls.
“...before he was taken into custody,” Georg was saying when they could finally hear.
“Noted,” Mr. Chandi said curtly. “Let the accused speak.”
Rabia’s parents stepped back from the podium, her mother still gaping at the Technicolor display that was Alain’s face. Rabia covered her face with her hands, trying to will the shame away. They didn’t know it had been her, they couldn’t possibly know it had been her.
“State your name for the record,” Mr. Chandi said.
“Alain,” he said, with a ha
