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CHAPTER THREE

Henry Kavuma was the kind of Judge that no criminal wanted to find themselves standing before during a trial. He was as harsh as he was ruthless. He was swift in cases, never smiled and was never moved by tears. He  wanted no drama in his courtroom only facts about the case. All the Lawyers that got the knowledge that he was to preside over any case knew this. The criminals wailed while the Lawyers gnashed their teeth with frustration. There were no mistakes in his courtroom nor mercy. The atmosphere was always tense. The activity gave it a beehive feel from a far. He was intimidating in appearance standing at almost six feet. He towered over most of his peers. With his wide shoulders, he looked like a giant out of his realm. He was an alpha male oozing of power and testosterone. He was one of the most powerful men in his circles and being on his bad side was the worst mistake that anyone could ever make.

More times than once he had been accused of corruption by both private and public workers and institutions. If it wasn't an individual doing what he referred to as whining then it was a public institute claiming that he was corrupt. Off course no one ever had evidence of this claim so he always got away with it. Also he never failed to remind those that accused him of this societal evil that he would sue them for defamation. Sometimes he did so with ease, won and got high payment in damages.

 The newspapers loved him because he did them favors and so they owed him making  them take him off their investigative reporters' tables. Plus he owned shares in the most prominent media houses. Henry could over turn any case no matter how complicated it was. Those that benefitted from his generosity were mainly the extremely wealthy creme de la creme.

Regardless, more than once, there were times when the bourgeois lost the cases. It should be noted that with even such scenarios some tabloids ensured to mention that the culprit had crossed the judge or his colleagues.

Some claimed that he was just and fair while others were prejudiced because of hearsay.

Henry Kavuma also owned some businesses. Others were  associated with him though none could ever prove his ownership.

Whenever Henry attended international conferences, people that didn't know him listened to each and every word that fell from his mouth as though they had never seen such a creature. Or he held the secret to eternal life. Regardless of this, Henry still viewed such people as though they were nothing but insects to him. Their opinions didn't matter to him though he indulged them and let them blubber on. They wanted his opinion and fell for his charm. They thought he was the most upstanding person they had ever seen. His arrogance and self righteousness knew no bounds.

Henry didn't have a colorful background as many thought. He was a man from the kingdom of poverty. The kind of background that many people from his circles would have laughed at and sang about. Too poor that he had chosen to alienate him self from those that he now considered beneath him. Not only because he wanted but also because he was from a family of criminals.

His father had died in prison for aggravated rape of a mother and daughter. His mother had been excommunicated for aggravated witchcraft, which had resulted into the death of more than one villager. As such they had been forced to run to Nakasongola and hide in shame or face the wrath of the villagers who wanted to maim them. His only sibling, Carol had married a German philanthropist from a wealthy family, changed her name and had decided to abandon the pitiful life never to look back. The only time she had thought of her past was when she sent money to cover Henry's school tuition. Besides that she never communicated and never responded to any message that went her way from her past.

Taking her example Henry who had been lucky enough to get financial help from his elder sister; had applied to change his name officially and became Henry Kavuma, the enigma. The man with no beginning and yet to have an end. Just like his sister he had never looked back. Thankfully, as he religiously said both his parents were dead. The idea of 'from rugs to riches' had never appealed to the power hungry judge. So whenever reporters tried snooping to find out more about his incomprehensible past he told them that his parents had died and that his sister had raised him. Half-truths were always better than the real deal he always said. Fortunately the death of his despicable parents had earned him an opportunity to create the kind of past that he thought was suitable for a man of his stature.  

Justice Henry Kavuma secretly had one goal and that was to become the next Chief Justice maybe president one day. He therefore made sure that anything that could hinder him from that goal he greedily nursed was eliminated with vengeance.  To strengthen his empire he had married the one person he viewed as his possible first lady. She had to be classy. She had to have light thighs; give him very light skinned babies. The lighter the better. She had to have an accent. Possibly American. If she could force it, that could be better. She had to be very educated; someone worth to have his Name.

Henry Kavuma picked Celina Wangiru a Kenyan Law student to take up this mantle. There was a ten years age difference between them that never bothered any of them but her family. When he met her on one of his well-deserved leave in Greece she had seemed like a witch sent from hell to derail him from his well-planned and organized pursuit for power. During that time he was engaged to the daughter of the prime minister. Celine with her curves and sexy voice that seemed to remind him of a reason why people believe that there must be a God somewhere was a better option compared to his fiancée.

Celina had the smoothest skin he had ever seen that silk had nothing on her. Her brown eyes whose color was enhanced with each and every emotion she experienced were the only thing he wanted to drown in. Henry was in love even before talking to her.

As he watched her stroll along the beach, he wanted to do nothing but hold her and never let go. As she moved her fingers in the salt water, he knew he wanted to marry her then. He wanted to have her as his queen. He looked at the round bottom she had and the small waist and wondered why no man had ever come and snatched her. The small bikini didn't do her justice. He started imagining how better she would have looked without anything on her body in the guise of clothing. She deserved to be in Eden and not in this sinfully mortal world. To him the only thing that the young woman deserved was to be treated like a royalty.