If evil had a face

If evil had a face, it wasn’t hers.
I examined her closely through the cell bars as the guards brought her in. Her hair was cropped short, and besides an overly skinny frame, she looked like any normal 30-year-old. And that was what was terrifying about her.
“Have they been treating you well?” I flashed her a kind smile.
She smiled back. Her long jersey sleeves rolled back as she shyly scratched the back of her head, and I spotted a nasty purple bruise on her wrist.
She’s smart, I thought, conscious of the security cameras. I jotted the observation down.
“Thank you for coming.” She squeaked cheerfully. She had the bearing of a girl 15 years younger, and for a second, I was filled with a deep sense of disillusionment. Where were the long talons and crazy cow eyes befitting a vicious serial killer?
“Pardon my directness, but we only have 10 minutes. Let’s skip the formalities.” I said, flipping to a new page on my notepad.
“Why a rock?”
She giggled, “First time, it was simply convenient. I was walking home, and I could feel him following me, and It wasn’t the first time. This time, however, I fought back. He jumped me; I grabbed a rock and didn’t stop striking.”
“So, it was self-defense. What about the others?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I, Amanda Wasikyo, with feeble hands and a measly rock, had taken down a full-grown man. I felt the noose at my neck loosen, and I could finally breathe. After that, it was about reclaiming every breath they’d taken, beginning with the old crone.”
“Ah yes, her. Why was she the only woman out of the 30 victims?”
“She was the one that circumcised me. She did it with a sharp rock apparently imbued with ancestral power. So I used my own rock to take her everything.” She looked at the ceiling contemplatively. “I thought back to when the noose was tied, and it wasn’t when my father married me off… well, he did get what he deserved eventually, but it all began with her and her bloody rock.”
The buzzer rang, indicating our 10 minutes were over. I hadn’t heard it all, but I’d heard enough. She wasn’t the spawn of the devil the media made her out to be. She was the product of cultural power moves meant to put her in her place.