Episode 33…
***********flashback**************
When I was very young, most often, especially whenever I did something awful or steal something and tried to hide that fact that I was the one, my grandpa commonly asked me:”jerry, what make you think you could cover the whole world with your palms?? I didn’t always know what to say to him, because I always imagined how possible for someone to cover the whole universe with palms.” But as I am getting old, the miseries of life start unfolding and I figured out what my grandpa meant by saying such. They say; “secret remains beautiful once it has not been told. Yet, there is no secret in this world, because the people that remember the truth do not die just because time passes.” Just like what me, and racheal tried to bury later unfold today after fifteen years. They say you prepare the road for the king, but beggar comes first. Is this a coincidence or defined punishment???
It is all started Fifteen years ago, when shaikiru, racheal and I were the students of Government College in Benin City. I was a gentle guy, not real a gentle guy, but reserve one who hardly talk whatsoever that contain there-in my mind. But moving with shakiru and co. made me well know throughout the school, because shakiru was a smart guy, though, not that smarter to my level when it comes to academy, but smarter when talking about youths stuff or academy rouse, that is why he popularly called, ”Trojan man”. We go along very well because we are in the same class and also because belong to same in-group. Things were going well between us until a girl called racheal came to our midst when we were in SS2. Though, racheal, snakie and I have known each other right from JSS one, but those periods were a childhood period when no one of us dare got the got to talk of any intimacy or emotional felling. But, they say “when you stay together, you become alike.” The journey from JSS one to SSS three is probably not a small journey. It is a journey that some beauty of girls would start to unleash to guys. Snakie and I have been friends starting from JSS one through out of our academy period stayed together. He was nice and caring. A couple of times he had safe me from other school monsters even when we were in junior class. He normally encountered problems from senior student all because he wanted to guide me from their mistreatment and would later pay for it on my behalf by getting beat up. But Yoruba popularly saying “the road you are following, if you don’t give up the road, you will probably become something in that road.” This is a case of snakie when he became a popular in the school premises because of his none-giving up habit and perseverance. When we promoted to SSS one, that is when snakie started to move with SSS three students and become one of their members without any distinguish or outcast treatment from senior. This made me to be popular because I was snakie’s friend. He was so caring. Snakie was a type of guy that would have #100 in his pocket and would by food of #70 for a friend without taste from it. His effort in fighting against the ill-treatment by guiding students against insider, that is, co-students or outsider, that is, other school student made some students to name him “the Trojan man.” By and large, before the end of SS one, a situation arise that led racheal to snakie or rather to us. A group of senior students were gathered together, only to give racheal a bigger punishment of her life because she misbehaved to some members of snakie in-group. As some members said that racheal was stubborn girl who was trying to prove as if she is a saint in the school. The reason is that some guys went to meet racheal while she was going home to woo her. But racheal had to molest them. To shot the long story, the guys have gathered to molest her as well and plan to do it after the school, but fortunately enough, me and snakie where going home and we pass the scene where the issue was to carried out by the gangs. They have been trying to disrobe the clothes off racheal before we got to the scene. Snakie started fighting all the guys, even though snakie escaped racheal from ordeal. He was brutally punished that day. Some guys, among the members had to fight snakie and wounded him, but he tried to wound some other members too.
After a period in school, racheal fund of snakie because of the incident, and because if you move with snakie no evil shall befall you in the school premises. With this assumption, racheal started using snakie as a defensive mechanism against other school monsters. This paves the way for racheal and snakie to become friends, and I had the opportunity to become racheal friend as well through snakie. But after a while, when we resumed to school for SS two, something happened in the school that change the whole story. That is, …A new physics teacher was introduced to our class and the teacher had to start giving us assignment to home and anyone who failed to do it would be mercilessly deal with. This made racheal to starting coming to both me and snakie house the assignment.
When I might have solved the assignment, racheal would come to our house or meet me at snakie house to copy assignment.***fast forward*** one day, snakie decided to teamed up with me and said to have intimacy with racheal when she come to copy assignment. And prior to that, racheal and I have started developing the felling because of the assignment we normally do solve together. Initially, snakie and I agreed to lure racheal for snakie to have his way with her, but I had to tell racheal our plan before hands. This made racheal to stop coming to snakie house. After a while, snakie started suspecting me and racheal, but he stood against talking about it. It was also a week when snakie has come to school last. Everytime I checked him at home, he would claimed that he was sick and would not want to come to school for now. During this period, I felt like snakie has retreated in talk to me the way we normally talk and started hidden everything he wants to do with me.
After several attempted throughout a week that I checked on snakie to figure out why he refused to come to school, he would only leave me on chair or rather go out or taking me to sleep. Though I felt bad about our strained relationship and I didn’t know what to say to him. And he was always believed I was the sole person that comes in between him and racheal. For that REASONS, I could not go and meet him at home again. I was only waiting patiently till when he would come back to school. That week goneby, and the week that follow, on that Monday, racheal was expecting to see snakie at school again, but on no avail snakie come to school and this prompted racheal to started sending some other students to snakie at home to check on him, but the time when snakie final backed to school, he refused to talk to me or racheal. To make the matter worst, snakie started lias with other school monsters to deal with me and racheal. A couple of times, some members came to me and brutally wounded me. This didn’t make racheal to backdown and still go back to snakie. In line with this, racheal started receiving threaten from every angles. It seems a nice guy called snakie has turned to another person due to peer group influence. This made racheal to start doing whatever snakie ask her to do with the aim best known to her. The threatening from those guys to my side also reduces drastically.
By and large…. Racheal promised me to do something snakie won’t ever forget to him only if I ready to support her. I gave my words to racheal. i don’t know why I had to do that, perhaps it was due to felling I have for her or I don’t want to lose her to snakie or rather, I wanted to have a girl that belong to snakie as mine. A week after, Racheal later claimed that snakie was rape her that day when she checked him at home. She said snakie said if she didn’t come to meet him at home the school won’t be easy for her. As racheal shown some other students to prosecutor that those students were there when snakie was saying such and that is what prompted her to go and meet snakie at home to hear what he has to say, since it is not the first time she is going there, not knowing he wanted to rape her. And racheal’s father arrested snakie and I. even though, racheal claimed that I was nt there though, but I was ask to be a witness that truly snakie raped her. After a month, the issue was resolved, but the deed has been done. Racheal sent snakie to a journey of no return because she has people, as in; her father was a barrister back then. I still remembered when her father called me and started threaten me that if I fail to say that I saw snakie had S£x with racheal, we would both go to jail together be cause are friends and we teamed up together intially. I was totally scared and beside I was small.
After the judgment, I tried to look for snakie, but I could not because I was too young to check into prisoner and I wasn’t ready to involve myself again that I lied against snakie to sentence him to jail. But every time I remembered what the judge asked me I froze deep down inside.
Lawyer:***brought out a record that show the voice between snakie and racheal struggling together and played it before the court and after the player*** sir, my lord I have a witness that saw the hooligan boy called shakiru tried to force his way on this small girl.
**** i was called to the podium and I was both shaking and frightening****
Judge: jerry oluwafimihan… it is truly shakiru told you to set racheal up and have S£x with her???
Me:***stammering**** yessss, he said it to me some days ago.
Judge: and he later raped her?
Me: I wasn’t there, but I was told he did it.
Judge: thank you jerry; he continues, I acknowledged that there some witnesses that saw shakiru threaten raccheal to come and visit him at home if she want to live. I also acknowledge that the record presented to this court of law reaveled the voice of shakiru and racheal struggling together. If this girl didn’t have the knowledge of making such tape, a criminal like this so called shakiru won’t still be living among better persons. However, there is also a boy who stated that shakiru asked him to lure racheal to have S£x with her. The boy called shakiru is guilty of crime of threaten, rapist and dubious actions. For this reason, you are hereby sentence to 7years imprison*** I rise***
Court clerk:****shout*** c-o-u-r-t!!!!