CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 36

(It’s been over five years since Jide has been locked up. He is now about six feet three inches tall. The prisoner’s uniform given to him is now his size. His beard grown and full, it’s obvious he has not shaved for months. His hair is full, his face and his whole skin rough. After the first look, one could guess he has been through hard labour.

Jide enters and immediately noticed it’s not his mother....)

JIDE : (closing the door behind him, he feels disappointed it’s not his Mother)...please, who wants to see me?

(They all turn around to look at him)

BUKOLA : (surprised to see him, she stands up)...Jide?
JIDE : yes....(Looking at the face more closely)
SUSAN : Jide....(Standing up too)
BUKOLA : Jide can't you remember us? I'm Bukola and that is Susan...
JIDE : (feeling ashamed and dumbfounded at the same time)....em....hi....
BUKOLA : oh my God...look at what they did to you...
SUSAN : Jide, how have you been?...(Sitting back beside Stanley)
JIDE : (surprised at her words, he sits down on the bench)...well, I'm coping.
BUKOLA : Jide, it’s so good to see you again....though, not in this condition.....(Remembers Stanley is still there)...em...this is Stanley.....he is....he is Carol's brother...
SUSAN : yes Jide, he's Carol's brother and he has come to talk to you. He wants to help.
STAN : hello...(Extending a handshake)
JIDE : hello...(as he shook Stan, he could feel the softness of his palm. He knew that Stan is obviously not from his own part of the world)
STAN : em...I came because I want to hear your own part of the story. My Dad told me his part, but I want to hear yours too.
JIDE : (looks at all of them)...what's the essence? You won't believe me even if I tell you.
BUKOLA : Jide, why don't you tell him first? He wants to help.
JIDE :  help?...(Chuckles) look, I've said my part of the story so many times and I'm still here....
BUKOLA : but Jide...we're here to help you...but we can't do anything if you don't cooperate with us...
JIDE : (looks at Bukola)...look, I will tell you what you came to hear, but helping me out of this place?...(he chuckles scornfully)...see, my life is ruined here already. I have nothing to leave this place for. I've lost my scholarship, my father is dead, I don't know where my mother is and even if I leave here, where will I go to?
BUKOLA : (looks at Stan and Susan then turns back to Jide)...hmm...Jide, why not get out of here first and see what the future holds for you....
JIDE : what future?....in this country that's full of corruption? Please don't come here and paint a picture of an ironic future for me. Yes, I once believed there was a future for me till I found myself here.
BUKOLA : Jide... you can still make something good out of life...
SUSAN : that's true Jide. Moreover, we're your friends, we can help you anyway we can.
BUKOLA : yes. So please tell us what really happened that night...
JIDE : hmm....(Takes a deep breath and walks away from them towards the window)...I had gone to help my mother out that day and towards the end of the party she asked me to go and throw some dirt away. As I was throwing it away, I heard Ken calling me to come and help Andrew, that he had gotten himself injured. At first, I didn't want to answer him, but when I noticed that he was serious about it, I went there. When I got there, I saw Andrew writhing in pain, with blood in his hands so I bent down asking him what happened and where he got himself wounded...that was the last thing I knew till I noticed water all over me, a kind of pain at the back of my neck and people staring at me, that was when I discovered I was inside a room and in the room was Carol’s body....(Pauses for a while then continues)...Everyone started accusing me of raping and killing her....something I knew nothing about...
STAN : and who do you think did it?
JIDE : (he looks at Stan’s face)…Andrew and Ken definitely...
BUKOLA : those boys, I never trusted them...
JIDE : they set me up and succeeded.
STAN : but...I still don't understand why they set you up...
BUKOLA : may be something went wrong along the line and you were their only saving grace.
SUSAN : I don't think they'd kill Carol just because they want to get at you...
JIDE : who knows...
STAN : well....I can't promise you anything just yet....
JIDE : I'm not expecting anything either...
BUKOLA : Jide...you're becoming really bitter...
JIDE : I'm becoming bitter?...because I said I don't expect anything from him?...(he chuckles and stands up)…look, like you said, he’s Carol’s brother, just like his father hated me for whatever happened to his daughter and was biased, I won’t be surprised if he is biased to, because it’s his sister we’re talking about here. They are blood relatives, I am only a stranger and a supposed murderer for that matter… Moreover, this is a country where nobody helps nobody! Whoever wants to help asks for money and when you can't pay enough, they leave you...do you know my Mum got me a lawyer?....(chuckles)...he came to ask me questions twice, after that we didn't see him again. Another lawyer came...he said he is Carol's lawyer, he even sounded like he believed in me, but what happened? He disappeared too! And since then nobody came...that's when I started believing what those prisoners have always being saying...that my case is delicate...but you know what I now know?...my case is actually irredeemable!...(He looks at them and saw the way they look at him) ...Bukola, I don't expect you to understand what I'm going through here...my father is dead...he died because even with his bad health, he was going around looking for how to get me a lawyer. He slumped and died on the road...my mother, I don't know where she is....
BUKOLA : Jide...(Goes closer to him)...em...I thought you knew...
JIDE : (looks at her in the eyes)...knew what?
BUKOLA : (looks at Susan)....while trying to locate you...I went to the address you put on my year book...(Pauses) when I got there and asked for your Mum....
JIDE : (moves closer to her in a bid to hold her but he controls himself from doing so)....eh ehn...talk nau...what did they say? Where did they say she is?
BUKOLA : em...(Looks at Stan and Susan who then look away)...she is...she...
JIDE : (cuts in)…don't tell me she's dead!
BUKOLA : I'm sorry Jide...
JIDE : my mother is dead?....(he goes towards the door, hitting it with his hands)...Mama is dead...(Tears in his eyes)....My mother.....haa! She died struggling.....I couldn't fulfill all my promises to her....I told her I was going to take care of her...I told her I will buy her a car, build her a house....(Crying like a baby)....I told her I will take her abroad....I could not do any of it....and she died...(He storms out of the office)
BUKOLA : Jide! Jide!...(Was about going after him but Susan pulls her back)
SUSAN : ....Bukola, let him....the news of his mother's death came as a shock to him...
BUKOLA : but we can't leave him like that...he can do something dangerous to himself...
SUSAN : I know, but remember this is men's prison...you have to be careful..
BUKOLA : I wish I could help him somehow...
STAN : (shaking his head)... I'll speak to my Dad...let's go.
BUKOLA : but we can't just...
SUSAN : (cuts in)...we'll come back to check on him Bukola...
BUKOLA : (reluctantly)...okay...

(They leave the maximum prison for Stan's house. They could not but notice Jide's bitterness...)

BUKOLA : Jide has changed...
SUSAN : at first, I couldn't believe it was the same Jide we knew. He has changed totally.
BUKOLA : that prison did not do him any good.
STAN : can being in prison do anyone any good?
SUSAN : but this is too much...
STAN : what do you expect from a person kept behind bars for a crime he did not commit? Coupled with the fact that he lost his parents because of it?...intense bitterness I tell you...the bitterness keep growing each time he has a bad encounter or experience. And even when he remembers any of it.
BUKOLA : it’s not only the bitterness that worries me but the fact that he has lost faith in people, in the future...and even in us, his friends...
SUSAN : too bad...
BUKOLA : Jide has really changed...he used to be the timid type. Very nice, kind, ready to help...but now, he's something else...he's not the same guy I fell...(Stops and looks at Susan's face, realizing she has said too much)
SUSAN : (surprised Bukola did not continue)...you fell in love with, right?
BUKOLA : (looks away)....Stanley, can you help him?
SUSAN : (turns to Stanley)...what can we do for him?
STAN : we still need some kind of evidence. Will have to set those guys up somehow....
BUKOLA : I'm ready. I'll do anything to help.




For days, Jide was not himself. The news of his mother's death devastated him. Amode tried as much as he could to comfort him, telling him he has to be a man.

When the warden heard what had happened he also called Jide....)

WARDEN : look, I don't know how it is to be in your shoes, but I'll just tell you to take heart. I know she's the only one you've got, but know something, you still have God...
JIDE : God?...I don't believe in God anymore.
WARDEN : don't ever say that. God is still there and he's still...
JIDE : (cuts in)...sir He may still be there but he's being partial. He just does not like me, my mother or my father.
WARDEN : don't say that.
JIDE : but that's the truth! If he's not partial why will He allow me to be here for committing no crime? Because of me my father and mother are now dead! Both of them came into this world just to suffer and die. Why did God create me when He knew that I will only bring sorrow, pain and death to them? He should have just left them childless and let them be alive...
WARDEN : Jide, don't blaspheme...
JIDE : that's not blaspheme sir, that's the bitter truth! God hates me! I've been asking Him why He did all these to me but there's been no answer. At first, when he gave me scholarship to that school, I felt good and happy. Then, when they gave me scholarship to study abroad, I thought I was special, I didn't know he was just leading me on a part that leads to bitterness, torment, pain, sorrow and total regret. I should have just gone to a public school, may be all this wouldn't have happened...
WARDEN : (cuts in)...oh I love the word you just used..."Maybe" yes maybe! What if it still happens?...perhaps may be if you had gone to a public school, you may have been introduced to heroine at an early age, may be you would have joined an armed robbery gang, may be you would have gone for operation one day and the police caught up with you and shot you...'may be' who knows?
JIDE : well then that would have been better, because then my parents would have being alive...
WARDEN : oh, it would have been better? I never knew you are so selfish…
JIDE : selfish?
WARDEN : yes and you don’t love your parents…
JIDE : but…
WARDEN : but what? That’s the plain truth. You prefer your parents being alive grieving for your own death right? While you are in heaven enjoying…isn’t it? Look Jide, no parent will like their children to die before them. I'm a father, no matter what, I want to die before any of my kids, because if I lose anyone of them, I can't handle it. I have five kids, but if one of them should die before me, the sorrow and pain I will carry around will shorten my days in life and that will be at the detriment of my remaining kids. Now, tell me, what do you think will happen in the case of your parents who have only one child? A child they waited for years before having? If you had died before them, do you think, they would have been able to bear it? (Jide could not say anything)…look, your parents are up there in a better place. A place where there is no pain or sorrow, no sickness or suffering, a place where they don’t have to do any kind of work. So who would you prefer to be there? You or them?...(Jide became remorseful)…so stop blaming God, He only took them to relieve them of this pain and sorrow they were going through here. And all is not lost in your life. Count it all joy and pray to God to help you make your parents proud up there. Okay?
JIDE : (reluctantly)...yes sir.

(The warden left after talking to Jide, allowing him think things through. After hearing from the warden, Jide lightens up a little.)

To be continued ...