sayz*About three phones have gone missing in our
room in the past five months. When we reported
to the School's security, they only told us that it
was a roommate that is responsible.
Everyone of us in the room was waiting for the
day we will catch the culprit.
Last Tuesday, when we were all asleep; I think it
was about 2 am, Ben woke up suddenly and his
phone was gone. His phone was the most
expensive of us all.
When Ben woke up and couldn't find his phone,
he sprang up from the bed and quickly opened his
cupboard. He rummaged the contents, even
removed his clothes but could still not find the
phone.
I was in the room when it happened; sitting and
reading before I dozed off with my heading
resting on my books.
So when Ben couldn't find his phone, he gently
shook my shoulders until I woke up.
'It has happened again', he told me.
I didn't even need to ask what happened as I
could see the panic and loss written in his eyes.
This is the second time his phone had been
stolen.
So I took my phone and dialed Ben's number;
just to be sure it had not been misplaced.
'Error in Connection' was what I saw on the
screen of my phone.
I dialed it again and it started ringing not just on
my phone, but the actual ring tone of Ben's
Samsung phone was faintly audible.
We were both surprised when we heard the tone.
I beckoned on Ben to keep quiet as he was visibly
ready to 'finish' the person who took his phone.
I continued dialing as we moved silently, following
the direction of the ring tone.
There were four bunks in the room, each with two
bed spaces. Ben and I use the same bunk just
beside the door and the sound was coming from
the last bunk at the extreme left corner.
We tiptoed, Ben and I, like Jack Baeur until we
traced the sound to the top bed space on the last
bunk.
'So it is John who had been stealing phones in
this room'. Ben whispered to me.
We shook his leg and woke him up only to find
out it was not John sleeping on the mattress.
Neither of us had ever seen the guy before.
To make matters worse, the ringing was coming
from the bag he was using as pillow.
When he woke up, he looked at us strangely as if
he didn't know why we were there.
We opened the bag and found not just Ben's
Samsung, but three other phones.
'So, you are the one who's been stealing our
phones!'; Ben shouted at him.
Before he could find an excuse, Ben slapped him
on his left cheek and walked out looking for
anything to break one or two of the guy's bones.
I don't know; but there was something about the
guy. So I asked him,
'Oga, what are you doing here?'
'What are you doing with Ben's phone'.
He was just looking at me without saying
anything, so I slapped his right cheek with my left
hand.
'ANSWER ME!', I screamed at him; waking up the
roommates who were around.
John had obviously gone to night class to read
and I assumed the other three roommates who
were absent had also gone to read.
The two guys remaining in the room with me and
Ben came and gave their own round of slaps.
The accused was now staggering when Ben came
back with a long wood hard enough to kill the
guy.
As he raised it up, the three of us, the
roommates, held his hands so he wouldn't
murder the accused.
Ben dropped the wood and swept his right leg
against the thief's legs and he fell down.
Ben had told me before that he had attended the
Soldiers' recruitment training but failed the
medical test. I believed him right then.
I looked at the guy crumple on the floor and
before Ben killed him, I decided to interview him,
at least to know who he is.
He was now sitting on the ground where he
landed from Ben's force.
'Who are you?'
I asked him again; this time gently.
He was crying but it was only the tears that were
coming out.
It was then I realized he had not even uttered a
word since it all started. Not even when he fell to
the ground.
'Why are you in our room'? I asked again.
'Can you even talk?'
He shook his head then.
I was now confused. Why was he shaking his
head?
So, I asked again,
'Can't you talk?'
He shook his head again.
'Wait, is it that this guy is dumb?', I asked the
guys.
The guy then nodded his head and pointed to his
mouth and then shook his head left to right.
It hit me then.
The guy is dumb but not deaf. That was the first
time I am seeing a case like that.
My anger changed to pity immediately.
'Are you dumb?', I ashamedly asked the guy to
confirm.
Again, he nodded his head.
'Can you read and write?'
He nodded again.
'Get me a pen and note!' I said to my roommates
over my shoulder.
I collected the pen and wrote on the note,
'Who are you? Explain yourself.'
I was almost in tears as I read his fine
handwriting,
'My name is James, I am John's elder brother. I
am a student of Delta State University. I was
traveling to Delta but our bus stopped for the
night at Benin. So I decided to sleep with my
brother till tomorrow morning. He brought me
here around 12 am and went out to night class to
read. He gave me the bag to keep for him. So I
decided to use it as pillow so that it won't be
stolen'.
I held the note with the guys at my back as all of
us read it.
I became so weak I almost fell.�
'The guy is innocent.' I needlessly announced.
When we realized this, even I was ashamed of
myself.
Ben just stood there with the wood he almost
used to hit him, looking as if he was the one who
had been beaten.
I am not sure, but I think I saw tears in his eyes
as he realized he had just punished an innocent
man.
So we knelt down; Ben and I, we knelt down and
clasped our hands so he will know we were really
sorry.
With tears in our eyes, we told him,
'We are sorry. Sorry for accusing you wrongly and
beating you for it'.
The dumb guy just smiled with bleeding lips from
the blow I gave him. He smiled and looked into
our eyes. And I could see pity in his eyes.
He smiled and shook his head and then wrote in
the same paper.
'It is Alright. I took the pain willingly. Please
don't beat my brother anymore. I knew why you
were beating me. John had always been a thief,
right from home. But please don't report or beat
him again'.
Tears dropped from my eyes as I read his
sacrifice. He deliberately allowed us beat him just
so that John will be free.
I lend my hand and raised him up as I used my
cloth to wipe the tears from his face and blood
from his lips.
It was then my own tears flowed from the
corners of my eyes.
.
.
.
.
Although this story is 100% fiction...

Interesting read...one can be convinced it happened in reality...