The yardstick for measuring one's greatness is not by what he/she has achieved but by the hurdles encountered and enroute to greatness.

This epic piece can make one go namby pamby. Boys don't cry Larrysun my best writer, my hat i doff for you. Keep up the good work, until the calm voice in you become still, that possibility, i vervely doubt.
Ill be great some day, greater than you my prayers tho.

*Chapter One - VI (Continued)*

He melded among the crowd, small and agile, ready to rob someone unsuspecting. He walked among the people, searching for a perfect pick. What he needed now was money; the few coins he possessed had dwindled remarkably. He was now mildly desperate; a desperation that went beyond mere feeding money. He needed to gather enough wealth for the task ahead. He spotted a well-dressed man whose wallet was peeping out of his back pocket. An easy pick, Black reflected. A ridiculously easy pick. A dumb man; which wise man would keep his purse in his back pocket? The man had just alighted from a lorry. Black moved close to the man; he was going to pick the wallet and run, no one would be able to catch him, he was sure of that. Then just as he was about to grab the purse and make his retreat, a sudden scream broke out. The crowd became excited, screaming and barking. Black was confused. What has happened? Is there a motor accident? He looked down the road to confirm the veracity of his suspicion. Then he saw it! It was not an accident! The crowd was chasing a man, a runaway criminal, and the pursuers were screaming "Thief! Catch him! Thief!"

One spectacular thing about the bolting villain was that he was a swift runner; a far better runner than Peter Black, but the pursuers were determined to catch the lawbreaker. Both street thugs and bus-conductors went after the thief, but they could not catch the sneaky pickpocket. One of the angry mob of pursuers picked up a tin of Peak Milk from the table of one trader and hurled it with all his strength at the scurrying kleptomaniac. It was a perfect shot; the tin hit the thief squarely on the back of the head and he fell onto the ground; and before he could rise up to continue his hasty retreats, the pursuers had caught up with him. A large crowd gathered round the criminal as he was being beaten. All the people in this area hated pickpockets of any kind with the passion of the people whose hard-earned possessions were picked. Black joined the crowd to have a see at what fate would befall the thief. He could see blood streaming out of the thief's head where the tin had hit him. Black had a closer look at the condemned pickpocket; the thief was about nineteen or twenty years old, as dark-skinned as Peter, but was way taller. Apart from the head injury, the thief's lips were split and one of his eyes were swollen shut.

The thief kept repeating "Please, I'm sorry! Please, I'm sorry!" But none of the beaters seemed to be listening to him. They kept slapping him, punching him, kicking and flogging. The thief cried out in pain as a man kicked him in the nuts. Soon, his clothes were torn off him and he was totally naked, and more beatings were administered on him.

A few moments later, one robust thug rolled a tyre to the scene, and following behind him was another man with a five-litre keg filled with petrol. The thief saw the items, frowned in confusion, but when the significance of the item occurred to him, he screamed out very loud.

Black watched in horror as the thief was held down by strong hands and the tyre was worn on his neck like a necklace. The petrol was poured on him, the entire five litres of the liquid was emptied on the unfortunate captive. Now the thief could not free himself because his arms and legs had been tightly tied with strong strings. No one attempted to stop what the men were doing to the poor thief; it was like the people were eager to witness the inevitable lynch; they all wanted to see the thief roast and ooze out oil. It was not everyday something as exciting as this happened, therefore, no one, except Black perhaps, wanted any interference in this remarkable process of barbecue. Black was shivering violently as he watched the activities of the instant judges. This was no sight for a boy of his tender age to behold. Besides, it could have been Black himself suffering this thief's fate. Cold terror overcame him as he watched the thief wail pitifully at the brutal and mortal end looming over him. The woeful strain behind the thief's sorrowful lamentation reverbrated in the little boy's ears. The sound of the cry pulled at his heartstring; it would haunt him for a long time. Black prayed never to hear such wail of anguish again in his entire life.

The crowd shrank backward as the man who poured the petrol brought out a matchbox. The real show was about to begin; all the previous activities were merely icings on the cake, this was the real thing. Everyone stayed at a safe distance and watched the man bravely light a match and torched the thief. The poor fellow caught fire immediately, even the man who set him ablaze was scalded. And, somehow, by a process of sheer bewilderment, the rope that tied the thief down got loose and the burning young man sprang up immediately and started running around, still bearing the tyre on his neck as he ran blindly. People took to their heels as he ran towards them. The fire totally engulfed him and he still managed to run a few metres more before he totally collapsed on the hard ground. He burned sootily; he cooked, toasted, barbecued and fried. The fire burned on. The odour of the burning flesh was not unlike the roasting of a goat. At first, the flesh smelled delicious, then it smelled terrible, disgustingly terrible. Some of the spectators with weak bowels retched violently at the site. Thereafter, the crowd began to disperse. The world left the corpse to burn itself to a massive charcoal.

Black walked away sadly. Ironically, the event he had just witnessed did not teach to quit stealing, it only taught him to be more careful.

As he walked away, he discovered that he was holding a purse. He didn't know how the purse got to his hand.

Peter Black had unconsciously stolen the purse.


********************************************************


Larry Sun can ghostwrite for you (novels, short stories, biographies, autobiographies, etc) at an affordable price. Contact him via email (larrysundynasty@gmail.com) or through +2349061754872. God bless you.

omg!!! this is too brutal. I so much hate jungle justice. Imagine d negative impact it has on dis boy's psychology. His unconscious sense has been negatively sharpened too. O ga o................Thank u,oga Larrysun. *Agbaawo

not only do I enjoy ur story I also learn new words..u d best bro

Black walked away sadly. Ironically, the event he had just witnessed did not teach to quit stealing, it only taught him to be more careful.


Dis is serious, dis y we still av many thief

Poor peter black I felt sorry for the path u just choose to follow

Larrysun more wisdom
Thanks for ur time, strength and all.
God bless u too, amen.

Jungle justice *pukes*..

More wisdom, Larry..

Still, I follow..

Hhhmmm!!! Unconsciously stole a purse.

Apy birthday Larrysung
LLNP

As he walked away, he discovered that he was holding a purse. He didn't know how the purse got to his hand. Peter Black had unconsciously stolen the purse.

na Wow o
hw him take do am

larrysun boss nice piece continue the good work

super glued dey peter hand, its going to be very serious . happy election my people

zyzxx:
Apy birthday Larrysung
LLNP

But today isn't my birthday. I won't be a year older until July 1.

LarrySun:


But today isn't my birthday. I won't be a year older until July 1.

Nooo na larrysung
he is one of ur fan

zyzxx:

Nooo na larrysung
he is one of ur fan

Oh! Okay. But I've never met him. I'd like to.

kingphilip:
As he walked away, he discovered that he was holding a purse. He didn't know how the purse got to his hand. Peter Black had unconsciously stolen the purse.

na Wow o
hw him take do am

larrysun boss nice piece continue the good work

Thank you, sir. Black has reached that stage where thievery has become a culture. Lol!

zyzxx:
Black walked away sadly. Ironically, the event he had just witnessed did not teach to quit stealing, it only taught him to be more careful.


Dis is serious, dis y we still av many thief

Poor peter black I felt sorry for the path u just choose to follow

Larrysun more wisdom
Thanks for ur time, strength and all.
God bless u too, amen.

Thank you, sir. I hope you had a peaceful vote in your locality.

Toeyean1507:
omg!!! this is too brutal. I so much hate jungle justice. Imagine d negative impact it has on dis boy's psychology. His unconscious sense has been negatively sharpened too. O ga o................Thank u,oga Larrysun. *Agbaawo

Thank you, ma'am, for reading. Having you here always gladdens my heart.

plainmirror:
The yardstick for measuring one's greatness is not by what he/she has achieved but by the hurdles encountered and enroute to greatness.

I like this.

Bluestarry:
This epic piece can make one go namby pamby. Boys don't cry Larrysun my best writer, my hat i doff for you. Keep up the good work, until the calm voice in you become still, that possibility, i vervely doubt.
Ill be great some day, greater than you my prayers tho.

Thank you so much, sir.

LOL! I'm sure we'll both be great, very great!

dhebor258:
not only do I enjoy ur story I also learn new words..u d best bro

I enjoyed reading your signature, it's so true.

Thank you, sir.

Sleekyshuga:
Jungle justice *pukes*..

More wisdom, Larry..

Still, I follow..

You're awesome, ma'am.

domido:
Hhhmmm!!! Unconsciously stole a purse.

Quite far-fetched, isn't it?

hormoryhemii:
hmmmmmmmm, I think in this piece of work lies event that unfolds everyday in the real world, suggesting that we open another thread to discuss the various theme in this work.



Mr larrysun, I doff my hat

kudos to you sir

peter- I reserve my comment for now.

Thank you so much, sir. I love the suggestion of the theme discussions; perhaps, it might open my eyes to important thoughts I'd not taken note of. Thanks again. God bless you.

KingzPen:
Just Passing By...

The King is here! Wow! Your royal highness, sir. I've missed you a bunch, Twinnie!

zyzxx:
Larry dis great
more wisdom


Duba suppose to av Somtin kept for peter

Unfortunately, he didn't. The man didn't know he would die so soon. So sad!

OMA4U:
What a great way to spend the weekend. Thank you, big brother. You have made my weekend with stunning updates.

I should thank you more, bro. In a way, you inspired this story. I love you.

tohero:
You've been wondaful describing things as if it were real. 1000 thumbs 4u






Suggestion: I think there has been a wide gap between the "action" you started with and the "emotions" playing around now.



#team_junior+father+wife+son+mother

Thanks for your observation, sir. You're quite right. The Prologue is set in 2015, the succeeding chapters started from the early eighties. The emotions will gradually catch up with the actions of 2015. I'm sure you'll love the tale. God bless you, sir.

Akposb:
Not going to let my mouth stay mute.

First of all I love your choice of words as it aids your description. Also this story is a clear depiction of the struggle some people face in this country.

Just keep on as I am enjoying this story.

Thank you so much, sir. Your encouragement has renewed my strength.

babaireti:
Here I come,a new member on this thread

You're very much welcome, sir. I hope my writing style pleases you. My humble regards to Ireti.

Jollyjoy:
So touching. Make me remember d past. (tears)

The past? I'm so sorry!

plainmirror:
I have this feeling that all this rigors black is subjected to is programmed by nature to forge him into a great man.

Fingers crossed, thumbs up Larry!

This may be true. Still, I wonder what may be great about a thief.

LarrySun:
This may be true. Still, I wonder what may be great about a thief.

Bravery, perseverance, courage, determination are all elements of greatness.