LarrySun:
V
Surprisingly, Peter didn’t settle in a new apartment after his escape; instead, he proceeded to lodge himself in an uncompleted building. There was no use renting an apartment now. He had had to forgo things he had never thought he would lose: his bed, television, clothes, books, the transistor radio. The place had been a home to him until it was compromised. Rhoda had led her father and his men right to his territory. She had made a grave error by doing that; he decided that Rhoda would never see him again – hence the final severance of the three friends’ relationship. Black didn’t blame Rhoda much though; he had accepted it as a payback for what he had done himself; he had betrayed his own friend too. His decision to never see Rhoda again was what he thought he should have taken long before now. He had always believed he and Rhoda had never been meant to be together but they had always forced it. Now fate had set them apart, and the error had come from her, thankfully. He was sure she wouldn’t have done what she did if she had known the repercussion. Peter felt liberated now that he was parted from her; he wouldn’t have to feel guilty about whatever happened with her, like trying to kill herself. Thankfully, Basky was not around to share any bad news about her this time.
He didn’t go to school the next day but went on Wednesday. Alex came rushing towards him as soon as assembly ended.
“What are you doing here” Alex asked anxiously.
“Has education stopped being my right?” Peter asked, feigning surprise at the question. He suspected, however, that something involving him had occurred the previous day. He became wary of his surroundings.
“It’s not that. Some men came looking for you yesterday. I think they were policemen, but I’m not sure because they were not wearing their police uniform.”
Peter’s mind skipped a beat. It was confirmed, he was wanted. “How did you know it was me they came for?"
“I was serving punishments in the Principal’s office when the men came asking some questions about you.”
“How many were they?”
“They were three. They said they needed you at the police station. What did you do, Peter Black?”
“I only took what belonged to me.”
The class-monitor suddenly appeared and told Peter that the Principal wanted him in his office.
“That’s bad news, Peter,” Alex said worriedly, “The man might want to hand you over t the police. Those men could be around. What are we going to do, Peter?”
The question surprised Peter; it seemed to him like Alex was taking the situation personal. He turned to the class-monitor standing over them and told him to excuse them.
“Tell the Principal that I will be there in a minute.”
“No,” said he, “he said I should make sure we come together.”
“Okay, just give us a minute. Can you kindly wait outside?”
“I’ll wait for just a minute but not a second more.” He left on that note.
Peter smiled as he watched him leave. He was considerably calm for someone wanted by the police.
“Run now! Leave now while you still can.”
“Calm down, Alex. I can’t always be running.”
“I just don’t want you to get caught.”
“Why? You seem to be unusually caring. I should expect you to avoid me after knowing the accusations made against me. What’s going on?”
“Since the sudden disappearance of your brother, I’ve always been worried about you. I considered John a very good friend of mine. I just don’t want you to disappear without a trace like him. I don’t trust these policemen; they can easily make someone disappear. And I believe your brother’s disappearance may have something to do with the police. It could have something to do with the Peak Milk he was accused of stealing that day.”
If only you knew, Black thought sadly.
The class-monitor appeared again. “It’s time to go. I don’t want to keep the Principal waiting. He’s a mean bastard. I miss our former Principal.”
Peter quickly reached forward and whispered into Alex’s ear, “Stay close to the Principal’s office and watch out for any strange man approaching.”
Alex nodded in understanding. He looked at Peter as if the thief was a god to be worshipped. He was ready to do anything for Black.
Peter followed the class-monitor to the office where the strict Principal ordered him to have a seat, then he dispersed the boy who had brought Black. Before stepping in, he left the folder containing his book at the entrance of the office.
“You are Peter Black, right?”
“Yes, sir” Peter replied politely. He was even smiling. The Principal was newly transferred to DGS and so he didn’t know Peter. Rather than trying to come to terms with the goings-on in the school, he was excising unwarranted disciplines. He was becoming hated by the students and he might soon share a reputation with the Vice-Principal, a man who had been venting more of his frustration on the students because he was denied the position of a Principal after the transfer of Mrs Mensah to another state. He didn’t expect that another person would be brought in to preside over him. And this new man, however, was a lot like him. That was why, perhaps, they didn’t get along well. Mr Akanni refused to take orders from him; he didn’t care if he might lose his job. All he was concerned about was that he was much older than this new Principal and he would be damned if he would take any order from someone who was supposed to be his subordinate.
“So, I heard you are a thief,” the man said and relaxed in his swivel seat. That was a mere gesture of authority; he was trying to intimidate Peter in his own way, but such intimidation wasn’t working on the boy. “What did you steal?”
“I don’t understand what you mean, sir, I didn’t steal anything.” He, too, relaxed back and crossed his legs.
“Don’t play dumb with me, boy,” growled the man, “The police came searching for you here yesterday. They said you stole some money and jewelry. How true is that?”
“Not true, sir.”
“How old are you, Peter Black?”
“I am seventeen, sir.”
“Almost eighteen, good. Listen to me, you will be convicted as an adult if you are arrested and you will be sent to prison. You may spend all your life behind bars.”
Peter smiled and slowly shook his head. “I doubt that, sir.”
The Principal was taken aback, “What! What do you mean?”
“With all due respect, sir, I think you’re mistaken. I’m not going to jail.”
“You seem so sure of yourself.”
“I am, sir. The prison wasn’t built for people like me.”
The man studied the boy for a moment, then he leaned forward and said, “Let me advise you, boy. It’s that confidence, that pride, that cocksure streak of self-trust that will lead to your fall. It’s your hubris, and it will destroy you if you let it consume you. A lot of overconfident folks like you have ended up dead and buried. Trust me, young boy, there’s nothing special about you. If you think you are too wise for justice, you will be hunted down and killed. I know people like you.”
“You don’t know anything about me, sir. You don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know the suffering I endured. I understand that you may have a bad impression of me now, but I’m not as terrible as you may think, sir. The things we do define us. Before you judge me, think deeply and ask yourself if you are in the right position to judge.” Even Peter was surprised at the boldness he was displaying. Hell, this was the school Principal before him. Where had the confidence come from?
“Well, I may not be a saint but I am not a thief. That makes me a better person than you. There’s no difference between a thief and a murderer. So, in comparison to you, I’m a good person and you are bad. People like you are not fit to live.” He glanced at his wristwatch.
Peter suspected that the man was stalling for the arrival of the police. He shrugged, that didn’t bother him one bit.
“We can all be good if we are given the chance.”
Meanwhile, Alex, who had been hanging around the office, spotted Mr Akanni approaching with three armed policemen. Students were peeping from the windows of their classes; this was something that had never happened before in the history of the school – armed policemen entering the school, apparently with the aim of arresting a student. The students, including some teachers, were expecting something exciting to occur. Alex, on spotting the approach of trouble, walked briskly to the Principal’s office and knocked. He did not wait for permission before stepping in.
“Who are you? What do you want?” The man growled at the boy who had the guts to barge into his office.
Alex gave Black a quick glance. The glance spoke a thousand words.
“I was the trouble-some boy you punished yesterday, sir,” said Alex; he was sweating.
“So, what do you want?”
“I’m here to apologise for what I did, sir.”
By the time Alex finished the sentence, Peter was already out of the office. He picked up the folder he had left at the entrance and ran into the school compound.
“Come here! Where are you going?” With Alex on his tail, the man dashed after Peter.
The first person Peter saw among the approaching squad was Rhoda’s father.
“That’s the boy you are here for!” Mr Akanni yelled at the top of his voice. At that moment, the Principal had come to the open and was asking Peter to stop. The policemen immediately began to run after the boy. The Principal ran a few yards and stopped to catch his breath; his pot-belly which contained a lot of adult beverage and junk food, including his diabetes, were a great disadvantage to him. Mr Akanni, however, exercised a modicum of wisdom for the first time; he didn’t bother pursuing; he hated trekking, let alone running. That was why he owned a bicycle. To him, pursuing the thief was the job of the policemen. And he encouraged them further by urging them to catch the thief escaping.
“Catch him! Catch him! Don’t let him escape! He’s a thief! Catch him!” Mr Akanni continued to sing.
Peter ran as fast as he could. The men, knowing that they could not possibly catch up with him, occasionally told him to stop or they would shoot. Peter called their bluff and continued running. The entire school soon became a bedlam as students were now running helter-skelter. The footballers neglected their balls and ran to safety. The unserious ones smoking in hidden corners dropped whatever they were smoking and ran into the thick bush thinking they were the focus of the policemen.
The Principal begged some of the male teachers to assist the policemen in apprehending the boy as it seemed like they had no chance pursuing the thief alone. Black dodged all the teachers easily; none of them had ever seen anyone as flexible and as fast as Peter Black. Some would fly in the air aiming to grab the boy but the teachers would end up embracing each other in midair and they would land terribly on the hard floor, bruising their skins. It was now becoming a comedy show to the students watching the drama. They would occasionally roar with laughter or gasp with surprise. The teachers and the policemen were embarrassed as it seemed as if the black boy was making a fool of them for the entertainment of the other demonic students who were having the fun of their lives.
“Run, Peter, run!” One of the students screamed. It soon became a chant as almost all the students were supporting Peter Black.
“Run, Peter, run!”
Peter continued dodging everyone who attempted to catch him. Then one of the policemen shot his gun to the sky. The gunshot was so loud that it stunned everyone into silence, except Peter who continued running. This was not the first time he had been shot at before; and if he wasn’t hit by the bullet, there was no way he was going to stop.
“What are you doing?” screamed the Principal, “This is a school for crying out loud! How dare you shoot in a school? What if you accidentally shoot an innocent child?”
“I shot the gun skyward, sir,” replied the young police officer.
“That’s not an excuse!”
“I gave him the authorization,” Rhoda’s father stepped in.
“That’s wrong!”
“That’s not the important thing for now,” he said anxiously, “Look, he’s getting away!” He raised his gun, aimed at the boy’s back and pulled the trigger.
The second shot frightened a lot of the children; there was no more peeping student. They were now afraid; indeed, some of them were weeping like babies. The bullet missed Peter’s back a few inches and hit the folder he was carrying. The folder flew off his hand as if it was snatched away by a giant. He had to pause for a moment. He slowly turned around to see the shooter – it was Mr Gold. The man’s brutal eyes were set. He was ready to put Peter down. At this time, however, the Principal had lost consciousness. He lay down like a heap of manure, his fat belly standing out from his entire body.
A police officer has the right to shoot an escaping suspect after various warnings to stop. Black knew it, Mr Gold knew it; but Peter was sure of one thing, Rhoda’s father hated him with passion, and he was out to put him down.
From where he stood, he smiled at the man, raised his middle finger at him and scaled the short fence to the other side before the mean man could take a second aim.
The battle line had been drawn. I just fell in love with Black's character...i dont usually coment but this episode got to me |
