Survival 28 The Other Side of Reality If you were around, everybody was running helter-skelter. The police themselves could not understand what was happening, as everywhere was not fine. People were trying to believe that this was impossible—because the young man was too young to have orchestrated such a crime. The Commissioner of Police was not having it; deep down, he believed this young man was innocent and that somebody was playing foul somewhere. He was trying his best to ensure he didn't hand this young man over to the federal government in Abuja for prosecution. Even the AIG knew that the young man was innocent, but he had already started declaring that they had found the culprit. Commissioner: If you take this case to court, sir, it will not be an easy case. This is not one of those cases where they will try and cover it up. This young man is innocent, and we all know it. He's not even someone known to be a rascal or anything. Did you see the house where you were able to apprehend him? He was a houseboy, and his master has dedicated his life to making sure this boy comes out of this alive. AIG: What do you mean his master has made sure he comes out of this alive? Who is his master? Commissioner: Sir, his master is one of the award winners of the World Bank scholarship. He's currently the one with the highest dollars being paid in an academic session in Nigeria, with the World Bank sponsoring his project. He is an internationally recognized young man, and the young man we just arrested is his houseboy. He accepted him to be his houseboy because the young man has no father, and his mother died just a few months ago in a house fire that was planted for him. Sir, this story is wild. I think you should reduce the publicity on this young man before it backfires on all of us. We're trying to find the killer of the innocent young man, and now we're trying to bring in another innocent young man. I think it’s wise to think twice. This is already looking very ugly, because even the university has decided they are going to back him on this one. He is one of the jewels of the university—he's the best in his department, has the highest grade in the university, and is set to graduate with first class. So, you will not only be fighting the lecturer in particular—you’ll be fighting him, the World Bank, the university, and who knows who else may come into this. (Knock knock) Commissioner: Come in. I am on a call, please, but come in and sit down. As I was saying, we have to be very careful with this case—who is that? I’ll call you back. There’s a new development. You look familiar. Please, who are you? Barrister Santos: Yes, you might have seen me on the television before. I am Barrister Santos. Commissioner: Are you the son of Chief justice Santos? Barrister Santos: Yes, I am. Commissioner: Oh! Oh! Oh! The one who took the governor to court three times and won him? Barrister Santos: Yes, I am. But that is not why I’ve come here. Commissioner: Okay, okay. Maybe you have a big client under police pressure, but right now the police have a lot on their hands. I may not be able to give you my full attention, but— Barrister Santos: Oh, not at all. I think you will give me your full attention once you know who my client is. Commissioner: Are you serious? This is going to be interesting. What’s the name of your client? Barrister Santos: As you can see, things are turning up in this country. My best friend’s only child has been arrested by the police and accused of a crime that even his dead parents could not have committed. Commissioner: Wait a minute! If I’m to get you right, are you saying that the young man I was just talking about on the phone with the AIG—you are the lawyer representing his case? Barrister Santos: Yes, you got that right. Commissioner: Ah! Wahala no dey finish. You—you mean you, of all people? Barrister Santos: A short story could perhaps help you. Commissioner: What is the short story you want to talk about? Barrister Santos: Not too long ago, some years back, a boy was discovered in a village in Igboland. I’m sure you are aware of that. Commissioner: Of course, I am aware. I was a police officer then, and I went to the village for the first government-led sightseeing of the land. How does that concern this case? Barrister Santos: Commissioner, in all ramifications, if you indeed insist that you were there, perhaps you might have known the man who owned the land. Commissioner: I don’t know the man, but I think I remember his face. If I see him, I’ll recognize him. He should be rich by now, because the government paid them a whole lot of money for those lands. He also kept away from me for a long time. But how does that concern your client and this case? Where are you taking me with this? Please be fast about it—AIG wants to proceed with court and prosecution immediately. Barrister Santos: I’m very sorry, but your AIG is going to cry with his life—and his job—if he does that. Back to the story: that man was my friend. I helped him secure the deal on that land. Even the money he receives yearly—only I know the accounts where the money enters. The boy you arrested is his only child. The man died. His wife was burnt alive in the house. Part of that money was used to build a house here in Lagos. He bought another house, a factory, and that hotel you are holding in ransom belongs to this young man. Yes, the young man owns it, but he has never been to the hotel before. He doesn’t know what is happening there. When his father died, everything was entrusted to his brother, who asked you to go and arrest his master—who is the boy that has never even seen one million in his life. So if you and your AIG go on with this case, I’ll be bringing it to court with you. You know how this will go. Commissioner: Barrister Santos, please sit down. Wait. Don’t be in haste. I am not the highest authority in the Nigerian Police Force. The AIG is higher than me. And they all seem to have nailed the boy to the cross already. I cannot save the boy alone—neither can you. The powers are too high, and they know what they are doing. Barrister Santos: I was a fool for allowing his father to let his brother hold that business. I warned him, but he didn’t listen. I was a fool for allowing that boy to go and stay with that monster in his house. Thank God he didn’t kill him. I will not allow anything to happen a third time. That boy is innocent. I would like to speak with my client. Commissioner: My hands are tied. Whatever you have to do, act fast. Sergeant! Come and take the lawyer to see his client. At the Hostel David: This cannot happen! I will never allow this to happen. This will NEVER happen. See, I’m ready to run naked to that police station right now! Let them do whatever they want. Let them shoot me. I will not let them kill the person that brought light to our lives. I will not agree! We have to do something! Tayo: It’s not as if we cannot do anything, but you know that if you go there, they are going to shoot you. They are going to kill you. Me, I don’t want anybody to be killed. So we have to do something—but not by standing at the police station like you’re saying. Musa: We don’t have to go to the police station. We are young people—we can use social media! We can call his classmates, his class rep, and everybody. I’m going to start fighting this on social media. Efe: But how? He has no hand in this! We will not let this lie. We will not let this lie. This is too much! Charles: The only thing we can do is like Musa said. We should send messages to others—his roommates, his brother, his friends. We should look for everyone we can, and start showing this on social media. Telling people that he’s a good guy. This content is the intellectual property of OurStory TB and the author, Whiteman Micheal. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution without proper credit to the author or the page is strictly prohibited. Permission must be obtained before any use. Efe: I can work with that. I did not even open my restaurant today. I cannot cook. I cannot go out. I'm feeling very angry right now. I'm feeling useless. I'm feeling very, very angry right now and I don't know what to do. Charles: Guys, please, all of you chill out. We are going to figure this out and we are going to find a plan. At Phillip's Place Phillip: It's all wrong. I will never allow this to happen. I will make sure that I am able to do something about it. I worked in that hotel and I have a lot of things to tell the police to their face. And if they try any nonsense, I'm going to call their names, because I know many of their bosses that I have served. Oke: I'm really feeling so bad right now. I don't know what to do. But I am giving everybody 48 hours. If they don't bring him out of that police station, I will carry fuel and go there. I'm burning everywhere down! Phillip: Chill, it hasn't come to that. We'll get your boo out. What we’ll be needing is a strategic plan. You know we are dealing with the highest members of society, so we need a plan that can play on their own turf so they won't be able to mess with us. Because right now, they have the police, the army—they have the whole country in their hand. They can descend on us and kill all of us. So we need a plan that can save your brother and keep us alive at the same time. Oke: There's no time for that! There's no time for that! At the Police Station Sergeant: Oga, I’m telling you, he already has a lawyer. One of the best in the country like this. Engineer Van: Who appointed this lawyer? Where did this lawyer come from? How come none of us—his family members—know there's a lawyer? Sergeant: Oga, look at your back right now. The lawyer is coming out of the office with the commissioner. Engineer Van: Good afternoon, sir. I am Engineer Van from the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos. Commissioner: You are the master, and he is the lawyer. Engineer Van: How much it look at something... I stay home for sure... I don't have time to do I text you today. I don’t have time—hope you have plans. No problem. Barrister Santos: Hi. Engineer Van: Lawyer? You mean you are his lawyer? How? When? Where were you all this time? Barrister Santos: I wish I could tell you, but there's no time. Can we sort this out later? Engineer Van: Of course we cannot sort it out later. How am I supposed to trust you? How am I supposed to believe you want something good for him? Where were you when he was suffering—when he had no one—and I had to take him in? And now you're telling me you're his father's friend? Barrister Santos: Engineer, I wish you could understand how all this has played out. I’ve been there with him right from the beginning, but I was not supposed to meddle. My friend asked me not to. He's so persuasive, and he can be charming when he wants to. Engineer Van: I don’t care if you were having erotic feelings for his father. You're telling me he can be charming when he wants to be? Are you trying to say you were not there all this time? Barrister Santos: And I’m trying to tell you that he is a difficult person—I’m talking about his father. And I’m sure that since you’ve been living with his son, you should understand that they have a persuasive character—making you do things even when you don’t want to do them. And at the same time, they look charming. Engineer Van: That will not be totally wrong. But what is the situation right now? Are we getting him out of there today? Barrister Santos: Unfortunately, we cannot get him out right now. It’s a high-profile case. There seem to be some powers from above holding him down. They want to pin it on him. But I believe they all know he is innocent. And they may all be customers to that dreaded place. Engineer Van: Oh, I know of the place quite alright. And it is not going to go well with whoever is planning to do this. Barrister Santos: It's not about whoever is planning to do this—everybody knows who is trying to do this. And they know it’s that fool—that evil man. I will make sure he goes down. Engineer Van: So if we cannot get him out today, when is the possible date of at least getting him bail? Barrister Santos: That is the issue. The police won’t even let me bail him. They claim the orders come from high up, and I really don’t know who I’m fighting here. Is it the President? Is it the AIG himself? I don’t know who the enemy is right now. Engineer Van: The fact is that we all know there is one possible enemy. And that is the only enemy we have to focus on. We need facts and details. We need evidence to get him implicated. Barrister Santos: I'll be going to see my dad right now. Would you want to come with me? I think you can help. I have evidence to prove that Afam had no knowledge about the running of the company. In fact, he did not even know his father had a company. There was no possible way he would have been running the company by himself and still be a houseboy. Engineer Van: Yeah, I will follow you anywhere—provided we get him out of the prison. Barrister Santos: You seem to have been fond of this boy. You really like him, I can see. Engineer Van: And if you loved his father like you said, you would not have let him suffer in the hands of those idiots. Barrister Santos: I accept all charges. At Phillip’s Place Later That Evening Azaman: So wait first. I wan understand this story. Person dey his house dey suffer dey do houseboy—na him the whole police go arrest say na billionaire criminal for hotel wey me dey hustle? Milo: Ah haha! This one dey like Naija movies. Super story. That our oga na Kanayo O. Kanayo. Then this guy go be all these boys wey go dey cry for movies. Vic: Guys, this is not funny at all. Phillip, we need to help that guy. How do we help him? Azaman: Wait. Me I no go stress help any straight guy wey after he go see me, commot face. Phillip: 🤣🤣🤣🤣! If he see you like this, Azaman, he go bend you, knack you. You look like wetin he likes. Azaman: Eh? You mean am? Phillip: He’s kind of new to all this. But I like him, and he wants to knack me. But na small boy. I just like am. Milo: How far? His gbola make sense? Vic: Mumu! Na that side dem go see you. Person dey prison, you dey ask of him gbola? Azaman: Hahaha! Mad ooo! Milo: Abeg, make una leave me. Na ashawo I be. Abeg, I like wetin I like. Vic: How can we help? Phillip: We can link up with the bigger team. Azaman: Bigger team? You mean say he get guys? Phillip: Yes. Milo: Where guys go dey gather like this, them fit no like our she-ing. Vic: Aunty, chillax na. Haha! No be only you be she. Phillip: Well, according to him, they are all into guys—but them dey different from us. Azaman: Ah ah. As in how? Phillip: Them four—some dey school, dey train themselves with their sweat. One na barber, one na tailor, the other na cook—he get small buka. And the other one na hairstylist. But them all dey do guys. Some get permanent boyfriend. Azaman: Omo, everyone dey hustle. I no see the difference. I no fit fuck anyone for free ooo. Shey because them dey school come mean say I dey different? Come Phillip, dey watch wetin you dey talk ooo. Milo: Even with all those things, I sure say some, if not all, na low-key ashawo like me. And if I see them, I go must know one. Vic: Whatever, guys—we need to help this guy come out of that cell. punctuate and leave in the original context At the cell in the police station Prisoner one: hey na who you be why you just come here just sit down stand up Me: what is it leave me alone Prisoner 2: your father na bastard na me you dey speak english for? I say come here you dey speak english Tawai!!!! one slap on my back i could hold it i fell to the ground as the kick me continuously and dragged me to the president Prisoner 3: here na cell no be jail but na me be the oldest for here wetin be your name Me: please leave me alone sir. Prisoner 3: hey you use that wood wipe his back small 4 times he struck i couldn’t feel my legs anymore i was helpless on the floor i saw as he drew his shorts down revealing a ranging borner i have never seen before i guess the one that can have such a dick would be engineer van. But i have not seen his either so i wont know he drew my waist up there was no more fight in me i didnt know what to do. So i closed my eyes about to accept the pain that was coming in. two of them held me as the one that said he was president spat on my hole several times Prisoner 3: omo na red ooo this one na woman for his former life see as his body fresh. He spat on his erect dick as he was about to do the deed i closed my eyes and almost prayed i died This content is the intellectual property of OurStory TB and the author, Whiteman Micheal. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution without proper credit to the author or the page is strictly prohibited. Permission must be obtained before any use. Inspector Isa: Eh, what are you about to do to the president’s prisoner? Prisoner 3: Eh? You say wetin? Inspector Isa: Hey Sergeant, come and get him out of there. Take him to a single holding cell and call a medic. He must not die here, or else we all dead. Sergeant: You people are monsters! See how you just beat this boy! Prisoner 1: Come, make una do bring another prisoner here, because me don tire to dey chop this thing. Prisoner 3: See, the thing don stand. E no fit come down just like that. No worry, them go bring your own come very soon. Prisoner 1: Leave me joor, I no gree! Prisoner 2: Comon, remove shorts make Oga do. After him, na me. At the other cell Inspector Isa: You don’t look like a criminal. So what is this all about? I told him my story and how I came to Lagos, and how I ended up as a houseboy. At the judge’s quarters Judge Santos: Well, see who came to see his father. Barrister Santos: Father, how are you doing? Judge Santos: I am well and alive. And you? Barrister Santos: I came to ask for your forgiveness. Judge Santos: Silly thing! Who is your friend? Is he your wife or, sorry—husband? Engineer Van smiled. Engineer Van: Good evening, sir. Judge Santos: Welcome, my dear. Don’t mind him, he is always shy. I am his father, I know things. So, what do you do? Barrister Santos: He is just… Judge Santos: Shuuuuuuu! Let him speak please. I’ve heard your voice so much, my ear aches. I need new voices to make me feel young again. Engineer Van: Hahaha! Asir, I am a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos, Department of Chemical Engineering. Judge Santos: OMG! An academic, an engineer—perfect! What’s the name? Engineer Van: Van Victory. Judge Santos: If he does propose, please meet me to collect my ring and propose to him. He is too lonely since I lost his mum. Barrister Santos: Enough, Dad. I am going to battle the president in court. Judge Santos: Which president is that? Barrister Santos: The nation. Judge Santos: Okay, you’ve got my attention. Barrister Santos: The boy, Dad. The one they caught. Judge Santos: You are his counsel? Barrister Santos: Yes, Dad. Judge Santos: Well, drop the case. Whatever they are paying you, drop it. I will pay you twice the money. Barrister Santos: Dad, no. It’s not easy. Judge Santos: I will pay three times the money. Barrister Santos: I can’t. Judge Santos: You will get yourself killed. You can’t go against them. Barrister Santos: Dad, he is innocent. Judge Santos: That’s what they all say. Barrister Santos: If you were me, you would have taken this case. Judge Santos: What’s this boy to you? Is he one of your fuck boys? Barrister Santos: Dad, he is Aka’s boy. The judge became silent. Judge Santos: Your very own Aka? Your first lo… Barrister Santos: Yes, Dad. Judge Santos: What’s the accusation? They explained everything to him. Judge Santos: So they want to cover licking holes. I see. I will inform the guys. Barrister sees Engineer Van off to his car. Barrister Santos: I am sorry for what transpired there. My dad can be something else. Engineer Van: Don’t you like women? Barrister Santos: Why did you ask that? Engineer Van: It's because you are not married yet. Barrister Santos: Oh, the marriage thing is not for me. I mean, I’ve tried it before. I got two kids—a boy and a girl. They are currently on holidays at their mum’s. When it’s over, they’ll be here at the Santos mansion. What about you? Engineer Van: I will, soon. Maybe. Barrister Santos: 🤣🤣🤣🤣! See pot calling kettle black! Hahaha! You have not even been to the V area before. Engineer Van: Nah. Barrister Santos: When this is all over, I will show you the other side of a man’s world. I’m sure you are familiar with the dick side. Engineer Van: Is he going to be alright in there? Barrister Santos: Trust me. When my dad said “the boys,” he meant a group of old lawyers like himself and some judges. They will free him by tomorrow. This is a fight of good versus evil. Engineer Van: So you and his father used to be a thing? Barrister Santos: Story for another day. Just let’s buy some food for him tonight. Engineer Van: Eh, what? Wait, you mean they don’t feed the prisoners? Barrister Santos: He is not in prison. He is in a holding cell. And yes—they don’t. Not in this country. At the hostel Everyone gathered—friends, classmates, roommates—all for Afam. Joseph: Hello everyone. Thank you all for coming. I know Afam is not so popular, but you are all here for him. We can help him by going on social media tonight. Course Rep: Tell us the highlights. David: Innocent houseboy accused of human trafficking. Tolu: Or how they pinned crime on the innocents. Musa: Why not just use SAVE AFAM THE HOUSEBOY? Joseph: I like that. Efe: Same here. Philip: I have a plan. At the police cell Engineer Van: Stop telling that, please. Barrister Santos: What happened? Were you molested? Me: Almost. Engineer Van: See what you’re asking him? He could barely stand. He can’t even eat. Me: Please, am I going home with you this night? Barrister Santos: I am afraid not. Engineer Van: Oh no… No no… Ahhh… And Engineer Van started crying. Barrister Santos couldn’t look at me. He was crying too. Me: Sir, I will be fine. Don’t lose hope. I hope Oke is fine. Engineer Van: Yes, he is. He will be here tomorrow. I saw him cleaning his eyes. I have never seen him crying before. They both left when the police asked them to. I sat in the cell. It was cold. My boxers were torn—it was the only piece of clothing I had. I slept on the cold, freezing floor, hoping this ends soon. By Whiteman Micheal Morals: You need to equip yourself with weapons as strong as those of your enemies. One needs to understand his enemy before he starts the fight. Prepare yourself for the worst. A clear consciences fears no accusations but a group of right friends will make sure you are free. Ask yourself this question now which of your friends will make sure you are not in the police custody. If they apprehend you for nothing. By Whitman Micheal