chapter 18c
Jason was now running aimlessly at that time of the night
holding onto his baby brother very tightly. The forest had
contained absolute tranquility except for the chirping of
the crickets, the crooks of frogs and the hoots of owls...
Although the moon was shining brighty,, Jason had
problems seeing his path for the tears in his eyes had
blurred his vision..
As he ran, he galloped into holes caused as a result of
poor topography of the soil, he stepped into muds and his
clothes were torn by growing thorns but he wouldn't
reduce the speed at which he accelerated.. Soon, the
frogs stopped croaking, deers ran into their hutches,
monkeys ceased their chatters, even the serpents
scampered away, they had thought that a powerful hunter
is hunting wild game or being hunted by a wild beast, they
didn't plan to be caught in the middle of such hunts...
Suddenly Jason stopped, now gasping for breathe and
completely exhausted, he halted. How could he have left
his indisposed mother alone with those men, what if they
were there to hurt her, what if they planned to kidnap her
or maybe do the worst? He needed to save her mother
from the looming trouble. He quickly made back to the
dilapidated building, although he had problems locating it,
but being a brave and determined boy he was, he
eventually found it...
Jason was about to enter the building when he heard a
man talking in a cruel voice, he hesitated, then peeped
through the key hole and eavesdroped.. All this while,
Tony was fast asleep
"where are your manners, young man?" the leader said to
the man who had earlier introduced themselves as death,
he gave him a scornful look as he continued "you don't
talk to a beautiful woman lie that, be a gentleman for
once"
He then faced omolara and gave her a dreadful smile
"pretty, I apologize for his insolvency but you have two
options...." he said as he brought out a fat rolled weed
and then lighted it, he then continued "you either answer
my question and die a painless death or answer my
question my question and die a painful death.." he gave a
long draw on the weed and inhaled the Contents into his
long ".... But the painful or painless part of the death
depends on how co-operative you are..." he concluded as
e exhaled the smoke through his nostrils at omolara's
face.. His eyes turned red immediately as he shook his
head violently like a beast which had been caught in a
trap,he roared.
"where are the children?" he said...
"which children? I'm just a lonely widow without a child
"omolara lied wondering how they knew about Jason and
Tony. She had thought they were ordinary thieves who had
come to plunder. But it appeared she was wrong for the
hoodlums weren't there for money neither were they there
for gold, they were there for their lives. She was glad that
she had made them exit the building before they could get
their filthy hands on them....
"wasp! Wasp!! "two strong slaps landed on her face bring
her back to reality.
" you Liar bitch, you want to tempt my patience "
Surprisenly, omolara didn't flinch, she rather smiled, spat
the blood in her mouth on his face and said" you are an
idiot, what mother would sell her children out to the devils
like you? , I'm going to die anyway, just kill me and get it
over with but you will never found them, never!"
"yes, you are going to die and I wil be honored to grant
your request you bitch" the leader said in a murmur barely
audible to her...
"bleep her to death "he said in a slang which is vague to
omolara nd the eavesdropping Jason. The other men
smiled broadly as they unzipped their trousers, it then
occurred to her what was about to happen, she
screamed.. Jason, who was still peeping, was at rage, he clinched his
fists tightly, his eyes turned red with hatred, his blood
boiled. He wanted to beat them to death and feed them to
the vultures but he knew that making such silly attempt
was suicidal. Although he wasn't afraid of death, he knew
his innocent Brother would be killed too..
Jason watched as the men took turn on his mother, the
men were smiling at the pleasure while omolara screamed
in pain.. They continued the villainous act for several
minutes until she stopped breathing, she had been raped
to death... They searched every corner of the room and
couldn't find anything useful, they were about to leave
when they heard the cry of a baby, Tony had woken up...
Jason was filled with terror and fear, he quickly turned and
started running, as tiny as his legs are, he brisked along
the dark forest but he wasn't running alone, he was being
pursued by the gang leader, who had ordered the other
men to set the building ablaze.. Jason ran aimlessly but
very fast,as fast as he was, it was futile for the baby
wouldn't stop crying and the pursuer was trailing the
crying sound...
Jason soon saw an abandoned small hut, he quickly hid
inside, he checked on the crying baby who was covered In
blood, Jason was frightened for he thought the baby had
been hurt. He soon realized that Tony was covered in his
own blood, he had ran through shrubs and trees with
thorns and his skin had been pierced, he felt relieved that
the baby was safe...
Jason knew if he didn't stop the crying baby, they
wouldn't be found..he tried to pet him but to no avail, he
sang to him, Pat his back gently and even clapped but
they all proved abortive...
Now the man was few meters away from them, Jason
remembered the drug he had stolen from a pharmacy for
her mother.. It was the sleeping drug which he had taken
illegally as a remedy for her mother's sleeplessness. He
quickly brought it out and chewed it into a liquid substance
and spat the saliva mixed substance into his mouth...
In no time, they both slept off.....
Jason opened his eyes to see the bright sun as it shone on
his face, it had been a hot, sweaty morning in the forest,
the birds were singing sweetly as they flew to their various
activities, fending food for the nestlings, building their
nests and even copulating... The bees hummed away, the
Eagles screamed with absolute alacrity but their wasn't
sign of a single human being..
At that moment, the boy emerged from the dark hut into
the stalk morning light. His filthy body covered with dried
blood and the thorn gray clothes made him look
surprisingly anonymous. He looked at his baby brother
who jerked as he had woken up earlier than he. He felt
pains oozing out of every parts of his body, the
mosquitoes had had a great feast overnight as each of
them had suckled on their blood with its
proboscis,however Jason couldn't scratch the parts for
his skin had been penetrated by countless thorns..
He gently picked up his baby brother and walked out
trodding on the leaves, grasses and even thorns with his
bare feet. Jason gently moved towards the completely
burned house they had called their sojourn. As he moved,
many thoughts flashed through his disturbed mind, would
he meet his mother in the building, what If she's dead,
what If she had been kidnapped? He quickly cast off the
thoughts as he was becoming Delirious, he dawdle on and
on along the thick forest..
Jason soon get to the building. strangely, he didn't look
surprised, he appeared remarkably calmed for someone
who had just lost his mother. Because he was too tired, he
sat on a fallen tree and began to brood over his life,how
he was going to survive his current ordeal, he knew his
education had automatically been halted, he would not see
his friends again nor fulfil his dream of becoming a
medical doctor. He sat there for a long time in sober.
Surprisingly, he wasn't hungry, his baby brother didn't cry
too, he had been sleeping..
When evening approached, it dawned to him that his
mother was gone, the dove she talked about had flown
and wouldn't be returning, the sun had ceased shinning
and the moon couldn't brighten up the earth again.. She
had perhaps gone to somewhere without pains, a place of
no hunger ;no worries. Jason cried anew for he knew that
his mother had left them for a place of rest and peace
without taking them along... He was now alone in the
wicked world, he wept helplessly ;no father, no mother, no
relatives, he was now an orphan. He took Solace in his
baby brother, his new companion...
Jason stood up warily he murmured some prayers not for
his mother but to his mother, he put his palms together
and bowed his head several times, he had seen in movies
where children bowed their heads after losing their
parents as a sign of respect. He did that for he Knew that
would be their last meeting, he had to let go of her so he
could focus on Tony, he had been ordered to survive..
He bowed for the seventh time and said "till we meet
again mother,please come back soon".. He picked his
baby brother and drunkenly walked back to the hut...
Four months had gone since their mother left them, Jason
had been striving hard to cater for his baby brother who
had now begun to walk, he was now more careful as he
knew he could loiter into the path of hungry wilds..
Feeding had been a daunting task for him,, he had gone
several times without food to satisfy his brother, he had
grown pale and thin. Some days, he had found some
spoiled crumbs of yam and bread in some families' trash
cans, he would peel off the greenish parts and feed them
to his baby brother without steal or soup.other times, he
would scavenge the forest for fruits and fallen nuts. He
would dig the roots of plants and fed on them, many times
he had suffered from stomach disorder as a result of
poisonous and contaminated leaves and roots
consumed,so severe that he would prayed for death but
his brother would walk awkwardly towards him and said
"Arson, shoyii" in an accent that was almost ambiguous to
him. Jason would smiled back at his naive brother with
joy and happiness, two year old Tony was his source of
strength . He had become a jungle boy....
It was a bad Thursday morning, Jason was awaken by his
brother's cry, he had been crying for a while. Jason
rushed to him with fright. He touched his face and behold
it was as hot as hell,a water kettle would have simmered
in no time if placed on his body. He was also shivering
violently, his eyes were so white that the dark iris were
beginning to fade away. Jason remembered he had not
eaten for two days, he needed to feed him immediately,
the naive boy didn't know that the boy was very sick, he
had been exposed to mosquitoes for more than a year,
insects bit him every night, cold had tormented him and he
had been poorly fed...
Jason thought of what to do, he was disorganized, he
couldn't imagine losing Tony too, never, it's not going to
happen he thought.. He would steal, Rob, kill, and even
gladly give his life for him. He quickly dashed out of the
hut, he thought of taking him along but he knew he would
be slowed down..
As he ran briskly with no particular destination, he thought
of what his baby brother needed "food and drugs" he
concluded... He had no money but he didn't care for he
knew he was going to commit larceny.
That day, he had been saved from the public lynch by Mr
sextone, he had met Emanuella who never liked I'm, he
had met his doom in the hand of those men who had
strangled him.. The worst part was that he had been
separated from his baby brother and now, he was not
going to see his brother, Tony again.