THE LYNCHING

I don't know which of my teachers said it, but it was one of them. Ever since I heard it, I have made sure to do that.

If I meet them in the hospital, I’ll make sure to attend to them first. If I meet them in a queue, I let them go before me. Whenever I see them in the market, I make sure to pay for them or just make their shopping lighter, and this is where it happened.

I haven’t told you what it is. It must be one of my primary school teachers, but she mentioned that we always had to help soldiers whenever we saw them. She didn’t mention the police, so I have never included them, coupled with how much negative news always circulates about the police.

I was in the market, pricing things, when I saw him.

He was slim and tall, about 6 feet. He had a pointed nose and looked like the sun had taken a toll on his skin.

He wore his two-piece camo with a matching face cap and black boots. He had a few discoloration patches on his fingers, the part of his skin that was not covered by the camo. 

“Shun sir!” I said.

He looked in my direction, frowning.

Before he said anything, I faced the man selling the fowl. “I hope you are not stressing my soldier. They cannot be facing bandits and still be stressing themselves in the market.”

He managed a smile.

“Whatever soldier is buying, I’ll pay. Please don’t stress him.”

He finally smiled. “Thank you.”

I turned to face him fully. “Do I select for you, or do you want to do that for yourself?”

“If you know better, please do. It’s for my mother, so anything will do."  

I smiled and looked at the cages for a very long time. After a bit of back-and-forth between the trader and me, we finally settled on the two he would take. After that, I made the transfer to the seller. 

While we waited for the seller to confirm the transfer, we engaged in a bit of conversation. He said he was going home for the first time in a long while. He also mentioned that he was his mother’s only child.

He said a lot, and we talked and laughed. It was amazing to see him go from frowning to laughing hard. 

Soldiers deserved the best. Why would anyone deliberately put their life on the line for a country like ours?

I guess the seller thought something more than the mere conversation we had was going on because it was only after a long while, he brought the chickens out in a cement bag. He handed it to the soldier, thanking both of us.

The soldier smiled and told him to thank me instead.

I smiled and got up, saying it was the least I could do for someone who was out all day fighting our battles for us while we slept. I told him I would also love to meet his brave mother who let her only son join the military.

The soldier got up smiling, and shook my hands.

“But please, don’t kill us citizens anymore.”

I first saw his face change. Without another word, I was on the floor.

Next, a slap landed on my face.

The man who had sold the fowl stood there, wondering what had gone wrong.

The slaps kept pouring in, and then I saw the seller and some other men try to stop him. He pushed them all.

He continued pummeling me.

“Ole! Ole!” I suddenly heard the sellers, who had tried to get him off me, scream.

I was on the floor with my hands crossed to reduce the effect of the blow. 

After a while, I heard more voices join to scream.

The beating stopped.

A group of men had gathered around the soldier, beating him with planks, and a crowd had gathered around as well. 

Two women came to help me get up.

“If no be madness, how person go steal for morning still come beat person wey him steal from for afternoon?” One of the women asked rhetorically.

“When no be say na night, for market where people plenty. Soldier, for that matter.”

I tried to explain to them that he didn’t steal from me, and I said something that must have triggered him, but my mouth felt too heavy and the words would not form.

I looked, and the crowd was still gathered around him.

I saw a man running towards the crowd with a tire from another shop.

I tried to tell the women who were helping me to sit to do something while pointing, but they misunderstood me.

“No worry, go get wet, he deserves it today.” The first woman who had spoken said:.

I sat lying on Ade’s thighs watching Arise News, something I would normally have protested against, but I was still in pain from the previous day.

He had arrived at my place as soon as he heard what had happened.

As I lay there on his thighs, I saw a familiar face pop up on the screen, and the news headline flashed before my face.

I thought of everything that would go wrong: how his mother would keep expecting him and would never see him alive, and his friends in the army who would be expecting him back in January.

The last I saw of him was when he managed to get up when the police arrived, and the mob dispersed, including the women who were with me.

“Say no to jungle justice.” I heard the female newscaster say:.

I guess Ade saw my tears because he hugged me tightly and made me look away from the TV.

“I just hope the army doesn’t burn down the whole place.”