THE UNKNOWN HANDS (EPISODE TWENTY)

STORY SERIES

…Goroye also told me that the decision taken was to have me thoroughly flogged as part of the punishment for the misfortune I allegedly brought to the family. Almost immediately, my body began to ache as I started imagining severe lashes all over me. Goroye however

brightened my spirit in the suggestion he came up with that he was going to look for certain frog-water. He assured me that once I bathed with it, I would never know any pains, no matter the number of strokes of cane I would receive. Although I found his story very strange and unbelievable, I rested my hope on the potency of such device and I remembered that I had been warned not to disregard the beliefs of my people. He later came back with a bowl containing some dirty-looking water. Ordinarily, I would have protested having such water poured on me but in my situation, I could not argue as I watched the boy pour the smelly thing on me. I was drenched and my clothes were soiled and all I could do was to thank my friend in need. As I watched myself in that terrible state, with dirty water dripping from my head to the ground, tears again welled up in my eyes. My thoughts went back to my parents. I realized that their death was the cause of my woes. If one of them had been alive I was sure such a horrible experience I was passing through, will never have come my way. Another thing I could not understand was why a family where I had been warmly received could all of a sudden turn towards me with such speed. Why should the shell that has always protected the snail become its burden and why on earth should water suddenly turn around and be the one to volunteer to boil the fish? I was forced to see a great difference between one’s parents and others. Or which parent will gladly open their eyes and watch their offspring suffer to death? Never! Not even when the child proves himself to be the most devilish thing on earth.

My different thoughts were later terminated abruptly as I watched the two fierce-looking men now coming with pankere towards where I was. I shuddered and I knew my death was imminent. They untied me and used the rope to tie my hands and legs again while I secretly said my last prayer. If Goroye’s story was true concerning the frog-water he had poured on me, then my problem will be half solved at least for that moment. In fact, I had felt some stiffness in my skin even though I could not touch any part of it. The water itself had been somewhat sticky as if it contained a bit of starch and slippery too. Goroye himself had nearly fallen down flat after stepping on some of it that poured on the ground. So, I was full of hope until the first lash fell on my body.

“Yeeeeeee… “I screamed. It was quite obvious that the water had either betrayed me or the story surrounding it was not true. I watched blood springing from different part of my body, yet the men did not stop until I lost consciousness. I woke up much later to find that I had been tied to that tree again. Seeing my blood dried up where I was battered, I felt like crying again but my voice and strength were totally gone. I stood there gasping for breath and wishing that someone from my neighborhood would come to my rescue. Though I realized that it was my yam that was constantly dipping my fingers in oil, I knew the men who had beaten me did not know how to deliver the massage of a slave. Is not said that a man sent with the message of a slave should apply the wisdom of a true born while delivering it? Even if they had instructed to flog me to death, shouldn't they have reasoned that I did not drop from the sky nor if I had been their own relation or child, would they have treated me the same way? My only consolation rested on God. I also…to be continued on Thursday.

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