BOTH SIDES OF FATE (cont.)

Chapter 4 : Michael.

The sound of the cock crow and the call for prayer from the speaker of the mosque nearby woke Michael up. Though he had slept early the night before, it seemed as though he had just hit the sack before these early arousers. He stretched and wished he could just stay in bed but he knew he couldn’t. As fixed as his daily routine seemed, it still wore him out extremely. He thought he would have been used to it by now but one’s body can only take so much strain.

First he had to go down to the public tap and get clean water for himself, his mom and 9 siblings. Had his immediate younger ones been boys, they would have assisted him and reduced the stress. But he had been followed by a set of twin younger sisters and a further three girls before he got his first brother. He was exactly 12 years older than him.

Michael, who had just turned twenty, was the bread winner of his family. Since his father’s passing, Michael had borne the burden of fending for the family and the little his mom offered didn’t seem to help much. After he had returned from fetching water, he gets ready and leaves for his daily hustle. Being a roadside vendor selling cold drinks; carrying them from place to place daily wore him out and by the days end he was always well spent.

This morning he had felt the weakest he had felt for a while, still lying down he wished his father were alive. He remembered it like yesterday when he had returned from school day fateful day and heard of his father’s passing. Had he died of health or normal circumstances, his death might have been easier for Michael to bear. But his father had been stabbed to death by road side muggers whom had trailed him from the bank as he had gone to withdraw money for Michael’s school fees.

Michael sometimes blamed himself for his father’s death. Had he not pestered his father about his school fees that morning, his father may have been alive today. But what Michael regretted the most was the fact that he hadn’t been able to finish his education. His father’s death meant he now had no one to sponsor his education. He had wanted to be an electrical engineer but couldn’t pay for his tuition even after he had passed his exams. He could have been in the university rather than suffering and straining himself daily.
“If it hadn’t been for those bloody muggers” he thought to himself.
This had set Michael on the path of vengeance and he longed for the day he would catch a roadside mugger. He didn’t really care if it was the same muggers who had killed his father or not, all muggers deserved death
Slowly he rose from the bed as his mother called him out to go and get her water…

“Another day of horror begins” he grumbled to himself, then washed his face, grabbed a bucket and headed for the street tap. When he was done; he had his bath, ate his breakfast and set out for his daily hustle. Four hours later he had sat down to catch his breath, it had been a hot morning and the heat had persisted into the noon time. He dug his hands into his pocket and got out all the cash he had stashed inside and then started arranging and counting them. The sun had helped business today, as people had sought his drinks eagerly to wench their taste. He had almost sold all his drinks, and needed to go and get a refill.
Suddenly he heard the shouts of “OLE, OLE” {thief, thief} as a small crowd chased after a young man, instantly a fury from hell possessed him and he put his money away, grabbed an iron rod by the roadside and immediately gave chase. He had longed for a moment as this since his father’s passing and could wait to catch up with the thief. Soon someone knocked the thief down and pounced on him, then the crowd caught up and before Michael had gotten to the scene, the culprit was receiving the beating of his life. Michael didn’t care if the thief was nearly dead or not, he wanted to get in on the act and as soon as the found an opening, he swung the rod with all the force he could muster and smashed the thief’s skull. Only then as the thief dropped down, had he senses come back. He looked down and saw blood gush out of the horrible looking opening he had put on the thief’s head and fear gripped him. He had always thought it would be easy to take a life in the quest for his father’s vengeance but now the horror of what he had just done sunk in.

Then the sound of sirens set the crowd in frenzy and everyone ran away, as he started running, he saw a woman run towards the scene, shouting” he is innocent” and he slowed down. He watched the woman reach the body and drop beside it crying, “what have you done” she said to no one in particular and kept saying “he is innocent”. Michael could tell this woman had known what had happened and he had rushed into this without thinking it through.
What had he done? Had he just taken the life of an innocent man? Had his fury for muggers clouded his simply sense of reasoning?
He had blood on his hands and perhaps an innocent blood. Tears now flowed down his eyes as he turns and runs from the scene;
“Forgive me father, forgive me”…
“This is not the man you want me to be…