Thou shall not steal

Nma is dead.

"Uche!" Samson called as he bounced into the house.

He dangled the tooth pick in his mouth with his tongue as he searched around for his baby cousin. After the little celebration for a successful get away with blue murder, he and his friends had a few minutes ago, the house became a mess. He couldn't imagine his auntie coming home to this, she would kill him. He wasn't the cleanup type, he usually made Uche do the cleaning up after him.

"Where is this boy?" He continued to ask as he walked down the street.

"Uche?" He called.

As he walked, he noticed foot prints leading to the bush. He pulled out his phone and used its flashlight to light his path as he walked into the bush.

Uche sat at a corner in the darkness, his hands hugging knees as he rocked back and forth. His face covered in tears as he muttered repeatedly, "Nma is dead. I killed Nma. Nma is dead."

He scoffed at the sight of him. He always knew Uche was a weakling, he couldn't believe he was still grieving over the death of Nma.

"What a joke," he said startling Uche.

He pushed Uche's head as he said, "You're still, crying over your girlfriend? Abi your wife?" He spat out his toothpick, "She's dead and so move on. What are you crying up and down for? Are you a crybaby?"

Uche was often bullied by Samson and his friends in the absence of his mother. He couldn't fight back because Samson was stronger and bigger. He often felt intimidated by Samson and just wanted to make him proud so, Samson could finally see him as a big boy. His mother had noticed this pressure Uche felt to please Samson and had confronted him about it on several occasions. However, Uche vehemently denied, till she eventually let it go.

Now just look at what happened today, he helped his cousin kill Nma. His best and only friend, the only one who saw brilliance in his dullard brain. The only one who believed in his lawyer dream. He killed her.

He forsook every desire to please his cousin and adopted a new agenda; to kill Samson.

He charged at Samson and punched him in the shoulder, "You killed Nma!" He cried.

"You killed Nma!" He charged again but, this time Samson dodged him, "You killed Nma!" He shouted pushing Samson in his belly.

Samson tsked. Uche was annoying him. He retaliated by slapping Uche on his ear. Uche fell down like a waterproof to the dirty ground.

"I hate you!" Uche shouted in tears, with his hands holding his ears.

Samson stood over him and slapped him some more.

"Leave me alone!" Uche cried, arm curled around his body to shield off the beating. "Leave me alone!"

"Shut up!" Samson yelled kicking him in his side.

Uche coughed bitterly as he hugged his side. He hated how weak he was. He couldn't fight, he could never defend himself and he couldn't help his best friend. He buried his face in the dirt in shame as he continued to weep.

"Nma," he called out her name as he continued to cry. "I killed Nma."

Samson's blood boiled as Uche continued to say her name. He kicked Uche some more to silence him but, he refused to be silenced. He continued to cough and cry out her name. His actions annoyed Samson to no end. He began to wish, he framed his stupid cousin instead.