WHAT IF TOMORROW MIGHT NEVER COME ❓

CHAPTER FOUR: COMMUNITY CONCERN

       At the station, I was asked to make a statement of what happened in the bar, chronologically. As i witnessed, so I explained, no addition nor subtraction. During the course of my explanation, the station got overcrowded, surrounded by community youths, and thug boys, who only took to head what they saw in the time the incident occurred. They were demanding that the police should hand me over to them. In their eyes, I saw revenge, anger, anxious to spill my blood on the surface of the earth. Among this angry crowd was the family of the deceased, who were motivating the crowd to break through the fortifications set up by the police, all with the intention of seeking justice. The atmosphere grew intense as the crowd continues to go wild. The police were getting fatigued and can't restrain the crowd any longer.
Seeing this, my heart beat increased, panting and sweating nervously, I was terrified, as I cry out to the crowd from inside the station "please my people!you have to believe me, I'm innocent!!".

         The crowd grew wild and wilder, even some of the police had to fallback to protect their own lives. This fear gave the angry crowd superiority over the police, until the police were forced and received command from high ranks to fight back. For the first time in my life, I witnessed such a protest. In the twinkle of an eye, I saw the crowd slowly vanishing,people running, coughing, covering their eyes from the burning tear gas, which they forced the police to release in the Air.
As if salt was added to injury, some protesters fled for their lives while some stayed and returned fire. They on the other hand, were filling empty bottles with kerosene, setting them on fire,throwing them at the police, the ones who could not afford bottles and kerosene, were rapidly throwing stones, and shouting "bring that murder outside! We want to give him the bitter taste of his own medicine!!".
The police were nervous to some extent,they almost handed me over, but the D.P.O came to my rescue.

Settling this minor dispute inside the station, all of a sudden, the whole place went quite for some time, no sound of stones, bottles nor banging from the police. Could this be real, "is this an illusion?"
I asked myself. "Dear God, if I have any blessing coming my way in the future can you please send it to my present?" I prayed to God in a quiet tone. I was anxious to know what caused silence, in the midst of such a ravenous protest. I managed to peep through the Smokey ventilation holes inside the station, to my surprise, I saw the bartender whom I believed fled from trouble leaving his guest (me) in danger. With him, I saw three tall boys, looking tired and angry. Also among them, I saw another boy, wounded, with bruises and scars all over his black skin, cloths torn into pieces, lips bleeding and one eye swollen.

             I closed one eye and looked closer,
"Oh yes!!! " I cried ,it's him!!!!  "it is the boy who stabbed and did the killing, it's him that you want and not me, it's him who should be in this cell and not me" I cry out to the officers. "I told you all I was innocent but none of you believed me" I spoke in a quiet tone.
"It's true sir!!" One of the officers holding the fortification outside shout out to the D. P. O. "Look sir, come see for yourself self, they're no longer throwing stones and flaming bottles at us sir, it's like the protest is over " he continues to explain. "But wait!!" Says the D. P. O. "it's not over yet, we must stop this angel ry crowd from killing the suspect, he needs to face trial in court, not to die here" the D.P.O instructed them to break through the crowd and bring in the suspect.
For the first time after so many years in my life, I shed tears of joy. The D. P. O. looked at me and said "cry no more brother, you're safe now".