About three phones have gone missing in
our room in the
past five months. When we reported to the
School's
security, they only told us that it was a
roommate that is
responsible. Everyone of us in the room
was waiting for the
day we will catch the culprit.
Last Tuesday, when we were all asleep; I
think it was about
2 am, Ben woke up suddenly and his phone
was gone. His
phone was the most expensive of us all.
When Ben woke up
and couldn't find his phone, he sprang up
from the bed and
quickly opened his cupboard. He rummaged
the contents,
even removed his clothes but could still not
find the phone.
I was in the room when it happened; sitting
and reading
before I dozed off with my heading resting
on my books. So
when Ben couldn't find his phone, he gently
shook my
shoulders until I woke up. 'It has happened
again', he told
me.
I didn't even need to ask what happened as
I could see the
panic and loss written in his eyes.
This is the second time his phone had been
stolen. So I took
my phone and dialed Ben's number; just to
be sure it had
not been misplaced. 'Error in Connection'
was what I saw on
the screen of my phone. I dialed it again
and it started
ringing not just on my phone, but the actual
ring tone of
Ben's Samsung phone was faintly audible.
We were both surprised when we heard the
tone. I beckoned
on Ben to keep quiet as he was visibly
ready to 'finish' the
person who took his phone. I continued
dialing as we
moved silently, following the direction of
the ring tone.
There were four bunks in the room, each
with two bed
spaces. Ben and I use the same bunk just
beside the door
and the sound was coming from the last
bunk at the
extreme left corner.
We tiptoed, Ben and I, like Jack Baeur until
we traced the
sound to the top bed space on the last bunk.
'So it is John
who had been stealing phones in this
room'. Ben whispered
to me.
We shook his leg and woke him up only to
find out it was
not John sleeping on the mattress. Neither
of us had ever
seen the guy before. To make matters
worse, the ringing
was coming
from the bag he was using as pillow.
When he woke up, he looked at us strangely
as if he didn't
know why we were there.
We opened the bag and found not just
Ben's Samsung, but
three other phones. 'So, you are the one
who's been
stealing our phones!'; Ben shouted at him.
Before he could find an excuse, Ben slapped
him on his left
cheek and walked out looking for anything
to break one or
two of the guy's bones. I don't know; but
there was
something about the guy. So I asked him,
'Oga, what are
you doing here?' 'What are you doing with
Ben's phone'. He
was just looking at me without saying
anything, so I slapped
his right cheek with my left hand.
'ANSWER ME!', I screamed at him; waking up
the
roommates who were around. John had
obviously gone to
night class to read and I assumed the other
three
roommates who were absent had also gone
to read.
The two guys remaining in the room with
me and Ben came
and gave their own round of slaps. The
accused was now
staggering when Ben came back with a long
wood hard
enough to kill the guy. As he raised it up, the
three of us, the
roommates, held his hands so he wouldn't
murder the
accused. Ben dropped the wood and swept
his right leg
against the thief's legs and he fell down.
Ben had told me
before that he had attended the Soldiers'
recruitment
training but failed the medical test. I
believed him right then.
I looked at the guy crumple on the floor and
before Ben
killed him, I decided to interview him, at
least to know who
he is. He was now sitting on the ground
where he landed
from Ben's force. 'Who are you?' I asked
him again; this
time gently. He was crying but it was only
the tears that
were coming out. It was then I realized he
had not even
uttered a word since it all started. Not even
when he fell to
the ground. 'Why are you in our room'? I
asked again. 'Can
you even talk?' He shook his head then. I
was now
confused. Why was he shaking his head?
So, I asked again, 'Can't you talk?' He shook
his head again.
'Wait, is it that this guy is dumb?', I asked
the guys.
The guy then nodded his head and pointed
to his mouth and
then shook his head left to right. It hit me
then. The guy is
dumb but not deaf. That was the first time I
am seeing a
case like that.
My anger changed to pity immediately. 'Are
you dumb?', I
ashamedly asked the guy to confirm. Again,
he nodded his
head.
'Can you read and write?' He nodded again.
'Get me a pen
and note!' I said to my roommates over my
shoulder. I
collected the pen and wrote on the note,
'Who are you?
Explain yourself.' I was almost in tears as I
read his fine
handwriting, 'My name is James, I am John's
elder brother.
I am a student of Delta State University. I
was traveling to
Delta but our bus stopped for the night at
Benin. So I
decided to sleep with my brother till
tomorrow morning. He
brought me here around 12 am and went
out to night class
to read. He gave me the bag to keep for
him. So I decided to
use it as pillow so that it won't be stolen'.
I held the note with the guys at my back as
all of us read it. I
became so weak I almost fell.� 'The guy is
innocent.' I
needlessly announced.
When we realized this, even I was ashamed
of myself.
Ben just stood there with the wood he
almost used to hit
him, looking as if he was the one who had
been beaten. I
am not sure, but I think I saw tears in his
eyes as he
realized he had just punished an innocent
man.
So we knelt down; Ben and I, we knelt down
and clasped our
hands so he will know we were really sorry.
With tears in
our eyes, we told him, 'We are sorry. Sorry
for accusing you
wrongly and beating you for it'. The dumb
guy just smiled
with bleeding lips from the blow I gave him.
He smiled and
looked into our eyes. And I could see pity in
his eyes. He
smiled and shook his head and then wrote
in the same
paper. 'It is Alright. I took the pain willingly.
Please don't
beat my brother anymore. I knew why you
were beating me.
John had always been a thief, right from
home. But please
don't report or beat him again'.
Tears dropped from my eyes as I read his
sacrifice. He
deliberately allowed us beat him just so that
John will be
free. I lend my hand and raised him up as I
used my cloth to
wipe the tears from his face and blood from
his lips. It was
then my own tears flowed from the corners
of my eyes.
..
this is what Jesus did for us on the cross of
calvary. kept
quiet and even died so that we can be
saved. He never
protested his innocence but bore it all for
us. He gave his
life for you. What have you given for him?
Return the life to Him, He's in Love with u.....
SEND TO OTHERS BY SHARING....
IT'S HIGH TIME WE WON MORE SOULS FOR
CHRIST...
