:::::LADE:::::::
The walls are quite thick, and the gate is made of brace or iron (I don't know which one it is), but for sure, I know I'm locked behind bars. My uniform says it all, as the year I was convicted and the year I would be freed is written at the left part of my chest. Truly, life threw so many stones at me. Some, I was able to dodge, and for others, they hit me right on my forehead. But, don't blame life for the stones it threw at me, because I was the first to stone life with some of the decisions I made, and the stones life threw at me, were just the wages of my own decisions. I can still vividly remember the words of the judge at the court, just few weeks after I was arrested at the cemetery.
As they say, "it is not the person that heard the sound of a gun that was hit by the gun shot". I did not hear the sound of the shot that came out of Chike's gun. The last thing I remember was Chike pointing his gun at me, and me waking up at the hospital with my right arm cuffed to the hospital bed. "Thank God you made it" Detective Gbade's voice welcomed me back to life. "As you can see, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say or do would be used against you in the court of law." He added. "But, what happened? How did I get here?" I asked. Detective Gbade pulled the chair beside the bed closer to himself as he started telling me all that happened. "Chike shot you at the cemetery, and you were lucky enough that you were hit on your left shoulder." He started. "We rushed you to the hospital almost immediately, and you've been here for the past 2 days." He added. I could not help but sigh. "But, what of Chike?" I asked. "Well, we were forced to shoot him immediately he shot you, and he died right there on the spot." Detective Gbade replied. "What about Scorpio?" I asked again. Detective Gbade did not act as if he heard my question. "You have been charged to court with other members of your cult, you will appear before the judge in 21 days from now." He said, ignoring my question.
The court of law was the place a lot of secrets became clear and obvious to me. Scorpio confessed them all when the local lawyer that was hired for me started questioning him. "Why did you and your group went behind Chike to dig the grave?" My lawyer asked him. "We didn't go behind Chike. It was part of the plan to dig the grave before he would get there." Scorpio confessed. I was totally shocked to hear that. "But, why did Chike look surprised when he saw that the grave had been dug?" I asked myself. I was still trying to fathom things when Scorpio added another revelation. "The plan was for Chike to trick someone to the grave, and kill the person there. That way, it would be hard to trace the crime to any of us." Scorpio added. "So, Lade was the person Chike tricked to the cemetery?" My lawyer asked. "I didn't know she was the person Chike had in mind. When I asked him, he only said I should not worry that everything was under control, and Lade didn't tell me anything about her movement with Chike." Scorpio said. "Even when I told her I was travelling out of town that morning, she didn't say a word about herself and Chike." He added. "Hmmmmm.... " My lawyer signed. "What about Tolu? Why did Chike kill him?" My lawyer asked Scorpio. "Tolu? Who is Tolu? And when did Chike become a murderer?" I asked myself. But, it wasn't long before I came back to my senses that Chike was not who I thought he was. "Na that guy kill himself." Scorpio started. "The guy wan quit the cult after he don benefit from the cult finish." Scorpio explained. "Na him make us arrange the guy. Everything was arrangement. Even the driver." Scorpio added. "My Lord, I have just one final question to ask him" My lawyer said, facing the judge. The judge nodded in acceptance. "Is Lade a member of your cult?" My lawyer asked Scorpio. Scorpio looked at me, and shook his head. My lawyer insisted he opened his mouth to respond. "No. She no dey." He said.
The rest of the court session went faster than I thought, as the judge handed Scorpio a 20 years jail term. Scorpio shouted in disapproval. "Detective! Shebi you say if I talk true dem go free me?" He asked over and over again, before he was carried out of the court room into an eagerly waiting black maria. "As for you Lade, I'm sure you have learnt your lessons." The judge said. "But, for conniving with criminals and also attempting to commit a serious crime, you are hereby sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with hard labour." The judge proclaimed, and with that, my fate was sealed for the next 5 years.
---------PROLOGUE------------
"There is a way that seems right to man. But the end thereof is destruction." There are virgins, and there are prostitutes, and there are virgin prostitutes. The "virgins" are those who lead a good life, and have maintained a good record all their lives. As the name "virgin" implies, they are people that are worth emulating. As for those that are "prostitutes", they are those on the other side of life who think their way of life is not bad at all. They are not concerned about their decisions or what the result of their decisions could be. For them, they just live and exist for themselves and themselves alone. Now, to those who are "Virgin Prostitutes", they are the category of people were once "prostitutes". They have made series of wrong decisions in life, and life has tossed them around to the fullest. They have been battered and shattered. But in it all, they have found the courage to live on. They have found the strength to live the rest of their life as meaningful as it can be. Although, the scars and stigma of their "prostitute" life might be very obvious and glaring, but above it all, they have decided to despise those odds and live the rest of their lives as "Virgins", thereby making them, "Virgin Prostitutes". I don't know the category you fall into, but if you fall in the category of the "prostitute" who don't see that there is more to life than just making careless decisions, I'll use this story as a clarion call for you to retrace your steps, and for the "Virgin Prostitutes" (just as I am), I pray that the good Lord will continue to strengthen us. But, remember that there is no two ways to Heaven except through Jesus.
(c) 2016. Austus Ofmat Nwanne
::::::::::::::::::THE END::::::::::::::
There you go. The story has finally come to an end. Special thanks to you all for taking your time to read the story. I'm sure we have learnt one or two lessons from the story, and to the King of kings, I give all the glory for being the source of my inspiration. Until I come your way again next week with yet another mouth-wetting story, I remain myself, Ofmat. See y'all !!!
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GOOD NIGHT !!!
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OFMAT AUSTUS NWANNE
Inspirational Speaker/Media Consultant,
Swift24 Multimedia Services.
+2348072970850
Tackleyourobstacle@gmail.com
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