AGAINST ALL ODDS 3 - Episode 3: Trafalgar

    

The aroma of the Jollof dish and brightly coloured vegetables adorning the plate piqued Mawufemor’s interest as his mouth began to water. Famished, he didn’t even have the energy to raise his head.

    “Do you want some?”, his fellow inmate offered to help the starving young man.

    “This is your third day in this cell and you haven’t had anybody bring you food. How are you going to survive?” the inmate quizzed further.

    “I-I-I….”, Mawufemor tried to gather some strength to offer a reply to the gentleman whose mother had brought him food in the cell.

    “Officer! Officer! The man has fainted o! Buei! Please help!”

    It was Mawufemor. Time check: 11 a.m., Tuesday morning—4 days since Mawufemor was detained at the police station. He had endured three days and nights of torture and hunger, all because he had refused to admit to the crime he was being accused of.

    “Carry him to the Regional hospital! Very fast!”, the In-charge bellowed. “And make sure to tell them he collapsed from a hunger strike. He had refused to eat since he came!”

     “Yes, sa! All correct sa!”, two uniformed men responded to the order from their superior.

    In twenty minutes, Mawufemor was at the Emergency Ward of the Regional Hospital, popularly called Trafalgar! Quickly, the medics rushed to attend to him, probably because he was brought in by the police.

    “What happened to him?”, the bespectacled young doctor queried the officers.

    “Oh, he was stubborn. He refused to eat!”, they lied.

    “And what about the bruises all over the body?”, a nurse quizzed.

    “Well, we tried to get him to eat, that’s what caused the bruises!”

    “…and happened to break a few of his bones too?”, the young medic teased.

    “Doc, why are you asking too many questions?”, one of the officers angrily inquired.

    “I am just doing my job. I need all the information I can get.” The doctor said.

“Argggghh! Ajeiiiiiiii! My head! My leg! My stomach!”, Mawufemor screamed as he was revived.

    “Oh thank God!”, the doctor said. “Please get him some food. He will take it after the last drip!”, the doctor said to the officers.

    “Very well..”, one of them said. “We will do just that!”

    “And for Christ's sake, please uncuff him. It is impeding our progress!”, the doctor pleaded.

    “No, we can’t do that!”, one of the other uniformed men sternly said. “It is protocol. Please carry on!”

    The doctor just chuckled and walked off while a few nurses giggled.

 

    “Hey you criminal!”, the policeman said to Mawufemor when they were finally left alone. “If you don’t know, and you open your mouth to tell these people something eh, I will personally kill you when we get back to the station. Understood?”

    Mawufemor just nodded quietly, as he slowly turned his back towards his tormentor to avoid further questions.

    Just then, the policeman who had gone out to get food for him returned.

“Hey young man, I have got some news for you!”, he started.

    Mawufemor turned, maybe more confused than before. It was the first time in four days that a uniformed man had called him something other than criminal.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...