GIVE ME A HEART
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CHAPTER7??
” Why is Veronica in a coma instead of you?” Cain shouted as he gave me another blow that jammed me against the wall. We were at the hospital’s backyard.
” Cain, you dare to hit a friend,” I spoke spitting out a broken teeth.
” You are no friend of mine, you murderer,” Cain yelled at me.
” Stop calling me that,” I yelled at him back. ” I’m not a murderer. I didn’t kill her. She’s still alive.”
” Don’t go about making excuses, you villian. I warned you didn’t I? I warned you someone was going to get hurt didn’t I?”
” But it wasn’t my fault,” I maintained. ” It was an acci….”
” Not your fault?” Cain asked, moving closer to me with a burning rage. Before I knew it he gave me another punch. ” Then whose fault is it, huh?” He punched me again. ” Is it Veronica’s fault? Is it her parents fault? Or wait, maybe it’s my fault.”
” Cain,” I raised my voice on him. ” If you lay another finger on me again I’d…”
” You’d what?” Cain shouted and he threw me another punch that hit me across the nose. ” You’d kill me? You’d kill me just like you wanted to kill Veronica?”
I held my nose. I felt blood dropped to the ground. ” Don’t do this Cain.”
” Come on,” Cain pushed me roughly. ” Come on, you coward. Kill me. Kill me, murderer.”
I became enraged and I went after him with an outstretched arm. I forgot Cain’s father had once been a third rated boxer. Cain waited for me as I came then he cocked to his head to one side. My arm frailed past his ears and I lost my balance and leaned forward. Cain brought his devastating blow and punched me in the stomach. The pain traveled to my entire system and shooked my brains. I bent down in pains as I struggled to catch my breath.
” Why did you let this happen?” Cain screamed, crying at the same time now. ” Why?”
I bent my head and shivered like a dying chicken. The pains in my stomach made breathing difficult for me. I then imagined how hard it must’ve been for Veronica to be locked up in a room without air. ” I never wanted this to happen.”
” You could’ve done one thing,” Cain said. ” And that was to leave Veronica alone.”
” Why are you soo concerned about her?” I asked. ” You barely even know her. Are you two dating?”
” Such a stupid question,” Cain grinded his teeth. ” Who cares if we’re dating? Who cares if I met her yesterday and we’re going out? What you did was wrong. You nearly killed her yesterday, Andrew. I thought you might be broken and guilty about your sins but it seems to me that you are the same hardened villian you’ve made yourself to be.”
I slowly staggered to my feet. ” That’s not true. I feel guilty. I hold myself one hundred responsible for Veronica’s misfortune and it’d haunt me for the rest of my life. So don’t say I don’t feel broken. I have a heart.”
Cain shooked his head sadly. ” You don’t have a heart Cain. Remember when you wrote those mean words about Veronica’s mom on the blackboard in class? Veronica had written GIVE ME A HEART. Initially I didn’t understand why she wrote that but now I do. She was speaking to you. You need a heart Andrew. Veronica doesn’t need a heart, she already has one and the strongest heart I’ve ever seen. You are the one who needs a heart because you are heartless.”
I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. I was bewildered. Those words he said left a magot in my mind.
” Go get yourself a heart, Andrew. You need one. I wouldn’t give you mine and neither will Veronica because she needs her heart ten times more than you and your stupid girlfriend ever does.”
” What the hell is wrong with you?” I lashed out. ” Don’t bring my girlfriend into this. Naomi has nothing to do with this. She….”
” Animal!” Cain shouted. ” Animal, wake up. She’s not your girlfriend, it’s just your turn. She’s the reason why Veronica’s life is a living hell in school. She’s the reason why you were soo stupid to keep bullying Veronica even when everyone told you to knock it off. I can’t believe you were making Veronica miserable just to please that w!tch you call a girlfriend.”
” She’s not a w!tch,” I warned him.
” She’s a w!tch,” Cain closed his eyes and shouted with all his might. ” She’s a b*tch. A good for nothing, filthy, heartless, wicked…”
I didn’t let him finished. I ran towards him and took him down with a headbutt. We both crashed into a garbage can. The trash spilled on the two of us.
Sitting on top of Cain, I grabbed him by the shirt and screamed at his face. ” Shut up. Shut the hell up, you b@stard.”
Cain stared at me without moving a muscle. We both watched each other’s expression for a long time.
A long stream of tears flowed down Cain’s face. ” I hate you, Andrew.”
I suddenly realized what I’d done and I jumped back. ” I…I’m…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
Cain slowly rose to his feet and dusted his clothes. He turned around picked the bouquet of flowers he’d brought for Veronica’s parents.
” Cain,” I spoke quietly. ” I…”
” Don’t call my name anymore, Andrew,” Cain spoke without looking at me. ” You and I are no longer friends.”
He then whipped his tears and walked away. After taking a few steps he threw the flowers on the ground and marched on them with anger till they became nothing. Then he ran up to his bicycle and rode away.
I moved to where he destroyed his flowers and I fell on my knees, my eyes heavy with tears. ” Wha… what have I done?”
Just then I heard car tires screeching and then a crashing sound followed by shouts and screams. My instinct told me an accident had happened. I became alarmed as reality strucked me.
” Cain, nooooooooooooo,” I screamed and ran like a mad man toward the road. A crowd had started forming around the six wheels truck and the lifeless body of the boy and his crushed bicycle.
???
Song:( Tonight ???by Alpha P.)
Who’s gon’ be
My brother tonight (2×)
Through the flames
Oh oh oh…….
I was writing in my journal on my study table. The past three days had been the worst of my life. Veronica made it through her coma but then again she was never going to return back to school; my school to be precised. Veronica’s father got promoted at his place of work and this requires his family to relocate to another state. I didn’t know the exact state but I do know one thing and that was, I was never going to see her again. It all looked soo sudden. I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye and apologize for what I did to her. I guessed even if I was granted the opportunity to meet her again I wouldn’t be able to look her in the eyes after all I did to her. I wondered what she thought of me. They left yesterday without informing anyone except the school principal.
Cain just got discharged today. He lost one of his legs. The truck driver had seen Cain cycling to cross the road carelessly and he tried to stop his truck from hitting Cain on time but it was already too late. Cain lost a lot of blood, he also lost one of his leg as it was crushed to pieces. The hospital was short on blood and he needed a donor immediately. The rest became history. Now Cain’s at home. He cried for his lost leg. He also cried the more when he learnt about Veronica’s relocation. I felt for him and I blamed myself for causing him this much pains.
Worse still, Cain refused to see me. ” I’m not seeing that monster,” Cain shouted on top of his voice to his parents the moment he saw me at his doorstep. ” Tell him to get out or I’ll throw a knife at him.”
At school it got worst. Everyone now hated me with scorn. They avoided me ten times more than they had avoided the diseased girl. I was called up to the assembly ground and was publicly expelled. I had thought my friends would come to console me but no one came. That same day, Naomi broke up with me. I didn’t argue with her nor did I blamed her.
” Don’t come any closer to me,” she’d lashed at me publicly. ” I don’t date murderers.”
Well, like they always said, what goes around comes around. I was paying the price for being a jerk and a bully. I began to realize and feel what Veronica might’ve been feeling from being intimidated and isolated. It got Soo much I just felt like killing myself. Mom was worried about me. I haven’t eaten for the past couple of days and I refused to leave my room. The whole kids in the neighborhood knew of my story. I couldn’t bear to step out of the house. I suddenly became lonely. Infact more lonely than I’ve ever felt in a long time.
Well, to cap it all up, tomorrow I’m leaving. Dad and mom had decided staying home would do no good for me. They decided to send me to stay with mom’s brother who’s a merchant in Lagos State. I didn’t argue with them. I felt leaving my home would be the best option for me.
Before I went to bed, I got on my knees and said a prayer. I haven’t prayed in a long while now. I asked for forgiveness and I also prayed for Veronica. Then my last prayer came as a surprise to me.
” And Lord, I pray that you GIVE ME A HEART. That’s my only wish.”
I wondered what God thought of that prayer request. I couldn’t tell.
******
Dad walked me to the train station and waited as the passengers got into the train.
” Andrew,” he said to me. ” I know I said a lot of mean things to you sometime this week but that was because I was mad at you. Despite me not being your real dad, i still love you and consider you as my son. Now, your journey has just begun. You’re about to start a new life for yourself in Lagos. You’ve made your mistakes. It’s something you’ll never repeat, I understand. Just be a good boy and focus on your studies. You’ll be a great man someday. Just believe in yourself, son.”
Before the train blew it’s whistle, I had spent sometime hugging my dad for the last time before I boarded the already moving train.
” Don’t worry, dad,” i waved at him. ” I’ll make you proud.”
Mom then came running on the platform. She waved at me, calling my name. Dad grabbed her and held her. She was crying. I didn’t know if it were tears of joy or not but I didn’t mind. I waved goodbye till they became like spots in the horizon.
That was in 2010. I headed to Lagos where I spent ten years with my uncle.
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