The Orphan

Sudden Death

Bayo was frightened at this point but stood his ground refusing to back down even as they edged closer. Typical Bayo, he was always bold even when the odds was against him. Dotun slapped Bayo in the face. Bayo raged like a lion attacked, running his fist into Dotun’s right eye. It had turned into a street fight as they went in against each other throwing every single punch they had in their arsenal.

It had turned into a brawl as the numbers game was against Bayo. Dotun and his friends throwing punches and kicks at Bayo helpless on the ground. Ayo and Kola raised Bayo’s head, held his hands to his back exposing him to Dotun’s hard knuckled punches. The punches kept going into Bayo’s bleeding face

"Never you cross my path!" Dotun kept repeating loudly.

Bayo slowly fell face down to the ground. He was unconscious and couldn’t move a muscle, bleeding all over his face. The whole time, Bisi was screaming, crying for a stop to the beatdown but all to no avail as no one could hear because her hands and lips were taped.

But suddenly, there was a shocking turn of events.

"..Bam!"

 Dotun fell to the ground bleeding from the back of his head shaking profusely like he was having a seizure. It was Deji. He swung a huge wood to the back of Dotun’s head. Ayo and Kola paused for a moment, stunned by Deji’s insane actions. Quickly, they ran to Dotun lying flat on the ground. Tapped his shoulders and voiced.

"Dotun. Dotun, please wake up!!!"

Ayo placed his hands on his chest and soon his ears to get a heartbeat. Dotun was dead. Scared to death, Ayo and Kola briskly took off almost tripping themselves as they ran.

At this point, Deji couldn’t believe what he had done as he kept moping and gaping at Dotun’s body on the ground. Deji had never bought the idea that he was Dotun’s puppet as he only obliged his wishes and tolerated his arrogance because he always paid his bills. Deji couldn’t bear thought of Bayo dying even after he'd just lost his father. So he chose to do something about it, betray his own group.

He dashed to Bisi and loosened her up.

"What have you done??" She asked bewildered at what she had just witnessed.

"Saved your friend. I know you’re terrified right now but we have to clean up this mess and take Bayo to the hospital."

"Your mess. That's your mess. And how about Dotun? You took a life. Jesus Christ! How are you calm right now?" She freaked out.

Bisi couldn’t believe her eyes. After much hesitation, she adhered to Deji’s plan and joined him to hide Dotun’s body far in the woods.

So they carried Dotun’s body deep into the woods and covered him in fresh tree leaves and grasses. They hurriedly ran back to Bayo who was still dazed unaware of what had happened. Deji placed his right ear on Bayo’s chest.

"He’s still breathing. Let’s take him to the hospital quickly. He’s lost a lot of blood." Deji said hurriedly to Bisi.

Bisi was still in shock that she had just witnessed a murder and even covered a murder. Her heart kept racing so fast she couldn’t control her actions anymore.

"How would I live with this guilt my whole life?" She asked aloud.

Deji replied.

"You didn’t kill him, I did, so let me bear that burden. You better act quick unless you’re just going to witness the second death in a day!" Bisi tried to pull herself together as she knew Bayo’s life was also on the line.

Then Deji tore a piece of his school uniform and tied it around his head to stop the blood flow.

"Let’s get him out of this bush to the main road where we can get a taxi to the hospital." Bisi said with tears in her eyes.

"Yes. Yes. Yes! We’ll do that. "She said. Then they carried Bayo’s deadweight slowly as Bisi suddenly became trippant.

"You keep falling like you’ve suddenly grown jelly legs." Deji said to Bisi.

Jittery, she replied.

"I don’t think I can handle this. My conscience won’t let me, Deji."

He put Bayo down on the ground. Then he said.

"Come on, I know how you feel but we can’t afford to give up now unless Bayo will die. Time is not on our side here. Just try to put yourself together. We can deal with your conscience later. For now, don’t make it worse than it already is." He pleaded.

Finally, they had come to a consensus and Bisi toughened up as they carried Bayo out of woods onto the aisle road.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Deji boarded a taxi.

"Where are you headed?" The driver pulled over, and asked Deji.

"Please sir, my friend is seriously injured and we need to get him to a hospital near by for treatment." Deji appealed.

"Get him into the car. I know a hospital not too far from here." The driver answered hurriedly.

So they took Bayo into the car with the help of the driver, and drove off. While in the car, Bisi sat beside Bayo who was lying down while Deji sat in front with the driver. Then the driver asked.

"What happened to him?" Bisi’s heart rate beating very fast after she held that question.

"He fell from the tree while we were trying to pluck some mangoes." Deji answered hurriedly. He lied to the driver to avoid suspicions.

Bisi kept her mouth shut even though she knew Deji was lying. The driver replied angrily.

"This is why I always tell my children not to climb trees!"

After some minutes, they arrived at the Saint Peter’s Hospital. In a rush, they brought Bayo out from the car and took him into the hospital.

"Please this is an emergency!" Bisi told the nurses at the reception.

So the nurses quickly brought out a stretcher and gently put Bayo on the stretcher heading for the emergency ward.

One of the nurses asked.

"Friends or family?" 

"He has no one except his grandfather who is not here." Bisi replied. she said still following the nurses.

"Then call him and head back to the reception!" The nurse said as they backed the emergency door behind Bisi.

Bisi headed back to the reception to take a breather. She was exhausted after all she had been through today. Deji had settled the driver with some change he had on him and headed back to the reception where Bisi was seated.

Back home, it was 6:15pm in the evening, grandpa was worried sick about the whereabouts of his grandson. Bayo’s school had closed since 2pm in the afternoon.

"This is unlike Bayo. Where could he be at this time?" Grandpa asked out loud. So he decided to go to his school to check on him.

Bayo had no friends, so there was no way he could go look for him in a friend’s place. When he got to the school gate, everyone had left except the gateman Mr.Popoola.

"Good evening sir, please, do you by chance know where my son Bayo could be? It’s been hours since the school closed and he’s not home." Grandpa asked the gateman.

"Sorry sir but I don’t think I know your kid. There are so many kids in this school." Grandpa became extremely worried again as he kept pacing around wondering where Bayo could be at this time.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Anxiously, he picked the call. It was a call from the hospital. Apparently, Bisi found grandpa’s phone number in Bayo’s bag she was carrying all along. She found the number written in his mathematics textbook. Bayo always had that number in case of emergencies such as this.

"Hello! Please who is on the line?" Grandpa asked.

"Saint Peter's hospital. Please sir, we need your urgent attention here. Your grandson, Bayo is in the emergency ward." The receptionist said.

 Shocked, he stuttered.

"Ok..ay…I will be there. I’m on my way.’ As he dropped the call hurriedly.

"Aye mi o. Bayo is in the hospital. Olorun sa nu mi." He voiced tearfully in Yoruba. Immediately, he dashed to go get a cab to take him to Saint Peter's hospital.

Grandpa kept panting in the car as he couldn’t come to grasp of the reality that Bayo is in the hospital. After a while, they arrived at the hospital, grandpa paid the driver and rushed into the hospital.

When he got to the reception, he asked the nurse at the desk.

"Where is my son?!"

"Calm down sir. The doctors are attending to him. Thank God for those kids who brought him just in time." The nurse hinted in Bisi and Deji’s direction.

"Maybe you should thank them." The nurse said to grandpa. So he walked up to them.

Immediately, they prostrated before grandpa. Together, they said.

"Ekale sir." Prostrating to show respect to an elder. A common tradition in the Yoruba culture.

"My children, thank you for bringing Bayo here. What are your names?"

They told grandpa their names at intervals. Then he asked.

"What happened to Bayo? Why is he here?"

They both kids took a deep breath. Suddenly, Bisi answered just in time to stop Deji from lying again as he did to the driver.

"Sir, we and Bayo always plucked mango fruits after school. But today, when Bayo climbed the tree to pluck some fruits, his hand scattered a bee hive and a host of bees hovered round and he got stung. He lost his balance after that, and fell knocking his body against the branches on his way down. He sustained a lot injuries and was knocked out cold completely." Bisi narrated.

"Jesu!" Grandpa exclaimed in Yoruba.

Bisi had lied to grandpa to the relief of Deji who thought she was going to blow the whole thing up.

"Please we need a blood donor for the little boy. He’s lost a lot of blood." The doctor interjected.

Grandpa rushed to the doctor.

"Doctor please take mine. You can take my life too, but please don’t let him die." He pleaded on his knees.

"We'll do our best sir. Let’s run a test on your blood to see if it’s a match." The doctor replied.

So they both headed for the lab to take the test. Bisi was already agitated already assuming the worst for Bayo. At this point, she was praying for a miracle. Deji was calm trying to pacify Bisi who'd not sit down anymore as she kept panting and pacing round the reception. After an hour, grandpa and the doctor came back to the reception.

"His blood wasn’t a match. I’m sorry but we just might lose the little boy if we don’t find a donor quick." The doctor said.

All three of them were struck hard by this horrid news.

"Take mine." Bisi offered… [To Be Continued]