Bad Market – Episode 18

Timi never admitted to stealing mum’s money despite the several beatings dad dealt him. He still insisted the story I gave my parents was hoax and even had the effrontery to tell them that they were looking in the wrong direction. He told my mum verbatim that the only thief in the room which was the living room where we all were was me. However, no one believed Timi was telling the truth because this was not his first.

::::::::::::::::Read Previous Episodes here::::::::::::::::

Asides the pain inflicted on his body via my dad’s rod, Timi was severely punished for a whole week in ways that left him broken. This even affected his performances in the final of the Inter-House Sports Competition.

In the previous inter-house sports festival, Timi was way ahead of the pack by the time he got to the finish line of the 100 metres event. He finished the race in a record time of 12:89 seconds, breaking the old school record of 12:91 seconds set by Michael Fahlola five years earlier.

Albeit, this time around Timi struggled to come first in the 100 metres race, having to shake off a slow start to narrowly beat his closest rival, Paul Aretha who finished the race 0.02 seconds short of Timi’s 13:03 seconds gold medal finish. And to think my brother had a better race in the heats where he crossed the finish line in 12:99 seconds. It was the same story in the 200 metres event.

I would later discover that my brother never really forgave me for that incident that occurred several years ago when he was labelled a thief

After then, Timi did whatever he chose to do with no holds barred, he was simply unstoppable in his quest for a life of subtle crimes.

There was a time he arranged some small boys in Junior Secondary School 1 to beat me up when I was in senior secondary school 1. He made that move deliberately to belittle me. The boys numbering three brutalized and humiliated me in the presence of my classmates and no one budged. I couldn’t even share my experience with the nitwits with anyone

Later that day when I got home with swollen eyes and a bruised face, my mum had to take a second look at me before it dawned on her that the boy who had walked into the living room was her jewel.

I couldn’t even disclose to her that the boys who inflicted the injuries on me were students in J.S.S 1, acting on the orders of my brother. The words were too heavy to say, so I lied.

“Dele what happened to you?” My mum inquired.

“A senior student beat me up for stepping on him”

“A senior student beat you up for stepping on him? How? Was it deliberate?” Mum threw a barrage of questions at me.

“Of course not mummy”

“But why would he be this cruel just because you mistakenly stepped on him? Sweetheart are you sure you are telling me the truth?”

“I swear mummy, that was what happened,” my heart was heavy with guilt as I told a lie yet again.

“Then why didn’t you tell your brother about it?”

“I couldn’t find him to report the incident. Moreover, it happened during closing hours”

“What is the name of the senior student?”

“I don’t know mummy, I have never seen him before”

“What do you mean you have never seen him before? Can you recognize him when you see him?”

“Maybe.”

“In fact, I’m following you to that school tomorrow”

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My mum caused a lot of trouble at school the following day but all efforts to identify the culprits was thwarted by the same person who was the victim of the assault.

It was mentioned in the holy bible that affliction shall not rise a second time. I was in no way prepared for the consequences of letting in on my ferocious brother yet again.

In fact, I would later come to realise that my brother never really forgave me for being the family’s parrot.

So, I grew up with that unmistakable fear for my brother and what he was capable of. He had single-handedly beaten me up in the past for being so rude to him and I could still remember what it felt like to be beaten up by a rugged brother, though the age difference between us was just two years.

Now you see the reason you won’t entirely blame me for not speaking out about Timi’s excesses when I had the chance to, fear has a way of numbing your senses…

Timi’s escapades at dad’s property at Amosun street was tad too far, the dude had leased out three apartments to three different people yet he had no power whatsoever to. Mr.Shina, the caretaker/agent of the property at Amosun was the only person saddled with such responsibility and he only just rented the controversial apartment to tenants.

The cat was leaked out of the bag when two of the tenants came on the same day to paint the apartments only to find out that the apartment had been occupied and luckily for them Mr. Shina was around at the moment.

“Madam what is going on here?” The lady who Timi leased the apartment to was shocked to find someone else putting finishing touches to the apartment in question.

“Good evening ma, I guess you are the landlord’s daughter,” the lady who was supposedly the original occupant of the apartment tried to decipher the situation that confronted her.

“Which landlord’s daughter? What are you doing in my apartment?”

“Your apartment? You are kidding me right?” She took a quick look at Mr. Shina who stood in front of her apartment all the time. “This lady must be a joker. Mr. Shina say something now! What is this about?”

Mr. Shina was too confused to even answer the question. All he did was take out his phone, sensing trouble he immediately started dialing Timi’s number.

 

Bad Market continues next week…