KPATA
I'm sure we are all
familiar with the word "bully". Well, it’s either you were bullied or
you were the bully yourself. Anyways, back then in primary school, we had a
bully - Kpata. Kpata was more than a bully; he was in fact a terrorist. He
would enter our class and fight with every single person, and he wouldn't leave
till he'd done some serious damage. Now that was about 21years ago...
"Oga, you for jam that man nah" an average sized man nudged me, bringing me back from my thoughts. I looked at him in surprised. His tattered clothes suggested he was a mechanic.
"Jossy please come to my office," I informed my secretary over
the intercom on my desk. My secretary had been working for me since the company
started five years ago and I still believe strongly that she was given to me by
God. You know this thing about bosses having flings with their secretaries?
Well, our relationship had been in such a way that that sort of atmosphere was
never created.
Few minutes later, she knocked and entered.
"I'll be going for lunch. Call me if my attention is seriously needed." I said as I stood up.
"Sir, you just came back few minutes ago from lunch." She found it difficult to hide her surprise. And, that was one of the things I loved about her - she had a way of being true to herself while still maintaining a great level of professionalism.
"Yeah, I know. I haven't felt this way before, but I feel like going out again. It's quite strange though."
"Well, don't resist the Holy Spirit," was her curt reply. I looked at her and smiled. I'd always prayed for a woman that would totally understand me, and more importantly, I've always prayed for a godly and virtuous woman. I gave her another look and something stirred in my heart. "God, are You telling me something?" I muttered under my breath, smiling.
I entered my brand new Toyota Highlander Hybrid as I headed towards Crunches - one of my best restaurants in town. I drove along Bende Road as I thought of the possibility of making Jossy more than just a secretary. Suddenly, I heard a loud scream, waking me from my chummy thoughts. Impulsively, my leg jammed on the brake with so much intense that my car screeched to a halt. Then it hit me - I had almost killed a man. I slowly raised my head as I looked at a tall dark man dressed in rags. I packed my car quietly by the roadside and came out. The man still stood there, right in the middle of the road, with a sad smile dancing on his face. All around, people were gathered. A lot of people casted weird looks at me, while the others just stared at the man.
A lot of questions ran through my mind: what was he doing there? Does he know that I could have killed him? And, why is everyone watching without offering any help?
Few minutes later, she knocked and entered.
"I'll be going for lunch. Call me if my attention is seriously needed." I said as I stood up.
"Sir, you just came back few minutes ago from lunch." She found it difficult to hide her surprise. And, that was one of the things I loved about her - she had a way of being true to herself while still maintaining a great level of professionalism.
"Yeah, I know. I haven't felt this way before, but I feel like going out again. It's quite strange though."
"Well, don't resist the Holy Spirit," was her curt reply. I looked at her and smiled. I'd always prayed for a woman that would totally understand me, and more importantly, I've always prayed for a godly and virtuous woman. I gave her another look and something stirred in my heart. "God, are You telling me something?" I muttered under my breath, smiling.
I entered my brand new Toyota Highlander Hybrid as I headed towards Crunches - one of my best restaurants in town. I drove along Bende Road as I thought of the possibility of making Jossy more than just a secretary. Suddenly, I heard a loud scream, waking me from my chummy thoughts. Impulsively, my leg jammed on the brake with so much intense that my car screeched to a halt. Then it hit me - I had almost killed a man. I slowly raised my head as I looked at a tall dark man dressed in rags. I packed my car quietly by the roadside and came out. The man still stood there, right in the middle of the road, with a sad smile dancing on his face. All around, people were gathered. A lot of people casted weird looks at me, while the others just stared at the man.
A lot of questions ran through my mind: what was he doing there? Does he know that I could have killed him? And, why is everyone watching without offering any help?
"Oga, you for jam that man nah" an average sized man nudged me, bringing me back from my thoughts. I looked at him in surprised. His tattered clothes suggested he was a mechanic.
"God don finally catch am. All the people wey he don kill don dey torment am, now he wan kill insef," the man continued, trying to make me understand
"Who is he?" I asked him. "Why is nobody bringing him out from there?"
"Oga, you wan try? Oya go nah. That man fit kill pesin in one second. All the thief thief wey dat man don thief eh. In fact, police dey even fear....." He stopped talking as though he'd seen a ghost just before he immediately brisked away. Just like a robot controlled by some remote controller, everybody around me followed suit. I looked up and saw him walking towards me. For the first time, I saw his face completely - he looked like the terror my mechanic 'friend' had described. His face was a muscular mess. The spaces on his ragged clothes revealed horrid scars that threatened not to heal. I stood there, motionless. I just kept staring as he approached me. Just when he came closer, I felt my heart jump into my bowels. It was him! It was Kpata! It’s been 21years but I could still recognize him even through his heavy bearded face.
He stood about 5 inches from me, staring into my face. I stood – my feet, tightly fixed to the ground. Five minutes seemed like eternity. Then he smiled. His smile revealed a set of irregularly shaped teeth darkened severely by continuous chain smoking.
"This man. This man. This man," came a gruff hoarse voice as he hit my head continuously. "So you are still around eh? You don grow finish oh" He continued, still landing his rough broad right hand on my head my neatly combed hair. It was like a movie 'cause through my 'side' eyes, I could see multitudes staring at us. Some even brought out their camera phones to take shots. My guess was that they couldn't wait to see another rich man killed by Kpata.
"So na you wan jam me? You for jam me nah mek I know say I don die," a derisive smirk kept playing on his black broad lips.
I had to say something. I couldn't bear the thought of having him beat me up in public like he used to back then in our primary school days
"Sssssooorrrrry, I dddiiidn't mean to....em jjjjam You. I, I, I eh was hhheading to Cru-cru-crunches..." I stammered. He looked at my finely tailored suit, then his eyes flickered to my new car....and he smiled - a smile that made my heart run a 5000m marathon in 1minute.
"Oya nah, mek we go the Crunches nah. Since una no wan mek I die, mek I chop ze." He said and without invitation, he headed towards my car.
"What are You doing, Lord?" I muttered under by breath, "this man could hijack my car and kill me on the way." I kept talking to God as I moved towards my car. I opened the both doors and we drove off.
We arrived at Crunches and I ordered my meal. He ordered his too. Meanwhile, we hadn't talked since the journey. As we both eat in silence, I felt the Holy Spirit lead me on. I asked him questions about his live, education, relationships and as expected, he kept quiet. Encouraged by his silence, I told him about the love of God, how Jesus died for him as how he can be a clean man again. I noticed he'd stopped eating, his head bowed, but I kept talking.
Slowly, he raised his head. It then dawned on me that he'd been crying. At first, it was a quiet sob, then it grew to loud hoarse cries. I looked around me, and I saw people staring. Honestly, I was embarrassed. But soon afterwards, I was overcome with deep sincere emotions that I started crying with him. I was humbled by his humility. "Lord, I didn't expect it to be this easy" I said in between my sobs.
"I just needed someone to tell me about Him. Even for once. But everyone is too afraid to talk to me" he said when he'd finally calmed down. I just listened.
"I've done things. Oh! You won't understand. I've done things" he repeated. I couldn't allow my mind imagine the 'things' he'd done nor did I want to ask him the number of people he'd killed or the number of innocent women he'd raped, I just listened as he poured out his heart. After about 30minutes of finally telling me the horrible 'things' he'd done and how he was on the verge of suicide before I showed up, the he said-
"Save me if you can. Please" I could feel his desperation. I wondered if this was the same man I'd almost killed; the same man people ran from; the same man the police feared?
"I can't save you," I told him. I could see disappointment written all over his face, "but my Jesus can." I continued. I saw his face light up, like he'd just won a lottery.
I led him to Christ, and that was the beginning of a new chapter in his life
"I'll report myself to the police" he said to me as we drove back.........
PS: I'm sure you want to know what latter happened between me and Jossy abi? Kai! U too like story eh...Anyways, we latter got married and God has blessed our marriage with four kids. Kpata served a 4-year jail term. 'Twas reduced 'cause according to the judge: "...the accused has convincingly shown that he's a changed person. Moreover, he turned himself in..." Believe it or not, Kpata is now a minister... *
PPS: many a time, we are too scared to tell people about Jesus. We look at the prostitute by the roadside or the robber living very close to us and we think, "these ones are too hard hearted" or "they already have seats waiting for them in hell". But behind those scary facades they put up is a deep longing within - a longing for someone to talk to; someone to confide in; someone that will tell them how free they can be if only they allow Jesus.... Remember, they can't get saved if we don't tell them about Jesus...
image source: http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/write.ign.com/74314/2013/10/kids-bullying.jpg