As we come to the end of this chilling, gripping tale, we should find out what happened with the surviving member of the bullies…

FOUR YEARS LATER

“Yeah, chale. I’m almost at the bus stop. Gimme about five more minutes, okay… great, great, see you soon.”

As Ambradu ended the call, he looked over at his girlfriend, Bernice, in the passenger’s seat. “I’ll see these my boys quickly, and then we’re off to get the stuff at China Mall, alright?”

She nodded excitedly. “Sure.”

A couple of minutes later, Ambradu’s Honda CR-V made a stop at the Flowerpot bus stop. Waiting for him there were two young teenagers.

Rolling down the glass on Bernice’s side, he peered at them. “Desmond! Alvin! What dey happen?”

“We dey ooo, bro,” Desmond responded.

“Great, great, good to hear.” He then reached for a brown envelope at the back and handed it to them.

Alvin took it and pulled out a pamphlet from it. He nodded as he perused it. “Anti-Slash Foundation. Nice. This name is cool. And the information is on point.”

“Agreed,” Desmond said as he also looked at it. “I’m sure the schools we’re going to in Achimota will be very interested in this.”

“Most definitely. So you guys go and do the school visits and let’s see how it develops from there.”

“Sure, sure… wait. Wow, you’ve got Mr. Ebenezer Doe on as a patron?” Alvin gasped. “That man whose son was at Judyson and killed himself? Chale, you really dey go all out!”

Ambradu shrugged. “Chale, for a foundation that wants to raise awareness of the dangers of bullying, I need to pull out all the stops. I’ve got you guys, former victims of bullies. There’s me, a former bully. Then there’s Mr. Doe, a man who’s been adversely affected by the results of bullying. We have to go all out if we want to see results, chale. There are lives man for touch, so sey that bullying foolishness go end. You get me?”

The two teenagers nodded in agreement. “You’ve said it all, chale,” Desmond said while nodding.

“Yeah. So anyways, you guys can head for Achimota now. So lemme know how it goes, okay?”

“Sure, sure. we’ll call you after the various meetings.”

“Great. See you.”

That conversation ended as Ambradu drove off while the boys proceeded to walk to the other side of the road to begin their journey to Achimota.

***

“Brady?” Bernice called softly as Ambradu turned the engine off at the car park of the China Mall.

He turned to her. “Yeah, Benny?”

She reached over and rubbed his shoulder. “I’m really proud of you, you know. The way you’ve worked hard at setting this thing up. It’s so admirable. I’m proud to see my boyfriend fighting to make a change.”

Ambradu smiled wistfully. Unbuckling his seat belt, he glanced at her and started.

“You know, it’s been four years since all that madness happened. And yeah, I’m doing what I can now, but I won’t lie to you, there are so many nights where I just wish that I could undo what happened that day. Nights where I wish I could tell God to just rewind time so I can correct the mistakes I made with those boys. Because we made a lot. And worse yet, we were so proud of them. We used to walk to school, feeling so important because everyone scattered whenever we stepped onto the premises. Felt so high and mighty coz we ruled the school compound with iron fists. What stupid boys we were!

“And… what hurts me the most is the fact that… we learned the hard way. Jake didn’t have to die. Faisal didn’t have to go insane. The truth is, in our folly, we thought we were the masters and that… we had power over everyone. But that crazy Kingsley debacle was just proof that not everybody should be messed with. Touch some people, and you’ll regret it. And honestly, even that lesson saddens me in hindsight, because the fact that some people are not to be touched should never mean you have carte blanche to withhold basic human decency from others. Never.

“And you know, the kind of peace and joy that reigned on Gear House Institute after Jake’s burial and Faisal never returning really struck me. Really opened my eyes to the fact that being a bully was such a waste of time. All I asked myself at night sometimes was, why did we choose to terrorize little children when there’s far more joy in just letting them grow and enjoy their environment as much as they can? It cut me and still cuts to this very day. Benny, I have a lot of regrets, and that’s why I’m trying my best, because… God knows that… I’ve been such a terrible person…”

Ambradu started getting choked up as memories of his past life began hitting at him once again, like they always did. Tears began trickling down his cheeks.

Bernice reached over and put an arm around him as she took a tissue from her pocket and wiped his tears. “It’s alright, sweetie, it’s alright.”

As he sniffed and tried to regain his composure, she held his chin and looked him in the eyes.

“Listen to me, boo. I want you to hear me out. You cannot do anything about the past, but you can do something about the future. And babe, that’s what you’re doing. It’s not like you had these experiences and refused to learn from them. You have, and that’s why you’re doing what you’re doing. Please, just keep your eyes fixed on the future and do what you can to make it better for others. Yes, you messed up in the past, but that’s the past. An old chapter. Focus on the new lease of life you have, and make it count. You’ve regretted your days as a Saul, now it’s time to leave them in the past and make a change as a Paul. Understand?”

He nodded, forcing a weak smile.

“I’m proud of you, Brady, I really am. I’ve heard your story and seeing you work hard is beautiful. Sweetie, you’re not a horrible person anymore. You’re a kind, sweet, loving, and compassionate guy who wants to see humanity do better and is contributing his quota to see that happen. And that’s why I love you. Now cheer up, honey. Give me a bigger smile.”

Obeying her gentle command, Ambradu nodded.

She was right. No point in continuing to lash himself over all that foolishness in the past; now was the time to make the world a better place for young ones to grow in.

“Alright, babe. I’m good now. By the way, I really liked that last line, though. Saul to Paul. Pretty cool.”

She giggled. “I do my best. Alright, now, let’s go get those gifts.”

****

Standing by the side of the road, near the huge gutter behind Papaye, was a lunatic, possibly in his early twenties, waving aimlessly at cars in his tattered, filthy clothes.

Two security officers at the Papaye restaurant stared at him from a distance.

“Hmm, this guy!” one of them remarked, shaking his head. “You know that spiritual guy who comes around every Thursday afternoon? The one who buys food for his bosses?”

The other officer nodded.

“Last week eh, when he came around, he saw this guy, just standing by the road doing those his things, and what he told me about him, eh. Very interesting. Apparently, that guy went to step on some evil spirit’s toes by beating up some child connected to it, and chale, the evil spirit is dealing with him. So right now, his soul is stuck in some underworld prison bi, where he’s tormented by some evil entities in the form of moths, and he’s been screaming for mercy since, saying he’s sorry and he regrets what he did and all. But chale, the spirit say lai-lai. He’s staying there till the end.”

“Ei, saaa? Serious ooo. That guy too, he sees things that are on point paaa, so it has to be true.”

“Hmmm, chale. Very serious.”

“Then the guy must have beaten the child really bad for the spirit to have captured him like that.”

“I’m sure paaaa. But chale, in this life eh, you for be careful ooo. It’s not everyone that you can mess with. Some people, you step on their toes and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Very true, chale. Very true.”

Aaaaaaaahhhh!

“Ahh, he’s at it again!”

The two rushed to the wall to watch the lunatic jump down to the gutter and run while screaming those same words they had heard him scream numerous times.

Same old creepy words that made no sense…

The bird is in the hole! The bird is in the hole! The bird is in the hole…

THE END

Damn, that was a creepy ending! Faisal certainly got the worst punishment of the three. No surprises there. But what a story! Those bullies certainly made the biggest mistake of their lives by crossing that boy’s path. And it’s unfortunate only Ambradu lived to learn the lesson of how unnecessary the concept of bullying is.

Thank you for reading, and as always, continue to enjoy yourself around the State!