Chapter 27
There were 3 reasons why I didn't want Hamid to work in my school. 1. Staffs and students were NEVER meant to date. Not like Hamid and I were dating or anything. Yet. 2. There was a 98% chance Hamid was going to intentionally embarrass me anywhere in school. And, 3. My after school face was ALWAYS a disaster. And I didn't want Hamid to see that.
School was over for the day and I was walking towards the school gate, getting ready to buy my usual gala when suddenly,
"Mariam!"
I heard my name. I shut my eyes in frustration and groaned to myself. Miriam this is just the beginning, prepare for more.
I didn't want to look back, so I continue walking to the gate, hoping that Hamid doesn't call me again.
"Mariam!" He shouted again, "School girl!"
Some students around noticed that he was referring to me and they started looking at me awkwardly. I covered my face in embarrassment and walked faster until I finally got to the gate.
And when I got to the gate, a hand pulled my shoulders to turn around. I turned around and looked at Hamid, who was now standing in front of me. A grin spread across his face and he seemed to enjoy the fact that he just, literally, embarrassed me.
"So you were just going to leave school without looking for me?" He folded his arms.
Before I could respond, I looked around to see other passing students looking at me weirdly and wondering why I was talking to a soldier. I quickly grabbed Hamid away and took us to the end of the school fence outside the school gate, where most students could not see us.
"Hamid!" I whispered loudly as we got there, then I looked around for any passing students and luckily, no one could see us. Then I looked back at him, "What are you doing?"
"Why are you whispering?" He whispered back.
"Because we're not supposed to be talking on school ground." I continue whispering. "It's dangerous."
"Oh really?" He whispered in a sarcastic way and rose his brows.
I nodded, knowing very well that I wasn't joking.
"Promise me," I said in my normal voice, "that we won't be talking in school."
He groaned, "What's the big deal? I'm only here because of you."
"In school... you're a worker and I'm a student." I argued, "I can get in trouble if they catch us being too friendly. And worse, you can get fired."
He just looked away and shrugged.
"So promise?" I asked.
He looked at me still annoyed. I gave a please-just-say-yes smile and he still wasn't pleased. But that didn't stop him.
"I promise." He mumbled.
"Thank you." I sighed in relief and took a step back, "Wait here. Let me quickly go and buy my gala."
I walked away without waiting for what he had to say. I looked around for the gala hawker, Mahmoud, until I saw him standing in front of the school gate. He was looking around, probably looking for me. Well, I was his regular customer.
Once I got closer to Mahmoud, he grinned in happiness and said, "Ah... my customer. I was looking for you."
He always forgot my name. Always. That's why he called me 'my customer'.
I just chuckled and searched through my bag for the money to pay him. He held out one gala from his small carton and asked, "How many?"
"One please." I responded.
"Make it two." A voice said and I turned to the side to see Hamid stretching out money to Mahmoud.
I groaned and stopped searching through my bag. Does this boy ever listen?
I glared at him and he grinned before paying for the two galas. Mahmoud gratefully thanked Hamid after he told him to keep the change, before biding me goodbye.
I was still glaring at Hamid and he faced me while looking at me with the opposite expression. He stretched out the first gala in his hand but I stared at him and refused to take it.
"If you don't take it, I will gladly eat." He said.
"Hamid." I called.
"School girl."
I threw my hands in the air and scoffed. First he was working in my school and now he has come up with another baby nickname.
"Hamid, do you really want to lose your job?" I asked seriously.
"For you, Yes."
"That's NOT romantic." I said and collected the gala, "Thank you for the gala. But we really can't be playing like this."
He just shrugged and I started walking to leave the area. He followed up without saying anything. Then I stopped walking and turned to him.
"You don't have to escort me today. I'm not going home."
"Where are you going?"
"To the court." I replied while opening my gala, "My teacher got accused for being the 'unknown killer'."
"Oh yes I heard about him." He said, "That lollipop monster."
"Lollipop monster?" I chuckled, "Is that what you soldiers call him?"
"Just some of us." He chuckled, "Oya Let's go to the court together."
My eyes widened, "But some of my teachers are going to be there."
"Don't worry." He pushed my shoulders for us to keep walking. "I will make sure they don't notice us."
I didn't argue but just continue walking until he stopped pushing me and came to my side and we were now walking side by side. It was quiet for a little while until suddenly, something hits me.
"But Hamid." I stopped walking, "I thought you said the children killer was... or were a group of people? Why is Mr Zamani taking all the blame?"
He stopped walking too and turned to me, "We soldiers believe its a group of people, the shiite. But everybody else believes its one person. And we can't just go against what they want to believe."
"This is getting more and more frustrating." I complaine.
"Mariam," He puts his hand on my shoulders, "It will all be over soon. I promise."
I stared at him, really wishing all this will really be over, "I hope. I really really hope."
****
Hamid and I got to the Trial Court on time when everyone was settled for The State vs Zamani's case. The public hearing the case was so much that there was barely any space for late comers to seat. On a regular day, this courtroom would be empty. But because this was possibly going to be one of the biggest case, the crowd was much. Everyone has been looking forward to see who this children killer was.
Hamid and I stood by the courtroom door at the back, looking for where to sit. I spotted some of my schoolmates in the front row of the public gallery with some of my teachers sitting beside them. Even the principal himself.
"Mariam." Hamid called and I turned to him. "You can go and sit with your classmates while I sit here." He pointed to the little space on the last row, just directly in front of the door.
I nodded and made my way to the front row. I sat on the nearest edge next to whoever that was wearing my school uniform. I turned to the person beside me, only to realize it was Mary Barau.
"Miriam!" She called out in surprise when she noticed who was sitting beside her, "Finally you're coming for one of the hearings. Today is the last hearing, and if it goes well, the decision will be made later this week. I'm so scared!"
"Me too." I agreed and looked at the defense table.
Mr Zamani was sitting beside a lady in her lawyer robe and wig, which I guess was his lawyer. He was wearing the same clothe he wore when he got arrested. And he looked very thin and unhealthy. Detention was really not a good place to be.
"The case has not been so good." Mary interrupted me, "The crowd doesn't like Mr Zamani and they believe he is the real killer."
I know that most teachers in school didn't like Mr Zamani because of his corny attitude but would he really go that far to be the actual serial killer? And I understand that it's possible that a teacher could be a good possible suspect for the children killings but knowing mr Zamani, I doubt he has a motive for doing so.
"Why? Because of the lollipop?" I asked.
She shrugged, "Maybe."
"All rise." She was cut by the police man in front of the judge's bench.
Everyone stood up for the judge to take his seat, except the elderly women who cannot kill themselves to stand up for a judge younger than them.
After he sat down on his seat, we all sat down and a lawyer from the prosecution's side stood up to open the case. He introduced himself as barrister Jamil and he talked briefly about the case and the evidence found in mr Zamani's house which includes; an abandoned kitchen knife in his dustbin that looked blunt because of its constant use. They assumed that the bluntness of the knife was because it was used to draw the numbers on the 6 children's foreheads. Their other evidence were two packs of Lolly Pops hidden in mr Zamani's bedroom drawer, even when he knew the risk of having this lollipop brand he still had them.
I turned to look at Mr Zamani, who was just staring at the ceiling and not bothered about the accusations made again him. It was like he has already given up fighting.
"This lollipop brand has been banned from Mansur since 6 December 2009. The only person who is liable to have this brand is the killer." Barrister Jamil argued and looked at Mr Zamani, "Which I believe is this man here, Mr Farouk Zamani."
The crowd started to murmur but the judge hit his gavel, requesting for silence. The judge called barrister Jamil forward and they were having their distinct conversation, something they didn't want everyone to hear.
While this was going on, I turned to the back to check on Hamid. As I looked back, Hamid noticed and looked up at me from the back seat. He smiled, trying to assure me that everything will be okay. I gave him a small smile in return before turning back to face the front.
As I turned, I could feel Mary Barau's gaze on me. She looked more confused than ever.
"Did that soldier just smile at you?" She pointed at Hamid.
Busted.
I didn't want her suspecting anything so I just folded my arms and stared at the court stage before saying, "No."
She didn't bother arguing and just turned back to the stage. Barrister Jamil then went on to call his first witness which was Emeka, the Jss1 student that reported Mr Zamani.
Emeka settled on the witness box after taking a sworn testimony with a bible and I could see the anger burning in my classmates that sat around me. They really hated Emeka for snitching on mr Zamani.
"Isn't he too small to be testifying in court?" I asked in confusion.
"According to him, he is '14' years old." Mary Barau said sarcastically, not believing that tiny boy was up to 14.
Barrister Jamil asked him a few questions regarding the time that mr Zamani gave him the lollipop in school. Then after, mr Zamani's lawyer, who was called Barrister Bernice, stood up to cross examine him.
"So Emeka," Barrister Bernice started, "You're a student of Mansur Government Secondary School. The school Mr Zamani works in. Am I right?"
"Yes ma." He replied.
"How did you know Mr Zamani had such lollipop?"
"I saw him licking one in the staff office." He looked down.
"Look at me," She commanded and he did, "Why did he give you lollipop?"
"Because I asked for one."
"When he gave you, did he make any strange movement or look at you in any... unpleasant way?"
Emeka remained silent and looked at Mr Zamani before he shook his head and said, "No."
She inhaled and stared at him, "Isn't it funny how Mr Zamani gave you lollipop but yet did not kill you? From all the past 6 killings we've experienced, the killer only gave all the children lollipop when he has a motive to kill them." She looked at Mr Zamani and he looked back at her, "But my client here, didn't have any motive. He only gave out this lollipop out of generosity. Don't you think so too, Emeka?"
Emeka did not make any sound or movement because he was already terrified by barrister Bernice.
"And didn't you say earlier that this wasn't the first time mr Zamani gave you the exact same lollipop?" Barrister Bernice added.
"Ye- yes. He also gave me one on resumption date last term, before the strike."
"And that was before any of the killings started right?"
He nodded.
The crowd began to murmur in surprise and barrister Bernice cleared her throat and said "No further questions." before she sat back down.
Now it was beginning to make sense that mr Zamani could not be the killer since he had this lollipop before any of the killings started and when he gave Emeka the lollipop last year, Emeka could have been his first victim. Emeka could have also been his 7th victim when he gave him the lollipop recently, but he walked away freely and uninjured, something the killer will never let any child do.
It was now time for the defence witnesses and mr Zamani himself was his only witness.
Barrister Bernice questioned him first, regarding why he had the 2 Lolly Pops packs in his house and he said it was his favorite childhood lollipop and he couldn't do without them. Then regarding the blunt knife, his only response was "Who doesn't have a blunt knife in their house?"
After barrister Bernice was done with him, barrister Jamil came to cross-examine him. He didn't go straight into the issue of the case, rather, he went straight to bringing up something that was completely out of the case.
"So tell me, mr Zamani," Barrister Jamil stared at him confidently, "where is your 7 months baby?"
Everybody was confused. Baby? Mr Zamani has a child? The only thing we knew was that he divorced his wife 4 years ago and nothing more.
Barrister Bernice stood up angrily and blurted, "Objection your honor, relevance?"
"Objection overruled. Let's see what Barrister Jamil is getting at." The Judge said.
Mr Zamani's face became cold and he sat up uncomfortably before he said, "He is dead."
I put my hand over my mouth.
"Because you killed him. Am I right?" Barrister Jamil folded his arms.
When mr Zamani didn't say anything and just looked away, the crowd began to murmur in shock. We were all in shock. Mr Zamani? Kill a baby? His own baby?
"This happened like 5 years ago and it was an accident." Mr Zamani argues, "My baby was crying late in the night when my ex-wife and I were asleep. I tried to calm him down and dropped him by mistake."
"No you threw him against the wall and killed him."
"Look, I was stressed! It was an accident."
"No it was because you're violent. Your ex-wife could have testified to that but she said she's too scared that you might kill her too-"
"That's a lie!" Mr Zamani banged the table.
"So why shouldn't we believe you're the one who killed those children? After all, anyone who has committed murder once is likely to commit it again."
"Objection your Honor! This has no relevance to the case." Barrister Bernice stood up.
"Objection sustained." The Judge agreed. "Mr Jamil withdraw such argument and move further with your questioning."
"But your honour, can't you see that he is prone to violent behaviour?" Barrister Jamil argued.
"I said withdraw that argument."
Barrister Bernice sat back down with relief and frustration both plastered all over her face at the same time.
The court was silent for a second before a woman from the audience stood up and shouted, "I don't care! He is the killer!"
The whole public agreed and started murmuring to each other again, causing the place to be noisy. Barrister Jamil's simply smiled as he looked around at the crowd.
"Order! Order!" The Judge hammered his gavel continuously. The police men started to gather around the public gallery for everyone to be silent.
It took a little while before the courtroom became quiet.
The prosecution lawyer continued his argument from there. Most of which were very convincing and there was a high chance Mr Zamani might lose this case. After a little while, barrister Jamil finally rounded up when he looked at the judge.
"We believe the defendant, Farouk Zamani, is guilty for murder under section 316 of the Criminal Code." He removed his glasses and concluded, "Therefore, we request a minimum of 25 years imprisonment."
The crowd started to murmur again when barrister Jamil made his way back to his seat. This was not good. There was no sign as to whether mr Zamani will win the case or not.
"With no further investigation, the decision will take place next tomorrow." The Judge said lastly, "Court adjourned."
He hammered the gavel and everyone was settled to leave. Two police men roughly lifted Mr Zamani from his seat and took him out to go to their police car.
Everyone stood up to leave and everywhere seemed pretty intense. Most people were already predicting what the decision will be.
I stood up and turned around to look for Hamid at the back row. But he wasn't there.
"Miriam I'm so scared." Mary Barau said in worry, "What do you think the decision will be? Do you think our Mr Zamani is the actual killer? What if the court says he is and he is really going to prison? I will just faint if he is!"
"Mary. It could be anybody." I said, remembering Hamid's advice few months ago. I stared at the empty space in the back row and finished, "Old or young, it doesn't matter, because nobody has ever seen this killer before."
****
Next tomorrow came quicker than expected. Mary and I skipped our last two classes just to see what the final decision was going to be.
Mary kept shaking in fear, she was more concerned about the result than I was. But I was still concerned.
As for Hamid, I haven't seen him since in the court. I didn't see him after the court or at school yesterday and this morning and even right now for the decision. I sent him a few messages and he hasn't responded to any. This was starting to make me worry.
The court was full and we've all been waiting for the judge for two hours now. Typical Nigerian judge. Always sticking to African time.
It was not until 3:40 pm that the judge finally showed up. We all arose for him to sit before we sat down and settled for the case to begin.
The judge read about the case and discussed about other things that nobody was bothered about. We ONLY came here to know whether Mr Zamani was guilty or not.
Then finally, the judge stopped talking and everywhere went pin-drop silent. We knew he was about to say the final decision.
"After thorough investigation and discussion with my colleagues," He started, "I have come to a final decision. I, Honourable Justice Lawal Ayuba of the Criminal Court, pleads..."
There was an intense silence. Everyone stared at the judge and he looked back at us with an unreadable expression. My heart was beating fast, really fast. I held my breathe because I was not ready for what was coming next. Mary Barau quickly slipped her hands in mine and squeezed them in fear as she stared at the judge too.
"...the defendant not guilty."
"Yes!" Mary Barau whispered in relief.
I finally released my breathe and sighed in relief. Suddenly, the whole court became noisy. Not because they were happy, but because they were annoyed. They didn't seem to like the decision.
"He is guilty!" A woman shouted from behind me. "Somebody that killed his son will always be a killer!"
"Yes!" The crowd agreed.
I looked at Mr Zamani who was still sitting behind the defense desk. Instead of him to be happy about his release, he was devastated. Because of the frustrated crowd.
"Change that decision!" Another woman demanded.
"The decision cannot be changed." The Judge responded.
The crowd soon started to go crazy. Everyone was shouting at the judge to change his decision. Soon they left the gallery to shout and fight with the judge. But all the police men gathered in front of them and if we were not careful, a riot would start in the court. If it hasn't even started.
"Case dismissed!" The Judge hammered the gavel and quickly stood up to leave before the crowd got to him. And even then, they still kept arguing.
"My son did not die for this criminal to be released!"
"If another child dies, we're coming for you!"
Two other police men quickly carried Mr Zamani away before the crowd could also get to him.
Mary Barau, our principal, my other school mates, school teachers and I watched the crowd in amusement. It seemed like we were the only ones that were not against the judge's decision.
The crowd went outside to keep shouting. We followed them and Mary Barau and I stood by the courtroom door, watching the crowd throw stones and banged on the police that Mr Zamani was inside.
"We must take this case to the sharia court!" A man shouted, "Justice must be served!"
"Yes!" The crowd agreed and kept shouting.
They were still throwing stones and hitting the police car even when it was driving outside the gate.
"What did Mr Zamani do to deserve this?" I asked myself.
I turned to see Mary Barau talking worriedly to her mother on the phone. She was downloading all the information that happened today. That reminded to call Hamid and tell him what happened too.
I touched the side of my body, thinking my bag was there. I groaned when I realized I forgot my bag in school. I foolishly left it, thinking the case was going to finish before school ends.
"Mary!" I called and she looked up at me while she was still talking on the phone, "I'm going to school!"
She gave me thumbs up and waved, not considering whether she will follow me or not. I just left her to talk on the phone and headed for school.
School was quite far from the court but I still got back to school in good time, just before it got dark outside. Everywhere was closed since it was evening but I had to beg the security guard to allow me carry my bag. And he gave me five minutes to do so.
I rushed to my block and entered my classroom. I bent the door knob, hoping it wasn't locked. And luckily, it wasn't. If Mr Zamani was around, he would have locked it because he was our form teacher.
I entered the dark classroom and tried turning on the light but NEPA had to take it. They just had to.
When I walked inside the class to get my bag, a bad smell hit me and I quickly put my hands over my nose. Somebody in my class did not bath and they just had to leave their bad odour behind.
I quickly went to my desk near the window and luckily for me, my bag was still there. Next time, I had to be very careful because thieves were everywhere.
I checked for everything inside the bag, hoping not a single thing was stolen. But sadly, my math-set was gone. Welcome to Nigeria.
I groaned and put my bag around my shoulders. I turned around, getting ready to leave, when I saw something move in front of me.
I jumped and quickly got my phone and turned on the flashlight at the thing behind the teacher's desk. But it wasn't a thing. It was a person.
"Mr Zamani?" I asked in surprise. He lifted his head up and quickly blocked his eyes from my phone flash.
"Who's there?" He asked.
"Sorry." I turned off my flash and looked at him. He looked very unpleasant from a close view. "It's me, Miriam."
I was about to move closer for him to see my face but his bad body odour really hit me and I had to keep my distance away from him. I could really tell he hasn't bathed for weeks.
"Ah." He gave a small smile, "My pupil. Sorry I just came to pack my things."
"You're not coming back?" I asked in surprise.
He rubbed his hands on his face and looked at me.
"The school authority sacked me, even though they know I didn't do anything wrong. They just told me to leave in order to protect you pupils."
No. Mr Zamani cannot just leave like that.
"But sir we can-"
"Don't worry Garba." He cuts me, "It's pointless. Because once these people bring a new case before the sharia court... you know the rest."
"Anything can happen." I argued.
"Yes. Anything can happen." He chuckled. A sad chuckle. "I have heard it a million times."
I didn't know how to encourage him or argue with him, but I know that he may not necessarily go to prison just because another case will be brought before the sharia court. But again, it's sharia court and the public opinion really matters.
I didn't say anything but just looked at him as he stared at his desk. Maybe it was time for me to leave. He really wasn't in the mood to talk.
"Nothing is ever going to be the same." He said before I could take one step, "Do you know what the societies do to people who have been accused of something wrong?"
He shook his head in pain, answering his own question, "It doesn't matter whether it was false... or true, they treat us based on what they want to believe rather than the truth. No sympathy. No mercy. Just anger."
I didn't say anything but just stared at him, knowing this was the truth. Even though he was not the children killer and the judge said he was not guilty, that title will never leave him. That Children Killer. Not Mr Zamani anymore.
"Garba." He called me like I wasn't there, "Do you really think I'm a bad person?"
I shook my head, "Everybody makes mistakes."
He didn't say anything. I knew he was going through a lot because people were judging him, especially the fact that he accidentally killed his son few years back.
"Sorry about what happened to your son."
"It's all good." He nodded and looked at me. "Like you said, 'Everybody makes mistakes', but not everybody understands these mistakes."
I stared at him and soon, my mind goes blank.
"Miriam help me!" Mama screamed while being dragged away by the two men. Hold on there Mama. I'm going to help you now.
I stopped running and lifted up the heavy stone and-
"I understand," I stared at Mr Zamani, knowing this was the truth, "because I've been there."
"What do you know. You're just a child." He teased before taking a deep breathe, "And don't worry about me okay? Just take care of yourself, my pupil."
I just nodded my head in response. Since there was nothing to say, I just decided to head for the door. As I got to the door, I stopped and turned to look at him.
"And Mr Zamani," I called, causing him to look at me, "Mistakes don't make you a bad person. It's decisions that do."
He stared at me before he smiled, "I understand."
I gave him a small smile before I shut the door.
****
The following day was open day. A day parents came to school with their children, the students, to see their overall test scores and the teachers will explain to them about the student's performance in school. And if you have a wicked teacher, get ready to have a terrible day.
I came on time to school, for the third time in history, because Kaka was coming with me. The only reason why we were even on time was because open day was starting by 8 am.
As Kaka and I walked into the school gate, we sensed something wrong was going on. Some parents even walked out in annoyance, taking their children along with them and telling them that they are going to leave this 'bloody' school.
Some people rushed passed us from behind and Kaka and I looked at each other in confusion before we followed them.
As we followed them, we got closer to the three-story senior block, where we saw a group of people gathering in front of the building.
The standing crowd was very noisy and everyone was murmuring to each other. People kept shaking their heads and I even saw some people crying. Some parents were also trying to cover their children's eyes from the scene. Everyone was looking up and some people were pointing to the top of the building.
I looked up to their pointed direction which happened to be on the second floor of the senior block, the ss3 block. My bag fell from my hand immediately.
Frozen was an understatement to describe my current situation. I think... I just died inside.
"Blood of Jesus." I heard Mary Barau say from the side before she fell to the ground and fainted.
Some people from the crowd rushed to her side to help her up. But I was distracted by the sight of what was in front of me.
It was a body. A body hanging on a rope tied around the second floor's balcony railing. It was a suicidal attempt. It was Mr Zamani. He committed suicide.
On the wall of the ss3 block were boldly written words in red marker which wrote 'I'M INNOCENT'.
"Everybody leave this place now!" The principal ordered but nobody moved. "Somebody should take his body down!"
I just stood there, in my frozen spot, staring at Mr Zamani's hanging body. Two men on the second floor started pulling his dead body up with the rope, causing everyone to wince in pain. But I didn't feel a single pain. I refused to.
I thought I was going to stand there forever until Kaka quickly put her hands over my face and wraps me in a hug. She knew what I was up to. Immediately, I started crying on her chest. Not tears of sadness or pain. But anger. How could he? How could he do this to us!
Now I know the truth. Mr Zamani was a bad person. A really really bad person. For making such a bad decision.
He knew his decision was wrong, but he still followed it. And that's what makes a person bad.
__________________
END OF CHAPTER 27