Dorothy wiped her tears with her handkerchief. Has thus mammoth crowd come to watch the killing of my stallion? She sobbed.
The ten condemned criminals were tied to the stakes. Behind them,stretching to infinity was the Atlantic ocean laughing in waves after Waves its foamy waters appearing in cascades and splashing on the white sand of the beach . they were ranged before the ocean like few kebab of 'suya' meat beside a huge fires.
Bayo ,Dorothy's boyfriend, was the last on the row of these condemned criminals. While other criminals struggled he was calm. Other criminals broke down on their exit from the black maria : they realized on seeing the crowd and bar beach that was the end of their days on earth. Two particularly young smooth checked beardless youth s wetted their trousers with shit and urine.
Others helplessly struggled to free themselves even with that least hope of escape. But bayo never shook a limb.he remained calmed.on the stake his face seemed to exhibit a smile of one who must have known the end from the beginning of his actions

The squad commander looked at his wristwatch. Three -thirty.the second-hand-counter moved aggressively with convulsive jerk.the minutes and the and hour's trudged on in a weary reluctance, each knowing the futility of it's efforts, it would eventually come back to where it started .the commander return to the squad stationed under a tarpaulin shed.
The priest moved from his seat towards the criminals on the stakes

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Bayo consumed his vestment. It was a pure white Soutine with red girdle round the loins but the priest inside was darker than charcoal.
'If this priest were Jesus he would do something contrary to the crowd's expectations, bayo thought as he shook his head on the stake. A particular episode flashed his mind. He loved the story. He committed the passage to memory many years back he recited it within him.
The scribe and pharisees said to him,teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery .now in the law, moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her? Jesus Bent down and wrote with fingers on the ground. And once more he bent and wrote with his fingers on the the ground. But when they heard it they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest and Jesus said to the woman, 'go and sin no more.'......
But if this Reverend priest were Jesus , can he effect a change in the attitude of this crowd who wants to stone me to death? Jesus,'his thought rambled, 'was able to do that because he was speaking to a people with conscience.'
Bayo eyes took a general sweeping of a crowd appeared unto him as a forest might appear to an onlooker from a mountain slope individuals trees lost their individuality to the subdued unanimity of the forest.
But the crowd was thick in two clear-cut layers.the outside layer, separated from the Ringside layer by a Strong fence of barbed wire netting, was a twenty-meter thick of jam body of commoners.
a jumbled collection of the country's breed whose bodies emitted a conglomeration of a sickening odour. Jammed in that crowd were green-horn hooligans, fledging thieves(youth and adult)non com soldiers, three legged humans,woman with children strapped to their backs,pushing and counter pushing, tiptoeing ,girraffing,peeping to a glimpse of the show at the beach. These Ragamuffin's tearing at one another spoke their raffish language

'You step for my toe'.

'Ahh:now now?'

'Yes' now.

'You no won make my bodi touch you small?'

'Na touch be DAT?'

'You dey push me hare:
Bros no be me abeg pesin de push me from back

'So you no fit say sorry '.

Sorry for wetin?

Orange sweet.buy sweet orange '.

Orange boy bring am.'

Oga!!Ekurombe jare' give me shansh.


Why I go give you shansh


Na our member

People no de shame. thief de for you de call am member.

Olorun!! De don take my money .

For where:now now?

Dis thief no de hear, dem de kill one anoda de thief.

Sissy, dis una pickin, na problem oo!!

Na true ooo,me,I no hear single thing wet dem de talk.

Make una commot una pickin now

Oru buruku tiu no wan make witness dis thing.

Your hand de for my shoulder.
Leave me abeg

So una no fit say sorry con de tell me dis nonsense?

Your father and mother de talk nonsense

You throw insult for my fada: you blood
Fuckin..........'?

Pls make you no fight push me oooo
De torn for dis go pierce me ooo.'


And now the inside layer, demarcated by the wire fence protecting the eminent men from the stampede and foul breath of the commoner's, consists of high ranking officials, contractor's, of great renown, outstanding bankers,alhajis,stock brokers who, God bless their composure,sat and talk in low voices and chuckled gently, dimples that formed in their fresh cheeks could accommodate the thumb. They were epitome of success and good living.
Bayo took a look at the robber's ranged in line on the stake he was the last on the row. The Reverend gentleman was on the first robber opening the bible to read to him God's call to repentance and forgiveness. He heard:

COME NOW LET US REASON TOGETHER SAY'S THE LORD THOUGH YOUR SIN ARE LIKE SCARLET THEY SHALL BE AS SNOW THOUGH THEY ARE RED AS CRIMSON THEY SHALL BE AS WHITE AS WOOL.
Bayo shifted his gaze to the fed. Guards who stood some metre away just as the first robber mumbled his confession. The cap's of the soldier were plumed with beautiful feathers of some exotic bird's. Bayo considered the pack very soon their gun would spring to life vomiting lead pieces into his body. They were fine looking buh he never considered a soldier's. A butcher cannot be called a hunter' he muttered. There a world of difference between the two.a cow is tied up and pushed down for butcher to cut it's throat while a hunter deals with wild animals. When he was stallion what could pack of savage hounds to?
The reverend gentleman was with the

With the robber.bayo thought of what he would say when the priest comes to him. But his thought went to that first day when he left his village and traveled to Lagos In a train in search of job.
Little did he know that he would die such a death.like a movie, his while life from that day to the moment on the gallows rolled before his mind's eye's.

Chapter two
That morning rolled before his mind's eye's.it was morning he took a taxi to uji railway station when he was coming to Lagos to look for a job.
The station was a chaos and sanitation activities. Out of the cab he stepped on a banana skin,which gave him a dangerous slide. He took a quick look here and there started towards the station bowl an amphitheater of all sort of mess. Hawkers tried to outdo one another shouting at the top of their voices, beggars were chorusing their blessings as if their poverty has drawn them nearer to the author of blessings, babies yelled as mother's plugged the yelling with breasts,cassette seller's boomed to outdo the other noises,these mixed with customary noises of the station as worker's push,pull,hammers, slide their tools and the composition produced the racket.
Standing for a while, bayo felt like urinating. He look around. Other men were blatantly urinating outside. Some,even the rail. Some women Were more decent. They covered themselves with wrappers as they squatted and urinated. Others were vulgar
Rowlingrolling their wrapper up and allowing it to fall 6fall. On a heavy sewage he strolled towards the station building to look for the toilet. The sign TOILET on the door directed him to that destination. He few nearer but slow that sign, was a chalk inscription,DO NOT USE people have. In response to the sign and close the door drop his stomach contents. All around the frontage of the toilet were mounds of new and decades ago some disintegrating,some caking,some cracking while others were freshing and steaming. Bayo closed his eyes and added to the wetness of the floor.
Three windows opening to the card issuers cabin were labeled 1st CLASS, 2nd CLASS and 3rd CLASS there was a queue at the third class window which bayo joined.
A man approaching him, oga you won ticket?'
Rufus considered the question irrelevant.and look away and ignored the man. Other passengers behind bayo were asked the same question. Some gave the man money. The man would then disappear into the card issuer cabin and come out with tickets

'Help me now !A passenger who must joined the line shouted

The ticket tout went to him

'Na fifty naira; said the tout.

'Na two fifty;?demanded the man jokingly.

My own na fifty naira;replied the tout with the same joking tone.
The tout went in and out doing the brisk business. Bayo stood there why the line move with the speed of a millipede.
Bayo decided and shouted; faster please!!

I'm not idle here ;replied the man from his cage, his neck craning out of the cage window to know the fellow who had
Shouted
The other passengers who did want to give the fifty naira bribe grumbled.
The announced from the public relation room of the station asking travelers for Lagos to get ready followed by loud blast of trumpet from the train hundred meters away created a jolt in the crowd waiting.
The train arrived. They was a surge and a stampede, tropping in like monkeys enjoying banana plantations and seeing the owner suddenly abandoned their enjoyment scrambled to the to the branches of trees for escape, thus did the did passengers scrambled into the train.the entrances to the third class coaches were jammed with squeeze bodies.travellers without heavy luggage's went in through the train windows. Thieves moved briskly and pickpocketed.
Bayo was squeezed into the train from the jam at the entrance. He rushed through the aisle glancing from the left to the right for a vacant seat. He found one and was seated in between two people.
The aisle was filled up with people coming in and going out to bring their luggage's. Some heavy load were push under the seat and some squeeze on the rag above the seat. Some where left on the front of the aisle and made movement through the aisle cumbersome. Have of the passenger in bayo couch had no seat. Some of them wandered away to find seat in other couches but discovering that it was relatively much more comfortable standing in their first couch, they returned.
'Nigeria train couch's can never be over loaded; remarked

One of bayo' seatmates.

It is traditional; said another, 'third class coachers have no passenger limit;

'And yet they cannot generate enough fund to pay their staff' , sneered another.
There was a pronounced jerk. The jerk was followed by the whole station rolling backwards. The speed of the rolling crowd increased and the rolling crowd waved goodbye and safe journey to travelers. This was bayo' first train - travel.
The train crawled through the town into the countryside. The grasses were green and formed a tremendous carpet on the immense landscape. The train was gaining speed. The initial rowdiness of the passenger gave way to peaceful atmosphere
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