The Devil Wears Okrika

Chapter 40

A crowd had already gathered at the market square.
By then the news had spread to all corners of the village.
Bartholomew the devil had been caught.
He was going to be executed.
There were hushed murmurs between the villagers. News always has a tendency to travel like wild fire, especially negative news of this kind and more than once Pa Kenneth's name was whispered within the crowd as the people wondered what role he played in the murders. There were a lot of rumours and the people didn't know what to believe again.
When the war cry drew nearer, the villagers began to get restless, their voices were raised and before long they joined the chanting of the youths as the young men came into view.
"Ja ja kere..kere o..kere o...ja ja Kere...!"

.·.·.·.·.·
The devil was quarter to his grave already. He had lost excess blood, in litres and his skin had broken apart in so many spots as a result of the friction when he was dragged roughly from Pa Kenneth's house to the market square.
Benedict looked around. It was obvious he was searching for an elder. Any of the three leaders to take charge of the proceedings at this point but none of the elders were in sight.
Finally he held his hands up signalling silence and the incessant chatter from the crowd died down immediately.
"People of Amaife, here is the devil! The man who raped and killed our daughters for so long...he started with Ozioma....Chinenye...Chisom...Ezinne...mama Ozioma...Chinaza..."
His voice broke as he called the last name. Indeed he had really loved Chinanza. Her murder had been his stressor, driven him to obsession to find the killer.
After some seconds he continued his speech. "This man we all looked up to as an upstanding member of our community, we turned to him for spiritual guidance, went to his church every week and yet he insulted us! Insulted us by praying for us and praying for the souls of the deceased...the very same people he killed!" His voice grew hard as he spoke and his eyes narrowed.
"People of Amaife its up to you...he is guilty as charged is he not?"
The crowd chorused "yes! Yes! He is guilty!"
The butcher nodded "what is his sentence?"
"Death!" They chorused in a uniform voice. "Death!"
"Good!" Benedict nodded. "Death by hanging?" He boomed the question.
"No!" The majority chorused, only very few agreed with the method.
"Okay" Benedict began to pace. It was evident he was going to be one of the elders of the community when he grew older. He was an orator, a leader and full of charisma and he was well respected.
"Death by stoning?" He asked again.
"No!" This time a larger portion of the crowd agreed to this method. The villagers relished this method, to unleash their anger by hurling large stones and rocks at this inhuman killer.
But still the majority didn't agree.
Benedict was quiet for some seconds probably thinking of another way Bartholomew should be killed.
"Death by burning?" He asked finally.
"Yes!" They chorused. They all agreed with the burning suggestion and only a hand few didn't agree.
"Death by burning?" He asked again.
"Yes! Yes! Death by burning!" They all chorused again. There was no refusal this time around.
"It is settled" Bartholomew agreed.

.·.·.·.·.·
The men were almost at Pa Kenneth's house when they saw a woman running frantically.
She was obviously in a hurry and passed them without even acknowledging their presence and greeting them.
It was Ezinne's mother.
"Mama Ezinne where are you running to?" Dé John asked her.
She didn't stop but reduced her pace.
"Didn't you hear? The devil has been caught, Bartholomew is in the market square he is going to be executed...Justice will be served at last...my sweet Ezinne can finally rest in peace"
She hurried off.
Pa Kenneth's eyes were immediately hard. He froze, causing Gregory to walk into him and bump against his back.
"Move...move you old man!" Gregory shouted at him from behind. He was still very much angry and he was in pain. He held a handkerchief to his ear which was almost completely stained with his blood
Dé John spoke up from the rear.
"Let's move then...let's go to the market square and see what's going on...we need to hurry"
The small group took a different turn and headed to the market square.