Dead, But Not Forgotten

"Guilty or not guilty?"

"Gritty!" came the faint reply.

"You see, I did not know what those words actually mean until I was thrown into jail. Nobody bothered to explain what these words meant. The corrupt police did not help matters in any way. They made it worse."

"Well, what did you think those words mean before you blurted out that response?" I enquired.

"Ooh, I thought they meant: 'to let him go or not to let him go.' A policeman had told me, the night before the trial, to say just that, and I would be set free."

He narrated how a corrupt policeman, who connived with his accusers, had instructed him to say GUILTY!!! ..and to smile, when taken before the judge. He would be set free at once, after saying those magic words. But only too late did he realize he had been tricked.

It all started when he had refused to heed warnings to change his nocturnal habits. He had had a workplace accident, few years ago. He had some dislocated joints but still managed well, though the pain was always there. Perhaps because some people jeered at him or even made mockery and ridicule of his grotesque movements, hence he, at times, chose to avoid people and, in turn, started shunning the daytime. He was a former body builder and a wrestler, back in his heydays. But now just a shadow of his former self, he had to take up carpentry, to manage a living and to survive.

On that fateful day, he had gone to buy some provisions, after returning late from his carpentry job. The hour was late, and the owner of the provision store, who lived in the same building as his store, had warned him to stop his late visits after the store had closed. But he had refused, only because he had grown too familiar with the couples who owned the provision store. He at times joked with them freely and was used to taking things for granted; even serious warnings.

He kept banging on their door for them to come open the store and sell him some petty items of provisions that he urgently needed. He did not realize they would not be as friendly as the other days.

He had refused to take "No and go away!",  for an answer and continued banging on the door of the provision store.  His continued banging and  the annoyance he was creating prompted the owners to call the police, even when they knew he was harmless.

He was at the door, relentless, until armed policemen arrived and arrested him. He was detained, accused of theft and burglary and finally sent to jail, where he did a couple of years.