Men Are Not Supposed To Cry

The crowd started raining insults on her telling her she was ungrateful and that people like her does not deserve sympathy nor help from others. She told them she does not need such help. It would be a curse on her rather than help if she let’s them beat the young man to death. Even if not all of them there who were agitating are thugs, most of them are people who are frustrated with life and were looking for who to transfer aggression on. They will take it out on the young man and ease themselves by killing him. And they would walk freely because in a case of jungle justice, the culprits are allowed to go free. The police most times won’t do anything about it, even if they did, innocent people will become culprits to them while the main culprits go scot free. Worst was that, most times, innocent people get killed for stealing only to find out after they are dead that they are actually innocent.

Lanre got into her car and asked Tega to drive them out of that place. Tega asked if they were going to the police station, Lanre shook her head. She told him to take her home. Tega thought he heard wrongly so he asked her to pardon him and repeat what she said.

“There must be a reason a young man like him would steal somebody’s purse. If he wanted to be a thief, he would have pointed a gun to my head. I’m taking him with us. He could be useful at my shop”. Lanre said. The young man on hearing this started crying. He could not find the courage to speak. The woman just saved him from a cruel death and now she was going to help him. Could someone be this kind? He stole from her, but she was helping him.

“You should stop crying, men are not supposed to cry”. Lanre said laughing at how lame she sounded. She hates it when people say men are not supposed to cry, but here she was using the same lame words to comfort this young man.

Tega shook his head. He thought Lanre was being nice, but he hoped she was doing the right thing. As far as he was concerned, “once a thief, always a thief”.

They got to Lanre’s place, she gave her share of the yam she bought to the young man. She asked Tega to take the boy with him to his place of residence so the boy can sleep at his place. She gave them done money and asked Tega to get the boy some clothes the following day. Then she told him if she would be going anywhere, she would call him. She did not ask the young man anything about himself since he was crying. She would do that on Monday when Tega brings him to the shop. But for now, she would not want to pressure him. She went inside having nothing to eat because she gave it out.