Do Whatever It Takes

I am one of the people that places great importance on family because when the whole world turns against me, I know my family will always stand by me and this has also made me to stand up for them whenever an ugly situation comes up. Luckily for me, everyone in my family always tries as much as possible to avoid problems and even when problems arise, we mostly just take care of it on our own except in some rare cases where it becomes too much for one person to handle.

One such problem happened 2 years ago on Christmas Eve. My sisters and I were returning from church around 11 AM as it's our usual tradition to go to church on Christmas Eve as against Christmas Day. My mom and little sister didn't feel like going that day, so it was just me and my other sisters. I usually don't like going to church on Christmas Eve because of how quiet everywhere is when we are returning home, unlike New Year's Eve that's more lively.

It wasn't that bad when we just left church because a lot of people were heading towards our direction but the number kept reducing until we got to our street. We were the only ones on the road and everywhere was dark, with just a few glimpses of light from houses that put on their generator. I usually walk very fast (even my slow walk is fast for some people) and I was ahead of my sisters while they lagged behind. At one point, something made me turn back and I saw my sisters standing with 2 guys, I don't even know where they came from.

I immediately started walking towards and from the body language of my sisters, I knew something was very wrong. I got close and the first thing I yelled was "Who goes you!" (A slang mostly used by cultists and thugs). I had a hoodie on and wore all black that day, and it was to appear tough which was something I learned in the dangerous off-campus community I stayed in the university. My heart was beating fast and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body as I stood face-to-face with the 2 guys who appeared young.

I asked my sisters if they knew the guys and they said no, that they just suddenly intercepted them from nowhere. I was using very strong pidgin English with lots of street slang to talk and then I told the guys to "disembark." The situation was very dangerous and I could smell Indian hemp from the breath of the 2 guys as they asked who I was. I had lived among people like them back in the university for more than a year, so I already picked up some of their mannerisms, meanwhile, I was actually scared as hell but just pretending to be confident.

I guess what helped was that it was dark and I was putting on a hoodie and all black (a favourite of some cultists), not to mention I was over 6'4" tall, much taller than the 2 guys. The confrontation didn't last up to a minute as I noticed some people coming from behind with a torchlight on. The 2 guys slowly moved away into an adjacent street (probably where they came from) while me and my sisters continued. My sisters started asking me if I had joined a cult because of what they witnessed and I just told them that sometimes you have to pretend to be tough to come out of such situations.

They later told me that the 2 guys intercepted them and said if they shouted for help, they would shoot them. (I actually doubt if they were armed). They asked for my sisters' phones but luckily, that was the moment I started walking towards them. I don't know what would have happened if those people coming from behind with a torchlight hadn't shown up at that point but I knew I just had to step in. It would have ended differently and all 3 of us would have gotten robbed 😅 but I'm just grateful for how it turned out.

I have been in similar situations back in the university because as I mentioned earlier, the community where I lived was very dangerous with lots of cultists lying around and robbing people. I have been stopped by some of them a couple of times (in broad daylight!) but I always managed to talk my way out of it. But that night's own was different, my sisters were involved and I just had to handle things differently, even though it meant pretending to be a cultist.

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