Dioha assumed the three men were Enforcers hence Christopher's persuasion failed to work on them. They were hurdled together at a table farther away from the cluster and commotion. Their eyes never left Christopher once. They watched him like predators watching a prey. The bottles of beer in front of them just sat there, untouched. Christopher on the other hand seemed oblivious to their presence. He was exciting the crowd like a seasoned pastor.
Dioha counted fifteen people clustering in front of him. Dioha believed Christopher was probably aware of the three men at the corner. He also believed Christopher was planning on using the people around him as shields and obstructions to get away once the men make a move on him. Dioha didn't want to be a part of whatever may go down soon but he also didn't want to miss out on the show on offer. So long as none of Christopher's puppet attacked him when shit hits the fan, he'd have no issues with Christopher. And if the three men concentrated solely on Christopher and his puppets, he was fine being an onlooker.
One of the agitators suddenly yelled,
"This fucker is human."
For a few seconds everyone's enthusiasm and energy wavered, then redoubled, but this time the shouts and screams were against Christopher. The crowd,all Ngamés,wanted to beat Christopher up for deceiving them, for claiming to be one of them. Someone in the crowd picked up his almost empty beer bottle and smashed it on a table. He held the broken remnant tightly as he moved gradually through the crowd towards Christopher. Christopher was trying to calm everyone, to switch their attentions back,all to no avail. Christopher tried to climb atop a table to have better leverage so everyone could see him and hear him. A man as huge as a grizzly bear with beards to match, who was very close, pulled him down from the table and threw a punch at his face. Christopher stumbled out of the way sending the big man crashing down into the table. The move was so clumsy Dioha believed Christopher missed his footing when pulled down from the table. It didn't seem like he actually dodged the attack.
The crowd seemed incensed that one of theirs fell because of him, they swarmed forward. Two men got to him first. One placed his hand on Christopher's shoulder spinning him round to face him. He threw a punch just as the other man spun Christopher too to face him. With the spin, Christopher evaded the punch which landed square on the other man's face. The man fell backwards pulling some bodies down with him. Dioha quickly glanced at the three men who were watching Christoper. They had gotten up but they had a confused look on their face. They seemed to be arguing something amongst themselves. They reached some sort of agreement and began spreading out.
Meanwhile Christopher was busy talking and dodging blows at the same time, never attacking his assailants.
"Hey guys, stop all this. Really, it's not helping" he docked under a table as someone dived for him making the person spear someone else. "I am an Empathos. I am one of you" he said lifting his left leg up as someone tried to sweep his legs from under him. He docked as the person swung a punch and pulled out the person's belt making his trouser fall. The guy bent down to pick his trouser up but Christopher put him in between himself and an onrushing assailant. The result was that the new assailant bumped into the naked backside of the man who was bending to pick his trouser up sending them both to the ground. Christopher leaped over them still trying to talk sense into everyone. One of the three men stalking Christopher,got into his view. Christopher stopped talking.
"You'll have to come with us immediately." The man said.
"I don't think so," Christopher replied. He looked around and saw the other two approaching. The man with the piece of broken bottle was close to Christopher now. He dashed at Christopher, striking with the broken bottle. Christopher swivelled and pushed him towards one of the three men. The man with the broken bottle got entangled with one of the three men and as he was being shoved to the side, he swung his arm wildly cutting the face of one of the three men with the bottle. The man with the cut lashed out at the man who just caught him. The kick to the abdomen was so powerful it sent the man flying some metres.
The three men's attention returned to Christopher who was giggling. Dioha just smiled. He didn't understand why Christopher felt confident enough to take on three Enforcers, but of course he was going to find out.
"You are under arrest" one of the Enforcers said,flashing a badge. These were the Ngamé Community Police,Dioha realised. They dressed in mufti. Fighting them was going to be tough and it carried an even tougher penalty; death by hanging if you resisted them.
"Gentlemen, as you see I have committed no crime. I didn't start this fight."
"You are under arrest for other crimes you've committed."
"I didn't even throw a punch" Christopher argued. The men moved in closer. The fifteen people in the bar all rushed towards the three men enclosing Christopher. It was like someone was mind controlling all of them. The three Enforcers became their new targets. As a fight broke out, Christopher calmly made his way to the door, whistling happily. A lady opened the door and walked in just as he got to the door. They stood side by side,watching the commotion in the bar. One of the Enforcers threw off his attackers and saw Christopher by the door. He tried to make his way towards him but the people wouldn't let him.
"El and Fae, you are under arrest. Do not move and we will make it easy on you" the Enforcer yelled.
"Okay" Christopher yelled back. Christopher and the lady walked out of the bar leaving the three Enforcers to slug it out with the crowd. "El and Fae?" Dioha repeated. He was confused.
"Helen Phay" Dioha said,stressing each syllable. Suddenly,it dawned on him. He was looking for El and Fae, the two people who just walked out, and not Helen Phay. Dioha hastily got up and made his way slowly towards the exit. This was not an easy task as Dioha attracted attention immediately he stood up. He dodged,parried,and even threw someone away in his bid to go outside. After about two minutes, Dioha opened the door and went outside. The night life had just begun as the last rays of the sun petered out over the horizon. The street was bustling with life as people frolicked to and fro. Dioha stretched his neck, moved out into the open,all to no avail. El and Fae were gone,dispersed into the wind.