Infinite Love 137


Well done, Fubby!
We didn't know thay you had it in you...
"Are you alright?"
```
Micheal asked dragging Fubby out with his hand and then shaking off the mud from his hand.

The rest cheered him laughing, smiling and patting him on the back. And for the first time in a long while Fubby was smiling because felt good to be there amongst them. They were all his friends again and not just Michael who had always been his constant helper but all of them.
He was especially glad to see Sergeant Seyi smiling at him with that cute gap teeth of hers. He had noticed how she had been looking at him as the burden bringing down the rest of her squad and it hurt him to see her look at him that way as he was having a huge crush on her.
```
**What are you all talking about?** yelled Sergent Kaminu the Eagles commander. **"Are you all blind? Didn't you all see him chase my cadet and pull him into the mud?"**
```
And with that, the wonderful moment was lost. Now, everyone was staring at him quizzically. And Sergeant Kamilu continued.
```
"Can you please ask your cadet why he assaulted mine?"
```
And with that everyone continued staring at him for an answer. But was he supposed to say? That he'd chase down Rilwanu and the rest of his bullies on account of the smell of goatmeat?
_"Would anybody believe that?"_ he thought. _"No. They'd just think I was crazy or more of a joke than I already am." MAD O!_
```
"Well?" Kamilu demanded once more "We're waiting."
```
Fubby looked towards the eagles cadet with his face all cover in mud. Even if they were to conduct a goatmeat test. The mud would've probably covered up the smell by now.
```
"Erm...he had um...a bee
```
```
"a what!?"
```
```
"A bee, sir. A bee. He had a bee on him and...I was trying to swat it away."
```
The looks he got from Kamilu that moment was enough to kill a man.
```
THERE WAS NO BEE!
No sir. There was a bee.
```
## "YOU ARE LYING!"
He spat, fuming.
```
"This cadet is obviously the weakest amongst your team. In fact, in their entire programme and instead of trying to catch up he is assaulting his betters on my squad. There was no bee. I didn't see any one. Nobody saw any one. Seyi, you should dismiss him. He's useless anyways, the deadweight from your squad. So, just cut him loose."
```
At the mention of _cut him loose_ Fubby's mind panicked and he looked towards his Sergeant and he could see that she was contemplating it. Him mind raced towards Michael and as their gazes met, Michael saw the outright panic in him and said...

### "THERE _WAS_ A **BEE**!"
```
"Er...what?" Kamilu asked.
"There was a really a bee sir, I saw it fly away when I pulled him out of the pit."
"You are lying. Seyi, he is lying. Both them are!
```
But as Kamilu was about to divide into a hard interrogation of Michael, Sergeant Seyi stopped him.
```
"Excuse me, commander."
```
She said holding up her hand and turned sideways to look Michael squarely in the eyes.
"Did you _really_ see a bee, Michael?"
For a moment, he was spell bound. He hated lying but there was no way he was going to let his friend get dismissed just when he was starting to get the hang of the obstacle courses.
```
"Yes, commander i did.
```
She stared at him for another brief moment, searching for the truth in his eyes before deciding that she believed him and turned to Sergeant Kamilu.
```
"I'm sorry, commander but Michael on one of my finest cadets. If he says that there _was_ a bee then I believe him and that's that.
"SPFFT!" he spat in the ground.
"That's that! Who do you think you're talking to? I was here way before you came along. I was a commander even before you began plaiting your hair. So watch how you address me!
AND YOU TWO!"
```
He turned to face Michael and Fubby. I won't forget this insult.
```
"SPFFT!"
```
He spat again.
```
"I will get you two for this. Just wait."
```
----
And with that he stormed off, raising a lot of dust along the way. Alarming the stallion squad with his open enmity.
```
"Na wa o! Sergeant K, no just like us at all!" Fubby said.
"That's enough!" Sergeant Seyi said "The rest of you can go for lunch while you go get cleaned up and join them after you're done."
```
As they dismissed Fubby was accosted by Michael and Zarah.
```
"I don't understand something, Fubby." she said. "Have you been pretending to be unable to finish the course all this while because...you seemed about to finish the course this time if not for your assault on Aliyu?"
"Yeah, why did you do that?" Michael chimed in.
```
He stopped and stared right at them for dramatic effect.
## "You wouldn't believe this but guys...those guys Ridwanu and his friends have been cheating with the **food**!"
```
"What?!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Those guys have eating goatmeat and...well goatmeat and all manners of meat and delicious meals while the rest of us have been munching on tasteless prison food for the past few weeks."
```
**"Really!**
```
"Yes! I bet you they have a stash of roasted goatmeat somewhere even have we speak!"
"What…wait! Where is this stash?" Zarah asked curiously.
"I don't know. Maybe in their dorm."
"So you haven't seen it then?"
"No, but I bet you they have it stashed somewhere." he added adamantly.
"And...and when did you see them eating this goatmeat?" Michael asked.
"Oh...well. I didn't actually um...see it. I more of a...detected it from the smell."
```
The other two looked puzzled.
```
"No. I smelled it from the breath of Aliyu..."
"The one you assaulted on the course."
"YES!" he said triumphantly "I tell you I detected a distinct smell of goatmeat from that guy's breath. It was roasted and I would always know the smell of goatmeat anywhere because my grandma used to run a canteen that sells goatmeat and whenever my mom took me and my brother to visit her, she would always dish us goatmeat stew, even though we mostly didn't care for it. My brother and I are more of a turkey and ram meat people, you see. But mommy always to eat it just to make grandma happy. So, if i tell you that i smell goatmeat somewhere, I know what I’m talking about because my nose knows it well."
```
Fubby finished his delivery believing to have totally convinced them but they both instead stared at him in disbelief.
### "You smelled it?!" Zarah said finally.
```
"Are you kidding me?" she freaked.
"No. I am serious. Those guys are eating goatmeat somewhere, somehow and I am sure of it." he insisted.
"UNBELIEVABLE!" she said raising up her hands in the air before dropping them again.
"Zarah, listen to me. I know what I'm talking about. You have to believe me."
"What I believe is that you are being ridiculous. It's like...all this is a big joke to you. You almost got kicked out of the academy. You have put both Michael and Sergeant Seyi in the cross hairs with Sergeant Kamilu, all because you...think you smelt goatmeat. Are you for real?"
"Well, when you say it like that...it sounds really bad but I'm telling you..."
"Look here. I will just be honest with you right now. I think you should drop out of the academy because quite frankly, not only have you been pulling the entire squad down but now you are also causing trouble for everyone else."
```
With that shocking statement Fubby stared at her before looking towards Michael who said.
```
"I'm sorry, Fubby. But maybe you should consider what Zarah is saying. I mean...you are sounding a bit..."
"Mad. Right?" he asked nodding his head trying to hide how hurt he felt. "You know I wanted to leave many times. But I didn't want to prove my father right or give him the satisfaction of knowing that i failed at another thing. And also, he threatened me not to come home if I failed at this last thing. It was his last warning to me. But mostly, it was because I wanted to stay for you two guys."
"US?" they asked in unison.
"Yeah, you two have been more like family to me like my own family. And I've seen how lonely you two are. I've been there too. I've been thinking my leaving would make you both lonely even more."
```
He said his peace all the while looking down not bearing to face either one of them for fear of crying.
```
"Never mind I can clean myself up. I'll meet you both at lunch."
```
He said over his shoulder and he strutted away quickly, leaving them there. They instantly felt terrible. They realised how much they would miss him if he left as for some reason, only the three of them in the whole squad had been able to click. Somehow, they couldn't be free with the rest of the cadets and also they realised how much they had hurt his feelings and walked slowly to the mess hall in silence.
----

```
"I feel so bad for what we said to Fubby." Michael said as he and Zarah waited in line for another round of their tasteless dish.
"I know. I feel the same way, but you heard him. He was sounding insane."
"Yes, but...is it possible that he's right?"
```
She considered it for a moment.
```
"How...or where would they get the goatmeat?"
"What if...Mallama Askira was giving it to her?" he asked nodding in the general direction of their chef at the end of the queue.
"Do you think she would do that?"
"Who knows?" Michael shrugged "Hey, what's for lunch?" he asked grabbing the last guy who just got his meal at the front of the line.
"Couscous." he said blandly.
"Again?" he said but his fellow stallion guy just shrugged and moved on. Discussing their food was pointless. There was nothing anybody could do about it. Even when you were feeling down, there was no way the food was going to lift anybody's lift anybody up instead they just sank deeper. So, as a rule, nobody talked about the food, they'd just feel worse.
"Have you noticed how she always seem to give the other guys larger portions?" she asked as one of Rilwanu's friends, an eagle cadet walked by with a plate with a larger portion of the bland near colorless dish on his plate.
"What does Mallama Askira see in those guys?" he wondered.
```
Rilwanu and Aliyu and the rest of his cronies walked in just then, swaggering to the front of the queue and cutting in rudely to the front as the usually placid chef broke into a wide smile and dished out a large slop of couscous for them.
```
'Plop!"
```
Zarah was so irritated by that. She didn't care for the food though, that was nothing but cushion to prevent stomach ulcers, but she hated seeing blatant displays of arrogance in men.
```
"Hey, you! Where is he?" Rilwanu stopped beside Michael on the queue with covered plates of food. Michael couldn't understand why they did that, they were all having the same slop after all.
"Are you dumb? Your friend."
"Piggy!" Aliyu the one next to him added helpfully.
"He's name is Fubby." Zarah added through clenched teeth.
"He's cleaning up, he would be here later."
"Has he gone crazy? Why did he attack Aliyu like that? Did he want to injure him?"
```
Michael could on shrug and say;
```
"Sorry."
"Sorry, for yourself o. Next time he tries that with me, I will break his legs." Aliyu threatened irritating Zarah even more.
"Can you please just go. You have taken your food, right? Then go."
"Ah ah!"
"Listen to her!" they said taken aback.
"What is your problem?" Rilwanu asked.
"I don't understand why you guys are still packed here. Our friend is not here, so just go."
"Listen to her." they said to themselves and began mocking her, laughing.
"Look here. Why are you wasting your time with this losers, an Hausa girl should be with her tribe and not hanging around this 'yomirin' (Igbo man) and his clown friend." Rilwanu added and the rest cheered him on.
"No, thank you." she said flatly taken them by surprise.
"Eh?"
"Ehn?"
"Why?"
"Because I will stay with strong men, real men on this mountain."
```
_WHAT!_ Rilwanu said shocked
```
"Are you refering to this skinny yomirin?" He asked meaning Michael "Ah, it seems this girl has been charmed with Igbo juju."
His cronies laughed.
"This 'Yomirin' and his clown friend were the only ones who came to carry my bags and help me up the mountain in the beginning of the camp while the rest of you ran away like chickens." she blurted in their faces shocking them into silence.
"Ah, well...that was..." one stuttered.
```
## "Why are you calling us chickens?"
He charged at her and Michael made to pull her away from the Arnold Swatzenegger built Rilwanu.
"This is none of your business you bloody yomirin!"
---
He smacked Michael's hand away with so much force that he fell and disrupted the queue while the rest gasped. Some even whistled hoping for a fight to watch during lunch. But Michael was hesitant to get into a fight. Until Zarah said...
```
"Hey, will you leave him alone you big dumb gorilla!?"
"ME?!"
```
He gasped and as he made to grab her Michael quickly got up and pushed him back away from her. As Rilwanu fell back he pushed Aliyu and the others tripping them and their plates of food spilled on to the floor uncovering a meat hidden in a plate.
```
"YAY! FIGHT!" Somebody screamed as Rilwanu charged back up to grab Michael who was shielding Zarah from harm. But before he could reach Michael another person screamed, pointing to the floor.
```
# "AH! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!"
And with that, all hell broke loose. The dozens of cadets who not tasted meat or anything remotely tasty in the last few months immediately lost their minds at the sight of a piece of meat on the floor and they all charged towards it. Knocking over each other, pushing and pulling each other in a mad scramble for a single piece of plain meat on the floor.
```
"No! Don't eat it, that's mine!"
```
Aliyu yelled and he threw a dish of couscous on someone who returned fire and that's how the food fight started. With everyone grabbing plates of couscous and assaulting each other with it. Some even went as far as grabbing the pot of couscous from the chef Mallama Askira and pelting others with it.
In a few short seconds the mess walls as well as the cadets were covered in slops of white pastery couscous only Michael and Rilwanu seemed to be locked in a wrestle under a table in a slippery slop of food, trying to fight but the food was too slippery. They were all like that, with most in a mad chase of meat while Zarah, Michael and Rilwanu were engaged in a kerfuffle when Commander Datijo found them.
# "What is going on here?" he yelled.
Show quoted text

Infinite love 138

The young men were in a good mood. They were all friends, they
were away from their wives and they had drank a couple of kpami "palm
wine" before venturing into Pyem's high forest for hunting.


There were all locals indegenes of the land whose fathers,
grandfathers and great grandfathers used to hunt on the mountain. But sometime
ago the government laid claim to a larger portion of their ancestral hunting
grounds and forbade them venturing into the forest for the best part of the hunting
season every year and so there was resistance.

After a few back and forth in dialogue that resolved nothing
ultimately lead to the locals attacking the military stationed on the mountain.
The result of which lead to undesirable consequences on both sides until a new
dialogue was initiated that involved the government using Pyom mountain as a
military training for a few months a year during which the locals had
restricted movement there, afterwhich the military will move out and the locals
were then allowed full access to their ancestral land again. This agreement
lead to a peaceful but fragile peace between the two.

"O man, I told you many a times not to drink so much and
now you can barely tell a stone from a cow dung."

All the men laughed.

"What say you? That's not true. I can drink as much as a
horse without missing a step up on this mountain. And If not for your meddling
in my affairs I would have drank all night too!"

"O man, is that the truth? Just don't come to my house when
Yimi pushes you out again for lack of bush meat for her pot."

There was laughter again.

"Humfph! Myself? Not possible!"

"Too, possible!"

"Remember, when she turned her back on him the other night?
The whole town could hear him begging all night!"

More laughter came from the young hunters as they climbed up
higher and higher until they came to their ancestral hunting ground to find
their traps emptied of all its catches.

"WHAT IS THIS? WHO DID THIS?" one of them yelled.

"Surely, it could not have been any of us! We most surely
have been robbed!"

"But by whom? Could it be those boys from Buram?"

"No, i don't beli..."

"IT WAS THOSE AIRFORCE BOYS! I'm going to teach them a
lesson for robbing us!" and he began towards the camp.

"O man! Wait there. Don't be hasty. Remember what happened
the last time we had trouble with the airforce?"

"So, what do we do? Just let them rob us? My family and I
depend on the money we make from selling these bush meat."

"Mine too! But we must be careful. We don't want fire
raining down on our town again. So, we must inform the chiefs first before
doing anything rash."

"Alright, but you must be quick about it. I am not known
for my patience."

"That is fine. We will reset our traps first, then go inform
our chiefs before coming back here again."

"That is fine! Let us go."

And so they reset their traps proceeded to leave the area.

"So, do you mean I have nothing to show my Yimi tonight
then?"

...
Rilwanu was taking out his frustration on their dorm after the
food fight in the mess.

"BANG!"

"CRASH!"

"Can you filis stop punching everything in zee room,
Rilwanu?" Aliyu said.

"Can you just imagine, zat Yomirin standing up to me
gaskiya? I mean, who does he think he is, mana?"

His friends shrugged their shoulders.

"And what makes me so furious is that Zarah girl, wallahi!
I would've broken his hed in two if not for her. Can you imagine she waz
defending him and fighting me? That bloody yomirin?"

"Maybe zeir is something going on between zem."

"AUZUBILLAHI MINA SHAYTAANI ROJEEM! WHAT!? ARE YOU
SERIOUS?"

"Calm down, mana!" Hamza chipped in quietly from his
bunk where he'd been watching his dorm mates "You don't know if there's
anything going on between. They could just be friends, for all we know."

"NO! NO WO! Aliyu must be right! Zey must be...in fact zey
are dating." Rilwanu said stubbornly and Hamza rolled his eyes in his
sockets "Why else would she defend him like that? KAI! And I liked zat
girl WALLAHI! So, fine! Zat useless yomirin must have used his Igbo juju on her
senses. Gaskiya, I will break his neck!" he said kicking a table to the
wall.

"Yes, he deserves it. Break his head. Zat Zarah is supposed
to be with somebody like you. A proper Hausa Muslim on your way to becoming
aviation minister in the future." Aliyu said in his true psychophant
fashion.

"WA YO ALLAH! YOU ARE RIGHT WO, ALIYU!"

"Aliyu, will you please be quiet!" Hamza snapped.

"And why are you shouting at Aliyu? He eez 100% right,
mana. Az a future aviation minister a pretty first lady pilot would be veery
good for my politikal career. Or don't you believe zat i will become zee future
aviation minister?"

"Of course you will." Hamza said failing to stop
himself from rolling his eyes.

"See! You doubt me! Don't worry. I will prove to you zat it
iz not only your family that can hold a high position in this country
wallahi."

"What does that have to do with any..."

"It iz becauze of zat you have been doing shakara to me all
theze while." Rilwanu snapped "If not for your father's high
political status, I would have dealt with you mana. But first, i need to treat
zat idiot boy first. For getting in my way between me and Zarah."

"Yes, wallahi it is necessary."

"Rilwanu, just leave that guy alone."

"I MUST DEAL WIT IM, KAWAEEE!"

...

Zarah and Michael had been cleaning the mess hall after the food
fight happened there. The fight wasn't thier fault but as soon as Sergeant
Kamilu walked in with Commander Datijo and questioned the cause of the fight.
Well, they both got blamed for it since there were found at the center of it
and the eagles squad, the chef along with Kamilu who already had it in for
Michael quickly pinned it on them. Ceedat had no other option than to punish
them for it and gave Michael extra chores after training at the end of the day
for being as Kamilu called him; the one inciting rebellion in the camp.

It took them over three hours to get the place spotlessly clean
and free of the sticky stains of couscous from all over the walls, the chairs
and the benches. But even after that, they weren't concerned about themselves,
rather they were racked with guilt about Fubby and went looking for him, hoping
he hadn't quit as they had advised to do earlier before. And he had missed the
new practice that Ceedat introduced to them that evening which isn't a good
sign.

"Kata: a training in self defense." he said but it
felt more like a more direct way to torture them. It involved using small short
but flexible sticks smoothened from rubbing cow fat on over them. They were
used to both attack and defend from opponents and they hurt very much whenever
ceedat or any of the other sergeants hit them with it if they made a wrong
move.

"Did you see Fubby?" Zarah asked Michael shortly
afterwards but he merely nodded his head as some of the eagles squad guys that
he had been paired with intermitently seemed to attack him with much more
prejuice than was necessary especially the tall one; Rilwanu. Maybe he was
still angry about the food fight because he seemed to land his Kata blows more
rapidly and painfully than they were taught to do.

"Let's go check him in the dorm." she said but he
wasn't even there. They looked all over until they found him right behind
Ceedat's quarters at the west side of the mountain. One of the ways off the
mountain. He was quitting.

"FUBBY!"

"STOP!"

"WAIT!" they yelled.

"What...?" He said turning around to find them coming
after him and they quickly held him and took him away from the edge that he was
standing on, leaning down more like looking for something rather than leaving.

"Fubby, please don't quit we were wrong to tell you to
quit."

"Yeah, we were very wrong."

"Okay, but...I don't know guys." he said slowly
"Maybe, you're right and I don't belong here. The others came in to the
dorm earlier on and said that because of me you started a fight with the eagles
squad and got punished for it. And our fellow stallion guys are upset with me
because Kamilu further deducted points away from our leaderboard, leaving us
more than three points behind eagles squad. So, at this rate we will never win
the leaderboard against eagles squad and all of the guys in the dorm blame me.
None of them is talking to me, no one. All because of me and my crazy
imagination. Mad o!"

"Fubby...maybe your imagination is not as crazy as you
think." Michael said as he slowly put his hand in his pocket and brought
it out to reveal two small pieces of roasted...

"GOAT MEAT!" Fubby shrieked as he grabbed it with
quick lightening speed and tossed them into his mouth chewing furiously with
his eyes closed in pure delight.

"Oh...my God. I have never...tasted anything...this
delicious in-my-life...ever!"

The others were laughing at the expression on his face and as
opened his eyes to ask.

"Where did you get these?"

And Michael and Zarah proceeded to inform him about Rilwanu and
his croonies bullying them into a fight and how the meat were found hidden in a
plate of one of Rilwanu's friends and the subsequent mad dash for it and the
occuring food and Michael's blame and punishment.

"DAMN! Bro, you mean you got blamed for all that didn't
anyone else see the meat as evidence?"

"No one else saw it at the time. I only found them
scattered until the tables while we were cleaning the floors."

"And with Kamilu's hatred of Michael, there was no way he
wouldn't make sure to pin it on the both of us."

"MAD O! I'm so sorry bruv, this is all still my fault. You
guys went through all that and still I ate all the meat alone without
thinking...without even sharing."

"Don't blame yourself, Fubby. We don't mind. We wanted you
to have both of it because it means more to you than to us. And as a sign of
our apology for what we said earlier."

"Thanks guys but I have to go now."

"What...where?"

"Down there." he said walking close to the edge of the
mountain and pointing down.

"But...why? We've already told you, you don't have to
quit..."

"I'm not quiting but I've realised now that I can't go on
like this. Always weak, feeling tire and messing up our chances in training. I
have to go down there, back to the foot of the mountain where we first came
from and get my bags."

"Your bags..?"

"Yes, remember I came with a lot of luggage initially and i
dropped them all while climbing up this mountain?"

"Yeah, I remember but...why do you need them?"

"Because I have some food inside some of them. I never
thought about it before because I was too tired and I didn't really consider
it. But now I know that food is important to me. I need it to survive this
place and I don't want to put you guys in anymore trouble so I will go down
there alone by nightfall."

"Nightfall? Alone? By yourself?" Zarah asked
"Forget it, you will probably die from the effort alone."

"Wha...?"

"She has a point. That side of the mountain is very tough
and almost impossible to navigate alone, and you will be carrying loads so, you
can't do it alone. I will come with you."

"Bro, you don't have to."

"Michael, are you sure?"

"Zarah, we need him in top shape if we are going to survive
this mountain. Do you remember how fast he was on the obstacle after he smelled
the meat?"

"Yes, he...he was unbelievable."

"Yeah, and imagine how unbelievable he will be once he is
properly fed. So, it is settled. After my chores with Ceedat, you will come and
join me and we will go get your bags together."

"NICE!" Fubby said excitedly.

EndFragment


The Chores
The chores Michael had been given by Ceedat were as ridiculous as they were awful. After he was found culpable for creating the infamous mess hall food fight, Ceedat
had decided to punish him with after training chores. Which at the time didn't seem so hard considering what he had been suffering through on the mountain so far. But this, this time he was suffering through a crazy military man's version of cruel and unusual punishment.


After already suffering through the evening training that had been conducted by the cruel and
biased Sergeant Kamilu, commander of the Eagles squad. The had sworn to make
Michael and Fubby life miserable and with the Kata training he found a perfect
way to do so by using Michael as a demonstration. But what he was actually
doing was beating him with the short Kata sticks on pretense of training.

Michael's body
was already feeling sore with his entire body aching in one way or the other
when he got to Commander Datijo's quarters on the West side of the mountain
overlooking the steep path that they came up the mountain with in the first
time. The same path he and Fubby were planning to take down the mountain later
to go retreive Fubby's bags.

When he found
Ceedat's quarters he found him still in full military geer. Weird, since they
were already in after hours and he was supposed to have changed to their white
on blue night evening wear.

"Morning
Commander!" he saluted promptly with a sharp attention pose consisting of
a straight taut posture and his right hand just above his right eyebrow.

"Morning."
he responded seeming absentmindedly. "Fetch water from the well down that
path to your left. You can use the bucket on that tree. Fill up the drum at the
back of the building.

Michael hesitated
for a brief instant as he had expected to be given some kind of drill and not
a...mere chore like fetching water.

"Sir! Yes
sir!" and he clicked his heels together and proceeded on his way. He found
an old fashioned wooden bucket with rusty iron rungs round it on the tree
Ceedat had indicated to him and he briefly looked around the tree to make sure
that was the only bucket on the tree because it was truly an unusual looking
bucket. They were two actually, connected by a long wood which meant the
buckets would be carried over the shoulder instead of directly by hand. A style
more common to the Northern tribes in the country rather than in the city of
Lagos where he was from, where people typically use plastic paint buckets that
were fashioned with a rope to the handle to fabricate a makeshift fetching
bucket. That was a much simpler method and much more easier to carry too. As he
started down the path to the well with the buckets over his shoulder they
already felt heavy even without water in them.

The well's design
was much more shocking. It had layers of concrete raised to waist height along
with a weird lever and pulley with a heavy iron bucket attached system that was
used to draw the water from the deep well instead of simply throwing down the
bucket inside and pulling it up by one's hand. It took him a while to figure
out but he finally realised that he had to operate the lever by cranking it up
clockwise to drop the heavy lever bucket in the well, that was hard to do.
Afterwards, he would crank the lever counter-clockwise to bring the water out
of the well, that was even harder before getting the water, putting it in both
buckets, slunging it onto his shoulders and carrying that over to Ceedat's
quarters and finally climbing the stone platform to toss the water into the old
drum. He was already exhausted after the first try.

He was panting
furiously while furiously at the well's lever hand as he couldn't bring his
hands to crank the lever. His fingers were clasped over it but his arms felt
flacid and lacked energy. But there he was, with his hands still clapsed around
the lever handle. Not daring to give, fearing failure after having come so far.
He thought about his family; his mother, grandmother and brother, all depending
on him. But try as he might, he couldn't work handle. Then he thought about his
father and all his dreams and his sacrifices, the loss and the burden that came
with looking after his whole family all by himself after his passing and still
he couldn't work the lever. He was too weak, he was a failure.

Hot tears welled
up in his eyes and as he collasped on the ground with his back against the
well's concrete. He was simpering by his lonesome when he saw figures moving in
the shadows of the bush. Fear gripped him.

"Could that
be an animal?" he thought or worse "Could it be a ghost? Who knows
what kind of vengeful spirits roam this mountain top at night?"

He froze as he
could now see clearly from his position that something was definitely moving
through the bush, and it was coming at him. Something real. He feared it could
be a wild animal for he was too weak to fight it off. Instead, he grabbed a
fist full of sand, all he could muster in his defense was to throw sand in the
animal's eyes hoping to blind it long enough to escape, when he finally saw
that it was infact two figures coming at him. His body tensed up to only make
the bodies of Fubby and Zarah emerging from the darkness and into to the night
light of the moon. His body relaxed and he let go of the sand.

"Shhh! Don't
make so much noise!" Fubby was saying.

"Me? Aren't
you the one making noise with your mouth all this while?" she retored.

"Only to
caution you to stop moving the tree branches so much. You are making and Ceedat
might hear us."

"Mtchew!"
she hissed ignoring him "Where did Micheal go anyway? I can't see him
anymore."

"Guys, I'm
over here." and he raised a tired hand to signal to them.

"Michael!"
she said.

"Shh!"
Fubby hushed.

"Hey, are
you okay?" she asked as they got closer and sat on either side of him.

"I
can't...move this lever again...I just can't." he said sadly.

"Hey, it's
okay." Zarah.

"Yeah, if
you can't then you can't. So, what?" Fubby added.

"But if I
don't then I won't be able to get the water and Ceedat might be angry with me.
What if he throws me out of the training?" he said panicking. All the
insecurities he had been having were starting to bubble to the surface.

"He
won't." Zarah said calmly "Everything will be fine."

All three cadets
sat there calmly. Staring at the moonlight in silence thinking about nothing
and everything.

"I was very
wrong to suggest to you to quit, Fubby. I more than anyone else knows what it
means to want to make your father proud." Michael said finally.

"It's
okay." he quietly before adding "My father hates me but I still want
more than anything to make him proud. He went against his family to marry my
mother and he has since been pushing my brother and me to make him proud as a
way of justifying his decision to marry her. If his children are successful
then nobody can fault his decision. My elder brother; Yemi is his favourite.
He's intelligent, hardworking and even, if you can believe it, better looking
than me."

They all laughed.

"Yemi has
never failed a course. Never drank or smoked. Never been to jail. I don't
remember him having any bad habit in his life.
A perfect golden boy who can do no wrong by any standard. I don't think
he has ever even been punished. My parents, especially my dad, absolutely adore
Yemi."

"I on the
other hand. I have broken all of the rules in the book. Dropped out of school
and started wasting my time, my life and my father's money in Canada. I was so
sure I was going to become the next superstar rapper and I was living the
lifestyle. Before I almost died of a drug overdose and then my father flew me
back to Nigeria and gave me this ultimatum."

He looked them
both in the eyes for dramatic effect to say: "You either start living your
life the right way or you continue dying but the next time, I will not be on
the next available flight to Canada to rescue you!"

"Wow!"

"Yes. I
really messed up. The whole family knew and my father was once again shamed by
his family and worse he and my mother were now having problems because of me.
So, he kicked me out of the house and gave me this place as a last resort to
save myself or he would cut me off; forever!"

"Wow!"

"Yeah. So,
now you guys know why I'm here. It's my last chance given to me by
father."

They sat back
down silently again.

"At least
your father gave you a chance. Mine gave up on me the day I was born."
Zarah said interrupting the quiet "He always told my mother her fourth
pregnancy would be her last resort to save their marriage. But of course, no
son came. Instead she had me. Another useless fourth daughter."

"What?"

"Yeah, they
separated right there and then at the hospital and he went shopping for another
wife. While my mother and my three other sisters were mostly relegated away
from him. But now, after all these time, he comes in to demand a man of his
choosing for my husband even when he hasn't been present for most of my life
and that nerve of his his simply infuriated me. And worse, my mother was going
to allow it. So, I ran away."

"WHAT!"
they guys gasped.

"Yeah, I
chose flight school as an avenue to independence and it seemed to make sense at
the time. I was doing it to seize back control of my life, I told myself but
now...I miss my mother terribly, even my sisters and I worry I may have done
more harm than good by leaving the way I did. And now, I'm not so sure I did
the right thing. Now, the fearless Zarah that my mom used to call me is scared
and ...and alone." she said solemly.

"Hey, how
can you say that?" Michael asked.

"You're not
alone, silly."

"Of course
not, you have us!"

"Thanks
guys."

"I guess
we're all here for the wrong reasons." Fubby added.

"Not
me." Michael said "I'm here because my father and I always dreamt I'd
be here. Well...not here on this mountain under military training but in flight
school. I used to complain that he was being too controlling but now I see that
he was only trying to make sure I became successful." he sighed.

"The two of
you have no idea how lucky you are to still have your fathers with you, even
with all your or their issues. Once they're gone. They're gone! Mine is dead
and I miss him... every single day."

"So, that's
what we all have in common. We all have daddy issues. Mad o!" Fuby said
and they all laughed again.

...


A few minutes
later they had helped Michael crank up the water and he had brought it up
Ceedat. He was worried that the commander would question why he was late but
instead all he said was to his relief was;

"That's all
for now. You may go." As if he knew Michael could no longer continue with
the chore.

Dismissed. He
went back to meet the guys at the well to inform them.

"He just
dismissed me!"

"What?"

"Are you
sure?"

"Yes."

"So, we can
go now?"

"Yes, but
I'm too tired Fubs. We are going to need Zarah's help going down the
mountain."


EndFragment

After being dismissed by Ceedat Michael took his leave and left, towards the Stallion dorm. He was so tired that he could hardly walk. Commander Datijo’s chores were nothing less than another round of training. The only difference was that this time, Micheal was enduring the torture alone, and with a co-cadet to talk, moan or complain to, the pain seemed much more painful than it actually was.

He has hardly taken a few paces further on before Fubby came running and called him back.

“He’s gone inside. Come on let’s go.”

Michael sighed in pathetic resignation. The last thing he wanted right now was to go down the rough side of a mountain in search of heavy bags but Fubby needed them, and badly too. He wasn’t coping with the messy mess of food and said he had some in his luggage. The ones everybody discarded at the foot of the mountain the day they all arrived here.

Most thought their time here would be a breeze but like Commander Datijo had said to them: “This mountain is fire, it will burn out your weaknesses and clean your mind of stupid thoughts.”

They got back to the shrub closest to Ceedat’s quarters and found Zarah still on the lookout.

“Did he come out?”

“No, he just turned off the light and I haven’t seen any movements since then.”

“Nice! Let’s go!” Fubby waved to Michael and surprisingly, Zarah followed them.

“Don’t look at me like that, of course, I’m coming with you.” she said and took the lead and they both stopped and stared at her.

“Mad o!” Fubby laughed.

“Thank God for Zarah.” Michael thought, he could barely put one foot ahead of the other not to mention having to carry heavy bags from down a mountain.

Eventually, it got dark and they had to force her back behind them because that path of the mountain was hardly ever used due to the steep nature of the side. They could only see glimpses of it from their jogging route and God only knows what kinds of creatures slept there.

They headed down smoothly enough. With Fubby and Michael in the front on either side of the path carefully looked out for the rocks and holes in the floor since they had no light and to make things easier for Zarah.

Smoothly it was until Fubby saw something in the bushes.

“WHAT WAS THAT?” he shrieked and quickly pointed before taking off down the mountain’s rough steps quicker than a gazelle.

“Slow down, Fubs. Wait for us.” Michael said trying to catch up with him but he was ahead of the rest of them now almost running even.

“Stop now, wait for the rest of…AHHH!” Zarah shrieked and Michael looked behind him to find her looking frozen in place.

“Zarah? What’s …what’s wrong?” Michael asked but she wouldn’t budge until suddenly she also took off past him and down the steps.

“Auzubillahi minna shaytani rojeem!” she whimpered.

“Zarah? Fubby…guys wait…STOP!” he went after the both of them but they didn’t slow down.

“What could they have seen to make…?” he wondered getting scared himself. Suddenly he also could feel a gaze creeping up onto his skin. Somebody or something was watching him. He could feel the gaze like ants creeping up on his skin. But he shrugged off the feeling and instead focused on his friends running dangerously down a rough and steep path. He particularly worried about Zarah, the way she was running was very troubling. It was sheer panic. He was surprised to see her that way. She, who had seemed so fearless in the face of adversaries that terrified even him time and time again.

But now she was running like a frightened rabbit in a haphazard manner. And if she didn’t calm down soon, she could definitely slip or trip or worse fall, causing herself tremendous injury on the mountain’s dangerous path. And what would he tell Ceedat? How would he explain that to anyone? At the very least it would be expulsion from the training and an end to all their hard work and dreams.

“STOP! ZARAH! FUBBY! STOP!” He took off after the both of them in a dash, dangerously close to tumbling himself but finally close to catching them when he heard it.

“MMMMMEEERUMPHF!”

He froze at the sound of it. And slowly turned to his right to find a pair of small round white moonlit eyes in the shadows on the edges of the path. Something was definitely there. He saw it and his blood ran cold. His legs became heavy and he couldn’t move. He turned around trying to run away as fast as he could be when he saw them, the same type of small white luminescent eyes, multiple ones on either side of the mountain path, and a lump rose in his throat.

‘What was it, a ghost or a beast?’ He wondered as he stood there sinking further and further into the ground in fear.

‘Was he going to die? Is this how his life finally ends? Death by disembowelment by whatever beast lurked in the shadows of the mountain trees. The many white eyes in the shadows gripped him with even more fear and he was finding it difficult to breathe. Just as he was sinking in his terror he looked to his left at his friends one last time and he saw them both standing together, turning helter-skelter at the many eyes coming from the shadows and panicking at the terrible strange sounds that they were making. And at that moment, watching them in terror numbed his own fear. His fear of the beasts in the shadows gave way to his worry for his friends. He couldn’t let anything happen to them. If anything happened to them while he watched he would never be able to forgive himself or live it down.

And so he took in a small breath of courage and forced his legs to move towards his friends. He could sense the eyes jerking and reacting to his movement and his fear came back sharply, threatening to freeze him in terror once again but he forced his eyes back onto his friends and he kept moving towards them. As he got closer and closer he became more and more courageous and less afraid.

When he finally got to both of them they were so frightened that they jumped at the sight of him as if he was a beast himself.

“Don’t worry, it’s me; Michael.”

“Boss, what’s that? In…in the shadows?” Fubby said.

“I don’t know…but let’s go.”

They didn’t respond. So, he nudged them.

“Let’s get out of here.” he repeated but they were both too terrified to move.

“Come on!” he clapped their backs

“No, I’m scared.” Zarah said weakly, rooted at the spot where she stood. So he grabbed her by her clothes and pulled.

“LET’S GO!” he said loudly at which even the eyes in the shadows jumped and Zarah began to follow him leaving Fubby.

“Let’s go, man!”

“Boss, ah…i dey fear o!” he said weakly.

“DO YOU WANT TO GET LEFT BEHIND?” he yelled because he was starting to get angry.

“N…no.”

“THEN COME! IT’S ALRIGHT! WE’LL BE FINE!” still no movement from Fubby until Michael added.

“Fubs, if you don’t come with us right now, we will find your bags and keep all the food for OURSELVES ONLY!”

“WHAT!?” Fubby yelled startling the mountain beasts.

“Yes, now COME ON!” and Fubby promptly ran to meet up with them.

“Are you sure we’ll be fine?” he asked keeping way too close to Michael that he could smell Fubby’s intense pungent sweats.

“Trust me. We’ll be fine.” Michael said and he meant it. He was beyond fear at that moment, he was resolved. These two people were some of the most important people in the world to him, so if anything dared to scratch them they would have to answer to him.

That was the moment Michael found his braveheart. He wasn’t afraid anymore. He didn’t know exactly how they would defend themselves if indeed a wild animal did try to attack them but however it went, he was not going to make it easy for them. Even if they were to die, they would die fighting, together.

Soon afterward, Zarah removed her clothes from his grip and began walking on her own, her confidence regained and Fubby also walked with a bit more confidence. Eventually, they saw less and less of the white eyes in the shadows and so they paid less attention to them. And in no time they actually got to where they were going. Near to the bottom of the rough side of the mountain where they left most of their belongings when they first came here.

“THERE! My bags are over there!” Fubby said in excitement as he ran to about three large travel duffel bags conveniently tucked together on the side of the path. They were in good condition only a bit dirty from the sand the wind blew over them.

“Alright, let’s grab them and go.” Michael said wanting to leave as soon as possible but Fubby had other plans.

“No, wait. I want to check for something.”

“Oh, come on now.”

“No, I’ll be quick. I promise.” he insisted as he began to unzip the side of the first bag. Immediately he did that, he beamed with a wide smile.

“JACKPOT! SCORE BABY!”

“What? What’s in it!”

“Only everything that I could ever need to eat.”

The others came over to look at the bag they beamed too. Fubby’s first duffel bag was filled with the largest amount of junk food Michael had ever seen in his life; Three Musketeers, Pringles, Cold Mountain, Oreo cookies, Smarties, Energy bars, and all manner of sealed sandwiches and oatmeal snack bars.

“For the love of God!” Michael gasped “All this…just…for you?”

“Subhanallahi! Fubby!” Zarah’s jaw dropped “Is this how you eat?”

“Yep!” he grinned.

“No wonder you were struggling at training, you were already one snack away from a diabetes stroke.”

“Life is short, Zar. Eat while you can.” Fubby said smugly.

“Can I try the Snickers?” Michael asked.

“Why are you asking? Just DIG IN!”

And before anyone could get anything, Zarah grabbed a Pringles bottle ripped it open, grabbed a handful of the crispy chips, and stuffed it hurriedly into her mouth, while the guys watched her in surprise.

“Sorry…I’fe been hungwy por a long time.” she mouthed and the guys laughed before each pulled out a Bounty and a Three Musketeers bar.

And so they sat there, all munching on their different treats and laughing despite the near-perpetual darkness and the fact that it was just the three of them all alone at the foot of a mountain. Nevertheless, they were all in sheer joy, at that moment.

Until they saw it.

They all heard it before they saw it. Only a few paces from them, one of the creatures with the scary white eyes under the moonlit glow that they had been afraid of all along, was right there.

“MEHEEEEN!”

They froze.

All rooted to their places until the seemed to take a step forwards.

“God o!” Fubby ducked with a bar of KitKat still clutched in his hand and laid flat on the ground behind one of his large bags. Zarah couldn’t see anywhere to run and it was too dark to run, so she remained rooted even as the creature seemed to take a step toward them. Michael’s hands were shaking and he dropped Hobnobs he was munching on.

The animal took another step toward them and Zarah gulped in fear. That’s when Michael acted, even with the heart-stopping fear that gripped him he pushed Zarah behind him and on top of Fubby and took off one of his boots in defense. All he knew was to get up and protect his friends but the creature advanced undeterred. He didn’t know what he would do if you beast decided to launch an attack, would he throw the boot or what? His hands were shaking now, the boot also as yet again the creature came closer. It was now less than feet away from them and Zarah crouched with her head down over a curled Fubby and Michael too was beginning to feel the beginning of hot urine down his legs when the creature seemed to open his mouth and…

“BLEEEE HEEEE!”

The animal said and they all froze again but this time it was not in fear because the sound was familiar. It was too familiar. Fubby got up.

“Wait a minute! Is that…?”

And yes, the animal’s horns, hoofs, fur, long goatee, and glassy eyes were unmistakable.

“…is that a goat?” Fubby said from behind Michael and he looked more closely the creature in front of him was none other than a harmless mountain goat.

“HA! IT’S A GOAT!” Zarah yelled.

“Can you believe this?” Michael said dropping his boot and wearing it again “It’s just a stupid goat, can you imagine?”

“hahahaha!”

They laughed even as the goat came into their midst hoping for a taste of Michael’s digestive biscuit. He picked it up and held it for the animal to grab effortlessly.

“Oh, I can’t believe this. Oya, let’s get out of here before Michael feeds our entire manna from heaven to goats.”

They grabbed the three bags which surprisingly had varying quantities of snacks in them along with his clothing and headed up the mountain back to their dormitories. They stashed a sizeable quantity with Zarah who had more room and the guys took the rest to the guys’ section.

“GOOD EVENING, MY NEIGHBOURS!” Fubby announced in his characteristic cheerfulness again as he and Michael waltzed in. But their comrades hardly paid any attention to them.

“Hey, hey! Can you please allow us to sleep in peace? Or are you two going to get us more punishments?” One cadet responded. Fubby had made training more difficult for the rest of the squad by incurring punishments from sergeant Kamilu and today Michael got them into trouble with Ceedat.

“Forget sleep! Tonight, we dine like KINGS!” Fubby said as he proceeded to share all manner of snacks bars and cookies with semi-hungry cadets and they all screamed and scampered towards him overcrowding him. That night, all was well, forgiven and merry as all the stallion cadets really did dine like kings and Fubby talked long into the night, recounting their tale at the foot of the mountain and their run-in with the scary beast that turned out to be nothing more than a goat and most of all about Michael’s bravery and from that night he dubbed him Sir Bootsalot!

Is it me or does it happen to everyone? Why are mine not seeing the updates?

Mr Abdul I have been following your Nices story since 2020 even your blog self dae hear am from my hand. I must commend baba you are doing well 💯💯

Nairaland no dey allow me update this story o

It's not just u boss

xaviercasmir:
Is it me or does it happen to everyone? Why are mine not seeing the updates?

Thanks boss.

I truly appreciate u.

Damilgodwin:
Mr Abdul I have been following your Nices story since 2020 even your blog self dae hear am from my hand. I must commend baba you are doing well 💯💯

adeabdul2:
It's not just u boss

I thought as much. Please the moderators do the needful

After being dismissed by Ceedat Michael took his leave and left, towards the Stallion dorm. He was so tired that he could hardly walk. Commander Datijo’s chores were nothing less than another round of training. The only difference was that this time, Micheal was enduring the torture alone, and with a co-cadet to talk, moan or complain to, the pain seemed much more painful than it actually was.

He has hardly taken a few paces further on before Fubby came running and called him back.

“He’s gone inside. Come on let’s go.”

Michael sighed in pathetic resignation. The last thing he wanted right now was to go down the rough side of a mountain in search of heavy bags but Fubby needed them, and badly too. He wasn’t coping with the messy mess of food and said he had some in his luggage. The ones everybody discarded at the foot of the mountain the day they all arrived here.

Most thought their time here would be a breeze but like Commander Datijo had said to them: “This mountain is fire, it will burn out your weaknesses and clean your mind of stupid thoughts.”

They got back to the shrub closest to Ceedat’s quarters and found Zarah still on the lookout.

“Did he come out?”

“No, he just turned off the light and I haven’t seen any movements since then.”

“Nice! Let’s go!” Fubby waved to Michael and surprisingly, Zarah followed them.

“Don’t look at me like that, of course, I’m coming with you.” she said and took the lead and they both stopped and stared at her.

“Mad o!” Fubby laughed.

“Thank God for Zarah.” Michael thought, he could barely put one foot ahead of the other not to mention having to carry heavy bags from down a mountain.

Eventually, it got dark and they had to force her back behind them because that path of the mountain was hardly ever used due to the steep nature of the side. They could only see glimpses of it from their jogging route and God only knows what kinds of creatures slept there.

They headed down smoothly enough. With Fubby and Michael in the front on either side of the path carefully looked out for the rocks and holes in the floor since they had no light and to make things easier for Zarah.

Smoothly it was until Fubby saw something in the bushes.

Voice of fubby mad o!!

Oga sir drop that your blog link

“WHAT WAS THAT?” he shrieked and quickly pointed before taking off down the mountain’s rough steps quicker than a gazelle.

“Slow down, Fubs. Wait for us.” Michael said trying to catch up with him but he was ahead of the rest of them now almost running even.

“Stop now, wait for the rest of…AHHH!” Zarah shrieked and Michael looked behind him to find her looking frozen in place.

“Zarah? What’s …what’s wrong?” Michael asked but she wouldn’t budge until suddenly she also took off past him and down the steps.

“Auzubillahi minna shaytani rojeem!” she whimpered.

“Zarah? Fubby…guys wait…STOP!” he went after the both of them but they didn’t slow down.

“What could they have seen to make…?” he wondered getting scared himself. Suddenly he also could feel a gaze creeping up onto his skin. Somebody or something was watching him. He could feel the gaze like ants creeping up on his skin. But he shrugged off the feeling and instead focused on his friends running dangerously down a rough and steep path. He particularly worried about Zarah, the way she was running was very troubling. It was sheer panic. He was surprised to see her that way. She, who had seemed so fearless in the face of adversaries that terrified even him time and time again.

But now she was running like a frightened rabbit in a haphazard manner. And if she didn’t calm down soon, she could definitely slip or trip or worse fall, causing herself tremendous injury on the mountain’s dangerous path. And what would he tell Ceedat? How would he explain that to anyone? At the very least it would be expulsion from the training and an end to all their hard work and dreams.

Baba I have sent you mail please acknowledge

I can't boss.

I think I've been banned or something.

This book never end?

Do you still post on T*sh, dear? Was following your story there. Big fan!