Near Miss

THREE

Datare felt ashamed of being angry at Seyi but she could not help herself. No one expected what happened, but what she expected even less is for Seyi to throw all plans out the window instead of being a man. To go back home without concrete assurance is a bit awkward. Her family will want to know: How he is? When they are Traveling? She should not have told so many people about traveling and her Marriage plans. She decided to go home and act as if nothing has changed. 

 "For how long will you stay angry? You have to move on." Uncle D said letting himself into Seyi"s room. "

"When things like this happen , one must find something to hold on to because the hurt and the pains will pass; believe me" Seyi said nothing still.

 "I think you should go to camp." Seyi suddenly became even angrier.

The situation did not only strip him of everything he knows, it also put this man in charge of his life all of a sudden. His anger quickly gave way to resignation.

Whatever. It was agreed that Uncle D will take him to the bus pack on Friday. The next day Uncle D found excuses- chiefly shopping for camp- to get Seyi out of his room. They went to the company branch in Nigeria. It is a small office but full of activities. Sadly though most of what they had been doing since the crash is containing the chaos that followed. Seyi discovered that most of the investors are not confident in the running of the company without the principal officers being his parents. The investments are mainly from home, internally generated through family and friends who raced to secure their cash at the wake of the news of the death of his parents. It is a crisis that Seyi wants no part of. By Thursday morning he was excited to be doing his final preparations for NYSC. One of Uncle D's children served in the corps the year before and was very helpful to let Seyi know what exactly to prepare for. Two white T shirts -check, two proper white shorts - check, Well fitting sport shoes -check, A good quality pouch -check, as well as some ready to eat provisions and bottles of water. He was warned sternly not to go with anything of value because it was said of camp that 'if you do not close your eyes very well, it might get stolen before you wake up'. Seyi decided not to go with his phone. He told himself that he did not want to lose it. The truth is that he was not willing to confront life at this moment. He does not have the strength or resolve to deal with the Datare situation right now. He understands what she expects of him but the situation has changed greatly. He can definitely not go abroad now because he will give the banks a person to hound, not to mention the mortgage and the staff that are probably wondering what to do next. They will want to know if they still have jobs. They do not. Let Uncle D sort out the sordid details and whatever is left, if anything is left will be there when he returns from camp.

 Datare decided not to call Seyi. She really wants to find out how long it will be before he comes to himself and want to talk to her. The moment she got to camp it was a rush of activities. She came late and so had to catch up on everything beginning with the registration, to securing a bed and getting her kit. It was hectic because she had to do all this at her free time. The camp has its own preplanned activities that begin from four am. This means that you have to wake up at about three to bathe with the water that was secured the day before and kept safely under the bunk, in freezing subzero weather. After dressing up one may be tempted to snooze for a few minutes but without warning the bugle goes off signaling that everyone must move to the camp ground for morning drills. This ends at about seven am. One would imagine rest: No, now is the time to go and queue under the morning sun for breakfast. By friday morning Datare could not stand the silence so she called Seyi. The Phone rang continuously with no response. She became scared for a moment that something bad had happened to Seyi. She continuously kicked herself for not having Uncle D’s number. 

Seyi arrived camp Friday evening. All he was able to accomplish that day was to get a bed to sleep in. Here in camp No one knows what happened to him; nobody cares, it is great. After doing all that is required of him by the camp authorities, he settled into camp life by throwing himself into football. He joined his platoon at just the time when it was building a football team. He played, fooled around, and did not have a care in the world. His life was far away.   

Two weeks into camp, some resource persons were brought to camp to talk to corper ( the common name for NYSC members) about career choices. Some even carried out aptitude tests for instant employment of really brilliant corpers. During one of those sessions a foreign artist was brought to talk to corpers about perception and all things abstract. After the teaching, Datare was selected along with other ladies to serve refreshment to the guest speakers. The name of the artist is Ken. Datare learnt this when he called her aside to talk to her. They chatted for as while and he was gone. The surprising thing is that in two days he was back and specifically asked to see Datrare.

"Do you know what artist blocks means?" Ken asked after the pleasantries were done with.

"No". "This means that for some time, an artist is not able to produce any work. Not for lack of trying, but there is just no inspiration, what we call muse.

"Datere" he said not pronouncing her name right. "Yesterday i learnt that you are my muse". "I have not been able to paint for a long time" He continued seeing that she needs more explanation.

"When this happens i try to find new inspiration. This is what brought me to Jos. It is not my first time here, but amidst the mountains i find peace and inspiration. Not this time though. This time i found inspiration in you. Yesterday in my hotel room i painted for the first time in months."

Youth obey the clarion call,

Let us lift our Nation high,

Under the sun or in the rain,

With Dedication and Selflessness,

Nigeria is ours, Nigeria we serve.