Near Miss

FOUR

Little fangs of guilt are subtly but persistently upsetting Seyi's peace. He cannot begin to imagine the thoughts that may be plaguing Datare right now. This got him up from the cool comfort of tree shades. He moved to the 'mami' market to call Datare on a pay phone. The phone rang all six times that he called; she did not pick up. He does not blame her. He will try again tomorrow he decided. 

Despite himself Seyi made a friend on camp. Her name is Morenike, yes she is a girl. She was markedly different from every one he met on camp. She was confident, intelligent, solitary and absolutely funny in the most unintended way. The first time he saw her was during his registration. She also came late. Since that time till this third week. they sat down to chat only three times. She somehow manages to bring Seyi out of himself without much effort. Morenike makes it absolutely clear to any lingering guy who crosses her path that she is engaged to be married. Yet it is hard not to be drawn to her because she is such an interesting character. She is an athlete, a broadcaster, plus she plays chess and sometimes volunteers to cook for the camp kitchen. With all her activities Morenike is often scarce so whenever Seyi does bump into her, he is jolly glad. 

This whole week has been the beginning of numerous social activities on camp. One day at the end of a football game the platoon officer approached him ordering him to represent his platoon in the upcoming 'Mr macho' competition. He saw no reason to refuse because it was one more way to keep his sorrows at bay. The stage was crude and very basic but the fun and competition was genuine. It was fun to have members of his platoon rooting for him. It was a strange feeling when the judges announced at the end of the show that Seyi Gold is the winner of the competition. He was given a twenty one inch television as a prize. After the show had long ended a gentleman walked to seyi and tried to talk him into a career in modeling. Seyi just laughed at the idea; nevertheless the man gave him his call card.

Ken came to visit Datare everyday of the week. They attended shows, games and ate lunch together. It was clear to Datare that nothing other than friendship can develop between them but she certainly enjoyed the fame and lavish spending by this white dude. During this time they sometimes left camp to see the new works that Ken has come up with. Ken told her more about himself as they moved around together. Ken was born on a ranch in Nevada. He hated the red-neck lifestyle and wanted more. Lucky for him his talent for painting took him to New York where he got his major break. Datare also told ken about her own less eventful life and all about the broken dreams of travel abroad with her Husband to be who may no longer be.

It is a mess really

What is one to do?

Keep living certainly,

Hoping, praying ,

waiting, Expecting,

Yes Expecting!