Wild West of the Heart

"What do you want to be when you grow up, Michael"

A six year old Mira sat in the sands, her pupils dilated as she looked up at the teacher. Behind those eyes were all the possibilities and at the same time, none.

"A pilot" She settled in, her voice going into a whisper. Her words were filled with doubt because deep down, she knew she'd never really seen a woman flying a plane. But then again, she could swear she wanted to be an architect like last week and a surgeon the week before.

The teacher let out a hum, admiring such a child that dared to be brave that dared to dream big, even though in her eyes, Mira was nothing but a boy. Immediately she walked past her, her eyes settled on Silva as he played with his toys on the sands. Mrs Adams cleared her above him, drifting his attention towards her.

He looked up, with dirt in his hands and nails. Silva was in a gown because somehow that day, he'd managed to shit in his actual uniform. He was always messy like that, not that he had much friends to begin with everyone was just ashamed to be around someone who still shat themselves in primary one. Except the one person beside him, Mira.

"What about you, DaSilva?"

He stared in quagmire. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Adams rephrased. "Happy" He replied without a single hesitation and the rest of the kids were quick to jeer, laughing amongst themselves. "He's so weird" They said. But none of them could understand, except Mrs Adams, who just nodded-somehow more impressed at that answer than at Mira's. Silva sat there, unfazed. Unlike the rest of these people, including one child that said he wanted to be as rich as his father, success meant much more than wealth and fame to him. But only him understood in that moment why of all the things to be, he'd chosen happy.

Mira looked to him, with a smile. And Adams looked to the next child. "Quiet." She urged, halting the whisperings. "What about you, David?" Her voice faded in his ears as Mira held unto his hands. It had been them, since he'd moved them. And all his life, he had been in pursuit of that one thing as if it were a career-happiness.

He didn't think he got it till he saw his life flash before his eyes, all the moments here spent with Mira and the girls, and Obi. All of it, including his dreams, his ambitions. All he'd hoped to do the next day and his heart sank. Mira's as well as she held unto his hand like they were five years again, thinking they had so much life ahead of them.

A tear slip down her cheeks as the ambulance wailed across from her. The flashing lights emerged from the tear gas that filled the air-somehow overshadowing the chaos around them. She yelled tighter, going against his only wish then. She wasn't about to let go, not after this long of holding.

"Help" She wailed, and suddenly it was as if her ears had tuned out everything but a piercing sound. All she saw were the men that drew close to her as she pulled aside-

-

their feet stepping on the placards and banners scattered all over the floor. It was meant to be a good day, really was.

It wasn't until grade two that David, Mira and Silva became the best of friends. And the three were literally inseparable. They would often sit behind the evergreen trees, making the most absurd plans. Some about being a superhero and one where David wished he had two wives.

Now, that was normal. But it took a lot of convincing for Obi to even listen to whatever his reason was. Plans, were all they made as if they would always be together. They convinced themselves that and it all seemed possible.

It was, because they were inseparable like i said, until they weren't. On the verge of turning eighteen, they all had big decisions to make, what they wanted to be and where they wanted to be.

And if at all, it was what they'd on the playground then. David moved all the way to the FCT, and at some point, Silva as well had to move to the University of Nigeria. Left to him, it was more of what his mother wanted—

that he at least got a degree, something about how that made you more of a responsible man in the society. Silva wasn't the brightest, but he was good if he tried. He managed to get an education course at the nation's college where he'd spent three years of his life. Wasted.

Maybe that would be a better word. Because in the end, he didn't get any degree, neither did he get anything substantial from there. His life has always been this slope that never ends, like a spiral but it isn't necessarily going downwards. It just was like a circle, and that's how he felt.

Silva made that decision to drop out after three undomesticated years. Merely hours away from Mira, they occasionally took time to meet each other and she'd spend a night with him on campus, because then she didn't have a roof over her head. She didn't have the opportunity for university and all of that because the moment she clocked eighteen-she was out of that house.

And while everyone else was planning for a future they hadn't even seen, Mira was just trying to stay alive in the present. Luckily she had Silva and she'd like to think he was there for every major event that happened in her life. It felt good to run to someone when your crush did as much as make eye contact with you, or when you get jumped in the streets for being too effeminate. Someone to run to in your time of need, comfort and happiness. They were all of that to each other. And not even distance or time, or school or whatever life did throw at him, nothing could separate them. So in some sense, even if he was half a dozen hours from her, it didn't feel as much. However, when he got back to Lagos and told her he wasn't leaving again-the moment was a close second to her happiest. He was sat on the bed, hands beside his head as her eyes set on his suitcase.

"Tell me all about it" She jumped on top of me, straddling his shoulders."It was just normal nigerian college" Silva held her still like a playful child. Then i think Mira's abode was merely a tent under a bridge but it was something at least. Through the canopy, you could see the headlights of the cars as they drove past and whenever they did, Mira would close her eyes. "Tell me" She still urged. "I want to know"

Now, this was several years back but somehow, it was still fresh in her memory. "Okay okay" He rolled his eyes, giving in to her Mira pressure. "I met someone" A smirk found its way to his lips as hers dropped. "His name's Eli"

-

"We have our third victim from the riot-" The paramedics wheeled him in as Mira was whisked to the side. She held her mouth, struggling to follow him into the emergency room. The cold froze her tears as she halted. "Twenty nine year old male, gunshot wound to the upper abdomen. Just lost consciousness in the back of the ambulance. GCS 3-"

There was that piercing sound that went through her ears as she saw his arms drop to the side like they were lifeless, dripping blood in the direction he was wheeled. She tried to breathe, like all of a sudden she had forgotten how to. And when he was out of sight, they'd left her, falling to her knees in the middle of hospital hallway.

Now, she couldn't even tell them of what Silva had said or what she'd thought he said. Nothing made sense in that moment. She just stared at the blood and then up at the security. "You have to save him" Her voice cracked, as if he could do much. She regained her full consciousness the moment she saw more ambulances pull up in the front.

And with moist eyes, she staggered to the side-seeing more and more injured bodies come in. She could easily take it back, what she'd said earlier. She did something for her country but it was something far from pride. Or even patriotism, it was resentment at everyone including the police, including the people that swore to protect us. Dare.

And those same people were the reason her friend was here, fighting for his life. The reason that these people in front of her were here. Everything had gone south and she had no idea if Obi had even made it out of the riot- -the once peaceful protest that was overtaken by hoodlums and immediately the police saw the opportunity and took it, opening fire on people whose only offense was ask for a better future. Over the most innocent Nigerians. Nothing could ever be the same after that day, the sun had completely gone down and there was still gloom in the air and dust particles that sought a place to settle. Mira recalled how the day bad started off full of possibilities. Yet somehow, here they were. Here she was, stained by the blood of her friend-the blood she was never supposed to get on her. She remembered every moment up until when he pushed her away. "Don't touch me Mira" He whispered. "I'm bleeding. I have it" The worst combination of words one could say in the time she was in. It didn't make sense, none of it did. And she muted whatever thought went through her head. Silva can't it. He just can't have AIDS.

-

Obi was fine.

In fact he was screaming through the chaos, almost as if it awakened some part of him that had been dead. He ran with his arms out, loosing sight of both Abdul and Olamide who he could swear he had seen from afar.

He tied his handkerchief over his nose as he ran into the crowds. Fiyin and Deborah as well, who were frantic at the sound of the gunshots. Deb began to wonder what if one of the stray bullets hit someone, unaware that it actually did. They were far from their homes, so going back wasn't even an option. Instead once their eyes set on a cabin in the distance, they'd diverted their direction towards it. "There" Fiyin pointed, making her away down the sloppy hill and digging her feet into the mud. "We could stay here till this clears up" She pulled open the door, daring to look back at the chaos behind her. "Shit's rough out there" Deb pulled her arms, closing the dusty cabin doors behind her.

They looked around, ensuring this wasn't some start of a horror movie and there wasn't a hanging body behind them. Luckily, it was a merely an uncompleted building.

Fi heaved the deepest sigh, placing Deb's hands to feel her racing heartbeat. Deb chuckled, drawing her in for a hug for some reason and she just rested upon her shoulders, her phone torch the only source of light they had in the dark. Obi could wish he had that as he made his way down the side of the roads, into where he guessed was the direction home. He sprinted with his converse as the clouds above him seemed to clear. He could finally see the familiar billboards- not that he was any way close home.

He'd need to take a bike at least which was what Ola did.

Obi thought of pausing to catch his breath but the fear of the chaos catching up with him propelled him forward the more. But then he suddenly heard his name from behind-

-which was one good enough reason for him to halt. "Ab" He called, assuming he had tailed behind this whole time. But the moment that he turned around, Obi was met the shock of his life. His heart sank into his chest as he pushed a hard lump down his throat. It was as if the bedlam circled around the both of them. "Obi" She whispered.

And he shut his eyes, only to open it again to realize that it wasn't not a dream, that this whole night wasn't some drug induced hallucination of his. It was real, she was there.

In a frail caftan skirt and a silk long sleeved top. "Mom?" Those words forced a sharp pain to pierce right through.

To be continued...