Wild West of the Heart

Mira hated needles.

She felt dizzy at the sight of it. The sight of the syringe piercing into her skin and drawing blood into the tube. She looked away but the nurse held her other hand. Closing her eyes, she managed to take her mind off everything. She'd rather imagine a time in the future, a time after all of this. She usually does that, that way it would reassure her that times like these were temporary. And there's a future where there's calm, there's tranquil but that's all hope. She wasn't sure of the future, she wasn't sure it would ever be the same as before and Silva would be there.

Her hand was squeezed and she opened her eyes. "We're done" The nurse whispered, covering the wound with a methylated wool. Mira used her nails against it, feeling a sharp pinch that only lasted a second. She stood up, nodding to the nurse. "When When will the results be?"

"We'd have it by tomorrow. And we'll give you a call" She didn't let her finish. "I'll be here, don't bother. I'm never leaving here" She pouted, turning to face the door. The nurse picked up the tape that had her name on it. Michael. And pasted it across the blood-filled syringe. She placed it into the tray, next to the other samples she had taken. There was Hassan, Dare, Dee, Tara and the rest of the girls from the club. There was also Fiyin, and Ola from earlier. And as Mira walked through the door, Obi walked in.

"You got this" She whispered as he closed it. Eyes on the nurse who had a fresh syringe in her hands, he pushed a lump down his throat.

"Are you okay?" Dee stood to hold Mira's hands. They locked eyes with each other as hers became moist."I just want to see him" She whispered. "Soon, we will" Dee turned to the rest of the girls behind her. "We're all here to see Silva. You're not alone, and you don't have to do this alone" She walked into her arms, holding out for a hug.

Obi sat into the chair, reminiscing about the days he stuck a syringe into his own arms. She searched for a vein and she had found one, she inserted the needle to draw his blood. He didn't look away, he stared strongly instead. And the nurse could sense he was no stranger to needles inside him.

"And we're done" She pulled it out, pasting his name across it. Obioma. And then, she placed in the last space in the metal tray. "Thanks" Obi loosened the rope around his arm before he pressed against his cotton wool. "You'll get the results by tomorrow" She halted, discarding her gloves into the trash beside her. And Obi staggered towards the door. Mira was the first to receive him as if she herself, wasn't just comforted by someone else. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, i'm fine" He faked a smile as she took his hands. "You should go home" She rubbed his palms. "No, i want to see Silva-" He replied.

"We're not exactly sure when that would happen and Obi, you have your exams to prepare for" She whispered. "It's just WAEC" He waved and she scoffed. "It's your finals." "Come on"

Obi made eye contact with Dare behind her. "Let us figure this out. And you, just be a kid for once and let your biggest worry be your exams" She smiled. "Not bringing some occult murderers to justice. Go home, Obi" She softly said. And he let go, looking down at his untied laces. Mira pulled away to Dare's side. "We'll come home soon" She couldn't even convince herself that was true. Obi stood there without telling her that his biggest worry couldn't be exams. It was his mother, showing up at a time like this.

"Mom?" Those words forced a sharp pain to pierce right through. He was taken back to the very moment he'd halted amidst the chaos. And his eyes trailed the woman before him.

"Obi" She took a second forward, and he backed away with tears in his eyes. "What?" He felt weak, like he could fall to his knees. "It's me" She nodded. "It's me, Obi. It's me" The tear fell from his eyes as he turned away. "No-" He couldn't make sense why she was here.

So instead he turned to run away.

"I want to talk Obi" His heart sank as she took a few steps forward.

"You know where to find me" Her last words fell his ears as he paced down the pavements with halting breathes-like his life depended on it. He didn't do as much as pause, he just let the lactic acid build up in him till he couldn't breathe anymore and then he fell.

Across the front porch of his own house, he sobbed. He'd run all the way and all the distance till he got here. And he clutched his chest, looking up at the door. The tears were in his eyes as his lungs began to open up again, taking in air through gasps.

And it wasn't until his head had calmed, and his heart stabled, that he realized he had almost died. He turned to face the sun, tears streaming down his face and down his neck. What was she doing here?

Now walking out of the exit, the sun rays in his eyes as well, Obi still had the exact question. He walked to the bus-stop, her voice echoing his ears. "I just want to talk, Obi-" And the self-questioning as if he wanted to. If he wanted to maybe hear the excuse she had for abandoning him then.

Or maybe he just wanted closure, but that won't be possible if she wanted to be his life again. Did she? There were a million questions and only way to answer them. As the bus approached the stop towards the direction home, Obi stepped back. He pulled out his phone to check the time.

And then he was headed down the opposite path.

"You know where to find me" Were her last words. He did know. And after much thought, he was headed in that direction-the same place where she had abandoned him.

-

"What's our status?"

Dare tried to match Mira's pace as she downed the cup of coffee in her hands. "I've reached the people at the office, they were able to confirm that there is a secret exclusive called aces, running shady underground activities. They've been linked to famous deaths including high profile politicians across the state, other cult members, including members of an insurgent group in the North-" Mira looked to him. "One thing common amongst all of this is the thought they're going good" He added.

"Well what does someone as mediocre as Jazz have to do with all these profile killings?" She wrapped her head around his last statement as she took a seat. "We've been searching for that common denominator, the one your friend Jazz shares with the rest of the other recent killings"

"Asides the fact that they had all been recently diagnosed with HIV?" She asked. "Asides the fact that they have all been recently diagnosed with HIV, the places where their bodies have been found. Secluded joints, parks, under-bridges and clubs. All venues designated for meeting up" He rested back in his chair as Mira put two and two together. "They didn't go after our victims, our victims went after them. Or they met them halfway" She added.

"Our victims were lured to the places they were killed. That would mean their killers aren't strangers, but rather someone they'd been talking to, for weeks maybe. Someone they had trusted with secrets like their HIV status" He said. "But Jazz?"

"We were able to get our hands on her phone and we did see a text to a person called J. Now, she met up with that person the night of her murder but that is a reach. There isn't much to narrow down all of the evidences" He said and Mira took in a deep breath. "But Reginald? I thought he and Jazz-"

"Sometimes, people want more. They look the other way. Besides, he said they'd broken up" Dare replied. "If Jazz texted this J the night, does that mean, it's online. I mean, the predators they target our victims online?" She sat forward, the coffee rejuvenating her brain cells as Dare wrote something in the jotter in his hands. "That's brilliant Mira but that would mean a site where our victims use. I'm talking a common-" "A queer app?" She completed, a sigh escaping her lips. "Fuck."

"I think i know one, and someone that uses it" She remembered Obi and how he used to tell her that he saw people online, including Abdul at the very beginning. Dare stood, drifting her attention back and she shook her head. "Give me a name" He urged. "We don't have time."

-

"Still trying to figure out this question" Deborah threw the textbook across to Ola. He ran his fingers through the question as Fi pasted sticky notes in her bedroom, on which were some of the biological terms she'd tried to memorize. "It's simple" Ola usually started that when it came to physics and Deborah only wished she could relate. "This is moment, and we've been given the force in Newton down here, so just equate the sum of moment on the clockwise side to the sum of moment on the anticlockwise side" He scribbled, drawing arrows across the book.

"That way, it would be this times this and the forty eight here times the N-" He looked up to her eyes and she nodded, a smirk moving to the side of her lips. "Now, it's just simple maths" He tossed the book back to her. "How is he so good at physics?" Fiyin paced across them as Deb fell into her bed. "Literally have no idea" She replied.

"Fi, you promised to help me on those botanical names, they're the last thing i need to cram" He looked to her. "You don't cram biology. Sometimes i forget how smart you really are" She sat down beside him as Deb worked out the rest of the question. "Unfortunately, your grades don't determine whether you're smart or not" He replied her.

She rolled her eyes. "Tell that to the Nigerian education system" "This system sets you up for failure. It's why at the end of high school, we have no idea how taxes and shit like cryptocurrency work. I prefer it back at Texas" He added. "Have Johnsons replied you?" Fi asked and he heaved a deep breath, knowing it had been exactly four days since the interview. "Nope" He shrugged his shoulders. "Luckily i don't have to worry about that till after tomorrow" "I got biology to conquer"

"I'm scared" Deb pretended to cry and Fi hopped between them, holding out her arms. "I wish i could say it's just finals but it's actually not. However, if there's anything i know, it's that both of you are the smartest people that i know and i literally love you both more than anything in the world" She smiled at both of them. "Tomorrow begins the rest of our lives-" Ola whispered. "No" Deb said. "Graduation does."

"And that's in like what, two weeks?" Fi scoffed. "Everything is moving so fast" Deborah replied. "And i don't know if i like it or not" Fi let go of her. "Tell me about it"

"Have you heard from the police, Fi?" He asked. "Am i really expecting to hear from them?" She let out a shrill chuckle. "At this point, i just want to leave. Leave everything behind, the tumultuous high school days" Ola remembered Janet, and how she hadn't reached out to him.

Only rarely would see someone like her protect someone like him. But he guessed he had tried his best, and even Marissa began to believe her former words. "You can't destroy someone like him. The society isn't built against people like him. It's built by them."

"We should just give this up. We'll be out of here in three weeks" She had said the last time they'd seen in the storage closet, which they held their most secret meetings.

A firm grasp drew his attention back to that very room and his eyes immediately met Fiyin's. "What?" He didn't hear what she had said last. "I said how about Obi" She replied much slower. "Have you heard from him?" She asked. And for some reason, Ola's heart began to race but only for a second. "I haven't" He whispered. "He's probably uhm-" "He's probably preparing for tomorrow as well." Now that was a lie.

His feet met where the waves crashed into the sands and the sun-beached sand crystals beneath him. The bristling sounds of the tides receding fell unto his ears like music.

And at the distance from him was her. Dressed with a scarf around her head and the large dark glasses she hadn't let go off after several years. Each step Obo took was one louder than his heartbeat.

He couldn't tell how long she had been waiting there, but she did have some confidence that he would show she did know him to be this predictable, weak and scared-to-be-alone child that always came running back. She looked back, perhaps hearing the sounds of approaching steps.

Her bare feet dipped in the sands, Obi was already inches away from her to take in that familiar scent. "Obi" His name made a home on those pale lips. And though, he had promised himself not to cry, his eyes began to sting. "Mom?"

"Come, Obi. Let's go home" She took his hands, and this time he didn't back away, though there were these goosebumps that ravaged his skin upon her touch and a chill that went up his spine. She pulled him closer to her.

"I have someone that'll love to meet you" She whispered and Obi could only remember how much he loved coming to this place with her and his father. There was still that ice cream truck at the river banks, and a stand for suya next to the ballon shop he'd always throw a tantrum for.

This part of the beach hadn't changed, he'd know if something did. It was just only a few meters from his childhood home and that would justify how often he came. His guess, was maybe that was where they were headed. Home.

To be continued...