Wild West of the Heart
NINETY SIX

"I hate it when it rains"

The asbestos roof were loud when the raindrops beat against them and Obi fell into Ola's bed. "Me too. The road's going to messy tomorrow at the busstop" He let out a chuckle.

"Think of the bright side, tomorrow's the last day of school" He whispered and Ola rolled his eyes. "I wish" He replied. "As if we don't still graduation to go-"

"Please" Obi interrupted. "After tomorrow we won't have to enter that place up until prom and graduation night, besides it's even in the hall upstairs. I'm talking school school" He whispered. "We're done with school school after tomorrow" His joy knew no bounds as he pulled Ola in for a hug.

"Calm down, we still have finals in the way" He raised his legs to the ceiling. "How about Nathaniel? It's been a while since i heard from him" He suddenly said and Obi scoffed.

"He's probably reading his ass off to claim valedictorian. Everyone had their eyes on the prize you know the whole scholarship shit" Ola arched his brows. "Do you have a plan now?" He asked. "Is taking it one day at a time considered a plan in the Mide dictionary?" He teased, only to receive a punch in his arm as he laughed out loudly.

"Not in the Nigerian dictionary it isn't" Ola replied.

"Look all i'm saying is that i don't have to figure it out this very instant. I have time, not much time but still time" His voice cracked as Ola looked away, refusing to believe those were the words he needed to hear. Their backs were against the mattress as their heads brushed each other. They were opposite themselves with legs that brushed the grounds.

"How about you?" Obi asked.

"I uhm" Ola took a pause. "I got rejected by Johnsons who no surprise thought that Bade was a better option. And i couldn't have been prouder" He scoffed and Obi sat up. "I'm so sorry Mide. Everything's going to be alright" He held his shoulders, pulling him for a lasting hug and Ola filled his nostrils with that scent of familiarity mixed with a strawberry fragrance.

Obi smelled like flowers, blossoming ones. Yellow, and red.

"I know" His hands met behind him as Obi heaved in a sigh. "What of Abdu-"

"My mother showed up" He interrupted before Mide pulled away. "What?" His brows arched in quagmire. "Obi-what?"

"Uhm my mother traced me from the Hassan video and she showed up yesterday or was it today? This whole night and day has been like a sort of fever dream" He scoffed, nervously shaking his palms. "She showed up and wanted me to meet her kids and her new family" His voice shaky as Ola reached for his hands. "Oh my God" He softly exclaimed.

"I'm fine. I'm honestly fine. I think i screamed it out till the extent that i lost my voice but it was necessary. It was-" Ola hugged him for the nth time. "It was essential to move on" He whispered as his arms wrapped around his best friend. "Seeing her was" A tear slipped down his cheeks as he sobbed. "Are you okay, Obi?" Ola whispered into his ears and he shrugged his shoulders. "I will be. I will be okay"

-

"I fell in love with Eli"

"He was my first love that wasn't a conventional female or uhm a what was considered normal?" Silva stared into space, holding the pillow in his arms. His face was pale with lesions close his ears and scars near his neck. Bode pushed a lump down her throat, listening to her son.

"It was my first year in college and he was nice because as a queer person, i'm used to have in low standards because when someone is nice i fall in love. I'm not used to that sort of thing but Eli was straight or i thought he was" He added. "It was usually between this mixed signaled stares and the constant reassurance that he was into girls, be it his daily affirmation or the ones he brought back to the room daily. I spent most of my time there miserable, trying to loose these unreciprocated feelings which i eventually did after months-"

"And I focused on making the best out of the remaining time I had back in the university with him. As you know I dropped out the third year and i came back home and years passed without hearing from Eli. I did think of him seldomly but it was nothing too deep asides the fact that he was different" Silva continued.

"Then he called"

"I think months ago, he called that he was in the city and we met up. He's an architect now and uh much different than he was.Between nights at the club, i spent my days with him for I asked long as he spent in Lagos. Then he left and i was down that same spiraling hole that i was back in university" He said.

"Except now, there was a reason to call it heartbreak. Then, we didn't kiss, we weren't anything so there was no reason="

"But you hooked up?" David whispered. "We did more than hookup. Turns out that Eli wasn't so straight afterall. it was a new high for me, each time i got to spend with him was like" He searched for the word. "Was like oblivion so that drunken night was everything i had dreamed of. That was until i found that Eli had given me this disease. He was the only i knew all my life" He scoffed. "Now you weren't there for the hatred and the self-loathe, you were in there for the regrets and you know the downside of dealing with a death sentence of a diagnosis"

"I had to deal with all of that while becoming an alcoholic in the process. I spent my mornings getting wasted and my nights getting wasted, my afternoon getting wasted. You know anything but to think of my pathetic life until i found a purpose"

"Which was Reginald and crippling health sector. All of this gave me a purpose and I'm glad that i fought till my dying breath" "You aren't dying" David said. "You don't know that"

Bode backed away, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Mum?" Silva fraily reached for her hands. "Why didn't you tell me of any of this sooner?" She sobbed. "Because mum, you wouldn't have understood"

"I wouldn't have understood? Since when is that yours to decide Tayo?" She asked. "You're only saying this because i'm sick" He replied. "That is very unfair for you to say" She said.

"Perspective changes when one person is dying" He sniffled. "I love you and nothing was going to change that. Whether you were queer or whatever" "Or whatever" He echoed. "As much of a good mother you are, I don't think you were the best when it came to matters like this" His voice broke and tears streamed down her cheeks. "You were always so clear and transparent and you have these very high expectations that i had to live up to "

"High expectations?" It was her who echoed his words this time. "All my life, i've wanted nothing but to please you. Nothing but to give you exactly what you wanted. I went to that same college because of you even when i told you i didn't want uni. I moved halfway across the " "Silva" David called.

"It isn't fair trying to blame this on your mother?" His voice filled the room as a tear slipped down his cheeks. "It isnt her fault. It isn't anybody's fault"

"Don't you think i know that?" Silva turned to him. "Don't you think i know that i'm the reason for whatever shit that is happening to me right now. I've spent months admitting that fact to myself. Months covering up my lesions in the mirror of each morning and telling myself that i could beat this" His voice cracked. "But this isn't just cancer. It isn't just s tumor that can be taken out or fixed with chemotherapy. It's a virus-"

"And there is no cure for this virus" He added.

"And I can't help but feel that I've wasted my life doing what other people wanted from me. I had no idea that i wasting a life that i didn't even much of" He sobbed. "I could've spent months admitting to myself that i have this virus but only now am I admitting that i'm going to die from it as well. And you have to know that too mum. I wouldn't be around much longer"

"You're not dying today, Silva"

"And you're not dying tomorrow. You still have time. Little time is still time. And now you can spend whatever last days you have mopping around or you can decide to live it. To live every second of every day as if it was still a long time" He said as Bode grabbed his palms in her hands. "Is that what you want?"

He shook his head. "What i want is to go home" He whispered.

Bode looked to David who heaved a sigh. "There's no way they are go-" "I'm going to speak your father" Bode nodded. "And he'll see who he can call. They're going to let you out of here Tayo if that's what you really want" She locked eyes with him as his fingers stroked her jaw. "Thank you, mum" He said.

"No" She replied.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

"For making it seem as though you couldn't come to me with any of this. It shows how much i failed as a mother" Silva shook his head. "Absolutely not" He whispered. "You are the best mother in the entire world, i thought i made that clear with the yearly mother's day cards" He chuckled.

"And don't you ever say i'm sorry, i hate that word. There's always alot of more that and less thank yous" He squeezed her palms. "So when i die" He looked to David. "When i die, no sorrys" He nodded. "No sorrys" He said back, holding Silva's other hand and all of three of chuckled slightly.

"Eli-"

"You should uhm" Bode cleared her throat. "You should reach out to him to get tested so he doesn't infect other people" She continued and he nodded. "I was obliged to tell the doctors, i assume they've already reached out to him alongside Mira and the rest of the crew" He replied, a subtle crack in his voice.

"Mira" She echoed. "Where's your best friend?"

"She was the one that called me. I must say i do have new found respect for her, honoring my only wish" She scoffed. "I was sketchy, always have been. But now, i realize you never really needed me. And she has given you more than i ever could" There was a smile at the corner of the lips as David tried to remember the last of his memories with her.

"I was never alone mum"

"I always had Mira." He whispered.

-

"Mira"

Dare gasped, coming to the surface of the waters. He got water in his mouth as he strut his arms out to remain buoyant. The winds battled with the tides as he looked around him. The keel of the ship drew further from him as he continued yelling. "Mira!"

"Mira, where are you?" He paddled, dipping his head back in search for her underneath the waters. Dare wasn't the greatest swimmer but his months in naval training was an advantage. He swam diagonally, past the few creatures that were in the sea.

His night vision googles were able to highlight anything out of the ordinary as he just kept swimming deeper. Once he was in, he couldn't yell out her name anymore. He just followed the vague trail of blood he assumed was hers until he approached the bottom.

And there she was.

He shot forward, reaching out to her lifeless hands and pulling her into him anxiously. He held his breath, untangling her from the clasp of seaweeds before heading back to the surface of the water. He couldn't tell if it was relief that infatuated his system. Or it was fear that she had been down for so long with the knife in her. "Help" He thrusted out of the water, seeing the ship at a distance from him.

Sara stood on the bow, holding the binoculars to her eyes. She couldn't see him, neither she could hear him no matter how loudly he yelled. "Someone help me" He tossed away the googles, letting his eyes breathe. He held her in his hands, looking to her closed eyes. "It's going to be okay" He whispered to her.

"I'm going to get you out of here"

Dare never believed in miracles but there he was, hoping for one. That if there was such person as a merciful supreme being, He wouldn't let her die this way. His tears mixed the rain in his eyes as her hair floated across the water. She was pale, and stiff and each second that passed, he knew was a second late.

He turned to face the lightning skies. "Please God" He prayed, a crack in his voice. "Please God" He whispered, closing his eyes. He cupped his chin, holding her close to his chest. And it was after a moment of silence that a light immediately shone on him.

It was a miracle.

Perhaps he thought the skies had opened up to him, but as he looked up-he saw an approaching boat and static voices coming from a distance. "Here" He yelled. "I'm down here" He waved in the lights as he swam closer. "I'm right here!" It was as if time had suspended and everything around them moved a lot slower. The boat halted with the navy officers mounting the edge. They let out a rope which Dare held unto. He was pulled on the board and immediately he let go of Mira.

Tossing his shirt away, he fell to his knees, intertwining his hands against her chest. He brought his face to her lips as he pressed her, in the hopes of restarting her heart. "Come on, Mira" They stood aside, watching Dare give her CPR. "Come on"

He was relentless in his attempt to resuscitate her. And seconds had passed, and a minute. Then two, and five. Sara and the ship had drawn towards them as they were headed to the shores. Dare had tears in his eyes as he still pressed against her chest.

But no one said a word.

"Mira. Don't die on me" He sobbed. "Mira, i promised i would save you. Don't die on me" He leaned into her, clasping her nose and pressing his lips against hers. He blew into her mouth before resuming CPR. His eyes never left her eyelids as he did it again.

And again.

"Come on" He hoped for one more miracle. "Come on, Mira"

"Tomorrow's going to change everything" Obi whispered to Ola as they faced the ceiling. The rain had stopped and now, they were in the silence. Fiyin too.

She had her books next to her, but she'd turned away. Folding her arms, she looked up. Everyone was looking up, including Silva. And David-And Bode and the rest of the girls from the club.

They were around his bed, holding out a hand to comfort him. In the silence of course, and Dee struggled to hold back her tears. "Tomorrow changes everything" Ola turned back to Obi. "Come on, Mira"

"Officer" A soldier reached out to Dare as he turned away, tirelessly trying to bring her back to life. "She's gone" He said. "No, she is not gone" Sara watched the veins protrude through his neck. "She's still alive. She is not gone" He gnashed his teeth.

She nodded to an officer before he gripped Dare.

"You're only hurting her" He said, turning Dare's face to him. "Let her go. She's gone" He pulled back in his hands as Dare fell back. He wailed, fighting within his grasp. "Let me go" There was hurt in his voice as tears welled into Sara's eyes. Rain beat against as she raised a leg on the bow. She looked to Vlad, lying across the floor and succumbing to his wounds. He looked to her with subtle eyes and she looked back out there at the surrounding base ships. This was a win, but it didn't feel like one. Instead there she was with tears in her eyes and her partner wailing in another man's arms. And Mira lying lifeless there.

There was no hope.

There was darkness. Loss, and grief in the air. Times that ignited her memories from the war. She remembered drawing her eyeliners and admiring how full of life Mira was earlier that night.

And just like that she was,

She looked pretty in the dark dress, and her hands across her stomach which Dare took the moment he was let go off. He was in his knees, scrambling through his pockets for something. Once he pulled his hands out, he hefted up a ring, Mira's ring.

Holding her frail fingers, he slipped it in.

And there was a moment of silence observed. And just when all hope was lost and placed a goodbye kiss on her hands, she moved.

Mira moved. And Dare felt it.

He shot his eyes open as she immediately jerked forward, throwing up water beside her. She gorged out her intestines before turning to face him. "Mira" He called with disbelief, looking all around him. "She's-" He was tongue-tied. "Dare" She softly called, color rushing back to her face. "You saved me" She whispered and he scoffed. "Mira" The ship halted as Sara sobbed in her palms. The officers raided the decks, grasping Vlad in their hands. "I lost the wires" Mira looked to him.

And all Dare did was hold unto her. "We got him, Mira. We got him. It's all over" He squeezed his eyes, ecstatic as Sara looked below proudly. "We got all we need" She turned to Brandon as he pushed Vlad out the cabins with cuffs around his wrists. "It's over-" Mira echoed and Dare nodded. "It's all over, Mira"

And the rain stopped, and so did the thunderstorm. "Tomorrow"

"Tomorrow changes everything" Fiyin whispered, in the exact position she was as the sun rose next to her foggy windows. She slowly sat up, seeing her freshly ironed uniform hanging by her closet. "Today changes everything" She reiterated.

Obi heaved in a deep breath as Ola pulled down the drapes. He was already in his school shirt while Obi was just waking up. "It was a long night" The sun burst across his face.

"-a really long one" Obi replied.

To be continued...