Sing Of A Tree In The Wild

Keep Your Enemies Closer

17:15

Dennis

Sometimes, all you need is a kiss of good luck.

We're about five minutes away from school and the atmosphere in the bus is still as exuberant and agog as it has been, ever since we got in with our exhausted, stinking bodies and heavy bags: the loud discussions, the celebratory selfies, the proud chants.

What a time to be alive.

Given the one-all draw we had a fortnight ago, the least we needed was a draw that was neither 0-0 nor 1-1, meaning that a two-all draw or higher would give Grace the away-goal advantage. We went there with a win at the back of our minds. While that wasn't what we got, we're still grateful for the result that we had.

The game started off badly for us. Two defensive errors left us two goals behind by the half-hour mark; we were losing 3-1 on aggregate. It was despondence at its best.

I couldn't even talk or scream on the bench. It was at that moment that I truly understood how it felt to be powerless. I was faced with a disheartening situation and there was nothing I could have done about it. I willed the forwards to score, to no avail. It was then I was struck with an utterly destructive thought...

If you had simply kept up the act and snubbed Elfrida again, you would have started and this wouldn't have happened.

Nonetheless, Elfrida's words, 'Be the deciding factor', kept ringing in my ears. How could I be the deciding factor if I wasn't even a factor to begin with?

Shortly before the commentator announced the 70th minute mark, Isaac ran down to the side-lines, presumably for a water break. Rather than pick up a bottle and gulp down its contents, he struck up a conversation with Coachie. By the time Coachie motioned to me after Isaac left, I knew there and then that a three-month old favour had just been returned.

A counterattack resulted in Grace pulling one back; a boy named Khalid firing into an empty net. We expected the second to follow shortly after. But it did not.

Less than ten seconds to the end of the game, we were awarded a corner after a promising move met a deflection. Demola took the corner and the ball fell to Isaac, who headed the ball against the bar. Just when everyone thought it was done and dusted, I fired the rebound, which flew unobstructed to the back of the CMS net.

It truly was done and dusted.

When the referee finally blew the whistle, the atmosphere within the Grace camp went up in a gigantic ball of flames. You can trust Coachie to have expressed how immensely proud he was of me, given the complicated happenings of late.

So, my crush feels the same way and my school made it to the state finals for the first time in history, thanks to my winning goal, both on the same day.Indeed, what a time to be alive.

The bus just drove past the main gate; more shouts of victory and triumph have ensued. They would have drawn quite a throng if the school weren't as deserted as it is now.

"Boys! We have arrived!" Coachie rings out before literally jumping off the front passenger seat. He's pretty agile for someone in his late forties.

"Dennis, don't fall down again o!" Isaac blurts out, to the amusement of everyone in the bus, myself included. Now, we're all out of the bus. The chilly breeze and the luminous, golden sun have never been of more substance and beauty to me as they are now.

"Give it up for Dennis Asiegbu!" Chike rings out, followed by more shouts, a raucous applause and playful slaps on my back. Isaac moves to my side and hangs his arm round my neck.