I lay my bruised body on the bed like a fresh corpse ready for an autopsy.
there is no shame in losing in my first fight, some of the inmates had told me.
But there is actually shame in losing. if you are the victim, no amount of consolation will change very fact.
I carried the badge of my loss like a septor around my neck, and took a walk around level one with a hooded eyes and blistered lips.
Street nostalgic vibe hit me as I amble about aimlessly without no particular stop in mind.
I found no familiar face. I came back to my cell to rest my acheing body. I let my scattered thoughts float in the air, diluting the clustering energy of thoughts I didn't want to take root on my mind.
Rather, I channeled it outward to feel the vibe of the place as it is.
For a prison, the vibe in the place wasn't bad. It almost felt like, the inmates chose to be here, accepting their fate.
They wanted to win more fights and ascend to the top.The women are as diplomatic as their male counterparts. The rapport between both sexes is that of military comradeship.
People trained day and night. they're coaches training people fighting tactics, who are fighters themselves.
The sound of hammering fist on punching bags could be head when I later hit the jim.
If I couldn't sleep or think with my over worked racing mind, I will use the time to explore the boundaries of my new found liberty in level one.
Rippling muscles of sweating men and women in different training regimen immersed the large interior with the vibrancy of human exertion.
Men and women spar against each other, and the women fought just as nimble as their male counterpart.
"hey newbie, here to throw some punches?" a female voice said from behind. I turned around to meet gazes with a refine athletic woman.
Not knowing why, I came to the place, I nodded and shake my head, then shake and nod my head all over again. This got the lady grinning at me.
She extends one trimmed long hand, cocking her braided head to one side…"Mika". "spooky", I replied and shake hands. Her hand shake was warm, firm, and full of vitality.
Almost as tall as me, the fair woman looks handsome rather than beautiful….
"which one is your answer Spooky, the yes or the no?" she asked, repeating my head gesture.
"l loss my first fight…".
"oh, you are one of the level one losers?" she replied without ceremony, and I felt grateful.
"came to spar?".
"no, I came to work out, I spar in the morning mostly. But we can spar if you like to learn a thing or two."
"I did like that Mika, very much actually, I don't intend to keep losing my fights."
"okay, first thing you should know is; no one is a professional here, it's about sharp wits and reflexes.
Thus, the ultimate goal is to win the fight as swiftly as possible. There are great coaches her who lose most of their fights even against students because they were not quick in enough."
A hand grabbed me roughly from behind, forcing me to turned around. I turned around only to meet a punch to the face, pushing me back to lean on Mika, as she wedge her self on the path of my fall.
The second punch from my assailant didn't reach me this time. Mika had it blocked and trapped between her crossed hands tactfully.
The man winced in discomfort as she twists the snared hand in an unnatural angle, triggering muscles and bones to move in opposite direction, tearing and snapping.
When the wrenched hand finally gave off a pop sound at the shoulder, I felt sorry for my attacker. It will take him a hell of a time to heal from that nasty one.
There was more, a final kick to the bending face of the now helpless man that got him sprawling to the ground, whimpering like a dog with a broken leg.
A small crowd gathered around us, and a familiar woman step forward to help the man stand up. we stared at each other, and a grim smile slash across the haggard, broken face of the woman.
I might've been gawking at her when she said to me, "good to see you too, spooky." Standing beside her now as the crowd disperse was a bearded man I know so well without beard. I guess that's why it took me some time to know who he was.
"you know them?" mika stated., "yes, they are my friends, perhaps once upon a time," I replied skeptically, for the look the two people gave me was nothing but friendly.
***********""""""********************
I stood there with Mika as momma and sky walked out of the gym with many other inmates that where filing out after having trained to their optimum limit.
"thank you Mika,". "never mind, you've gotten yourself another fresh bruise, thanks to your good friend. Don't worry, they will come around. I don't think they hate you that much, this place can be quite scary and overwhelming for newbies."
"yeah, I totally agree,". I gave a toothless grin. "I am glad you are unoffended. If you can take a punch and still keep your cool, then you definitely can be a great fighter. Training starts tomorrow at 6a.m, meet me here."
"hey mika, are you coming or what.?" a man called out to her, and we crash knuckles one last time before she took off.
she removed her t-shirt, exposing strong rippling muscles, the kind I never see in a woman before.
She got to work on the bench, following the instruction of the coach.
I went back to my cell hopping to catch some sleep before I began my training tomorrow.
On the bed I closed my eyes, and went into the dark stillness of silence. My breath, the only movement I could feel.
I wasn't crying, not from within, but I could feel the tears stream down my eyes into my hair on the pillows.
To be this helpless in the ploy of another man, who decides whether you live or die, eat or starve, fight or disappear in the middle of the night, is something I was still trying to digest.
How dare any man wield that kind of power. To play god, to take another man prisoner, to take his free will from him, to take his time from him, all this to make him feel grateful when you give back to him all these things you have taken from him.
Do I want death? Then I could humbly kill myself right now. but if I want to live, to learn about what this organization is all about, I have to put all my prejudice aside and work my way out of this.
Sky and momma are here just like me. all the things I have been through in my cell a year ago, they have been through worse as it turns out from their reaction towards me on our first encounter.
I am the one who put them there because I did put them in the mess with me. they wanted someone to blame, and I happen to be the one closer in the chain of events, the common enemy, so far away.
In due time, I will have to rewire their mind towards the common enemy, Nka.
"go to bed kuga, you have a long day ahead of you on the morrow."
Great to have you here spooky, you said you've been to see ruby, what exactly do you mean by that?"
"ruby is married to D'mick kuga, against her will. She has to perform her duty kuga, to stop the emerging war between the families. The death of Felix, only heir to one of the Lycan families nearly spark a war between that family and mikes family, since mike is presumed to be the killer of Felix.
To prevent the war, Nka married ruby to D'mick, Michaels brother. This automatically brought Michaels family to Nkas' side, where he already had the backing of one family. Thus, Nka now have the support of two families against the other two, three against two, the whole dynamics have change kuga."
How is Ruby coping with all this?".
"you want to know whether she having a happy marriage? what do you think Kuga?"
I inhaled deeply and sat up in bed as the beads of perspiration flows freely from my overheated skin in the cold cell. I looked at the clock, I did been sleeping for three hours.
What a troubling dream and weird conversation I had with spooky, my alter ego.
Ruby married, unbelievable. My heart ached and fire seem to burn in my belly.
It's a nightmare, my thoughts are playing games on me, if you succeed in keeping them at bay in lucidity, they come to hunt you in your sleep in sheer morbidity.
Ruby in the arms of another man is a heinous, ghastly nightmare I didn't want anywhere near my resolute recent contemplations about my determination to make my way out of this place.
Okay, what if she is married another man? Am I not the cause of all that? I did draw the line between us right before we ever boarded the ship, yet she has come to me, cling to me, and let her feelings speak more than words could ever express.
May be I don't deserve her, deep down I had always known she will never be mine. Enough self-pity.
It was nothing but a dream any way.
I hit the floor in fury, and help myself with one hundred knuckle push up, take a shower, before hitting the gym.
Mika was already there along with other inmates.
"you are an hour early spooky," she said.
"any problems with that?" I asked forthrightly. "is everything okay with you?".
"I am fine Mika; can we get this training thing started."
"why not start with a punching bag, I have my own one-hour regiment before six, as we speak I have fifty minutes to go" she said and turn to do her stretches as though I was not even there.
In double fury, I attacked the punching bag, hitting it so hand my swollen knuckles hurt badly, but I relished in the pain and frustration.
This was to be my attitude for two years, anger, pain and frustration.