The "Unknown"

     I want to start by apologizing to my readers. I did say that I would publish this tale yesterday. I was pretty busy during the weekend. Honestly, I'm sorry. Let's get to the story for today. 

     In Senegal, physical education was an important course in Junior and Senior High School. Sports wasn't something we did just for enjoyment. We were graded on sporting activities every single term. It did have an impact on our term average. In French, we call it "Éducation Physique et Sportive (EPS).

    We participated in activities such as long jump, high jump, endurance (running a certain amount of km within a designated time), and gymnastics. Some Ghanaian readers will ask, "Seriously, Gymnastics?". Yes oh! Gymnastics!! Well, I was good at it, and I really loved it. Most schools had their own park where they held their sporting activities. Since we were a small school without a playground of our own, we had to use a basketball court nearby for our sporting events. It was convenient for all our activities because there was a lot of sand around the basketball court. 

     We occasionally had the opportunity to play some basketball, volleyball, or football after our sporting activities before returning to class. We never knew what was on the other side of the basketball park. From the entrance, there were two houses beside it, but what was on the other side of the park was unknown. Sometimes, while playing football, the football would go over the wall, and in 5 minutes, the ball would be thrown back to us. The only thing we did after the ball was returned was stand by the wall and shout "Merci Beaucoup," which is "Thank you so much" in French. We had no idea who or what had thrown the ball back.

   One faithful Friday, we brought our football to school, planning to play after classes. When the school closed around 3 pm, we all rushed to the place; on our way, we discussed how we would score each other. It was a highly anticipated game. In our class, there were about six international students. Usually, we participated in games alongside the Senegalese lads, but this time, we wanted to pit the international students against the Senegalese males. It was going to be a five-on-five game.

     In the "International Team," we had players from Mali, Cote D'Ivoire, Cape Verde, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Ghana (myself). I must say the International Team were exceptionally talented, but the Senegalese team was far more coordinated than our team (they had been playing together for a while but we hadn't). Of course, on that faithful afternoon, on our way to the park, the Senegalese team used this point as one of the reasons why they would win the match. We disagreed and stated that "talent recognizes talent and that even though we had never really played together,  we would perfectly sync on the pitch."

     We got to the park and started "Our Little World Cup Match." Twenty to thirty minutes into the football match, the ball went over the wall. As usual, we expected the ball to magically return to us after a few minutes, but that did not happen. We began to worry after ten minutes because this had never happened before. This occurred at the worst possible time because the match had just started getting interesting. 

     We ran out of patience and decided to climb a nearby tree to observe the view on the other side of the wall. My friends were having trouble figuring out how to get to the top while I easily reached the top of the tree because I am an excellent climber. After what happened to me, I now understand why it's sometimes recommended that we refrain from showcasing our talents. It can land us in trouble, just like it did for me. Well, some joined me at the top of the tree. Those at the bottom asked what we saw, and we told them it was more like a forest and we did not see what was beyond. I was able to climb the wall, and everyone suggested that I should be the one to retrieve the ball due to my climbing prowess. 

     "Are you sure?" I questioned my boys. I must admit that I was a little frightened, but my boys gave me all the courage I required. I don't know how, but our peers always have ways of convincing us to do things. Honestly, peer pressure is real!!!!. I leaped over the wall, landed with my hands outstretched, looked around for a moment, then began one of the riskiest journeys of my life. Action movie fans would have little trouble visualizing the scenario. 

      I started searching for the football while moving slowly and step by step. While searching for the ball, I kept my body in a position that would allow me to spin around quickly and sprint (a talent I am an expert in, though I don't recall ever practicing it anyplace). As I kept moving forward, I realized the forest had an end. I reached the forest's end and still had not found the football. I didn't know whether to go back and tell my boys or get out of the little forest and continue searching for the ball. I felt at that point I had reached the point of no return after all my friends were counting on me, and we had to finish the famous awaited anticipated "World Cup Match." 

     Many of us make this similar mistake in life; we tend to focus on those depending on us instead of looking at reality and being honest. To provide for his family, a man may choose to engage in armed robbery. True, it's a horrible burden to carry (not being able to provide for your family), but would your family prefer seeing you in jail or sleeping next to you in hunger? The most painful thing is when the people you give so much to don't appreciate your sacrifice. Let me bring this down to my fellow youth, young men, young women, don't kill yourself because of love. I'm not advocating against making sacrifices; I'm advising you to avoid making sacrifices that could spell your destruction.

    Let's return to the story. When I emerged from the little forest, I noticed numerous parked vehicles. It was a lovely setting. I was in a hurry to look for the football; therefore, I didn't spend much time admiring the location. I chose to search beneath the vehicles. I figured it might have gotten stuck beneath one of those cars. In less than 30 seconds, I heard a loud voice say Hey! Who are you, and what are you doing here? I turned around and saw a tall man in army attire. I responded, "I, I, I, please, I'm searching for our football." He asked how did you get in here? I said I jumped over the wall. After I said it, The look on his face, Oh My God, the look alone sent shivers through my spine. He said, Follow me!!!! (mind you, all this was said in French))

     I followed him for about 2 minutes, but I'm sure I said "God save me" at least a hundred and fifty times. I don't know how, but I know I did. At one point, something told me to run, and immediately I said, "Devil, I rebuke you." I mean, imagine, I listened to that voice. Can I outrun a soldier? I also had no idea about the boundaries or exits of the place. And that action would mean I am guilty of something. I followed him, and we got to the security room. That's what I can call it because it was where soldiers changed their clothes and talked to each other. 

    When we got there, he told his colleagues (there were about three at the moment) that I jumped over the wall the thieves use. In my mind, I was like, "I jumped over what? Where the thieves use? Oh my God, I am in big trouble. " Apparently, the "Unknown" place was one of the biggest Automotive Parts Retailers. They sell expensive car parts, and the wall I just climbed over was the one most thieves use when they want to steal their car parts, so indirectly, I was a thief. What sort of trouble have I ended up in? I asked myself. I said, "God save me" another 20 times. This is the annoying part of the story. The soldier who asked me to follow him actually saw the ball, took it, and went to hide it. That means it was clear he knew I wasn't a thief; he just decided to set a trap, and unfortunately, I fell right into it. You can imagine how I felt then; I was scared, angry, sad, surprised, perplexed, and hopeful.  

      You know, we had an online exam called Public Relations Research Methods in my third year at the university. We knew we would finish the exams quickly after just skimming the questions. We reviewed our responses as the allotted exam time was running out. We realized there was a trick question, but we still missed it. We had to redo that question and spread the news of what we had learned to as many people as possible. After the tests, all we could think of was thanking God that we had noticed the trick question (which accounted for one-third of the final grade; had we missed it, it would have been impossible to pass the course). We were not angry at the Lecturer for setting a trap. We understood that in our world, setting traps was normal; if you missed the trap, good for you; if you didn't, sorry for you. Twenty-two-year-old me understood this lesson about life; 17-year-old me had not yet learned this lesson. 

      "This man is wicked; wow, this man is cruel", I kept repeating this in my head. He actually left me there. The person who knew the truth left. His associates began questioning me; my name, nationality, school, family, and a ton of other things. Most of them wanted to scare me, so they stated I would go to jail, but one said they would let me go because he believed me. You just need one good person in your life, you know. He was the only person in the room who could prevent me from going to prison that day, so I hoped he wouldn't leave. As I stood there, other soldiers came and asked why I was there. Immediately they heard what I had done; some got so furious, some just interrogated me and asked similar questions. My brother, my sister, interrogation is not a joke oo. We watch movies and assume it is easy. It is tough. The frame of mind at that moment alone is just unexplainable. 

      After about an hour, my pals arrived at the gate and saw me. But because of their fear, they were unable to enter. However, the Soldiers noticed them. When they spotted me, they immediately started laughing. I wasn't upset because I knew I would have reacted similarly if it had been someone else. It was a little amusing how I was standing in the middle of the soldiers with a weird expression on my face. When I did not return, they realized something was wrong and decided to locate the place. They claimed that it was quite a challenging task. 

     In all honesty, I was relieved to see them for two reasons. The fact that my friends did not abandon me was consoling, and their presence confirmed that I was telling the truth. They literally laughed so loudly that one of the soldiers took me into the inner room, where they changed clothes. After another 20 minutes, they released me after warning me not to jump over that wall ever again. I was instructed to fetch the ball from the opposite side of the field. Although it was a little bit far, I didn't mind. Being free after what I had gone through was the best feeling ever. Don't forget to share, and if you haven't read the other stories yet, go to the top left corner of the page; you will find the other stories where the three lines are. And to those wondering who or what used to throw the ball back to us, it was the cleaners. The cleaners who worked during the day did us that favor. They had closed when this event happened. The next story comes out on Wednesday.