football in the rain

 

CHAPTER 1

The clouds darkened all of a sudden and flashes of lightening could be seen blinding all. A gusty wind blew carrying rubbish and sand in its wake. The trees swayed in rhythm waving their branches and the birds hurried to find shelter from the coming storm.

Down below, mothers run helter-skelter removing clothes from the drying line and placing out pans around the edges of the roof and in the compound to collect the rain water. Somewhere, a mother called out to her children to come back to the house but the children were nowhere to be found. They had already gathered in the village park in anticipation of the rain and the match that was to take place.

Adamu was there too. He knew his mother would be looking for him but had decided to play out a little with his friends before heading home. He looked up into the sky as the first drop of rain fell on his head. He pulled out his tongue to catch the next drop. How he loved the rain. The sound of the thunder which frightened most children and even adults awed him above all others and this had led to his asking his elder brother once what caused it. His brother had replied telling him of a myth passed down through the ages to scare children from playing in the rain. God is very angry today he thought as another thunder clapped and lightening struck. He was not afraid of the rain or the thunder though the story was told to do just that. Some of the girls were posing for the next flash of lightening thinking yet again that God was taking a picture of them.

“I thought you’d be home by now,” a voice at his back said and he felt a tap on his shoulders. At the sound of the voice, Adamu turned around to look into the face of his best friend, Bismark.

“I decided to play awhile,” he replied with a grin on his face.

“Good, because today we have a football match to play,” his friend Bismark said turning to walk toward the group of young boys who had just arrived.

“Whom are you playing against?” Adamu asked turning to follow him, “I can’t stay for long alright.”

“Kofi and his gang of losers,” Bismark replied.

“What? But I thought we did them in the other time. Is it a rematch then?” Adamu asked when they reached the others.

“Yeah,” answered a boy from the group. “And we’ll wipe the park with their butts. The rain will help,” another boy added gleefully the last comment drawing laughter from the whole group.

“Mensah,” Bismark said addressing the boy who passed the comment, “you will be the goal keeper. Adamu, you came at a good time since Kofi broke his leg the other time. You will take over his position as the defender since you are better there.”

Adamu was the defender for their school football team and he was a very good player feared for his skills by all the other football teams around.

“The rest of you will maintain your various positions,” he concluded.

“Who will referee this time around”, Mensah asked.

“Fiifi said he will do it. At least he is neutral”, Bismark replied.

A group of boys approached them. Bismark and his team walked ahead to meet them.

“At least they did not keep us waiting this time round,” somebody said from Bismark’s group.

 “What is he doing here”, he asked pointing a hand at Adamu.

“What do you think, Kofi? He’s here to play of course”, Bismark said, squaring it off with the boy who asked the question, “Or are we not also free to choose our own replacements”.

Another boy, a little older than all of them came up and laid a hand on both their shoulder, forcing them to each take a step back.

“Come now, no fighting. Channel that energy into the match all of you”, he said.

“Talk of the devil himself. Fiifi, you are right on time. We can now start wiping the park with your butts”, Bismark replied, “right boys?”

“Yeah”, came the chorus answer.

 “I want a free and fair match, do you understand?”  Fiifi said to them.

“Come of Fiifi, that is why you are here, to ensure that it is indeed free and fair. No cheating. We just want to teach them how to play football”, Bismark said. “Alright, now, where is the ball?” Fiifi asked.

“it is their turn to bring it”, Mensah replied, pointing a finger at Kofi and his team.

“Here is it”, someone said, handing the ball over to Fiifi.

With a nod of his head Fiifi asked the two captains to choose their sides of the coins to decide between the goal posts after they had changed into their respective jerseys.  ‘Flip’, went the coin and Fiifi caught it in midair.

“Bismark, you take the south post and Kofi take the other one”, he decided. He waited till all team players were standing in position and then blew his whistle. The game was on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 2

The rain beat hard on their backs and they were soaked through to the skin but yet they did not feel it as they plowed through the field. Their whole mind was tuned to the game they were playing. The field had taken on a sloppy look with puddles gathering at every point. One would think that would even slow down the game, but no, they seemed oblivious of all these factors. Other children had gathered around the field and had already taken sides with the teams and were cheering them on.

The first half of the game was almost over and both teams were frantic to get a lead before the whistle blew for the end of the first half. Bismark was in possession of the ball. He dribbled past Kofi and made a pass to the right to his team’s other defender, Kwaku. The opposing team’s attacker came on to him and he feigned a left passing the ball on to Adamu. Adamu, now in possession of the ball, surged ahead towards the opposing team’s goal post. At the onslaught of the other team’s defender, he passed on the ball to Bismark who appeared to his left suddenly.

“GOAL”, they screamed and danced around the field. Bismark at scored their first goal just in time for Fiifi blew the whistle for the end of the first half. As they gathered round, the other team members patted Bismark on the back. They huddled to plan a defensive strategy for the next half of the game.

“Well done all of you”, Bismark said, congratulating them, “this is the final and decisive half. If we defend this goal till the end, we can finally claim the title and be on our way home, alright?”

After a brief discussion on their strategy, they made their way back to the field as Fiifi blew his whistle for the commencement of the second half.

Kofi got hold of the ball and passed it to his team mate. Soon they were making it across the line towards Bismark team’s goal post and before Mensah could dive, the ball was at the back of the net.

“Goal”, they screamed amidst jubilation. Barely five minutes had passed and they had already settled the score. Bismark and his team members were desperate. Mensah threw the ball to him and he dribbled expertly past the two mid fielders who tried to wedge him in between them. He crossed the line to the other side and sent the ball to his team mate but the ball was intercepted by the opponent’s defender who shot the ball back to his team player. The ball was passed to Kofi who started on to score another goal but Adamu got the ball from him and dribbled past the other mid fielders. Just as he was about to make it past the penalty area to score, one of the opponents shot out a leg and tackled him sending him flying. Adamu fell flat on his face in a puddle, the muddy water splashing all over him. He tried to get up but realized he could not, his left leg was broken.  Fiifi blew the whistle. It stopped raining.

“Penalty!” he said.

But Adamu did not hear him. Pain shot through him and he closed his eyes as tears threatened to flow.

“He’s not getting up”, Bismark noted and run over to where he lay, “what is the matter?”

He tried turning him over. “Agh”, Adamu screamed, “my leg, I think it’s broken”. He broke out into tears. The others crowded around him to find out what was the matter.

“Mensah”, Fiifi said, taking charge, “go and call his mother, we need to take him to the hospital. Bismark, get hold of his upper torso, Kofi hold his other leg and let’s try and turn him. We can’t leave him in the puddle”.

“Agh”, Adamu screamed again as they tried to turn him over, “no stop, the pain is too much”. They stopped and stood helplessly aside, they did not know what to do.

“Adamuuuu”, a woman screamed from behind them, “oh God, what happened to you?” Mensah was back with Adamu’s mother and brother who tailed a little way behind carrying a long piece of wood. Adamu’s mother knelt down beside her son and cradled his head in her lap.

“Mummy, I’m sorry, I’ll never disobey you again”, he sobbed into his mother’s cloth.

“Shhh”, she soothed, everything is going to be alright, you can apologize later”. His brother laid the long piece of wood down besides Adamu.

“Help me get him on it”, the boy said to the other standing by him. Carefully, they got him on the make shift stretcher amidst sobs from Adamu and arranged his broken leg in a more comfortable position for him. “Wait here whiles I get a taxi”, he said.

His mother held on to his hand and continued to soothe his son even as they rode in the taxi to the hospital.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 3

 

Adamu had been discharged and he was in the house. He still had a big cast over his left leg which he and his friends, Bismark, Kwaku, Mensah and Fiifi, who had come to visit him, were busily writing their names all over. Kwaku was sniffing every now and then in an attempt to keep the phlegm in.

“Ah Kwaku, why don’t you stop doing that and blow your nose instead”, Bismark said.

“Do you now understand why that myth I told you about is even told at all”, his brother asked joining them on the patio with a jug of juice, “It is not right for any of you to play in the rain”, he continued, “You can break a leg as you did”, pointing a hand at the leg, “or something even worse than that”. He set the jug on the little table and started to take out little plastic cups.

“What can be worse than breaking a leg whiles doing what you love most”, Adamu lamented.

“Well, let’s see. You can break a neck”, his brother said and feigned a dive at Fiifi’s head. The boy ducked and they all burst out laughing, “and you can even catch a cold, which unfortunately Kwaku has. A severe cold might lead to you getting pneumonia”. He continued seriously when the laughter had quieted down. He handed the plastic cups filled with juice around.

“What is pneumonia”, Bismark asked, curious.

“Technically, it is an inflammatory condition of the lung. It is often characterized as including inflammation of the parenchyma of the lung, that is, the alveoli and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid consolidation and exudation”, he explained.

“Shie, those are big words indeed. Please bring it down to layman’s term because we don’t understand”, Fiifi said, laughing.

“Well”, Adamu’s brother continued, “let’s just say that it is an inflammation of the lungs so that the individual finds it difficult to breath and the symptoms includes cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty in breathing but when it is really serious, the individual may end up dying”.

“You will learn more about it in school in your science class. What you need to know now is that you should not play in the rain and even when it is cold outside, you should wear the proper clothing before stepping out to play”, he replied. He took the empty jug and went back inside leaving the boys to reflect over what he had told them.

“Your brother is great, you know”, Mensah noted, “He knows all these stuffs. He really must be brilliant”.

“I know”, Adamu said, pride welling in his heart, “and I’ve certainly learnt my lesson, no playing in the rain”.

“But we never finished the match”, Bismark said looking up at his friends, “they will want another re match”.

At the look on his face, they burst out laughing. There may be no matches in the rain but certainly not when the sun was shining too? Boys will always be boys.