I HAD NEVER LOST A FIGHT UNTIL.. BASED ON TRUE LIFE STORY.

Apata was a guy brought to my boss' barbing saloon a week after I started my apprenticeship.He was of an average height, dark in complexion. His lips were thick and dark, stained by years of smoking. His eyes were red like embers. His palm and the heel of his foot were burnt.One needed no lens to detect that he was a smoker, as it was already written over him. “Good morning, sir,” he greeted my boss, bending slightly.His voice was thick. His look was intimidating,but I was not freaked.Instead my gaze traveled from his head to toes…. My eyes carried irritation and contempt. My ears shut to their conversations and different unspoken thoughts circled my mind.“Who is this one?” I muffled under my breath.“Toheeb,Toheeb, Toheeb,”my boss called.His voice jerked me back to reality.My eyes instantly drifted toward his direction. My boss was dark in complexion—-- tall, plus size and pot bellied. A stature which fitted his body so well. He had a round face with a thick beard covered and spread across his jaw.He soon started what oyinbo called an introduction.“This is Apata, your co-apprentice,” he muttered. “Apata, meet Toheeb. He started a week before.”He paused before adding firmly.“He is your senior and I want you to respect him.”Apata's chest blared as he sighed. His jaw clenched,as though what my boss said had shifted something in him. No one noticed but I did.I adjusted myself on the bench and it became unsteady, throwing the legs off balance.“Haha! You want to fall me,” my boss shouted, clamping his hand on the floor, bracing himself.I cleared my throat.“Sorry, sir.”Apata stood still, staring on the floor. He balanced a pack of cabin biscuits in his arm.“Where are your biscuits?” my boss asked, stretching his arm toward him.Without ado, he handed it to him.The biscuit was shared among the neighbours, shop owners and each person accompanied it with prayers as they collected it. Sharing a biscuit was a customary gesture in the world of apprenticeship to announce the arrival of new apprentice.Apata and I rapport and bonded immediately.Little did I know his silence was a tornado.Until one day that our confrontation came like every other we’d had in the past but this one ended in blood and bruises.It happened when our boss sent us to his house to fetch water for his wife. Such errands were common for apprentices and they were part of the training. But beneath the routine was an unspoken rivalry neither of us was willing to acknowledge.The sun was scorching that afternoon and sweat baptized our skin.Apata was ahead of me, balancing the keg on his shoulder with defiance and bravado that could command the air.I followed him closely. Though tired, I was determined not to look weak before him.We arrived at the house, poured the water into the drum which was positioned at the front of the house.“Mummy Islamiyat,” I called. “Mummy Islamiyat.”“Yes,” she answered.I swallowed.“We have filled the drum to the brim.”Silence.Then, the knob twitched and the door opened slowly, as she stepped out.She directed us to the drum behind the house.“Make sure you fill it too,” she instructed.“Ok,ma,” we replied in unison.The first trip passed in silence. The work had already started taking a toll on me. My heart was racing against my ribs.The second trip passed in silence.The only sounds were the splashing of water and our labour breathing. But the tension hung in the air, waiting for the slightest spark.And it came earlier than expected.The keg slipped from my hand in an attempt to balance it on my head.Apata's gaze drifted to my direction and our eyes met.His brows furrowed and a crease formed on his forehead.“Carry that thing properly,” he said, his tone edged authority. “Don’t coman waste our time here o.”I froze, but my eyes didn't.It swept around, trying to ascertain who he was talking to.“Who are you talking to?” I asked. My voice low but sharp and firm.“You,” he replied. “Act like our boss sent you here, not like you own this place.”My lips spread in to a smile —-- humourless.“Remember what boss used to tell you. I'm your senior. Show me some respect.”Apata's eyes that was like a dying coal suddenly fanned back to life —- burning like embers.“Respect,” he chuckled. “You think one week make you my superior.”I stepped closer, refusing to back down.My eyes glued to his.“In this place,it does.”Then, he laughed. His lips parted but his eyes were still burning.“Let's settle it,” he said. “Here and now.”The challenge ignited something fierce in me, making my hubris to override my reason.“Fine,” I replied.My fingers rolled in to my palms.The first blow came swiftly, andt I dodged it.Before I could balance, his fist slammed into my jaw, sending a sharp pain into my skull.I staggered to the back, but regained my foot in a jiffy, longing for a retaliation.We rammed into each other, scattering the kegs and the water spilled into dust, sucking the ground like raindrop.We exchanged punches, kicks. My heart pounded as adrenaline rush through my veins.But Apata was brutal, stronger,relentless and merciless.A heavy blow landed on my cheek and saliava splashed out of my mouth. Before I could recover, another one struck my face.I began to see star. The world spun and my vision blurry.“Ouch!”A soft groan escaped my lips. Still,I refused to surrender.But a pride has a price.His final punch crashed against my temple. Darkness swallowed everything.And I woke up in a hospital.As I lay on the bed, weak, humilated, one thing echoed painfully in my mind:“I had never lost a fight until I met Apata.”And next time…..I would flee.SAY NO TO VIOLENCE.©️OLA

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