Virus by Ifedayo Akintomide

crash.
    “ARE YOU CRAZY?” She shouted in
fury. “DO YOU WANT TO DESTROY__”
    He did not allow her to say more.
Crossing the intervening distance between them in a thrice he
pulled her against his body seizing her lips in a hard and somewhat
brutal kiss. She screamed into his mouth in righteous indignation
struggling desperately to free herself from his crushing
embrace.
    He tightened his grip refusing to
give her any leeway. Her struggles became less violent a few
seconds later. Soon she was kissing him as hard he was kissing her.
Their clothes came off in a thrice and they were sprawled on the
floor coupling like two sex starved animals.
    ‘Hoo boy! Na wa!’ Collins couldn’t
help thinking as he thrust into her. ‘Upon all her shakara*
(posing) na for floor everything end.’ He thought nothing more for
the next thirty minutes.
     
    Wole was in shock struggling to
catch his breath. Chike was dead! How could that be? His eyes
brimmed with unshed tears. For some strange reason they refused to
spill. So consumed by his shocked and somewhat morbid thoughts, he
became unaware of anything around him. The wind, the sun, or even
the scurrying of tiny creatures in the bushes on either side of the
path he walked on.
    It was Tunrayo’s swaying arm
catching him a glancing blow on his wrist that made him realize she
was still walking beside him. Unlike him, however she sobbed loudly
talking at the same time.
    “Omale Oshii* (Stupid son of a
thief), Oda(fool), Osiwin Aiye__ I warned him. I really warned him,
but the fool was too dumb to listen. Why would he not listen?” She
cried in despair.
    From her tone, Wole got the sense
that it was a rhetorical question. She was not expecting an answer,
which considering the circumstances, suited him just fine. He would
not know what to say even if she expected a reply.
    The principal summoned the students
just before closing time and told them the bad news. As a way of
mourning his death, the school was closed down for the day much to
Tunrayo’s and Wole’s relief.
    They separated at the tee-junction
beyond the path in the forest. No words were exchanged. There was
nothing to say. As he walked towards his house the sounds of
Tunrayo’s loud sobs slowly receded until it disappeared all
together.
    Baba Adora the old cobbler sat at
his usual spot under the teak tree beside the sunflower bakery. The
delicious scent of freshly baked bread hung in the air, but Wole
was too distraught to care.
    Baba Adora’s wise and somewhat sad
looking eyes were fixed on Wole as he approached. A strange thrill
of irritation rippled through him. He hoped the old man did not
take it upon himself to start sharing his usual anecdotes and words
of wisdom, because he was so not in the mood.
    Shock went through him as soon as he
thought this. He never thought about anyone with such bristling
impatience before, especially someone like Baba Adora. ‘Guess its
not everyday one of your best friends dies.’ A soft voice in his
subconscious said. He sighed.
    An overwhelming sense of sadness
filled him and the tears brimming in his eyes spilt down his
cheeks. A second later, he was sobbing as if his heart would break.
There was a sound on the periphery of his consciousness. Low,
sounding as if it was coming from a place far away. For a few
moments, he felt the sound was in his head. It took him fifteen
seconds to realize the sound was not in his head.
    “Why do you cry my child?” Baba
Adora asked looking very troubled. A heavy silence followed,
followed broken only by Wole’s loud sobs. The silence stretched on
for so long that Baba Adora felt he was not going to get a
response. Wole eventually opened his mouth, and when he did the
words came rushing out.
    Baba Adora listened intently without
interrupting him once. When he was done a fear greater than
anything he had ever felt surged into his heart. Wole grew still
looking at the myriad of terrified expressions zipping across the
old man’s face. His face was