Health

He Battled Without ‘Shield’ and Returned In Agony

 By Erick Diang'a

Unlike many of his comrades, he was well built and healthy. Many admired his personality, nature and charming smile that propagated nervousness among the feminine gender. He was the kind who featured in most publications-any female freelancer would seek his opinion even on issues he had no knowledge about. Nonetheless, men weren’t in good terms with him because he could make an angel disengage her betrothed partner and lay quietly in his ‘box’. Don kept his ‘box’ full but never bothered to seal it as he still dared for more. 

When he received a phone call from his commanders concerning a battle that he normally confronted in a dark jungle, he packed hurriedly. He wore his best night war clothes, sprayed perfume and smeared oil on his body ready to join the troop. He placed the ‘inseparable gun’ in its sheath and ensured that his two ‘indivisible rubber bullets’ were intact. The ultimate procedure was to gulp a pick-me-up or booster if you like.

The nature of the war compelled him to accomplish the above-mentioned course of action. There were always characteristics considered by the opponents; victors had to be smart in negotiations, charming in appearance and full in the side pockets. Your leather wallet had to prove its worth in content. Additional qualifications would include owning a driving license, a license whose owner possessed a personal jeep. Don was in the front list of this category so he had nothing to worry.

Unfortunately, he committed an irreversible crime. The misdemeanor that resulted to his fate! He forgot to carry his ‘shield’! That was his greatest weakness in his battle life. 

 His misconception was that his rivals were super humans who would subject his life to little harm. The opponents looked friendly and declined to openly disclose their harmful tactics and weapons. In fact, females dominated the rival troop. However, the few men who belonged to that squad acted in a similar way the ladies did; they were lenient to kinds of Don, wore studs, had tattoos all over their skins and some pleated hair. The only difference was that this minority group could offer their rivals cash, body and soul in exchange for ‘homo battle’.

It was time for the soldiers to converge  for a drink (concoction) to pave way for war. At that point in time, the law safeguarding the battle gave all the soldiers the privilege to mingle with their foes. The two conflicting parties were at liberty to exchange contacts, dance together drink together and provoke another intimately.  Tusker, Guinness and their friends were to act as binding concoctions.

Being a Friday, Soldiers filled the camp. Don the warrior loved the ceremony and kept bragging about his fascinations towards female soldiers. The party went on but agitations rose from the abuses thrown by Don under the influence of bottle contents. The rule didn’t allow anyone to engage in fights emanating from anger.  Ironically, the ‘war’ could only take place after creating a relationship through winning one’s heart. In the jungle and its surrounding territories, forcing one to ‘war’ was punishable by law so soldiers chose the right channel to have legitimate and romantic wrestle. Beer spared no table edges. Don ensured that no table exposed its poverty. He justified the poverty eradication by unzipping his leather wallet consequently proving to the counterman his financial might.

The energy required to begin the war was within every soldier. Don chose a female rival soldier and both separated from the rest of the troop. They dashed to a safer site for war to discover their strengths and privacy. Little did he know that the opponent had a lethal weapon that could ruin his health perpetually.  Her weapon was in a permanent and private sheath known best by her.

He forgot his ‘shield’ but he had a few seconds to counterattack. The concoction  charged him and he feared nothing except instant death that he thought less about. No energy and intellect to borrow a shield from friends. No minute to spare since his carcass was burning. He emptied his sheath and shot his woe angrily twice in a row. The opponent cried in pain but he kept pulling the trigger. The two rubber bullets met the target making Don proud of himself. The concoction proved to him that battling without a shield was equally successful. 

They both felt exhausted and laid on the ground. He knew that rubber bullets were not brutal to victims. After all, he used it on a soldier who understood the consequences well.

Trauma befell Don when sober a day after the careless attacks. He couldn’t sleep either, he smelled danger in the air. The charming person decided to visit health professionals to decide on his fate. Counselors advised him to check back after three months for another blood test. Ultimate revelations confirmed that the hidden weapon used by the opponent poisoned him. 

To trim down poison impact, daily dosage was the last resort. He took the advice and requested the UN, WHO and NACADA to preach the use of protections in every battle. Not only did he plead with the organizations to emphasize on protection but also appealed to fighters to be sensitized on healthy approaches to war.