WHEN REVENGE IS SWEETER THAN THE FIRST ATTACK

By:Quansah Ebo John

Date:9th July,2011



WHEN REVENGE IS SWEETER THAN THE FIRST ATTACK

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It was a friday and after the tiring day’s lectures of tracing arteries and veins in the dissection room at the Department of Morbid Anatomy,Korle-bu, had ended and after the 'Med Sch' bus moved us back to our various halls and hostels,we burned off extra calories kicking and running after the rounded leather ball at the mini football pitch beside the male hall,Cmmon Wealth Hall where I lodged as a level 200 student. Tired, we headed back to our rooms to pull off our sweat-soaked jerseys and tugs . There was the usual queue at both ends of the long corridor of the male hall where guys took turns to shower. And to while away time, we leaned over the hand rails along the corridor, while some others sat on improvised seats close-by to contribute to the feisty yarns, which often morphed into arguments and endless debates. Trust guys, even the loudest and most vociferous among wins the argument always.I was originally affiliated to a mixed hall(Legon Hall) bt bcos of the intellectually stimulated atmosphere at the male hall, C'mmon Wealth,I shunned my bed to perch wt my friends and coursemates at the male hall.



But as guys, we derived fun from teasing each other, or mimicking one lecturer’s mannerisms in the class, or shared a joke or two about the female members of the class. You know guys will always be guys, especially when they cluster around in the male hostel to boast about the latest female conquest and the hostel is a place where it’s really hard to pretend before other guys. We knew who borrows another’s jeans or t-shirt to show off before girls in the lecture hall. And mischief is not a virtue to be abhorred among boys in the hostel, for the most mischievous and adventurous may inadvertently become the most popular guy in the hostel, that is.



Mohammed had apparently earned himself that title without much contest, and being my neighbour and floor mate; I had in the past watched him pull-off several mischievous stunts and had shared in the gleeful laughter it evoked among us. To be the target of a poking joke or a planned act of mischief is sure an awful experience, but the victim of a stray bullet is not one to live with regret when he least had expected to be the target of a straying bullet. Had he heard the click sound of the gun while it was being cocked and fired, he may be blamed for not dunking to save his head. So you never can tell who’d be the focal point of the usual hostel ‘gists'.



Having had his bath, he looked really fresh as he rejoined us at the corridor while I looked on ahead for my turn at the bathroom. Now dried of sweat, my torso was bare up to my waistline where I tied the knot of my little brown towel. Mohammed’s cool mien concealed whatever mischief he’d brewed up very well. Little did I know that Mohammed had hatched and fine-tuned his plan, and being my friend, I didn’t sense it even when he walked closer toward me that cool evening in our male hall at Legon. As we laughed and got sucked into the engaging gist, all of a sudden Mohammed quickly grabbed my little brown towel which looked more like loin clothes strapped around my tiny waist line.



Thinking it was all a joke, I tried to wrest his hands off my towel to no avail. And to my chagrin, he tightened his grip on my towel, and in a flash he’d succeeded in loosening the knot. Not done yet, he pulled off my towel and his eyes glistened as he grinned. To my shock, I needed no one to tell me he’d accomplished his mission. Boy I helplessly was stripped to the bare. And the roar of laughter tore through the evening. Guys within the vicinity giggled and shouted in hysteria; I was now naked and obviously ashamed, with no covering like Adam at Eden!



In confusion, I ran towards the bathroom area since it was my original destination, but there was no space for me to hide. Realizing that even if there was space for me to shower, my nakedness would still dangle before leering eyes on my way back to my room after the shower, I decided instead to sprint like an athlete back into my room. In that brief moment of mischief, Ahmed as we fondly called him had turned me into a circus figure of sorts to the amusement of guys in the hostel. And my confused reaction fanned the embers of laughter and my hands could only cover as much nakedness as could under the prevailing circumstances.



So my evening ended in a somewhat sore note, and from that day I began to plot my own revenge; to strip him naked before the same set of guys who saw my nakedness and laughed their heads off. And a couple of weeks after the incident, my opportunity came and the thought of revenge made my lips smack in joy upon relieving the roar of laughter than will reverberate along the corridor of the male hall when Ahmed will be stripped naked before their eyes. He was older and stronger but my determination made me feel much stronger than him that evening. And like the day he struck, he was the least prepared for my revenge mission.



We had gathered again on the corridor of the male hall for the usual banter and gist after a tiring day at the anatomy and physiology labs. My little brown towel had encircled my slim waist like the day it couldn’t shield my nakedness from the eyes of others. As expected, Ahmed also had his own towel tied around his waist while we all waited for our turns at the bathroom, filling the interlude with jokes, arguments and rumors.



Without warning, I pounced on Ahmed and grabbed his towel and realizing what my mission was, he tried to stave off the attack. Since war strategists exhort that the best form of attack is defense, Ahmed reflexively grabbed my own towel knowing that I’d as much as guard against being naked a second time. So we tugged and wrestled each other to know who’d have the upper hand while guys gleefully watched the ensuing melodrama waiting to roar again at the promising sight of nakedness.



Just to humour him a little, I let Ahmed have a seeming vantage point by letting him pull off my little brown towel from my waist. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw. For rather than the utter nakedness that all had anticipated to see, I had a firm pair of shorts over my loins. I was prepared for him and had taken every precaution necessary.

Rattled by this revelation, Ahmed now saw how vulnerable he was before me as I still held unto his towel ready to pull it off within that period he’d loosened his grip. He was already distracted and I had the aces up my sleeves then and was ready to strip him bare…but I changed my mind and let go of his towel. Ahmed now shocked to his marrows ran in haste away from me; his vengeful assailant and had I pulled off his towel as I had intended, it would have been a sweet revenge.



Though I was not intent on showing off his nakedness to other guys that evening, the roar of laughter was louder than the day he’d stripped me naked. Guys hailed me and we did hi5s knowing that I had at last won the contest. Boy I felt so cool with myself for he who laughs last they say, laughs the loudest and I sure felt the bliss of seeing the mischievous Ahmed scram off at the sight of being vulnerable. I watched as he trembled at the reality of being a victim of same acts of mischief that he so gleefully unleashed on others. And I could see before my eyes why two wrongs could not make a right, knowing that I would have gained nothing from stripping him naked other than the reward of another gleeful roar of laughter at the expense of another’s shame and nakedness.



That singular act of not paying Ahmed back in his own coins at the end I finally reckoned was far more honorable than what he had earlier done to me. My roommate felt so proud of me that evening for showing what he had termed superior wits, and you can well bet that Ahmed didn’t join us at the corridor that evening until everyone had retired back into their rooms to rest, read and recline on their bed for a well-deserved sleep. That night I buried that urge for revenge!