The stadium lighting was very strong against the sky which was a night, which was glaring at the people in the crowd whose cheers were so loud that I felt that my ears were ringing. I was able to hear my heart beat in my chest like a drum, each beat a reflection of the momentousness.
It was the last match in the Lagos Regional Soccer Championship. Sweat, early morning and training months later had brought about this night.
“Chike! Concentrate!" my coach shouted at me on the sidelines bringing me back to my thoughts about the race.
I said yes, but my legs were as heavy as iron. My feet were now on the ball, and the last five minutes were running off the clock. I looked at my best friend, Taye, playing in the other team.
And we looked at each other and I could tell that the same nervous excitement I had been aware of in myself in his eyes. We had been training together for years, and we were pushing one another to be better. But tonight we were opposing sides.
"You can, you can," I told myself, and no one, but myself, in particular.
I bypassed two defenders and my thoughts had reduced the goal in sight. Then Taye intervened, and stood in my way. His face did not change- he was as strong-willed as me. I hesitated a moment, and I did not know what to choose between winning and friendship which had meant everything to me.
The roar of the crowd had died down to a faint murmur as I made the decision. After one quick step I imitated left and fired right. The ball went behind the foot that Taye extended and struck the net at the back. The whistle was blown and this marked the termination of the match.
We won.
Cheers filled the stadium and my teammates put me on their shoulders. I smiled, and it was empty when I beheld Taye standing with a bowed head alone. I ran after the celebrations to him in an attempt to get his eye.
“Taye…” I started, unsure what to say.
He raised his gaze and grinned grimly, trying to keep his lips tightly closed. "You have won," he said, merely, and in an impersonal way.
“I—” I stopped. What is the excuse of apologizing to beat up your best friend in the very thing you both loved best?
He shrugged and took a step backwards. “It’s just a game, Chike. You deserve it.”
But I read it in his eyes, the pain, the loss of it. Then I wondered whether or not our friendship was going to be able to survive this. The months of friendship, inside jokes, and mutual sufferings suddenly became weak, like thin glass, which can be broken at a discerning touch.
When the crowd had dissipated and the stadium was quiet I came out on the steps and found Taye staring at the field, and lonely.
“Mind if I sit?” I asked, my voice was low.
He nodded. Then we sat and said nothing, and watched the shadows falling on the pitch.
"I am not angry," he eventually replied. "Simply dissatisfied with myself. I believed I should have been able to stop you."
"You were wonderful," I said to myself. "I would not have been able to do it without all those practice sessions that we had together. Frankly, I do not believe that I could have taken this shot, had you not been pushing me day by day."
Taye stared at me, and this time his tension in his shoulders relaxed a little. "Well, we win and we lose, huh?"
I smiled, and I was relieved and sad at the same time. “Yeah… we do.”
We lingered a little longer there, and talked of all and nothing, and our friendship was quietly sewing itself up once again. On that night I realized something about life not in some broader, moral way, but in the mere fact of situations such as this.
There are those victories that come at a price, there are those defeats that give you lessons on patience and endurance, and there are those friends who are good enough to withstand the game.
We had left the stadium and the stars were out and they shone over Lagos like little beacons of hope. And I am sure the memory of the disappointment of Taye had saddened my feelings, but I knew that our friendship had stood the storm.
There are days when you win and there are days when you lose and there are days when you win and lose at the same time.
