After an intensive massage one afternoon, I thought about the other Marine Brothers Society initiates and wished they could witness everything I’d witnessed, especially Doris Onakposeba, in her present state. She was the least of my worries, since one of them had even tried to kill me, by procuring an assassin. Staying in the hospital was frustrating, due to the healing and recovery process, which went on at a snail-speed.

Many things had improved in my daily routine, especially my feeding pattern. I now fed myself, though salty, spicy and fried foods were still disallowed from my diet. My body, especially my blood needed sugar, so I indulged in ice creams and sweets on several occasions.

As for the portrait, I looked at it at every available moment. Sometimes, I imagined me and Boma as orphans who were running away from the goddess and dying in the process of surviving Marine Brothers Society’s pangs, while the time rapidly ticked away.

It was the third Sunday in June as he itched fo