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Platoon Two, Ep 13 - Lagos Camp Experience

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    May 30, 2015 5:39 AM CEST

    PLATOON TWO

    Last Episode

    Registration ended 7:30pm that day. Most people could not finish including me but I succeeded in writing my name and the school I came from. I also went to the Maami Market to get myself a bucket and brailer (bathing bowl) which I would use to bath. I already took my bathing soap and other necessary things from home so I was quite comfortable.

    The room was full of females, it was noisy and smelling as a result of combination of different perfumes, body odour, colognes etc. It was not something I was used to. I was nauseated and almost threw up but I bore it quietly afterall, I was in Lagos.

    I turned to lay on my side ready to sleep. My back faced Lewa, I checked my phone for the time, it was 10pm. I sighed again with a smile and closed my eyes to sleep in anticipation for a better day the next day.

    For full story of episode 12, please click 'Back to topics' at the top right hand corner of the page. Thank You.

    Episode 13

    LAGOS CAMP EXPERIENCE -WEEK 1

    The next morning which was wednesday was a little cold and breezy. My body was tired, itchy and ached all over. Of everything, I could only attribute it to the change of environment. Despite the fact that I had closed my eyes to sleep the other night, sleep never came.I only shut my eyes determined to sleep but my body was wide awake until what I supposed would be early morning.

    Just when sleep was slowly creeping in, I was awoken by a sharp, rude and loud noise. It sounded like a siren. It was so loud that if there was a graveyard close by, some dead bodies would have risen that very day.

    It was the sound of the soldier’s bugle. The bugle is one of the brass instruments like a trumpet but different in shape and size. It is best described as a horn. It was handled by one of the soldiers to blow as early as 5am to wake corps members up and 10pm to announce the light out.

    That morning the bugle was blown and every body stood up in the room as if there was an award for the first to finish dressing. I did not get up on time, since I was just getting to sleep before the bugle was blown. Lewa had stood up and gone to have her bath. She came back dressed and woke me up again.

    “Wakeup Derin, we have only 30mins left to get to the field” she said.

    I dragged myself up and checked the time. It was 5:30am. I folded the mattress and tucked it at the corner of the room where we slept, Lewa assisted in using our bags to support it. I took my bucket, brailler and all that I needed for the bathroom and went to the bathroom.

    It was indeed a higher grade secondary school scene. The bathroom was full and overflowing with people. There was no space left, some of the ladies even shared the shower.

    “Wow!” I thought to myself “this is interesting, another life entirely. It is indeed a camp.”

    I went to other bathrooms both downstairs and upstairs, they were also full of people. I peeped through the corridor holes behind the hostel, I saw some girls bathing outside. Even though it was weird, it looked like fun to me but I was running late. So I decided to do something I had never done before.

    I managed to squeeze myself through one of the bathrooms, begged one of the girls bathing to allow me fetch water, got some water and went to a corner in the corridor where I had a quick bath, a little better than what we called rub and shine in secondary school. Rub and Shine technique is a system adopted by secondary school students in the boarding house when there was water scarcity in the hostel. They simply cleaned their faces with a towel, sprayed lots of perfume or body spray and applied powder without necessarily bathing. After they had done this, they looked and smelled fresh like they had their bath before leaving for school. This idea, I learnt from my friends who stayed in the hostel then.

    In my own case, with the little water I got, I washed my face, my hands and feet. I could not do a full bath because of time and space constraint. By the time I was back to the room, it was 6am. Lewa hurried me and asked how she could help to make me speed up my dressing up. I was grateful but I asked her not to worry that she could go so I wouldn't put her in trouble. She hesitated but I insisted, so she left.

    As soon as she was gone, like I was in a fashion competition, I dressed up at the speed of light. I had arranged my things the previous night so it was easy for me to pick my clothes and returned the used ones into the bag. In 5mins or less, I was done dressing up. It had been ages, I did that last, I did not know I still had it in me.

    “The soldiers are coming!” somebody shouted and everyone started running. I was about leaving when I remembered my phone and purse. I searched for it in my bag but I could not find it, I started looking for it.

    “Hurry! They are here” another person shouted, the room was almost empty and I was still searching for my phone and wallet. I wanted to leave it but I just couldn't.

    “What if I was called from home?” I thought to myself. I could not imagine losing my purse. It was the MK purse Annabel had given me. I got apprehensive as I searched for the two items and thought of my fate if a soldier met me in the room having heard how brutal they could be. At this time, the room was empty and I heard someone walk in.

    ... to be continued

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