MI AMIGO

"Hey Mi Amigo" Dami said with a smile, he looked up at the hanged man dangling from the tree branch.
"How's it hanging?" He laughed at his own pun. He grinned at the sculpture, it was his favorite in the garden. Not that it was more beautiful than the thick curvy sculpture of the African beauty made out of bolts or as well-crafted as the man wrestling a bull but what drew him to it the most was the meaning, the depth, the hanged man seemed to tell a story just by being there. It was a bit scary, because mi amigo, as Dami called him, did not have an actual head but instead in it's place there was a funnel. It did not make sense but Dami loved it.
His pencil scraped against the book, throwing long jagged lines accross the page. Dami felt that the agressiveness of his art was a reflection of his inner rage, the anger that was always roiling beneath his calm exterior.
"Zainab dumped me today" Dami announced suddenly with a smile that did not reach his eyes. The sound of scraping pencil became louder, there was a controlled agitation in his movement but his expression did not change.
"Four years" he muttered, lips twisted between a grin and a grimace, "and she dumps me for my best friend"
His pencil slashed accross the page, "Just like that". Dami smiled up at the hanged man then his eyes went back to the book. His hand froze, the sketch was barely discernable but there was an outline of a face, a very familiar face. There was a patch on the head made out of thickly packed slashes that looked like blood was spurting out of it's skull. Blood was splattered accross the face but Dami knew it still. It was Majid, Zainab's new boyfriend and Dami's former best friend.
Dami's hand quivered, he frowned and ripped out the page, crumpling it into a ball in his fist he stared up at the hanged man.
"It hurts real bad" he said in a plain voice, he stared at the paper and shook his head.
"This is too much though, I wouldn't wish death on Majid not after all we've been through"

"But still..." He stared off into space for a while then he shut his sketchbook and stood, just out of impulse he threw the balled up paper at Mi Amigo. It flew in a beautiful arch,
soared up past all the obstructions of the hanged man's metal body and fell inside the funnel.
Dami chuckled, "Nice shot". He turned and started to walk out of the sculpture garden, at that moment an eery wind blew and the sculpture of the hanged man rotated towards Dami who had his back turned. He didn't notice this, not even when it's metal finger moved.
Majid whistled as he walked, it echoed down the long corridor, argueably the most notorious place on campus but at this time it was empty, no young lovers cuddling with their backs against the pillars, no silent whispers, at this hour of the night the long corridor was not a hotspot for lovers. Dark and long shadows stretched around the corners, it was like walking down a lightless tunnel, something similar to the set of a horror movie. Majid smiled, this is A.B.U though, the safest University in Nigeria he thought then added derisively, and also the most boring.
A metalic clink sound rang through the corridor, then a faint sound of metal creaking. Majid kept his face straight, he was not afraid, this is A.B.U Zaria he reassured himself, there is nothing to fear here. The metallic sound reverberated down the corridor again, then again and again till it fell into a rhythm that was akin to someone walking with metal shoes.
"We aren't short on weirdos though" Majid muttered as he turned to appraise the person walking behind him. His steps faltered, a frown creased his forehead. Well this one is weirder than most though. A metallic clink rang every time the person's feet landed then it was followed by a creak of metal as he took another step. The figure was unmistakably male, not very tall and he moved with some difficulty, jerkily and ungainly. Probably because of all that costume, but where the hell is he going with all that at 1a.m?

The person seemed to move faster than his strides made it appear. In an instant he was ten paces behind Majid. Clink...clink...clink...clink he moved closer, Majid felt his heart thump loudly against his ribs but convinced himself it was just excitement, not fear at all. His breath caught when he saw an outline of the person's head, very weird costume indeed Majid thought. His hands were cold and he realised his feet were not moving like they should.