Nne,biko nu. Come and finish this story for Christ sake. I'm on my knees. Shey iyawo nylon bag na season film ni? D day I joined Nairaland,I sha somehow stumbled on dz story nd I was like "WOW" but now,I'm like "is Ishilove eva gonna finish ds story/is she gonna tell me d rest when we get to heaven?"Try nd finish d gud work u started. Yah kuri da Allah

Thank you for your patience. I'm currently working on the update and I promise it will blow your mind. I sincerely apologise for the delay

Thank you, once again.

Chilo chilo!

Interesting! weldone ma'am.

grey hair is already growing on my jaw with dis wait oh! Ha, e to tey oh!

Our author is going to update the story today. Sit back, relax and enjoy new chapters of Iyawo Nylon Bag.

“How are you enjoying camp?”

She yawned and shrugged. “I’m not enjoying it o. I am so bloody tired and I badly need sleep.”

“Just endure, it will soon be over.”

She sniffed. “I can hardly wait. The part I hate most is that useless jogging.”

In the morning, two days ago, her hatred for early morning jogging had increased exponentially. The drill commander had been leading the exercise as usual, calling out songs in tune with the rhythm of their movements.


“Dem go born better
Dem go born better
If corper marry corper
Dem go born better.

Dem go born monkey
Dem go born monkey
If corper marry soldier
Dem go born monkey.”


sang the jogging youngsters. The practice in camps all over the country was to sing military cadence while jogging. The commander belted out amusing songs which the corps members responded to.

The road gently sloped downhill and then rose up after a few yards. Houses stood on both sides of the long, undulating road. The air had been cool that morning, and some of the curious indigenes stood at their doorsteps to watch the white clad corps members move past. It wouldn’t be the first time they were seeing this sight but it was always such a delight watching the dazzling array of white glide past on the black tarred earth.

Chilo had found her rhythm and was actually beginning to enjoy the run, when, without warning, she felt the clasp that held the left bra strap break with a barely audible ‘crack’. The released bosom spilled out of the cup and slapped her perspiring tummy.

Blast this nonsense brassiere! Chilo swore. Horrified, she abruptly halted. Some of the joggers coming behind collided with her quaking form and almost knocked her to knees.

“What is your problem?!” someone snapped in annoyance as he brushed past.

Shamefaced and upset, she had quickly folded her hands over the disproportionately angled breasts as passing joggers looked at her curiously. Cringing, she detached herself from the platoon and made her way back to the camp, hands over bosoms, avoiding the eyes of members of the oncoming platoons as they jogged past. A sweaty faced guy who correctly guessed what the problem was grinned cheekily at her and winked. Chilo was mortified. At the gate of the camp, she had been hard pressed to explain to the soldiers the exact nature of the wardrobe malfunction, but eventually she had to explain all when they threatened to turn her back. The memory still galled.

“It isn’t so bad” Joshua remarked, looking amused.

She snorted. “Yeah, right. Whatever.”

Her phone rang, interrupting their conversation. They had been walking at a slow, leisurely pace and enjoying the cool night breeze. In the distance, they could faintly hear the drone of the Mikano diesel generator that powered the camp.

Chilo dug the phone out of her pocket and looked at the flashing screen. Andrela was calling.

She glanced at Joshua and said “please hold on while I take this call”.

He nodded without saying anything.

“Hello? Andi wats up?”

It seemed as if Andrela had called to rant because after she enquired after Chilo’s well-being, she immediately went into a tirade. Oliver had done it again. He had stolen five hundred naira from her purse and lied about it with a confident vehemence borne out of practice.

Chilo burst out laughing.

“Don’t laugh. That was my last five hundred naira! It just shows that he is the one who has being stealing all the money that mummy has being complaining about.” Andrela hissed with irritation. “But do you know that God still disgraced him? He went and kept the money with Rabbit Teeth, and now Rabbit Teeth is denying that Oliver gave him anything to keep!” she added in annoyance.

Chilo and her sister hooted with laughter.

It was the norm in the Odigidawu household to give their neighbours nicknames. Just as Father had been the one who dubbed Sunday “Big English”, Mother had nicknamed the buck toothed young man who sold provisions in their neighbourhood “Rabbit Teeth.” She had also nicknamed a neighbour of theirs who had an inordinate fondness for cradling his lower extremities in his hands, “Kenekpamunaka” which in Igbo language means “He who carries his scrotum in his hands”. The man’s real name was Bolaji Abanikanda, but they had gotten so used to calling him “Kenepkamunaka” that they had to remind themselves of his name each time he was around. Another was named ‘Gorilla’; the neighbour who lived opposite them was simply called “Opposite”, while the neighbour adjacent their compound was nicknamed “Bustaram”. Andrew had commented one day that Mr Folarin greatly resembled the popular American rapper, Busta Rhymes. Father, who had no idea who Busta Rhymes was, immediately seized the name, modified it to suit his tongue and from that day, Mr Folarin was rechristened ‘Bustaram’.

“It was so scandalous!” Andrela crowed gleefully, her initial crankiness gone. “Everybody gathered around the Rabbit Teeth’s shop.”

“They gathered around his shop ke? Why??” Chilo asked in wonder.

From the corner of her eye, she could see that Joshua was looking on straight ahead. She couldn’t tell if he was listening because his face was expressionless. There was this air of mystery around him that she found rather appealing.

While she debated whether to keep discussing family ‘scandals’ around him, Andrela spoke on. Oliver, thoroughly enraged that Rabbit Teeth was denying knowledge of any agreement between them, had gone to harass him at his shop. The news had gotten to Father, who had immediately raced to the shop to discover Oliver pummelling the buck-toothed shop owner into a bloody pulp. Chilo’s troublesome brother was big, handsome and very strong for his age so pounding their rather scrawny neighbour, who was several years older than the teenager, was a walk in the park for him. Embarrassed, Father had wrestled his youngest son off the screaming Rabbit Teeth and dragged the boy home.

“Daddy went to check his BP today because the wahala was just too much. It was such a mess. And as for that little fif, I laughed at him very well because anybody who steals from me, God will surely steal from them!”

“Anh anh, Daddy went to check his BP?!? Eyah. Nawa. But what is wrong with that Oliver sef?”

“Me I don’t know for him o. I’m sure he needs deliverance.”

They had now traversed half the length of the camp, but it felt like they had been walking for just a few minutes. Joshua walked patiently beside her as she chatted on with her sister. She soon forgot she had a companion and began moving at a fast pace, and Joshua had to increase his pace to match hers. Whenever she was “doing gbeborun” as Deborah often joked when they were gossiping, Chilo would forget everything around her and give the matter at hand all her concentration.

It was when Andrela’s airtime got exhausted and the call was disconnected that Chilo suddenly remembered her silent companion. He had walked quietly beside her for close to fifteen minutes without fidgeting or showing any signs of impatience. Feeling embarrassed that she had ignored him for so long, she apologised.

“I’m sorry jare, family sturvs.” she said, her face burning.

He smiled, still not saying anything. It seemed he wasn’t much of a talker, which suited Chilo just fine because she couldn’t stand talkative men. It was for this reason that the bus ride to Ondo state with Korede had been such an ordeal. It had been interesting, but an ordeal nonetheless. She had politely kept her end of the conversation because she didn’t want to appear rude, but inside, she wouldn’t have minded if he just kept quiet.

“So, where were we?” she asked, smiling.

“I can’t remember” he said flatly.

Her face started burning again. Of course he couldn’t remember. How could he, when she had ignored him for the better part of their time together?

They walked on, making polite conversation. When they made their way back to the venue of the show in search of Joyce and Edwin, they discovered that the show had ended. Since they searched around for their friends but couldn’t find them, they decide to move away from the area.

“So, will I see you tomorrow?” he asked.

They were now standing in front of the camp store that served as Chilo’s hall of residence. It was around eleven-forty pm by this time.

“Yes sure, why not?”

“Okay.”

He fidgeted, and then stuck his hand into his trouser pockets.

“Do you mind if I have your number?”

Chilo smiled inwardly. I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all. . .

*******************

The following day, she was dragging herself back to her room after another morning of meaningless drill when she heard someone call out her name. She turned round and almost ran smack into Joshua. It took a few seconds for her to recognise him, and when she did, she face almost split apart in a big grin.

In daylight, he was even more rugged looking in appearance. He was also darker in complexion than she had initially thought. He had slightly wide nostrils, full upper lip, a broad chest and shoulders, washboard abdomen and muscular arms. He sported nicely carved sideburns that reminded her of the ones kept by Kodi, and his jet black hair gleamed in the sun in smooth waves.

Joshua wasn’t handsome in the conventional sense, but he exuded a raw masculinity that was very magnetising.

They stood under the blazing sun, sweat pouring down in bucketsful, identical smiles on their faces.

“How was your night?” he asked, beaming. When he smiled, he looked almost boyish.

“It was fine” she answered, smiling back.

They chatted briefly, and then agreed to meet at the mammy market later in the morning for breakfast.

In the days that followed, they established a routine. After morning drill, they would go back to their halls, bath and then meet up for breakfast at the mammy market. At night, they would stroll around camp and end up at the mammy market for dinner. Breakfast at the market usually consisted of cooked indomie noodles and fried eggs, or tea, bread and fried or boiled eggs, while dinner ranged from bean cakes and fried yams to white or jollof rice. They no longer bothered queuing up for the tasteless camp food, except for Sundays when they were served jollof rice and tough, fried chicken. Chilo for one was grateful that she had Joshua to buy her meals because the truth was that she couldn’t afford to spend all the money Father and Kodi had hustled up for her to take to camp on food. There were also other expenses to think of and the cost of living in camp was high, so she had to be mindful of how she spent her money.

The routine, however, was soon broken by Chilo. She had gradually begun to put aside her loathing for camp drills and when she did that, she began to relax. Relaxed, she noticed that Joshua wasn’t the only guy on camp.

John Daniel Eke was the Orientation Broadcasting Service broadcaster. He was of average height, slightly plump and attractive in a sharp sort of way. He was an extrovert and also a comedian with a grand sense of humour. Wherever JD was, he was sure to be noticed.

He also had eyes for Chilo. She met him through her roommate Florence, a very pretty and loud-mouthed girl. Anywhere JD, as he was popularly known, saw Chilo, he always went out of his way to throw some sweet words at her. She wasn’t really attracted to him, but he was fun to have around so she began to hang out with him often.

Despite having Joshua and JD around, she still managed to flirt with a chap in her platoon named Vincent. Vincent was tall, broad shouldered, very dark in complexion and handsome. He also had the cutest smile she had ever seen on a man. Chilo found Vino Tinto, as he was nicknamed, a very stimulating fellow to be around. She became infatuated with him and began cavorting with the handsome young fellow.

Of course the presence of so many delightful young men around Chilo distracted her, so her daily rendezvous with Joshua was soon reduced to the barest minimum.

There were several propositions from the camp soldiers. Chilo couldn’t be bothered about them, however, because she felt they were beneath her. Joshua had informed her that the soldiers in camp were in the lower ranks, that was why they were so mean to the corps members.

“You see the way they shout at us ba, that is the way their superiors shout at them, which is why every little opportunity they have to exercise power, they transfer all their annoyance on us.” he informed her, one sunny afternoon during another mind numbing lecture on the benefits of regular HIV status checks. He eyed one of them as he casually sauntered past.

“So it is a case of transferred aggression?” Chilo asked, also eyeing the soldier.

Joshua nodded. “Now that they have the opportunity to be our bosses, they will harass us as much as they can until orientation ends because they know that when they go back to their bases, their senior officers will be there waiting for them.”

There was no way she was going to lower herself to the level of accepting propositions from men who would likely attempt to sleep with her in the ‘camp spirit.’ She had heard soldiers were good lovers but she was definitely not curious enough to find out the truth or otherwise in this assertion.

On camp fire night, she agreed to meet with Joshua on the field. They were supposed to spend the rest of the evening together once their platoon had shared the food they cooked. Chilo’s platoon members had cooked the most atrocious tasting jollof rice she had ever had the misfortune to eat. The rice was bland and half-done while the beef was poorly spiced and was as tough as new leather; and tasted like it too.

Chilo spat out the first spoonful and grimaced. “Nasty!” she exclaimed, and spat again on the sandy ground.

Someone tapped her on the back. She turned and saw Vino Tinto smiling his cute smile at her. He was sitting almost directly behind her.

“I bin tink sey na only me no fit chop the yeye food” he remarked, grinning.

Chilo chuckled. “Don’t mind them. Dem there dey form Martha Stewart but see the rubbish dem cook for human being.”

She had been sorely provoked when earlier in the day, out of boredom; she wandered over to where the platoon representatives were cooking the food. The chief cook had unceremoniously shooed her away like she was a naughty child who had ventured too close to the fire. Angered, she stormed off because she disliked confrontations.

Vino invited her to the mammy market to drink with him because he claimed he didn’t want to suffer from runny stomach.

“This their food gives a whole new meaning to ‘awoof dey run belle’” he drily commented, taking hold of Chilo’s hand as they got up and moved away.

She sniggered. When they settled down at the bar, she dug out her phone from her pocket and quickly switched off.

“What do you want? Gulder, Stout, Star . . .?” Vino asked, smiling mischievously.

“Malt will be fine” she answered, feeling giddy. Goodness, he was such a cutie!

Vino’s friends joined them after twenty-five minutes or thereabout and they spent the rest of camp fire night drinking, chatting and generally having them a jolly time.

The following day, Joshua called her to find out what happened to her phone.

“I am so so sorry. My battery died and I was just moving around hoping I would see you but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

Chilo felt a slight pang of guilt. Joshua really was a nice, gentle person.

He was silent for a beat. Then he spoke up. “Too bad about that because I wanted to introduce you to some of my school mates that I hooked up with. I’ve told them about you and they really wanted to meet you.”

She wondered exactly what he had told them. In addition, for the first time, she noticed how nasal sounding his voice was.

“I’m really sorry. I wish we had been able to meet because we hardly see each other these days.”

Through no fault of his, a scornful voice whispered in her head.

“Abi JD kidnapped you,” he asked in jest. She however heard an underlying note of seriousness in his question.

Joshua loathed JD. He thought the comedian was a total jackass who mouthed off because he wanted people to notice him. He had met him hanging around Chilo a couple of times so he knew they were friends. She never told Joshua about the numerous times JD had tried to kiss her in various dark corners on camp, and it was a good thing because it would only increase his dislike for JD. The last stunt JD has pulled was during the Drama Presentation Night. She was the co-director of the drama her platoon was presenting, as well as acting a part in it. She was in the middle of her presentation when her phone vibrated in the deep pocket of her gown. She ignored it but it kept on vibrating. When her part was over, she had exited the stage and immediately gone backstage to check her call log to see who in God’s green earth had been distracting her with calls. She had been perplexed when she saw ten missed calls from JD. She immediately called back.

“Chilo come quickly to the health centre, I AM DYING!!” were the words he screamed into her ears immediately he picked. He sounded like he was in great distress.

Alarmed, Chilo gathered the flowing skirts of her costume and ran pell-mell to the medical centre, leaving the presentation behind. On her arrival, she discovered to her chagrin that his case was not as serious as he had made it out to be. His malady was malaria and he was lying almost motionless in bed. What ailed him were weakness and body pains caused by malaria. That was all. To say JD was a drama queen would be the greatest understatement of the year.

Chilo was very glad she hadn’t told Joshua of his rival’s shenanigans.

They chatted briefly and then he rang off.

Chilo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She forced herself to focus on Vino, his cute smile, handsome face and hilarious jokes.

Soon enough, she forgot completely about the botched date with Joshua.

Camp activities were winding down. People were lobbying for favourable postings with cash and kind. Chilo, who knew no one important and no one important knew her, was praying not to be posted to any obscure village because she had heard ‘horror’ stories of corps members posted to interior communities in the middle of nowhere.

“I have one funny kind of luck,” she once confided to Joyce one evening after dinner. They were sitting in the stall of their favourite food seller in the mammy market, a pretty, fair complexioned and gap-toothed young woman known all over the mammy market as Lady B. “I often get what I least expect.”

“So are you expecting to be posted to a big company in Akure?” Joyce enquired a slight smile on her lips.

Chilo shook her head and scrunched up her nose. “Ah no, I’m expecting to be posted to one bush village like that. Usually when I have those kinds of expectations, I end up having the exact opposite.”

It wasn’t the truth but she was speaking by faith. Who knew, if she confessed hard enough her heart’s desires, it might just come to pass. After all, the bible said confession brings possession.

“Don’t you want to be where Joshua is? He is a nice guy and who knows, that is how marriage starts.”

Chilo laughed. “Toh, let God’s will be done.”

She had picked up the term ‘toh’ from Joyce. Some of Joyce’s language mannerisms were rubbing off on her. Chilo was going to miss her when she went back to Kaduna. Joyce had used feminine charms and a bucketful of lies to work her redeployment back to her home state. She had a fiancé there who she said she could not afford to be separated from for a long period of time. Joyce was thirty years old and she felt the clock was ticking fast. There was no way in God’s green earth that she was going to stay in Ondo state while some strumpet took over her territory in Kaduna. One never knew with men

The much anticipated posting day started out like every other day in camp. That morning, it seemed the bugle man was glad that camping had final come to an end because he seemed to blow the bugle with more vigour than usual. He deliberately stood close to the window of Chilo’s hall of residence and blasted the instrument into their ears. Startled, the girls scrambled out of bed grumbling and protesting loudly. His mischievous aim achieved, the soldier moved on, blowing the bugle with all his might and being an absolute nuisance.

The camp came alive after this. Preparations were rushed as everyone wanted to be at the camp ground on time. Chilo couldn’t be bothered because she had her luggage to think about, so she took her time in getting ready. When she finally made it to the parade ground, the march past was well under way. As she was not in the mood to stand for hours watching corps members like her march up and down the field, she made her way back to the deserted halls of residence, randomly selected a room, stretched out on top of someone’s neatly packed luggage and promptly fell asleep.

She slowly came awake an hour later. This is it, she thought with some trepidation. She couldn’t hear the drums again, so she figured the end of the parade was very close at hand. Chilo dragged herself up from her bed made of luggage and stretched.

“I better get a move on” she muttered under her breath.

She was feeling light headed and oddly detached from the happenings around her. She slowly walked back to the parade ground and by the time she arrived, the activities had rounded up the field was rapidly filling with expectant corps members.

“Excuse me, how do we get our posting letters?” she asked a tense faced girl. The girl shrugged and shook her head. By now the field was almost bursting at the seams. People were jostling each other and beginning to form queues under the canopies that had been set up for the NYSC officials who were handing out the posting letters. Chilo was confused and moved around aimlessly.

“Maybe it is by state”, she overhead someone telling their companion. Intrigued, she immediately began asking around.

It was after nearly thirty minutes of fruitless rigmarole that she was finally able to determine that the queues were number based. It took another fifteen minutes for her to locate where her call-up number, 1055 fell. Twenty minutes later, she held her posting letter in her hands.

She moved out of the canopy and stood under the burning sun, quickly skimming through the contents of the letter all the while. Puzzled, she looked up at the sky and mumbled “where in God’s name is Ondo East local government?” She was perspiring heavily. She blinked the sweat out of her eyes, removed her cap and wiped her forehead. She put the cap back on and read the letter again.

Blessed Comprehensive High School, Wasimi. It was still there. She couldn’t believe her eyes. This wasn’t what she had expected. The big company she had been looking forward to all this time. Chilo felt dizzy. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision which had strangely doubled. Just then, she caught sight of Joshua passing. He was carrying all his possessions in a backpack and was already making his way back to the gate where the buses conveying the corps members to their places of primary assignment waited.

“Joshua!!” she called out. He stopped and looked back. Smiling, he made his to her.

“Where were you posted to?” she asked

“Ikare Technical College, here in Ikare” he answered, looking very pleased with himself.

“Lucky you. I was posted to Ondo East Local government”

“Ondo East? I heard that place is okay. It is a developed town so you have nothing to worry about” he assured her. “Look I have to be on my way. You know sey this posting thing na first come first serve, so I gats reach there early.” He looked in a hurry to be gone.

Chilo nodded wordlessly.

“Aight. Take care.”

The words had barely left his mouth when he turned and walked away.

“Okay, don’t become a stranger!” she called out to his retreating back.

When he disappeared into the crowd, she suddenly felt very, very alone.


****************

“I want to keep you company, I’m bored.”

“So now you have my time abi?”

“The last time I wanted to come, you know what happened.”

He sighed. “Okay, whenever you are ready.”

“What about this weekend?”

“Fine then.”

Chilo wondered whether what she was about to do was wise. But then again, she had never been the wisest person around . . .

Splendid!

Wow! Thanx for d update

Nice one...

[i][/i]
Nyc piece

Following...

Wasimi? It sure rings a bell...

Lovely lovely lovely, waiting for the next installment

princesa: Wasimi? It sure rings a bell...

Lovely lovely lovely, waiting for the next installment

Wasimi chronicles...

Mr Troll:
Wasimi chronicles...

that's definitely it...
Though i never got to read it all

Ishi come and update ooooo

Will this story end?

Ishi,worriz d Ish?
Bikonu, round dis story up this year

Ishi tho.....her matter don tire chilo sef.
And she is busy gallivanting on royvers"I see things others do not see"
Person no fit sell hin pikin nAaw.na so her matter be for my hand.
Ishilove.am not unfollowing this thread till u complete it

update!update!update! I am happy to annonce d birth of grey hair born to d family of my jaw which has grown due to waiting! Waiting!waiting! For UPDATE*

Funny people ! You will gladly donate tithe to a pastor who threatens you with hell and jejely follow people in paying tithes. Simply donate to someone who wrote a good story that adds value to you is a problem

Finally read it all,
Beautiful story.
Waiting patiently for an update.

Uyi Iredia:
Funny people ! You will gladly donate tithe to a pastor who threatens you with hell and jejely follow people in paying tithes. Simply donate to someone who wrote a good story that adds value to you is a problem

don't bring religion into this. Did she tell you that unavailability of laptop was the only problem? Mtcheww


@ishi-mummy
why did you scam us so

Iyawo politen bag

Got on d show late,but thank GOD 4 dis kind of cinema where everyone iz got his/her own screen and remote and u don't av to miss any of the action.. Just got to d end of d available episodes and patiently waiting for more updates...@Ishilove.more ink 2 ur keyboard,more fuel to ur gen if na PHCN cause d delay and more time to ur spare time if na wetin cause d delay.... Nyc write up though...can't wait ooooooô

its like you don't know this our madam. Just prepare o, this story will drag on till December 2013. Mark my words!

words marked

This look ore like an abandoned story.i hope i can still remember the storyline.....ishilove where are thou ?