Thanks for the comments... that's what keeps me going

Present sir...better late than never,now let's get a-reading.

Nice work brother. I need to ask, is this a Sci-fi, Paranormal or romance story?

sheikshegetto:
Present sir...better late than never,now let's get a-reading.

glad you love my work.... I'm sorry for the delay!

Fazemood:
Nice work brother. I need to ask, is this a Sci-fi, Paranormal or romance story?

....a blend of the three and literary inclusive

EPISODE NINE

At night the dark streets became menacing, the moon and stars hid their faces and left the clouds with distant grumble of thunder and lightening. Dark shapes loomed up at different parts of the street.

The terrifying hooting of a nearby owl and the crocking of frogs didn’t allow Jemeh to fall asleep as he laid alerted on the wooden bench he'd found in one of the rooms in the abandoned doddery one-storey shopping mall somewhere around the bus stop.

The structure had been a victim of government demolition for the sake of road expansion. Though it wasn’t totally taken off, but it'd the face of‘Terminator' - half of it including the staircase had been bulldozed. Jemeh had to take to the ground floor, even though he felt it was more dangerous; he earnestly wished he had found a safer place to pass the night.

He checked his digital wrist watch, it was exactly half-past one in the horrifying of the night. A deep sense of despair overwhelmed him as he laid there. So many weird imaginations began to troop in and out of his mind.

Some minutes later, a creepy noise geared him up to consciousness. The first thing on his mind was a snake but the room was too gloomy for anything to be seen. He stamped his right foot on the tiled floor again and again in an attempt to scare away the unseen creature(s). And was fortunate to have some smokers left a match box on the bench with three sticks in it.

He struck the first stick but heavy wind came and blew it off. But just before it was put off, a creature’s eyes gleamed as it caught the light. Jemeh’s heart flipped, a cold breeze ran down his spine, his eyes were popping out of his head in an effort to see through the dark. With trembling fingers, he struck the second stick but the lighted stick slept off his weak grip and was extinguished immediately. At this point, his heartbeat was a drumbeat, his head had increased ten times its original weight and how he'd managed to sustain the fire on the last stick and looked round him remained a misery.

To his utter astonishment, all he could see were fat Lazy-looking lizards, hanging carefree on the rough walls of the room.

What about those eyes? Jemeh wondered. Or was it just a picture in his head? Where was the awful odour coming from?
His anxiety continued in confusion, but a bit reduced. He moved closer to the lizards with the burning stick - trying to scare them away but they felt so reluctant to move.

Maybe they had night-blindness, Jemeh speculated, perhaps they considered him an intruder, he managed to mumbled a chuckle in the midst of his horrors before the fire went out, and darkness returned with its snarls.

Although he felt irritated sharing a room with the ugly-headed lazy lizards, there was no much choice than to swallow the disgust. He remembered in his kiddies days, how he and his friends would haunt the creature around the neighbourhood with catapult and stones - because their fathers had told them tales of how the creature got its ugly head from the old tortoise as a result of greed.

Just then, the wailing of a racing police van siren hooted in and dissolved the reckoning in Jemeh’s head. He took a statued position until it had gone out of hearing, then he laid back on the bench and continued to look back to the nostalgic days of his childhood. He remembered how famous his father - Chief Dania was in his lifetime; famous for his extravagant spending in buying all sort of alcoholic content for his colleagues in the drunken circle without a property nor an establishment to boast of. All he left behind was his cocoa plantation, that was being encroached by wild fire annually.

How dare Chief Dania even boasted of his polygamous home and went as far as admonishing ‘his boys’
to keep the tradition alive? Jemeh shook his head in disgust. Had it been now, Jemeh and his brothers would have objected Chief Dania's councel emphatically and not even with a tongue-in-check remark would they have agreed to it.

At twenty one, Jemeh had found life stifling; his father was the breadwinner of the family until he was lowered to the earth.

Late Chief's only surviving brother, Osas had confiscated the money left in Chief's bank account - he was Chief's PA when Chief was alive. The villain uncle had further threatened to hurt Jemeh if he dared him, and that was the major reason why Jemeh's mother persuaded Jemeh to move out to Lagos.

However, revenge was still nurtured in Jemeh’s heart. He would strike when prepared financially and mentally, the thought gave him more reason to survive the night.

All of a sudden, a husky voice accompanied the distant grumbling of thunder,“Scorpion, make we hide these tools here because of the police check point for front,” the voice sounded very close to the door.

Tbc...

Ewoo

authorsegun:

....a blend of the three and literary inclusive

Hmmm.

Fazemood:

Hmmm.

it could be a little complicated but u can still follow up. Try to understand the characterization and the storyline, you will get the theme of the story even before it is unveiled.

EPISODE TEN

“Baba, you sure say this place safe?” a second voice asked.

“yes na, na only us dey come smoke here…”

Jemeh peeped through an opening on the door but couldn't identify the men until lightning came and swallowed up the darkness that had masked their faces, and was shocked to see that they were the two men that had approached him earlier at the grave-yard. In their conversation, Jemeh decoded the‘tools’ they'd been referring to as guns.

Suddenly, a heavy thunderstorm followed a lightning and raindrops was the result. Jemeh’s eyes widen with horror, he was now certain the men would join him for a shade - a matter of life and death. He tried to compose himself as much as he could, awaiting his fate, but as luck would have it, the two men dashed off hurriedly after a little more argument, with the believe that the uniform men would have fled the checkpoint, shading from the heavy downpour.

Jemeh breathed a sign of relief, having the men away. He laid back on the bench with his eyes opened - trying to keep a watch-night but sleep soon came and knocked him off until a few hours later when he began to hear the rumble of metal and concrete and an unusual whirring in his subconscious mind. He looked up in a daze to see what looked like little tremors from the decking. With an instinctive agility he could muster but could not explain how he hauled himself out of the building in a flash just as the roof came down in a terrifying rain of steel and wood and splinters.

He stood some meters away and watched the debris accumulated just as lights came on in the neighborhood.

His skin was covered with grime, it'd been a long right. The rain was gone, his wrist watch too. He looked back to the collapsed building and gave thanks to God - never had he been so fear death.

Jemeh thought it was dawn already as the vehicles resumed their parade on the road, so he started moving to the bus-stop with the faith that he'd get help at all cost and would get home before the clouds clear up.

Very close to the bus-stop, he sighted a police van, with four officers standing beside it and forming a sort of roadblock. If he'd seen them early enough, he would have by-passed them.

“Hey! Come here! Where are you going by this time of the day?" one of the officers shouted.

“…in a city awash with drugs and criminals,” Jemeh humoured under his breath, added to the words of the officer as he walked towards the man.

Bluff it out and be free from police Wahala, the thought fell on Jemeh as he moved closer to the men in black
uniform.

“Didn’t you hear what he asked you?” another officer shouted at Jemeh, clenching his fist.

“Arrgh! I’m going to work na, officer!"

“By this time of the day, what is it by your time?" the only officer with a gun asked. The rest held on to a wooden Barton and a torch light, which was now shinning bright in Jemeh’s face.

“it should be about, em… six A.M," Jemeh replied.

“No! It’s four A.M”, the officer said.

“Oh, really? My wrist watch just stopped working though.”

“Where did you sleep last night?”, another officer queried.

“Me?” Jemeh asked back, wondering if they actually saw him last night.

“Yes you. Look, we are not joking here!”

“Alright, what if I say in an uncompleted building? Officer, I don’t think all these questions are necessary.”

“ You want to teach us our work, abi? Oya turn around, place your hands on your head and stop talking! You are under arrest!” the officer yelled at Jemeh.

Jemeh obeyed, but only the first two commands.

"Under arrest, just like that!" he yelled back at the officer. His legs began to shiver, even though he'd no skeleton in his cupboard.

The officer moved closest to him and gave him the most scrutinizing search of his life, leaving his clothes rumpled. In the end of the fruitless search, the officer flashed a well-folded five hundred naira note which he’d taken from Jemeh’s back pocket and began to unfold it bit by bit, peering into Jemeh’s face with a smear as if expecting something illegal in between the foldings. But to his disappointment he found
nothing.

“You are clean...but why acting weird?” the officer asked Jemeh.

“I’m not feeling too well,” Jemeh groaned. He was now fixing his rumpled shirt and trousers.

“So sorry about your health," the officer said, and the other officers gave an acknowledgement nod.

“Are you aware that some people’s brain got ripped out last night in this
neighbourhood?”

Jemeh shook his head, “I don’t have the foggiest idea. Look, am I still under arrest here?”

“No, no… you
may go. Or do you want to take a bus here?”

“No, thanks, I’ll just take my leave," Jemeh answered and started moving away.

“…be careful!” the distant voice of one of the officers dropped on the eardrums of Jemeh, whose face had been
brightened up by the currency in his hand as he gave it a stare once again. Thanks to the officer, he never knew he'd the note hiding somewhere in his pocket. He kept smiling as he trudged down the lonely road, singing the piece by R. Kelly:

#√...but then I climbed the hills,
And saw the mountains,
I hollered help 'cause I was lost,
Then I felt the strong wind,
Heard a small voice sayin'

The storm is over,
(The storm is over now)
And I can see the sunshine, (Somewhere beyond the clouds)
I feel Heaven, yeah,
(Heaven is over me)
Come on and set me free, whoa!...¶~

TBC...

Hmmmm

9ja police ehh

Pinkberry5:
9ja police ehh

LOL

EPISODE ELEVEN


It was exactly two weeks and three days since the day of the interview and still there was no feedback from the company. Jemeh wasn't expectant anyway, not after Mr. Niyi’s shroud rejection. He was doing the laundry in front of the house as he always did on Saturdays. Judas had gone to work very early that morning- he was a line supervisor in a milk producing factory. A few other tenants were doing one chores or the other. The chanting and trotting in and out of the building by the children made the yard a noisy one as usual.

As Jemeh buried his head in the laundry basket, searching for what next to wash, a small voice came from behind, “Hi!” the voice sounded unfamiliar.

Jemeh turned around and slowly resurrected his head to unveil the identity of the stranger.

She was on brown Gucci
count shoes, black jean and a brown short-sleeved shirt. Her slit eyes were penetrating, her Chickbones very sharp and her skin a little less as bright as Jemeh's but more succulent.

Her wild look set Jemeh’s eyes aflame and if he had his way, he'd rushed into his room to get dressed in a better outfit before saying a word to her.

“Good morning,” Jemeh said, forcing out a smile,“Please, how may I help you?”

“I’m looking for one Mr. Jemeh Dania. I was told he lives here. Can you help?”she said her words
distinctively and rushed them for only a good listener to comprehend.

“Very well,… yeah, I know him,” Jemeh said, trying to recall where he'd seen that pointed nose before. “Is he in trouble?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she chuckled, "I’ve got something for him instead. Take me to
him.” she said, scanning the neighborhood with her eyes. Her utterances exuded command and Jemeh accredited that to her elegance.

“I’m Jemeh Dania… so sorry for keeping you in the dark. I was just playing safe, you know?”he paused his smile.

“Sure!" she continued, "I’m Chivera, the girl at the reception… Merit Plc?”

“Eish! I recognize your face now… shame on me,” Jemeh quickly came in to stop her from giving more clues.

Jemeh would do this whenever he was with someone like Chivera.

“Please let’s go in” Jemeh led the way, even though he wasn't frank about showcasing his unkept room.

“No, no, please. I won’t stay longer than this,” Chivera said and exhaled in freedom, as Jemeh took out an inner and began to wear over his hairy and broad chest. She also had noticed his other unique features but had managed to keep it out of thinking.

“I brought your – em…,” Chivera sputtered. She didn’t know the word to classify the slim leather envelope. “Here it is,” she stretched her hand with
it to Jemeh.

“Wow! How can I thank you enough?” Jemeh said, on receiving the 'document-bag' a name Jemeh had given the thin bag.

She thought, if only Jemeh knew that his cell phone was no longer in order he wouldn’t be thanking her. She went ahead to explain as detailed as possible, how the phone had slept off her fingers and its screen broken. She had taken the phone out to be fixed but its parts were out of circulation because it was outdated.

TBC...

following now

Nice but short and its not enough. Are we getting more today?

It's short nah

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jemeh listened all along in absolute quietness and tried to maintain an indifference demeanor, though it
was really shameful how Chivera had described his phone.

“No probs, as for my phone. I really appreciate your sincerity, I must confess.”

“I’ll get you another phone. Name your choice.”

“No, but if you insist… then make sure I get the job instead,” Jemeh said, trying to change the topic. He was not the type that would accept such offer, much so from a proud person.

“How am I gonna do that?”Chivera’s first smile surged. She thought Jemeh was out of his mind but she liked his guts.

Jemeh shrugged his shoulders, smiling back at her.

“I saw your face after the interview. I guess you performed poorly?”

“No, not exactly”, Jemeh said, "but that man with pot-belly, he was really hard on me”

“Tall?”

“Yes.”

“Dark?”

“Yes."

"Nase!...that man is always like that," Chivera said.

Jemeh looked at her with a questioning gaze and she was quick to understand Jemeh’s confusion.

“In French, it means…boring.” Chivera tried to explain. It took Jemeh a little time to comprehend her. She had a homour that was quintessentially French. And as for her, anyone who acted weird was boring.

“I’m just trying to say...he’s usually that way and any applicant that gets his disapproval stands a slim or no chance at all."

“Eish! Is he that bad?”

“Excuse me, please,”Chivera butted-in and moved out of hearing to answer a phone call and after a little while, she was back.

“Mr. Jemeh, I'd be on my way now.”

“Alright… let me walk you to the bus stop.”

“Thanks, but that’s my car,” Chivera pointed to a red sport car packed about twenty meters away from the fenceless compound. Jemeh never knew until now, that he was so far away from his surroundings.

“Nice, then to your car!"

“Never mind. Chao!” Chivera said and selected her steps to the car and drove off.

Fatima rushed out, her hair awry to see Jemeh’s august visitor. She'd just had her bath when a busybody tenant called on her. But to their disappointment, Chivera was gone by the time got to the balcony.

Later that evening, Judas returned from work with a commodity bag in his hand. Jemeh was in the room watching TV. Jemeh shifted uncomfortably in his sitting position and mumbled a greeting – he knew Judas would have something to nag upon as usual.

“Nawao! Guy!, why didn’t you refill the empty bottles with water na, and you’ve been home all day o,” Judas
said, Confirming Jemeh's hypothesis as he put the water-melon from the bag into the refrigerator.

“It skipped my mind man… first thing tomorrow morning, please,” Jemeh said, he stood up and walked to the door.

“So, what did you cook?" Judas asked with mockery dripping in his voice.

Jemeh wanted to ignore him but words had congested his throat.

“But you know very well, that I’ve not done any job for about two and half weeks now." Jemeh continued, "The construction site where I hustle is under government seal. You know all these but you just want to be annoying.”

“Guy, packwell abeg… I’m tired of this your no job, no job excuses. I asked you a simple question but you decided to narrate a full soap-opera of your problems to me, shoo! Look, it is in the eyes of a lazy man that maize will get ripen, continue staying idle in the name of searching for a white collar job.”

Jemeh wanted to ignore for real this time and was about to slam the door behind him when Judas said something very significant.

“For your information, Judith will be spending the weekend with me.”

Jemeh now came to the understanding of Judas's high frustration. Judas wasn't the confronting type - he didn’t have the nerves. Most of the time, he'd have to get drunk for dutch courage. Jemeh had perceived the smell of alcohol in his breath, the reason why he wanted to leave at first.

“She’s welcomed!” Jemeh said and slammed the door behind him. He left criticizing Freda for being a hypocrite. He recalled she'd once told him she was against 'Lagos marriage' the phrase used by Lagosians to describe a lady living with a man that is yet to paid her bride-price.

Jemeh got to the balcony and found Fatima seated all by herself. He tip-toed to her back, poked her by the side and whispered a shortened version of her name; he hardly called people by their full names.

Fatima jerked and whirled her chubby body around to face Jemeh whose left hand had almost gone round her waist as he now was sitting beside her on the short wooden bench.

Jemeh was in the mood for a little romance but the teen was far from it, even though it was what she'd always wanted.

“Stop jor!” groaned Fatima. She pulled out of Jemeh’s weak grip and turned her face to the other end.

“What’s the problem?”Jemeh inquired, “Fati, talk to me, I said what’s the problem?”He made effort to turn her stiffen head to face himself.

“Jemeh, you are hiding something from me,” she spoke at last

“And – what could that be?”Jemeh raised his eyeballs.

“Who was that girl this morning?” she inquired, still not facing him.

Jemeh was astonished by her bold confrontation; she'd never had such guts. What has come over her?
He ruminated.

“Which girl?... oh, that must be Chivera – the receptionist from the company where I had my last interview," Jemeh explained on,“ She came to return my bag and phone. That’s kind of her, right?"

“I don’t know!” Fatima snapped.

“Eish, don’t tell me you're jealous, Fati.” Jemeh hummed a laugh.

“Jealous ke? I didn’t see her sef,” Fatima said.

“Jesus! Who now told you?.... aha! It is one of your jobless friends in the compound, right?"

Fatima laughed sheepishly and said, “I told you, I have many eyes on you, even the ones I did not send.”

Jemeh thought for a while, if he'd ever proposed a relationship to her. He was right about her: she was nervous, gullible and insecure, just for her age. He'd always despised dating a BIMBO almost half his age and much more now.

“So, you’re trying to be my Mum - watching me or what?”Jemeh laughed.

“Of cause, I’m your small Mummy.”

All Fatima had ever wished for was for Jemeh to step up his game. She'd told her friends about him and had gotten teen counsel from them. Perhaps, their counsel had increased her nagging, which may kill the chances of her wish ever coming through.

They kept chatting until sleep started at Fatima. It was about eleven o’clock and it looked only the two were left outside. Fatima stiffen a yarn and asked Jemeh if he was not ready to hit the sack.

“I have to wait a little longer.” Jemeh replied.

“Why?”

“Our lady is spending the night with us.”

“Who is our lady?” Fatima was now on her feet.

“Freda – Judas girlfriend.”

“She is staying for just tonight, abi?”

“I hope so.”

“Hmm! Let me stay with you then.”

“No, you don’t have to, besides, sleep is conquering your eyes already. I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Just go to bed, Fati.”

“Yes sir!” Fatima said, and pulled Jemeh up to his feet. Jemeh didn't know what she was up to until she gave him that passionate hug. His body chemistry betrayed him – it was the first time, and it happened so fast.

“Good night!”

“Good night!”

Fatima walked into the passage, leaving Jemeh behind.

TBC...

Thanks for the update OP

Nice one bro, but I still insist on knowing the connection Jemeh's part has with the beginning of this tale.

Fazemood:
Nice one bro, but I still insist on knowing the connection Jemeh's part has with the beginning of this tale.

Be patient, sir.
If I was not the author of the piece, i would have asked same question.

Op, Aw far with the remaining na

As I thread along your updates, something tells me I would read again from the beginning to get those hidden messages/information.
I'm starving anyways.

Bluehaven:
As I thread along your updates, something tells me I would read again from the beginning to get those hidden messages/information.
I'm starving anyways.

Exactly!
It's not an easy read.

Guess what?? Amanda is coming to town!

EPISODE THIRTEEN

At the construction site, (the seal finally removed) a handful of labourers were sighted, moving up the decking of a storey building through a temporal exterior bamboo staircase. While some moved swiftly with concrete-filled head pan on their heads, others moved heavily and with the help of the bamboo handrill in climbing against gravity. The rest were descending the stairs to refill their empty pan by the two men having the shovels, and standing by the noisy mixer.

The process was a continuous one, so that with the non-stop feeding of the rotating pot of the mixing machine with sand, granite and water by another set of workers, the activity didn’t stop at any time.

Jemeh watched with a lack of interest. His adventure with those fellows about two weeks ago wouldn’t be easily forgotten, not after working with them for twelve straight hours and was given only ten minutes break. His bruised lower arm kept staring at him as he tried to still an eye-track on an approaching truck from a distance. The corrosive effect of liquidized cement was so devastating on his soft and light skin that it'd eaten up the upper layers of his fingers. He stole a quick glance at them again, hissed and revoked his vow never again to work with those tireless Aboki.

The yellow pick-up truck plodding across the field from afar was carrying nine inches concrete blocks; and he was there to redirect it away from a road block that had been fashioned by a break-down excavator.

A few seconds later, the truck came hooting non-stop on the dead excavator, bringing back Jemeh's attention. He grimaced at the sudden loud sound, and quickened up to take the driver through another route leading to the two-storey building standing in the pillars of it's skeleton.

“Oga, please sign here," the truck driver pointed to a ruled line at the bottom strip of the pink paper in his hand as he got out of the truck.

Jemeh feeling reluctant to collect the papers from him, asked, “Did Engineer
Saliu asked me to sign the waybill?”

The driver looked stunned for a moment before answering, “yes…yes, this one is not a big deal na, just sign.”

Jemeh collected the papers and signed on them grudgingly.

“Are you bringing more today?” he asked and gave the driver his copy.

“Yes, we are bringing two more loads.”

“Very well then,”Jemeh said and gave way, and the two masculine loaders swung into action. And by the time they were done offloading and counted, it was in the hots of the midday tropical sun. Jemeh wouldn’t dare move the blocks in such odd hours of the day. He'd suffered severe sunburn already, he thought, there was no need to rush,
after all he was in charge of the task.

Engineer Saliu had put him in charge of making sure the blocks got to the right place and at the appropriate timing – a new responsibility that came with little or no additional benefits, but somehow more dignified than being a floor labourer. His recommendation however came from the basis of his good coordination displays at the site.

TBC...

Interesting piece boss!
To think I always did not pay attention to this story.
Welldone but please don't make us be crying before u update oooh

EPISODE FOURTEEN


Jemeh retired to the shaded part of the structure.

He would turn down any other block-lifter’s request to work with him except Sesan’s, Jemeh chuckled. ‘Who know man’in labourers niche? he shook his head and put on the mean look needed to say no! When ‘the boys’ come pouring their request with an appealing gesture.

The difficulty of the situation was that he was no stranger to 'The boys', as most of them had worked together before in one way or the other. But then, he trusted Sesan to act with no mercy, but he was no were to be found.

"Hello! Sesan, what’re you still doing out there? The block suppliers just left," Jemeh said over a phone call.

“Ehen! Did they bring the block?”

“Of course!”

“E make sense. I am in the gate now. But that fat security man is showing himself.”

“Dude, what did you do?”

“He did not want to allow me come inside ni o.”

“I told you not to exit without putting on your safety kit, didn’t I? But you insisted. So, find your way in, dude!”

“Ok, no worry. I know how to handle him, but don’t allowed those boys to carry o,”Sesan said, referring to the 'block-lifters'

“Eish! Okay, just get your ass inside,”Jemeh said and ended the call.

Some minutes later, Sesan came standing beside Jemeh.

“Did you buy water?”Jemeh asked with his head tilted up a little enough to just rest his eyes on Sesan’s broad and dark face.

“But you did not told me to buy na,” Sesan said and helped himself to a seat on a nearby concrete block.

Jemeh wished Sesan could just stick to Pidgin English and stop pushing himself.

“I don’t have to tell you, Sesan,”Jemeh said with a visible sigh.

“Ok, no vex, my engineer. Next time I go buy,“Sesan said, smilling.

Sesan was the cheerful type, and was a good sycophant when he wanted something.

He'd approached Jemeh on Jemeh's first day at the site. At first, Jemeh wasn't sure about having a conversation with him. But he kept pushing until Jemeh heard him out, and found his topics interesting, especially the one on the different categories of contractors at the site: the ones that don’t pay labourers in time, the ones that would never pay completely and the good ones of course.

Ever since then, Jemeh and Sesan'd been seen moving in pair, even though their energy for work didn’t equal, the same way their view about each other was in discrepancy; Sesan was a friend of Jemeh but Jemeh was not a friend
of Sesan.

Jemeh would carefully choose his friends, but not Sesan, who trusted people on first sight.

Towards evening, Jemeh changed to a raggy outfit – his ‘hustle kit’ as he usually called it: a beanie to
keep his hair from having contact with grains of sand, a faded polo shirt and a pair of Moccasins that let out his right toe through an opening on the toe cap. Sesan never had to go through the stress of changing his outfit because he was always in his hustling kit.

The young men began the sweaty task immediately. Jemeh lagged behind by a hundred blocks one hour-thirty minutes after.

“My guy, try and used that ‘level’ that I give you the other day. Use half since full tablet make you to vomited,” Sesan said to Jemeh as he was lifting two blocks on his head.

Jemeh said nothing – he was gasping for hair. He’d had all the water in his body system lost to the atmosphere through transpiration and sweating. He took a short glance at Sesan; he was still looking strong on the doddery staircase as he climbed. He lowered his eyes back to his shoe lace and continued to untie them as he sat back, leaning against a pillar.

“ How many did you carried?”Sesan asked as he was descending the stairs.

“You mean, how many blocks have I carried?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, I’ve carried one hundred and thirty.”

“You try sha, but me have carry four hundred and twenty.”

“Wow! Tomorrow I’ll do better and without your stimulants.”

“I will stopped using the tablet but not now that I wanted to pay my daughter's school fees. Baba I need money bad bad.”

Jemeh understood his point. He'd stopped judging people long ago. If it was not so, he’d have criticized Sesan for having a child outside wedlock and for abusing drugs. He wished Sesan could just stop taking him into his confidence because he wasn’t ready to reciprocate.

“I’m sure you’ll make a reasonable amount by the time the supplier brings more loads,”Jemeh said.

“How many?”Sesan asked.

“Two are coming tomorrow.”

“E make sense."

TBC..

EPISODE FIFTEEN

Jemeh bade Sesan goodbye and exited the site some minutes later. Sesan never had to leave the premises; he’d made the uncompleted buildings his estate ever since his arrival from Osun state. Later in the day, he’d retire to Madinat’s kiosk for some sticks of cigarette and sachets of herbal alcoholics before kissing his pillow of thorns.

The following day was a Wednesday. There had been a heavy downpour the previous night. Jemeh walked
on the water-logged field straight to where he’d worked the previous day. There he met Sesan already moving
the blocks. He wasn’t surprised at all – yesterday made it three months he’d been with this dude.

There was no chit-chat that morning before Jemeh swung into action. It looked they’d it all planned out to break only when the sun started throwing hot rays down the clear horizon. Sesan was at the lead as usual. Was he born for this? His energy seemed to be beaming up sequentially. Jemeh’d need a thousand years fitness training to match up.

“I’m not competing!" Jemeh said under his breath, consoling himself.

By noon he was starting to gasp for air and few minutes later, he’d no other choice than taking a break.

"Jemo! oya, oya, is not many again, let finish once and for us,” Sesan said to Jemeh on sighting him perusing for a dry portion to sit on.“…oya na, take trans, make you ginger.” his voice reduced as he climbed higher on the
stairs.

Jemeh knew it won’t be long before he'd join him, so he just let him talk to the air. And in the next minute, Jemeh was proven right.

“Jemo! How many did you carried?”Sesan asked as he took his seat beside Jemeh.

“A hundred and eighty, if I’m not mistaking,” Jemeh answered.

“You for try and complete it two hundred,”said Sesan.


“Don’t worry, before you return from outside, I’d have moved everything here," Jemeh said admist smiles. He knew Sesan don’t miss going out in succession to renew his energy.

“Hahaha! Jemo! Na magic?”Will you buy anything? I am going out or shall we just roll
together?”

“No, don't want to go out,” Jemeh emphasized while deeping his right hand into his side pocket.

Sesan gulped
down the chunk of saliva in his throat, looking at Jemeh’s pocket unblinking. He’d wanted to borrow some money from him but didn't have the courage because of his previous unaccountable debts with him.

Jemeh brought out his phone, it was a text message buzz.

Sesan withdrew his gaze, loosing the light in it.

“Yes!!!” Jemeh jumped up to his feet.

Sesan returned his eyes with a questioning gaze. “Fatima have agree for you, abi?” Sesan asked with a sigh.

“Huh!" Jemeh looked at Sesan with rolling eye balls. "Do you remember the last interview I had?”
he asked.

“Yes – the one for Island, abi?”

“Exactly! They’ve just texted me to resume work on Monday!”

“Wow! let me see." Sesan took the phone from Jemeh. "Baba, you don go o, level have change!”

“You can say that again,” Jemeh asserted and collected the phone back from Sesan.



TBC..

I like this Sesan guy, funny dude

Interesting update
Thanks OP

EPISODE SIXTEEN

Sesan was no where to be found in the excitement a moment after. And even though he'd tried to hide it by keeping their conversation going, Jemeh was a good observant, he knew his success had driven him into the depth of despair.

In life, there is a dichotomy, a big one between success and failure. The failure of one friend brings sadness, what about success? Sadness and joy mixed up in Sesan's heart, he knew the end of them had come.

“Sesan, what's up?, why’re you moody?”Jemeh asked

“Baba, nothing o," Sesan answered, "Just that soon I’ll be hanging alone once again in here. By next two weeks I will travelled to Osun state, my level must change too na."

“I understand Sesan, you’re a big dude – I trust you’ll be just fine.” Jemeh said, tapping Sesan by the
shoulder. “I’ll keep in touch through correspondence. We’ll be hanging out.”

“What about the blocks?” Sesan butted-in.

“I’ll be here tomorrow to get our cash from Engineer Saliu and also to introduce you to him.”

That was cool to Sesan, who saw that as consolatory favour.

“You said you have an OND, right?”

“No, it was NCE.”

Was? Jemeh yelled in thought, maybe next time it’d be SSCE.

“Alright, will let you know, if anything shows up when I get there.”

Later that evening, Jemeh took the lead, unbelieving, leading Sesan by ten. There was no much conversation between the two and when darkness came snarling, and the guards came chasing. Jemeh left, but not Sesan, he knew how to sneak around the premises.

The next day Jemeh would lift a few blocks to make a round figure to boost his T-fare for the new job. He’d leave the greater portion to Sesan to lift in order to meet his yelling needs.

TBC..