This is the first time I'll be putting out a story written by me on this platform and I do hope you'll all find it entertaining. Thanks.

Triumph

By John Agbaje

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

CHAPTER 1

The sun was setting on another bleak day for Kenneth Duromola, with a glum face, he had trotted Lagos Mainland. A morning that had shown a glimmer of hope had fast turned into another day of misery by sunset. In drooping spirits, he alighted from the bus he had boarded from Industrial Avenue down to the Gully– the slummy district where he lived. With deep lines of worry across his forehead, and a tan holdall in his sweaty hand, he absentmindedly walked the patchy road that ran through the slum, with its mishmash of crumbling houses and seas of rowdy traders.

Across the street, he spotted some groups of people pleading frantically with a team of men wearing red kits which he quickly recognized as the city demolishers from the town planning department. With a single glance, he knew the people who were making pleas were owners of structures in the street and were begging the demolishers to spare their structures from demolition. He knew their pleas were likely to be rebuffed for as far as he knew the demolishers had never spared a house that was marked for destruction.

As he gazed at the scene, he swiftly remembered that authorities had vowed to demolish all unapproved structures in the Gully and other districts. Now, it seemed, they‘re suiting their word to action. As he walked past the scene, he agonizingly remembered the fact that the pale grey bungalow in which he himself lived down street with his uncle, Tammy, was also a component in the ungainly clusters of structures in the Gully and had also been penciled down for demolition.

The house he lived with Tammy actually stood directly under high-tension cables and right in the way of a newly designed district road network and also on a sewer, and the latter persistently released a nagging stench that suffused the house for most part of the day. It therefore came as no surprise to the occupants of the house when town planning officials came early one morning and stamped a bold red X mark on its crumbling fence – signifying an imminent demolition.

The sudden remembrance of the impending demolition as well as a brief recollection of the challenges he was facing personally made him heave a sigh. As the grief weighed heavy on his heart he found himself thinking about his ordeals since he came to join Tammy in Lagos. Over a year ago, he had arrived Lagos in high spirits after earning an HND in Accounting from a polytechnic and had hoped to land a job in a twinkle of an eye, but since his arrival and up to now, all his efforts in that respect had been in futility, making apathy and idleness to be his mates.

A while ago, he had met with yet another hard luck at the textile factory where he had gone in search of job, there, the resource manager had bluntly told him on setting his eyes on him: ‘’The vacancies have all been filled!’’

‘’But sir, only last week I came to submit an application, then, you told me to come today for an interview,’’ he had pointed out, glancing at the ticking clock on the wall which had read 7:55.

But the dark, burly manager merely ignored the comments, instead, turned a page in the newspaper before him and began to skim the contents. ’’Shut the door whenever you are leaving!’’ he had barked out at him.

His mind drifted back to the present as he tramped through the marked crumbling fence that partially enveloped the grey building with the small, heaps of garbage that littered its frontage. He strode briskly into the compound and towards the moth-eaten door that secured the entrance.

As he approached the doorway, he fleetingly exchanged strained glances with Fikayo, Tammy’s wife, who sat like a hillock amidst other housewives less than ten yards away from a half-blocked water-channel that lined the house, with buckets of water and heaps of clothes. He clearly heard Fikayo and the other women cackle as he walked past and suspected they were indiscreetly poking a fun at him. He could imagine what their thought of him was: the professional job-seeker is back from another long wandering round the city. Not minding the taunts, he stoically strolled into the building’s passage, wiped off his sweaty face and heaved a deep sigh as he turned into his uncle’s apartment. The ever-present stench of the sludge from underground sewers greeted him as he opened the door and stepped into the boxy living room.

Minutes later, Kenneth burst out of the compound in a casual: a fitting black vest on blue jeans, and swiftly crossed the street over to an imposing green two-storey building which used to serve as a mini-shopping complex but which had now been deserted by traders because it had also been marked for demolition.

The traders had deserted the building and bands of unemployed youths in the street had quickly moved in to fill the void left. The youths had now turned the expansive façade of the building into daytime recreation ground. They had astutely raised a large canopy that covered half of the façade by craftily knotting two ends of the canopy to a pole and another ends attached to the pillars of the building, thereby creating a shelter under which a flurry of activities constantly took place.

Kenneth inched towards the large red and white canopy and was promptly greeted by cheers and pop music emanating from giant speakers underneath it- the sound of which momentarily relieved the tension in his body.
Under the canopy itself, he looked around and saw a couple of youths laughing and chatting around a big snooker’s table and a chess board. He resolutely headed for the chess - his favorite game. And after an exchange of greetings with the players, he swiftly looked around for a seat, found a vacant stool nearby, and settled down to savour the proceedings of the game.

‘’I learnt that the demolishers are close by,’’ said one of the players. Kenneth knew him very well, his name was Marcus Kore and he was a swarthy fellow with small, dark, awake eyes who was wearing in fading green jumpers on white shorts.

There was some shuffling across the chessboard, before Kenneth who sat close to Marcus said: ’’True, I saw them and their wreckage ball up street earlier this afternoon.’’

’’Why they insist on carrying out the demolitions still baffles me,’’ Marcus stated.

‘’Why won’t they?’’ his opponent whose name was Alfred Adewa replied. Alfred was also an acquaintance of Kenneth’s. He was a dark lanky fellow with dark wide lips and neatly trimmed goatee, who wore a collarless striped shirt on jeans. Alfred went on, ’’the Gully is the most hideous place on the planet and it needs cleaning up!’’

The comment elicited murmuring in the group, then Marcus sharply lifted up his head from the chest board , looked up into his rival’s eyes and said, ’’You can go all the way you want in supporting the demolishers and their erratic actions. I just hope you’re considering where you would lay your big head when your beautiful shanty is pulled down . . .’’

The remark made Kenneth and Marcus laugh but Alfred took strong exception to it. ‘’If my house is a shanty then yours is a burrow fit for rabbits and squirrels,’’ he snapped and Marcus eyed him resentfully.

Kenneth briefly gazed at the two wondering how a simple discussion could degenerate into a fight so quick. ‘’Look Marcus, Alfred, there is no point hurling abuses at each other in this manner,’’ he said, ‘’it’s bad enough that all our houses have been marked, waiting to be pulled down…’’

‘’You heard him likened my house to a shanty, didn’t you?’’ Alfred snapped then muttered, ‘’checkmate!’’

The two players gathered the chess pieces and deposited them on the board which was folded up and cast aside. Kenneth could have taken his turn with the game, but the current developments which had tainted the day like a large patch of stain on a snowy apparel, had somewhat left him in a dismay, sapping his vigour and leaving apathy.

Marcus shifted his gaze to him, with robust apprehension in his eyes. ‘’Do you think they will come anytime soon?’’

’’They’re already here,’’ Kenneth replied, ‘’ they’ve started pulling down the structures one after the other.’’

The small, awake eyes became dour. ‘’I’m going to miss this district, aren’t they going to give quit notice?’’ he queried.

‘’How many times are they going to do that? They‘ve issued notices to the affected houses since last year. Were you not aware? ’’ Alfred asked sourly, ‘’ I remember my old man got his own notice six months ago, we can only hope that compensation will be paid?’’

‘’They say the structures are illegal, I doubt if there would be compensations except owners of affected houses can present certificate of occupancy and how many houses in the district can provide that?’’ Kenneth remarked.

A while later public power supply was cut and a hush fell on the scene.

Kenneth briefly studied the landscape which was as clear as ever, while the other youths sat ruminating: the on-going demolition in the district had brought a tinge of gloom on the ambience of an otherwise bubbly gathering.
Each one of the youths silently wondered how he would fare in the aftermath of the demolition exercise, which was bound to sweep their houses away like a tornado. The sordid nature of the district notwithstanding, the warmth and camaraderie which it offered were two things they were convinced they would miss and which they might not find easily elsewhere.

From the opposite end of the canopy, Mathias Tonye, a tall strapping youth clad in slinky top on baggy jeans with a massive head and low hair-cut walked in. He was around six-foot-two, his towering height ensured his head brushed the roof of the canvass as he walked underneath. He briefly exchanged greetings with the other youths.

‘’Where have you been all day Mat?’’ Marcus asked the newcomer, as he settled on the table.

‘’I’ve been out to do some running around but the day had ended luckless,’’ he said rather throatily then puckered his thick lips.

‘’Isn’t how it always ends?’’ Marcus quipped.

The strapping man eyed him hatefully and then turned to Kenneth. ‘’Any luck today?’’

Kenneth shook his head despondently. ‘’To be frank Mathias, today’s experience was one of the worst,’’ he began, ’’I got there at 7:12, waited patiently till the resource manager came at 7:55. Then I went in to see him, but he coldly told me the post had been filled. No interviews or tests!’’

A long groan reverberated in the group.

‘’That doesn’t surprise me,’’ Marcus said with acerbity. ’’In this city every vacant post is already filled even before it is advertised. It’s a hopeless situation.’’

A long silence ensued, and then Alfred chipped in: ’’I learnt International Flour Mills is recruiting.’’

‘’I also got the gist,’’ Marcus said. ’’In fact they are conducting aptitude test tomorrow; I guess they’ve contacted qualified candidates.’’

‘’International Flour Mills,’’ Mathias rasped. ‘’There goes another big fraud, we all bought their recruitment forms and applied for the vacant posts, but since then we have never heard from them, now they are conducting tests for some candidates. Did anyone here get an invitation?’’ he asked sharply.
Another silence ensued.

‘’Then we will all go to the venue and sit for the test,’’ Mathias said resolutely.

Alfred turned to eye him inquisitively. ‘’How can you say that when we were never invited,’’ he pointed out.

The comments elicited Mathias’s fury. ‘’Quit talking like a child, Alfred! When was the last time you got an invitation for a test or an interview? You left school donkey’s years ago with flying grades, yet no employer in the city has remotely been impressed with your CV as to ask you to come for an interview let alone offer you a job. I bet they don’t even take a look at your résumé before dumping it into the garbage can.’’

Alfred eyed Mathias hatefully then shrugged.

Not minding the disappointments that had marked his trials, Kenneth had found that his determination to get a job was becoming more and more intense by the day, and each time a prospect of a job offer appeared, his curiosity always rose. ’’Mat is right,’’ he said, ‘’there is really no harm in going to the examination venue, let’s go try our lucks.’’



{To be continued}

CHAPTER 1 {CONTD}

A few hours later - a little after twilight- sounds of a revving engine from across the road filled the air. Kenneth looked out of the canopy in the direction of the engine sound and saw Tammy alighting from a tricycle carrying a black briefcase, and heading for the crummy fence that encapsulated the grey bungalow; he could see his four children moving to swiftly encircle him, chanting their greetings. Without much ado, he quickly strolled over to join them.

Moments later, they had filed into their little living room and twitched their noses at the fowl air therein.
The family’s living room directly adjoined a smaller room that served as the bedroom.

Later in the evening, the couple would retire into the bedroom, while Kenneth and the four children would sleep on a raggedy mattress on the floor of the living room, and once they were all sound asleep, the whole lot would cling to one another like a ball of millipedes on a raffia palm.

The living room itself had a set of old furniture that faced a cabinet compartmentalized to hold a 14-inch TV, a DVD player, a radio and array of dog-eared books. A refrigerator stood beside the cabinet while a red curtain hung over the two windows in the room. The four walls in the room held several bric-a-brac and portraits that captured the family’s special moments: anniversaries, weddings and christenings.

‘’Welcome,’’ Kenneth said to Tammy once more.

‘’Yeah,’’ Tammy grunted. ’’How did it go?’’ he asked, slipping into a chair.

‘’It was a spoof, they’ve already given the job away, the manager told me so.’’ Kenneth replied with a note of exasperation.

‘’So how about the interview?’’ Tammy asked frankly, his sunken eyes on his cousin’s.

‘’That’s what I meant when I said it was all spoof, no interviews whatsoever were conducted,’’ Kenneth said dejectedly.

‘’A pretty state of affairs,’’ Tammy said as he began to unbutton the yellow striped shirt he wore on the rickety chair on which he sat.

The resemblance between the two was striking: both were around six-foot, slim and dark. Their lanky frames carried oblong heads that had a mass of luscious dark hair. Kenneth however had a small pointed nose, unlike his uncle whose nose was as flat as a pancake.

Kenneth grabbed a wooden stool and sat right opposite his uncle, his dark eyes gently explored Tammy’s sweaty face in his stained underwear while the children sat squat on the faded crimson carpet on the floor muttering to one another in excited tones. ‘’Give me cold water,’’ Tammy said to Patrick, his eldest son.

The boy looked up at the old refrigerator near the shelf rather disappointedly and said: ‘’There is no cold water, father, there hasn’t been light since morning.’’

Tammy‘s face fell as he remembered the pathetic nature of electricity supply to the Gully. ‘’Then give me whatever water there is!’’ he bawled. Patrick quickly rose up and fetched a clean glass cup from a plastic tray on the shelf and walked out of the room with it.

Then Fikayo stomped into the room, in the loose brown blouse that closely fitted her plump body and a matching wrapper, with a frown on her face and sparks of anger in her eyes which made her look like an ogre, she eyed Kenneth hatefully, and then turned to her husband: ‘’This has got to stop!’’ She shrieked, ‘’beating a child while asleep is a cruel act that can only be done repeatedly by a frustrated job-seeker!’’

Kenneth became furious and shot her a fierce look.

‘’May I know what the present fuss is all about?’’ Tammy said to her, but rather than give a reply, Fikayo only tightened her dark round face the more, and irascibly pursed her lean lips.

Tammy turned to Kenneth, ‘’Yes, how about that incident?’’

Kenneth eyed her revoltingly, and then turned to Tammy. ‘’Jerome messed up the mattress with urine during the night again. The foul odour aroused me, and in annoyance, I gave him a slap on his buttocks just to let him know what he did was nasty,’’ he replied.

‘’Did you hear that?!’’Fikayo flared, turning her glare from Kenneth to her husband. ‘’Beat a child while asleep just because of bed-wetting, what an unthinkable thing! This must stop, I can’t bear it anymore . . . !’’She whined as she spanked out of the room, and as she went out she kept shrilling so loud that her voice reverberated through the whole house.

The screeches, for minutes, jarred Tammy’s nerves where he sat brooding in the living compelling him to reflect on the unending discord between Kenneth and his wife. It was not the first time that a heated argument would erupt between the two. In fact, he was getting sick of it. All the efforts he had made at making the two to have a wholesome relationship had sadly come to naught, which was one of the several things that always beleaguered his mind.

Patrick brought in the water and presented it, his father accepted it and drank heartily. After quenching his thirst, Tammy got up from his chair and as he made to leave the room he asked Kenneth to come out with him outside, to the veranda.
On the veranda, the two gently sat on a bench and watched passers-by through the chinks in the wall and the gateposts that were gateless.

A few minutes of quietude passed between them, then, Tammy began in a somber tone: ‘’The wreckage ball is already up street.’’ ‘’Yes I know,’’ Kenneth replied, ‘’I saw the demolishers earlier in the day.’’

Another lengthy hush fell on the scene, then Tammy heaved a sigh then said: ‘’I’m not unmindful of the skirmishes in the home. It’s not healthy for any one, personally I don’t like it, and I’m sure you don’t like it either. Dealing with women requires lot of wisdom, patience and tolerance . . .’’

CHAPTER 2


As early as seven the next morning Kenneth, Marcus and Mathias headed for City College of Technology, just on the city’s fringes. Each of them wore a crisp, starched shirt which was daintily tucked into trousers on a pair of leather shoes that had been painstakingly polished until they gleamed.

In high spirits, they alighted from the bus and crossed over to the junction that led to the institution and then strode into a path that was heavily thronged with smartly-dressed young people holding large parcels like a priced asset and moving hurriedly like combatants with sparks of anxiety in their eyes.

The three friends exchanged uneasy glances as they nervously joined the multitudes treading the path. As they walked on, it quickly dawned on them that they, and the multitude at large, were moving exactly in the same direction - towards the main entrance of the City College of Technology- and the realization swiftly bogged down their spirits.

They stepped into the college premises and they became even more bewildered by the sight that greeted them: there was a sea of people milling about in assorted dresses. It was as if the whole city had gathered for a carnival, and with more people flooding in, every second.

Every where they turned, there were bands of youths humming and squawking like hungry birds, and the flock extended from the main gate far distantly to a row of acacia trees that stood near the middle of the compound, with even more several heads sheltering under its shade. Stunned by all the flurries of activities, the three friends briefly halted their steps.

Kenneth opened his mouth but no words came.

Mathias muttered: ’’Incredible!’’

‘’They couldn’t all have come for the test, some of them might be students here,’’ Marcus said, on top of his voice, amidst the tumult in the air.

‘’I would have thought the same except for the fact that the school is on its semester break,’’ Kenneth said to him, also raising his voice by a notch.

‘’Alfred was right,’’ Marcus said, making a mental note of what the slight youth had said about the test when they were discussing last night. Mathias shook his massive head from self-pity even as he began to sweat despite the fact that the day was still fresh.

With frustration on their faces, they pushed their ways towards a decaying wall of a block of classroom with a rusty corrugated roof which was on the fringe of the compound and stood by it. From there, they despondently watched even more candidates trooping in, in torrents and moving about in quick spurts as though they had urgently come to uncover a treasure hidden in the school’s premises.

‘’This is sickening,’’ said Marcus, wiping off tiny sweat beads that were forming on his forehead while Kenneth was ruefully biting his lips. Mathias stood reflecting on all the job-misses he had had in the city more than one-and–a-half years ago when he had graduated, and now, had a strong urge to grab this particular job. ‘’We‘ve had an eyeful, haven’t we?!’’ he suddenly howled at the other two. ‘’We’re standing too far away from the centre, we must press our ways through to the centre of this compound, that’s where we can gather information. We can’t remain transfixed here all day, we’ve got to move now,’’ he said, wiping off the sweats on his face and walking away from the wall of the classroom block, he resolutely made for the crowded heart of the compound, around which were a circle of trees.

Kenneth and Marcus took a look in the direction which Mathias had pointed to and then exchanged glances, the crowd that separated their present station and the circle of trees was intimidating. Nonetheless, they reluctantly followed Mathias who charged forward using his brawn and might to press a way for the other two through.

Soon they made an inroad to one of the big acacia trees that stood in the middle of the compound where dozens of young men stood talking excitedly and a string of young ladies in creased clothes sat on writing pads, peeping and peering with their braided heads partly covered in dusts and their facial makeup, smeared. A couple of them were fanning themselves vehemently with papers and notebooks.

The three friends briefly eyed the girls and then settled in the silhouette of the tree in a sort of triad with several eyes briefly turning to look at them.

‘’You think we have a chance at all,’’ Marcus whispered to Kenneth exhaling a deep breath, but the latter gave no response and merely kept watching the flurries of activities with disbelief.
Marcus too kept starring at the crowds all around him with his armpit already a well of sweat, and now, he unbuttoned his shirt from the top all the way down to his chest and then began to fan himself frantically with a notebook- the action elicited a soft giggle from some of the girls who eyed him strangely.

Much later, two dark swarthy men emerged through the dense crowd from an opposite direction with a metallic stepladder- about twenty
yards away from the acacia tree - their brawny arms maintained a firm grip on the metallic object. A short, bald, portly man in a brown
suit was bouncing confidently at the heels of the two men.

‘’Come on, step aside! Move it!!’’ The men carrying the ladder kept bawling out to everyone in their way as they pushed and shoveled their way through the crowd.

The three-man procession came to the middle of the compound, about ten meters away from the tree where Kenneth, Marcus and Mathias stood, and the short man in brown suit slammed his shoe on the ground, pointing a stubby hand that was the size of a bunch of avocado down, at the spot. The two men got the hint and immediately planted the ladder.

As soon as it was mounted, the two men stood formidably by it to further prop it up. The portly man in brown suit was handed a microphone which he held firmly in his grip, gazed up at the standing ladder, then turned at the two men sharply, ‘’Keep it in position from the time I ascend till when I descend. Make sure no one else comes near it!’’ He bawled eyeing the teeming crowd with distrust.

The two men nodded and the man in suit promptly began mounting the ladder, climbing rather labouriously, with his eyes warily focusing on the steps as he climbed them.

Slowly, he climbed up to the peak of the ladder, straightened up, and sighed happily as he stood astride it. He then turned on the slender microphone in his hand and a loud blare rasped out at once from the speaker hung on a pole rigged nearby. The cacophony from the speaker briefly drowned the din. Gently, he looked down and regarded the hordes of heads below which had already tilted up towards the apex of the ladder, his eyes thus meeting a raft of expectant eyes gazing at him under the late morning sun. For minutes he remained still, he knew he was the cynosure of all eyes- a towering statue. Smirking, he checked his watch, and then said rather unhurriedly into the microphone:

‘’Ladies and gentlemen!’’ The pronouncement made the din to pare down but he wanted absolute silence.

Once more, he glanced down at the men at the foot of the ladder and tapped the microphone with his index finger, the men got the hint, ‘’already at maximum amplification, ‘’one of them screamed at the top of his voice, helplessly shaking his head.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen, listen up!’’ he roared into the microphone. ‘’The sound system is already at the maximum output, if you don’t quit making noise, you will not be able to hear the information I have for you, and if you don’t have the information, then you won’t be able to write the test! . . . Ladies and gentlemen listen up! Show decorum!! . . . Be quiet!!!’’ he hesitated briefly for the hubbub to abate, then continued, ‘’the reason why you trooped out in this number is puzzling!’’He said, but the response he got was a wild yell and had to wait for the yells to die down before proceeding, ‘’we sent invitatory text messages to one hundred applicants, how come one hundred thousand people showed up?! If you did not receive an invitatory message from us, then you’re an intruder!’’

Another wave of long, loud yell followed from the crowd, this time much weirder than the previous episode.

‘’The point I’m making is this; you’ve made things impossible by crashing in as you have done. See for yourselves how you’re packed like sardines. Majority of the people I’m seeing standing before me are not supposed to be here, how could you all have come here when you’re not invited?’’ he said, eyeing the sea of heads below scornfully. ‘’Without wasting time,’’ he roared, ‘’I’ve been directed to inform those of you who did not receive messages from us, I mean all intruders, to leave this venue at once and to stay as far away as possible from this venue! I repeat anyone who came here without receiving invitation should turn around and go back home and sleep or do anything else!! We have the list of bonafide candidates who will want with us, so it’s only a matter of time before we drive out gatecrashers!’’ he said, with a wide grin on his face.

The rabble, at once, cast their scathing eyes up at the man as if he was a monster, their indignation found expression in a long murmur which rippled through the atmosphere and subsided rather slowly.

Then, out of the blue, a barrage of missiles suddenly began to erupt from the crowd: cans, bottles, water sachets, stones and sticks, and they viciously sailed in the direction of the man atop the ladder, making him to become startled and wiping off the grin on his face, leaving trepidation.

The barrage of attacks forced him to duck and dodge on the ladder almost losing his balance in the process as he tried to evade the missiles many of which savagely hit his shiny head.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen . . .’’he spluttered with an effort, but the crowd had grown wild. They already had an earful of the invective. They hurtled more missiles at him and a wild noise broke out.

Some of the belligerent youths charged forward and began to shriek aloud: ‘’We’ve got to bring down this fat pig, if we allow him to remain on that ladder, he would spew more rubbish!’’

‘’Yes, that’s just what we need to do!’’

The entire congregation said in unison as they surged forward in large numbers towards the legs of the ladder. The two men who were holding the ladder in position saw the intimidating surge approaching and swiftly gave up their posts.

In a jiffy, hundreds of angry people had besieged the ladder like an army of ants on a crystal of sugar and as the man atop the ladder saw the wild upwelling down below and became petrified.

As the youths assailed the ladder, it began to perilously resonate under the forces mauling it and man atop it froze from fear. His dark round face was quickly awash by sweat beads, and his eyes frighteningly dilated from the impending horror and he began to plead in earnest: ‘’Please don’t upturn the ladder, pardon my silly utterances. . . Forgive me . . . Please! All of you will write the test, just leave the ladder alone. Please! Arrangements have been made! All of you will write the test! In fact, all of you will be employed! Automatic employment . . . All of you! Only if you’ll leave the ladder alone!. . . . Please!. . . I beg you! . . . ’’

But the rampaging youths did not listen to his pleas, they eyed him menacingly and called him foul names. ‘’Aw, too late!’’ the youths roared: ‘’get set for your downfall! We’re bringing you down!!’’ they chorused.

In a twinkle of an eye, the forces tugging the ladder had grown exponentially and the man atop began to gyrate with it. Soon, the frenzied oscillation made him dizzy as the microphone he was holding slipped out of his unsteady hand.

In a split-second, the ladder had been precariously tilted to an oblique and the awe became imponderable, forcing him to shut his eyes, and scream as the ladder finally whammed onto the ground.

The crash of the ladder and the man it carried elicited wild jubilation and loud cheers filled the air as the applicants capered happily about the field, chanting victory songs; they were hugely excited by the realization that the very man, who only a short while ago, was calling shots from a great height now lay vulnerably in pain on the bare ground with bruises on his forehead.

They quickly encircled him and began to hurl abuses at him, kicking him with the soles of their shoes and spitting on him.

Marcus quickly came to the fore to skipper the exercise. He stood formidably like a charged warrior in the middle of the circle raining abuses at the man lying in anguish at their feet, Mathias stepped forward to restrain Marcus, but he pushed him away.

Raising one fist up triumphantly, Marcus slammed the heel of his huge boot on the flabby belly of the battered man on the ground and the effect made him let out a long groan and to gibber which caused another bout of deafening widespread jeering amongst his assailants.

Everyone was enjoying the frenzy; no one cared about the tests or the jobs at stake anymore. Kenneth maintained a safe distance from the rabble by safely standing under the acacia tree shade with a string of other spectators, eyeing Marcus and the rest of the mob deplorably.

Then, at one fell swoop, canisters of teargas were fired and thick, irritant, gaseous fumes were unleashed into the atmosphere, leading to anarchy and frenetic dispersals as the rabble was given a hot chase by the police.

There were heavy poundings of feet on the ground, and the poundings sounded like stomps of wrestling elephants, credentials were flying lithely in the air, and the field quickly became littered with a plethora of stationery that mantled it: résumés, pens, pencils, erasers, rulers and passports.

Marcus and Mathias disappeared from the scene like a ghost; the route they took foxed the eye.

Kenneth was awkwardly groping for a way out of the bedlam, when a powerful kick brought him flat down at once; he dropped flat on the ground, and rolled about the ground before gazing up at the skies which momentarily appeared fuzzy.

And as he made to pull himself together, two long shadows loomed over him, he swiftly looked around him and saw two stern-looking men in police uniforms glowering down at him.

Their horrific glare made his blood run cold. One of the officers aimed the butt of his gun at his knee and used same to thump his joint viciously, the effect sent a reeling pain down his spine, and he began to growl on the ground, crying and yelling as he clung onto the throbbing knee and rubbed it spiritedly.

‘’You came here to ferment trouble, now trouble has come for you!’’ the officer bawled at him. Kenneth began to plead hysterically as he began to mumble rather incoherently.

A malicious grin appeared on the face of the officer who had just smacked the knee while the second officer pulled an ireful mask and savagely lifted up his massive boot with the intent of hitting the second knee when a stout man in a black corduroy suit strode onto the scene. ‘’He’s not one of the trouble makers,’’ he said to the policemen in a deep, husky voice. ‘’I saw him stand quietly under that tree over there with a couple of girls, ’’he said nosing to the acacia tree, ‘’He didn’t join in the fracas.’’

The two police officers briefly exchanged glances and then regarded the man in corduroy suit deferentially before walking away from the spot.

Kenneth kept groveling round the spot on one knee still smarting from the inflicted pain and clasping his hands over the other knee which the butt had hit-if he had been bitten by an army of bees the pain could not have been more intense.

The stout man in suit, who had small dark eyes and shaggy brows, was affected by the untold torments, he inched closer to him and then couched just a few centimeters away from where he was yelping, ‘’You aren’t so lucky are you?’’ he said, ‘’ you missed out on the job and also got the stick.’’

Kenneth merely stared back at him through glassy eyes which were streaming tears.

The man saw the tears and drew a long breath, ‘’My name is Kunle Adeife and the only thing I can say is, if you need any assistance in this city contact me,’’ he said, dropping a small white glossy complementary card beside him. He then straightened up and left.

Kenneth’s tearful eyes followed him inquiringly till he went out of view.

CHAPTER 3

The midday sun was slowly rising by the time Kenneth returned to the Gully. And as he limped down the street that led home in agony, he bitterly rued his fate. He could not figure out the whereabouts of Mathias and Marcus, as yet.

Everyone he came across regarded him strangely, no thanks to his stained shirt, his disheveled hair, and his soiled trousers which had torn at the knee to reveal a swollen, bleeding patch of skin, making him to look like a brutalized soldier escaping from a warfront.

He lumbered down the street, took the turning to his house and the outlook became very strange. The entire vicinity suddenly looked unfamiliar and people were moving about apprehensively. Overall, the atmosphere lacked its characteristic repose. It was unlike the Gully Street he knew, he thought to himself, and a sort of queer feeling seized him. He could sense that something was amiss with the neighourhood, but what exactly the snag was, he could not tell as yet.

Then, as he walked on, he suddenly caught a whiff of thick fumes of asbestos, fumes of fusty bricks and of putrefying woods, with the whiff getting stronger as he moved deeper into his neighourhood, then he felt the ground under his feet quaking at the vibrations sparked off by the loud explosions that engulfed the district.

There and then, he discerned the rubbles that lay on either side of the road. The shops, the houses, the shanties he had known in the street had suddenly vanished, and in their places were piles of rubbles that ran extensively along the street, it was as if a huge volcano had erupted and swept off all the structures in the vicinity.

He walked edgily to the spot he had expected to find the grey bungalow in which he lived with his uncle, but the house had also disappeared with its patchy walls, cranky doors, and rusty roofs, and in their places was huge debris which sat formidably on the site where the house used to be.

He gazed queerly all around the piles of rubble and spotted Tammy and Fikayo almost completely whitened from the thick dusts that now clothed them from head to toe, alongside other occupants of the former house, bending and laboring to fish out their belongings from the wreckage. He stood still for moments, watching all the frenzies – it was as if he had wound up in a grim trance- then suddenly waves of dizziness and giddiness swept through him, folding him up and dropping him flat on the ground.

CHAPTER 4

‘’Boy,’’ Alfred said,’’ the demolishers arrived with their equipment shortly after the three of you left home and they wasted no time in pulling down houses, shops, restaurants, whatever structure that carried the red X-mark. The storied-building in front of which we normally relax is also gone.’’

Kenneth leant against the fence of an elegant house just across the street that had evaded the demolition, his eyes glazing over the upheavals across the street. He fleetingly shut his eyes as he wondered how he had got to his present location, then, through half-closed eyes, gazed wearily at Alfred then glanced down at the brown folder lying at his feet, he perceived intense aches in his joints and his throat was pulsating from thirst.

‘’Where are Mathias and Marcus?’’Alfred asked, his eyes on Kenneth’s soiled, unbuttoned shirt, then added somberly: ‘’I know things went bad; it’s all in your eyes. You were exhaustively lying out there in the sand like a lame pig stuck in the mud. I had to pull you up and carry you over here then I had to fan you like crazy to bring you around. What happened to you?’’

Realizing all what Alfred did before he could come to, Kenneth eyed him thankfully and then dropped his head in anguish, his eyes probing the brown sand grains and was lost in meditation, later he slowly lifted up his head up and turned to Alfred.

‘’Pandemonium broke out at City College of Technology, it was like a battlefield,’’ he muttered through clenched teeth even as he felt powerful throbbing in his head and knee.

‘’Where are Mathias and Marcus?’’ Alfred asked again with an expression that scathingly proclaimed: I advised you not to go, didn’t I?

‘’Don’t know,’’ Kenneth grumbled, shutting his eyes again.

Alfred regarded him queerly and then turned his gaze across the road that ran across the street, there and then, he saw Tammy and Fikayo trudging in their direction. Tammy was hauling luggage while Fikayo was trailing him with a taut face. ‘’Your uncle and his wife are here,’’ he announced.

Kenneth flipped open his eyelids and saw the couple approaching in a rather slow-pace, Tammy’s face was moistened from profuse sweating and among the luggage in his hands was a huge, heavy, brown threadbare bag which Kenneth quickly recognized as his own.

‘’We’ve been looking for you all day,’’ Tammy said after he had moved close enough, dumping the brown bag at Kenneth’s feet.

Kenneth pulled himself together and sat up, his eyes went down to the brown bag inquisitively and rubbed his eyes frantically with his hand, ‘’I’m having a breather here, I returned a while ago,’’ he muttered with a frayed voice.

‘’That bag contains your things, we‘re unprepared when the demolishers came, so, we could only pick up the most important things from the house before it was pulled down'’ Tammy said, nodding his half-whitened head to the brown bag on the ground, his tone was unusually brief and impatient and had deliberately not bothered to inquire about how things went at the recruitment venue, already, he had seen how desolate his cousin looked in his rumpled clothes , he had no doubt the job-search had been yet another futile exercise and now was not the time to talk about that. He had come to discuss a more exigent matter, ’’Things have spiraled out of control.’’

‘’I know," said Kenneth.

Tammy went on, ‘’So, we are packing up and leaving the Gully, we’ve got a temporary place with one of my friends. You’ll have to do yourself up quickly and join us. We’re setting out now.’’

‘’Join us?!’’ Fikayo interjected fiercely, and Tammy turned to meet her eyes which were flaming with anger in the stained gown she wore. She stood arms akimbo as she faced her husband, barely reaching up to his shoulders, she jerked up her head and hinged herself on her toes as she scowled , ‘’how could you say that when your friend is giving us just one single room to manage!’’

‘’I know, but we just can’t leave him behind…’’

‘’There are six of us already, do I have to remind you that?’’ Fikayo snapped. ‘’You think your friend will welcome us open arms, if we arrive at his house with everything but the kitchen sink?’’

Tammy became speechless, wondering why the day had presented nothing but shocks and trepidation. Right before his own eyes the house which he had rented and come to know as home had crumbled like a house of sand, leaving behind ruins, wailing and a potential playground for toddlers. It was after long moments of disheartenment, that he and his wife had summoned courage to gather their belongings from the rubble before putting a call through to a friend he had known at work to narrate his ordeal, after a long persuasion, the friend had then grudgingly agreed to lease a room in his house as a temporary lodgment for him and his family. Perhaps his wife was right, he thought, the idea of stocking seven people like sardines in a room was appalling but he also found the thought of living his cousin, whom he had brought to the city, high and dry equally horrifying.

‘’You don’t have to worry about me,’’ Kenneth said as if reading his uncle’s thoughts, and trying not to allow things to hot up between him and his wife on his account and added rather hastily: ’’I can manage on my own.’’

Tammy eyed him queerly, ‘’where are you going to stay?’’ he asked in a voice that reeked affection.

‘’Somewhere in the neighourhood, I will call and inform you once I have settled down.’’

After Tammy and Fikayo had gone, Kenneth and Alfred sat in silence, their thoughts muddled up.
Kenneth’s eyes were surveying the skies which were tranquil and covered in bright azure and immaculate white.

‘’You sure you’ve somewhere to stay?’’ Alfred queried.

Kenneth’s head drooped in mystification, with his eyes gazing at the bare ground.

Alfred was watching Kenneth intently and was convinced everything he had told his uncle a short while ago was stated in order to prevent a feud between him and his wife. He had been weighing his own options since the wreckers appeared earlier in the day and now it seemed some bits of the plans were going to jell out.

‘’There is a place I think we can go,’’ Alfred said. ‘’It’ belongs to the father of my friend, I think we can manage there for some time.’’

Kenneth slowly lifted up his head and eyed his companion unbelievably. The day had been one of the worst for him in the city, why so many debacles were mauling him at the same time was beyond his comprehension. He really wished the entire planet would crash just now, but Alfred’s words momentarily boosted his morale.

‘’You heard what I said,’’ Alfred said again, this time much louder, ’’this guy, I’m talking about is the closest friend I have in Lagos and he’s going to take us in. The house is at Atitebi Street, just a few miles from here. I’ve already spoken to him, let’s start moving.’’

Convinced that he was already at the end of his tether, Kenneth hurriedly buttoned up his shirt and gently rose to his feet, the sharp pain he felt down in his right limb as he rose reminded him of his savage encounter with the police earlier. He reached for the brown leather bag, opened it and placed the black folder inside, he then lifted it up and faced Alfred, ‘’I’m set,’’ he said.

CHAPTER 5

It was approaching dusk by the time Kenneth limped into Atitebi Street with Alfred and their heavy burden.
And as they entered it, they made straight for the house which Alfred had spoken of: a modern, chrome yellow bungalow, sitting in a long row of houses in the street with a narrow verandah.

The house safely stood away from the poles that carried electric cables and from the tertiary road that ran through the street while an expanse of space demarcated it from adjoining houses. Kenneth had no doubt that the design of the house conformed with the town planning rules, and it therefore did not surprise him that the house did not carry the bloodcurdling X-mark but was however amazed to find Mathias and Marcus seated on its open verandah munching groundnuts and roasted maize blithely.

The two were bare chested and tiny beads of perspiration were coursing down their dark, hairy, chests while their boisterous voices loudly reverberated through the air which petered out as soon as they caught sight of him.
Kenneth stepped onto the verandah with Marcus and exchanged glances with them.

‘’You’re limping,’’ Marcus said with a mouthful of groundnuts, his eyes on Kenneth’s flopping leg. ‘’Those Mopol didn’t shove you, did they?’’

Mathias chipped in, ‘’They apparently did, judging by the way he is staggering.’’

Slowly, their eyes narrowed down to the torn trousers that revealed a flaccidly swollen, knee which was red and they guffawed mockingly which made Kenneth glow with anger.

Alfred was amused by all the byplay.

Mathias gazed up at Kenneth. ‘’They caught you,’’ he said, smirking, ‘’how could you let them?’’ ‘’I guess they caught up with him because his legs couldn’t carry him fast enough, ’’ Marcus mocked and turned to Alfred, ‘’did he limp all the way down here or you had to carry him like a baby . . .’’

‘’Keep shut, will you?!’’Kenneth snapped turning red with anger.

Mathias burst into laughter, as he rose up and walked away, leaving Marcus on the bench.

Kenneth set his luggage down and moved close to Alfred who was standing on the door mat, already knocking on the house’s front door.

The door was opened and a dark, young man in his mid-twenties, in a bright red sleeveless round-neck shirt on blue jeans, came out and exchanged greetings with him. The lanky man eyed Kenneth inquisitively.

‘’This is my friend, Kenneth,’’ Alfred informed him. ’’He also lives in the Gully.’’

‘’Kenneth, this is Bolarinwa.’’

The host grasped Kenneth’s hand and shook it lukewarmly and quickly withdrew it. He eyed Kenneth coldly and heaved a deep sigh. The visitors were surprised by the host’s frosty antics.

’’Bolarinwa?’’Alfred said, eyeing the man in the red shirt curiously. ''Is there a problem?''

‘’Look Alfred,’’ Bolarinwa said in a rather stilted tone, ’’I know things are pretty tough for you both at present. I know you have no home and no one to turn to, but the problem here is that our house has only three bedrooms. And I’m going to tell you how we share them: my parents use one room, my two sisters use one and I own the third; now my plan was to share my room with you, Alfred, but as you can see Mathias and Marcus are already here and now there are two of you.’’

‘’How would I have known those two would end up here?’’ Alfred muttered.

‘’Does it mean you’re turning us away, then?’’

Alfred’s words made Bolarinwa wince, he thought briefly as his eye ran over the desolate faces of the visitors and the bulky luggage at their feet, then said, ‘’I will take you in, even if it means making a make-shift arrangement like sleeping in the living room; my mother is not likely to make a fuss about it but I tell you my old man will blow his top if he returns and finds the house packed out. Luckily, he’s out of town and will not be back till three days’ time.’’

‘’Then we can stay till he returns.’’

‘’Yeah, sure, but the party ends once he returns and you two will have to leave or he will chop off my head,’’ Bolarinwa said, then turned around and entered the house.

Alfred hesitated briefly then added, ‘’It’s even very likely that I move out tomorrow morning to join my parents who reside outside the city.’’

‘’I see,’’ said Bolarinwa.

Alfred stepped into the house with Bolarinwa while Kenneth dropped on the bench outside, sitting beside Marcus. Again his thoughts were muddled up, no thanks to the cold reception from Bolarinwa. The conditions under which Bolarinwa was going to accommodate him had only brought a temporary relief to him. ‘’What will happen to him in three days time when Bolarinwa’s father returns?’’ he asked himself as his heart began to thump again. He had no intention whatsoever of rejoining his uncle and living with Fikayo under the same roof anymore.

‘’I know how it feels to be sad and alone,’’ Kenneth suddenly heard Marcus say to him, ‘’I heard everything Bolarinwa said to you, he said a similar thing to Mathias and me when we came.’’

‘’We can’t blame him, ‘’ Kenneth replied.

‘’Sure, I don’t blame him, rather I’ve been thinking of where I’m going to go, once his father comes back.’’

‘’Me too.’’

‘’Mathias told me he would be travelling soon, but I don’t see myself leaving this city, no matter how hard the condition.’’

‘’I also intend to stay,’’ said Kenneth.

‘’Seems Alfred also wants to relocate.’’

‘’I guess so.’’

‘’How about your uncle?’’

‘’He’s managing somewhere with his wife.’’

Marcus nodded. ‘’My parents are living in another part of the city, I can’t imagine going to live with them for any reason,'' Marcus said. ‘’If only we have enough money we could have both rented a room.''

‘’Clearly, that would be pretty difficult.’’

The two sat speechlessly for some time, during which time Marcus brought out a balm and gave it to Kenneth. ‘’Use that to rub your knee,’’ he said.

Kenneth collected the ointment and thanked him.

Moments later, Kenneth turned to him sharply. ‘’What you did to that man out there on the field was cruel,’’ he said.

‘’What was that?‘’ Marcus asked.

‘’I was talking about how you cruelly kicked that man, a while ago at the City College of Technology.’’

‘’Of course, he deserved it, he wanted to turn us back, imagine that! He’s nothing but an overfed goat! In fact if I should come across him again, I’ll beat him up!’’

‘’I don't support that. You’ve got no right to assault him, it’s very wrong and threatening you’ll beat him up again doesn’t portrait you well.’’

‘’I don’t care, he’s a fat pig! If the police hadn't showed up when they did, I'll have beaten the devil out of him!!’’

Just then Kenneth’s cell phone rang, he dipped his right hand into his pocket at once to grab the mobile device, but as he did, his fingers touched on the complementary card he was given at City College of Technology. Suddenly, a smile lit up his face as he remembered the man in the black corduroy suit who had come to his rescue just a few hours ago and the complimentary card he had left at his feet. Marcus stared hard at him, wondering why his face was suddenly beaming with a smile.

Nice...

Ofez:
Nice...

Thanks.

CHAPTER 6

‘’That was really a hard-luck stuff,’’ Kunle Adeife said in a hoarse voice. He coolly studied Kenneth, in the worn, grey short-sleeved shirt he put on, and saw dolour in his eyes and shook his head out of compassion.

‘’What do you want me to do for you?’’ he asked tapping his desk gently with the tip of his stubby forefinger.

Kenneth shifted excitedly in the black cushy armed chair, in which he sat, just opposite the heavily-built man whom he was just meeting since the nasty events at the premises of City College of Technology. It was the first time an important person in the city would be listening attentively to all the misfortunes he had suffered, and then ask him to state his heart desires. And as his eyes scoured the face of the husky-voiced man and its shaggy brows, a medley of requests began to stream into his mind concurrently, and could have gone ahead to pour out his heart but knew it would be thoughtless to do so, he resolved to mention only the salient things.

Earlier in the morning, twelve hours after arriving in Bolarinwa’s house, he had called the number on the complimentary card and had greatly been mirthful to have ended up speaking to Kunle Adeife. He had had to render a lengthy description of himself and the associated events before the husky voice at the end of the line stated he remembered him and asked him to show up in his office this morning at nine. He had arrived thirty minutes ahead of the appointed time and when he was eventually led into the air-conditioned office, he quickly perceived the aura of eminence all around it and its occupant.

A large desk carrying heaps of papers files and flags stood in the centre of the room, a chest drawer stood in a corner of the room, about two yards away from the desk. Directly opposite the desk were two black heavily-padded chairs one of which he was seated with a black large couch sitting backing an auburn wall on which a couple of pictures gracefully hung.

Kenneth lipped his lips, cleared his throat and said, ‘’Sir, thank you for your interest in my case and for asking me to name my requests. There are two things: first, I’m stranded at the moment. I have nowhere to live nor do I have anyone to turn to, as I told you earlier, my house has just been demolished and my uncle on whom I depended is also stranded, he’s holing up with a friend as I’m speaking with you. The second thing which is just as important as the first is that I’m dying for a job. I’ve been unemployed since I came to this city and would be more than glad if you could help me find any job, I have an HND in Accounting sir.’’

Kunle Adeife regarded him thoughtfully for long, then he adjusted the brown jacket he wore on a cream shirt over which a yellow tie hung and lifted his shaggy brows as he said in a low-pitch tone, ’’I know life could be hard sometimes, I was once like you, exactly twenty years ago I came to Lagos at the invitation of a friend, and I went through a lot of difficulties before I could also get a footing . . .’’ A knock sounded on the door, Kunle hesitated then directed the visitor inside. A young secretary with an armful of files entered the office. She courteously bowed to Kenneth and then told Kunle a meeting was due in ten minutes time, and thereafter left.

‘’Dear brother,’’ Kunle said rather hurriedly to Kenneth, ‘’I have heard your requests, I promise to consider them as quickly as I can. Come back and see me at two tomorrow.’’

Kenneth literarily limped out of Kunle’s office with joy and as he stepped out, he headed for a small restaurant with joy, there, he dreamily sat at a lone table and ordered for a meat pie and a bottle of malt-his first meal of the day- which he hate with gusto. He stared vacuously at the opposite bar and its bartender as mirthful thoughts and questions besieged his mind: Was he approaching a turning point? Was he about to make headway in this city? Would Kunle really assist him or was it going to be another big disappointment just like the others he had suffered in the past? Would tomorrow offer him a fresh start after all? He wished time would roll by quickly. He could not wait for tomorrow to come. He remained in the café till nightfall, and then left for Atitebi Street.

CHAPTER 7

The afternoon sun was torrid and there were brisk movements of humans and vehicles along the busy streets that surrounded the high rise plaza, just beside Kunle Adeife’s office and Kenneth was obliged to stay under a shed erected in the façade of the vast plaza as he waited for Kunle’s arrival. Now he checked his wristwatch, it was ten minutes to five pm.

‘’This is it,’’ he muttered ruefully, ‘’another big disappointment.’’

He had remained under the canopy since nine in the morning, ten minutes after he had checked on Kunle in his office and found the husky-voiced man was away. And after trying his line and realizing it was unreachable he had stepped outside and settled down under the large canopy at the entrance of the plaza as he feverishly awaited Kunle’s arrival.

He exhaled as he checked his watch again and grabbed his phone which lay on the table before him and tried Kunle’s line one more time - but it was still a luckless exercise. His mind drifted to the temporary accommodation he had and tears filled his eyes. A while later, the glass-paned doors of the plaza came open and he watched as workers trooped out of them with their bags and exchanging greetings as they closed for the day, he checked his watch again it was now six, ‘’it was a hopeless situation,’’ he thought, as he dolefully got up, carried his folder and walked out of the shed, he clearly would have to think again.

But just as he was walking out of the shed, he suddenly heard Kunle’s husky voice calling out: ‘’Kenneth! Kenneth!!’’ and he swiftly turned around and was greatly astonished to find him leaning out of a window in a navy blue Mercedes, which was parked just opposite the plaza, for a second his eyes glinted in amazement at the man in the blue car, it was as though he had hit a jackpot. In high spirits he ran across the street to meet him.

‘’I was out of town since yesterday; I had no idea I would be away when I fixed our meeting. ’’ Kunle said as he drove through the streets with Kenneth who sat dreamily in the passenger seat, eyeing Kunle appreciatively from the corner of his eyes. ‘’I vividly remember your two requests, we’ll sort them out one after the other and there might be a need for you to check on me again tomorrow in my office, let’s say around six,’’ Kunle said, ‘’but first there is someone I will like you to meet.’’

Kunle drove from the centre of the city into a serene and lonely district where there were fewer cars and human movements, and after a few minutes, Kenneth suddenly began to fidget in his seat, glancing at the driver repeatedly, giving him a suspicious side look.

Kunle caught him and smiled, ‘’Relax brother, I’m not out to kidnap you or harm you,’’ he said.

Kunle’s calmative words made Kenneth exhale a deep breath, he sat back and keenly began to observe the streets, he found they were a lot cleaner than what they were in the Gully, the houses- mostly bungalows and semidetached duplexes were sublimely strewn along the road, and each house stood magnificently in its fence, with shrubs and flowers in its façade. At the end of the street was a glitzy restaurant fenced off with a barbed wire.

Kunle steered the car through the gate into the big restaurant and pulled up in the parking lot. He then directed Kenneth to come down and the two men walked into the big hall through its giant glass doors. The big, air-conditioned hall was filled with cane chairs and glass tables. Kenneth quickly observed there were scanty guests inside. They settled at one of the tables just beside one of the cream walls.

Kunle beckoned a waiter, who took their orders and brought two plates of hot fried rice, chicken laps, fried plantains and two bottles of ice water.

Kenneth barely waited for the waiter to arrange the plates on the table before guzzling down his own plate of food which he ate heartedly. He thankfully eyed Kunle who sat right opposite him and who was gently consuming his own food.

In a little while, he finished the food and waiter came to clear the table. Kunle handed him some wads of notes. ’’I’m a recruitment consultant, ‘’Kunle said,’’ and I have a number of agencies as my clients, one of which is International Flour mills, it’s the reason why you saw me there the other day. It was unfortunate that things went awry at the venue. I believe the company will conduct another recruitment exercise in the nearest future.’’

Kenneth nodded.

‘’One of the major clients, which my firm did a major recruitment exercise for was Xenon Leisure Centre. Have you ever heard of them before? They are located around Surulere.’’

‘’Yes I have,’’ Kenneth said. ’’They are pretty popular in the city.’’

‘’Good,’’ Kunle said, ’’I presented your case to their manager yesterday after you left, and he told me to meet him here this evening but I must tell you this: I, as a recruitment consultant, as a matter of principle and conscience, don’t like bringing in applicants to my clients through the backdoor. It’s one of the rules of the game which I have always kept to; but I’m going to stretch a point and do it for you because of your plights and the assault you suffered the other day.’’

Just then, the door of the restaurant came open and a tall man in a green, chintz shirt and black trousers came inside, he glanced round the hall and saw Kunle, the latter excitedly waved at him. The man in green shirt then crossed the room and walked up to Kunle’s table and sat down.

Kenneth watched the two men exchanged warmly greetings, shaking each other’s hands affectionately.

‘’Dele,’’ Kunle said, ‘’meet Kenneth the job applicant I spoke of.’’ Kunle then turned to Kenneth, ‘’Kenneth meet Dele Delani, Xenon Leisure Centre’s manager. He’s promised to assist you with a job.’’

Following his fruitful discussions with Dele Delani, Kenneth Duromola returned to Atitebi Street, later in the evening. Before he parted ways with Kunle Adeife for the day, the latter had told him to see him again at seven the next day.

Now as he walked up to the verandah of the house, he saw Bolarinwa in an unbuttoned shirt standing and talking labouriously to Mathias and Marcus both of whom sat on a bench with a sour look in their faces.

Kenneth’s loud footsteps momentarily compelled the four men to turn their heads at once in his direction; they eyed him curiously as they observed he looked very relaxed. He smiled broadly at them but none of them returned the smile, rather their faces held a grim expression: Mathias looked like a defendant awaiting a court verdict, while Marcus was shaking his head despondently.

Nevertheless, he went to join the group and listened intently to what Bolarinwa was saying. ‘’As I was saying,’’ Bolarinwa said in a nipping voice,’’ father will be back tomorrow evening, he will be mad at me if he found I brought you all into the house. I have already done my best. I’m afraid you’ve got to look for whatever way you can sort yourselves out, speak to your other friends, relatives, anyone you know, whoever…’’

CHAPTER 8

The next day Kenneth went to see Kunle Adeife and he began by expressing his gratitude for all the assistance Kunle had so far rendered.

‘’Never mind,‘’ Kunle said, ’’I asked you to come very early because I’m going to be away from the city again today and I may not be back until two weeks time.’’

‘’That’s a long time,’’ Kenneth said with a tone of despair.

‘’Yes, the nature of my job takes me round the country very frequently,’’ said Kunle.

Kenneth gave a gentle nod.

‘’As Dele told you last night, you must get set to show up at Xenon Leisure Centre at Surulere on Monday.’’

‘’Yes, of course, for sure, I certainly will be there.’’

‘’Dele is a good man and will surely fulfill his promise.’’

‘’Thank you Mr. Adeife,’’ said Kenneth. ’’I’ll forever be indebted to you.’’

Kunle laughed. ‘’That’s that,’’ he said, ’’the other thing I’d like to discuss with you pertains to your first request. I remember you told me you don’t have a home.’’

Kenneth nodded affirmatively.

‘’Frankly, there is very little I can do for you in that regard,’’ Kunle said.

The remark made Kenneth’s spirits sank, but he did not express his disappointment rather he said drily: ‘’It’s okay sir. I really appreciate all you have already done for me, I will look for a way to fix that.’’

Kunle studied his stricken face momentarily, scratched his shaggy brows and tilted his head to gaze at the white ceiling and the chandelier that hung from it and holding the golden tip of his pen close to his lower lip as if lost in thought, later he dropped the pen on the table and lowered his gaze as he took another long look at him. Leaning back on his chair, he cleared his mouth and said: ‘’an idea just crossed my mind.’’

Kenneth pricked his ears and leaned across the table at once.

’’My company has a reserved apartment at Magodo GRA Phase 1. It's it’s a mini one-bedroom flat which was rented for my new IT engineer. The company had already paid one year rent just days before we hired him but to our surprise, he declined to move into the apartment because he preferred a three-bedroom flat for his family convenience. So, the mini flat has remained vacant since then and my other staffs who I felt could be interested in occupying the apartment turned down the offer for the same reason. Worse still, the owners of the place are not ready to give us a refund- that was three months ago. In view of all this, I believe it will not be a bad idea if you move in and hopefully spend the next nine months there. I believe in nine months’ time you should be able to get accommodation of your own which you’ll be able to pay for, more so that you now have a job.’’

Kenneth was agape with surprise by the time Kunle rounded off, his eyes began to glimmer appreciatively; he found his words incredibly exhilarating to be true. ‘’Mr. Kunle,’’ he said lyrically, ’’did you mean what you just said?’’

Kunle smiled. ’’I meant every word of it.’’

A broad smile then creased his face. ‘’How can I thank you, Mr. Kunle,’’ he said rising to his feet and bowing to him, but the latter motioned to him to seat.

‘’You don’t have to do that,’’ he said, ‘’ I once was in your shoes. I will be out of town today and will not be back until two weeks time. Will you wait till I come back before we sort out the apartment?’’

Kenneth’s smile disappeared from his face, he sighed heavily and shifted uneasily in the padded-chair, ‘’I wish I could, Mr. Kunle, but by tonight I won’t have a place to lay my head.’’

Kunle gazed at him. ’’Really?!’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’In that case we shall go to Magodo at once and I will inform the property manager that you’re moving in today.’’

CHAPTER 9

Even though Kenneth had heard lots of amazing stuff about Magodo GRA, several times since his arrival in the city, he had essentially dismissed the bulk of what he had heard as mere embellishments. But his entry into the district a while ago had convinced him that Magodo GRA was indeed a fascinating district. All the houses stood glowingly in multifarious colours and were built in conformity with latest architectural trend.

Kunle Adeife’s Mercedes drove into a street in the GRA, Omotide Street, and then pulled up right in front of a white detached building with a tall white wall adjoined with a black iron gates, one of the two gateposts bore a vivid inscription NO 132.

A stodgy man with astute eyes and spruced beard who was clad in a blue-striated shirt stood in front of the metallic gate and watched the passengers alight, and as soon as Kunle and Kenneth came within an earshot, the stodgy man trumpeted: ‘’You really got me rattled Mr. Kunle, your firm paid a whole year rent three months ago and up to now no one has moved into the apartment.’’

‘’That’s why I’m here, Andrew, I was trying to sort out a few things all that time. The staff member that should have moved in couldn’t do so for some reasons. By the way Andrew, the young man standing beside me is Kenneth Duromola, he is my brother. Kenneth, this is Andrew Watari, the property manager.’’

Andrew extended a stubby arm, which had a golden wristwatch strapped to the wrist, to Kenneth which he grabbed and shook. Kunle then said to Andrew, ‘’he’s going to be your tenant for the next nine months.’’

‘’I will show him round the house,’’ Andrew said.

The property manager’s words made Kenneth sigh happily, hardly believing his ears, and watched him unlock the giant padlock that secured the gates and then proceeded to open the gates. The manager motioned to Kunle, as he walked into the compound. Kenneth wasted no time in joining the two men inside the compound.

Kenneth stepped into a palatial compound and his eyes glinted.

Standing prominently in the fore of the compound was a detached duplex in immaculate white with a bright, blue roof, whose frontage was decked with flowers. ’’That’s Mr. Bartholomew Adunfe’s residence, I will tell you more about him later,’’ Andrew Watari said casually, nosing at the grand duplex.

Watari them led them around the duplex taking them through a path on the right flank of the building, laced with interlocking gravels, which linked the frontage of the compound to its rear. At the far back of the duples lay a white two-roomed bungalow lay. It had wide trim lawns in its frontage and also surrounding it, a lawnmower stood in the middle of the lawn in the front of the building.

Kenneth watched the beautiful surroundings with disbelief, ‘’This must be a dream,’’ he said to himself. This was a kind of house he was not sure he could have afforded to rent in Lagos even if had worked in the city for twenty years, he thought, gazing around its pleasing scenery. Andrew Watari briskly led them through a pavement that ran through the lawn onto the verandah of the bungalow. They walked to it and crossed onto its narrow, tiled corridor. The property manager stepped near a door, inserted a key into the keyhole and unlocked the door; he opened up and led the other two into a white empty room that had bright blue Spanish-tiles lay on its floor and white ceiling overhead. The two large sliding window-panes it had, gave onto the fringes of lawn and the pavement outside. Kenneth surveyed the interior and beamed happily. He found it incredulous that he would soon be putting down roots in such a cozy apartment.

’’So as you can see,’’Andrew said, ‘’it’s fit for a king.’’

Kunle and Kenneth nodded in agreement. Andrew then led them into the adjoining bedroom, kitchen, toilet and the bath room. By the time the tour ended, Kenneth was on cloud nine and he turned to Kunle Adeife: ‘’How can I thank you, for your kindness sir? ‘’

‘’Oh, save me all that Kenneth.’’

Andrew led them back out onto the pavement, as they got set to make their exit.

‘’This estate belongs to Bartholomew Adunfe,’’ Andrew Watari informed them slowing his pace, ‘’he’s a veteran, a businessman, very stern, very principled. Bartholomew Adunfe values his privacy and to say he is strict about how his properties are handled is an understatement, and even though he doesn’t live here, he’s got feelers who report back to him from time to time. The big building over there,’’ he said nodding in the direction of the duplex that stood in front, ’’is always frequented by his family members.’’
Andrew suddenly halted his steps and turned to look Kenneth square in the face, his dark astute eyes clapped on Kenneth’s which were a few inches above those of the property’s managers, ’’if you’re going to live here you must be at the best of your conducts. Are you married?’’

‘’No.’’

‘’Then it will be best if you stay lone, but if you intend bringing in someone else, on no account must it exceed one person and you must note that both of you will be bound by the estate’s codes of conduct. Bartholomew’s lawyers would not mind taking drastic actions against anyone manhandling his property. I tell you again, you must conduct yourself very well, if you’re going to live here.’’

‘’That’s no problem,’’ Kenneth said assuredly, smiling. He was happy that he was allowed to bring in one roommate. And since Alfred had left the city already and Mathias would also be relocating out of the city, it meant he could be helping out Marcus by asking him to join him in his new apartment.
Andrew Watari briefly regarded him then shrugged. ’’You will have to follow me to my office; there, I will take down your bio-data. I will also give you the estate’s codes of conduct including the eviction clauses all of which you must read and sign, before moving in.’’

Kunle impatiently glanced at his watch, ‘’I must be on my way to the airport now,’’ he said, turning to Kenneth, ‘’Follow Andrew’s directives. I don’t a have a reason to doubt your sense of responsibility. I hope you won’t give Mr. Adunfe a reason to activate the eviction clause.’’

‘’I won’t cross him. I won’t break the house rules,’’ he replied resolutely, ‘’I won’t let you down, Mr. Kunle.’’

‘’Good,’’ Kunle said, dipping his hand into his pocket and bringing out some wads of crisp currencies which he handed over to Kenneth, ‘’that would bridge you over till the end of the month. Be in Dele’s office very early on Monday.’’

op, u r really killing it.kip it moving

chigozie69:
op, u r really killing it.kip it moving

Thanks.