****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...


“Tomiwa, you are not going anywhere o, and I’m not even joking, if he can’t swallow that his stupid pride that is slowly sending him to the grave, then so be it, we are having this tunmigbe with or without his consent.”
“Hannah, calm down, you know we want to do the right thing and having your father’s consent is also part of it so I suggest we go see your parents with mum and talk things over with them before the tunmigbe.”
“Tomiwa, we don’t need baba’s consent, he’s sha not sponsoring anything so why bother your head, let him vex all he wants, when he’s tired, he’ll let us know.” Hannah said and Tomiwa grinned.
“Yes madam (pause) Hannah Hannah, you and this stubbornness ehn, only God that can deliver you.” He said.
“See, in all honesty, this is not a ,matter of stubbornness, it’s just a matter of common sense and maturity, it’s been thirteen years and this man has refused to forgive me for getting pregnant at age twenty or maybe it is because I decided to have the baby or maybe because I didn’t go to uni and decided to live with you instead (pause) Tomiwa, I don’t even know my offence and yet maami keeps hammering that I should beg baba for forgiveness.
“… If I can swallow my pride and go to his house to invite for my wedding then why can’t he do the same and at least tell me my offence, honestly, I am tired, really very tired and that is it.” Hannah said sadly as tears ran down her cheeks, Tomiwa immediately sprang from his seat, crossed the room and went to her side by the foot of the bed; he wiped the tears with his fingers and planted a firm reassuring kiss on her temple then held her for a few more minutes before they went to bed.

The next morning, the family went about their business as usual but Tomiwa had other plans. As soon as he dropped his wife in the market, he called his mother and told her to get dressed because he was taking her out then he called his mother in-law to know what time it would be okay for him to visit. Later in the day, around three PM, Tomiwa and his mother were on their way to the Ayodele’s residence. On getting there, they were told to wait for Mr Ayodele because he closed from work by four PM and wouldn’t be home until four-thirty. Finally, Mr Ayodele arrived; Tomiwa’s heartbeat tripled as a cold shiver ran down his spine, small beads of sweat broke out like pimples on his forehead as he saw his boyishly handsome father in-law walk in the front door. Mr Ayodele looked up as he heard greetings, he looked from his wife to the two visitors and back to iya Ruth before he responded to mummy Tomiwa’s greeting (Tomiwa is an only child).

“Ekaasan o (good afternoon o)” he greeted with a straight face and continued on his way into the house. Iya Ruth sprang to her feet, partially stopping her husband from going further into the house.
“Babe, eyin na lon wa wa, won tin duro de yin tipe (baba, they are here to see you and have been waiting for a while.)” she said as Tomiwa quickly prostrated to greet Mr Ayodele for the third time. Mr Ayodele smirked and turned fully to face Tomiwa.
“Ngbo, won ni emi le wa wa, kilosele o (I was told you’re here to see me, what is the matter)” hye asked
“Beeni sah, emi ati mummy mi la jo wa be yin ni sah. “Yes sir, I came with my mum to beg you sir).” Tomiwa replied with a shaky voice.


TBC

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...


“I have checked it o, what do you want me to do?” Mr Ayodele asked with a smile which was obviously faked. Iya Ruth signalled to her daughter to talk but Hannah refused and just stared into space.
“Hannah!” iya Ruth thundered when Hannah wouldn’t move “… eti e di ni? (are you deaf)” she asked. Hannah shifted, she was uncomfortable with her kneeling position, she decided to speak for her mother’s sake, left to her, she saw no reason to talk but since her father had decided to play dumb, she might as well just play along.

“Baba, nnkan to wa ninu polythene yen ni aso yin ati iwe iperanse fun tunmigbe emi ati Tomiwa. (baba, the polythene bag contains your cloth and an invitation to me and Tomiwa’s remarriage)” She mumbled after a minute’s hesitation. Mr Ayodele simply laughed then hissed before he went the way he’d come. Iya Ruth jumped to her feet and placed both hands on her head, these were the only two people in the family who always gave her a headache; she turned to face Hannah who was already standing with her hands folded across her chest.

“Ah! Hannah, do you want to ruin my life? Ah! See the way your father looked at you with disgust, your father o Hannah and you think this is life ah!” she lamented and bit a finger. Hannah hissed, she wasn’t ready for her dad’s negative vibes and she was also disgusted by her mother’s exaggeration so she curtsied again;

“Maami, mo ti fe ma lo, maa ma ri yin (mum, I’m leaving, I’ll see you some other time)” she said and left the room immediately. As soon as she’d gone, iya Ruth threw herself on the ground with both hands on her head.

“Ah! Temi bami, aye mi ti baje, ah, omo Hannah olori kunkun yi fe ba temi je, ah, Oluwa, tani mo se… (Ah! I am finished, my life is ruined, this sturbborn Hannah wants to ruin my life, ah, God, who have I offended…)” she lamented amidst sobs. After a while, she got to her feet and joined her husband in the room to plead with him further.

Hannah walked to the bus-stop with shaky legs, she wondered if she wasn’t taking things too far but the truth is that she was past caring, in fact, she was ready to severe what was left of the relationship between her and her father, she just couldn’t take it anymore. Right from when she was a child, she’d always doubted her father’s love for her but now that she thought of it, she had a feeling that he loved her but was just being a coward, maybe he was intimidated by her boldness or most likely, he felt insecure since she’d been the only child to always contest his decisions and she’d never let him decide for her unlike her older sister. She smiled to herself, now she understood her father, Mr Ayodele her dear father was a man with a low self-esteem, she shook her head because it had taken her thirty-three years of her existence on earth to realise this. Soon, she got to the bus-stop and luckily for her, there was a bus waiting for just one more passenger before it moved. When she got home, as expected, her children were back from school and were in mummy Sewa’s room, she got down to preparing the family’s dinner. When her husband got home and had had dinner, she narrated her ordeal with her father to him and a confused Tomiwa sighed deeply.

“But why is daddy acting like this ehn?”
“Tomiwa, don’t bother your head about that man jare, I just wanted to let you know how my day went.”
“Don’t talk like that, he’s still your father.”
“And so?” Hannah asked with disgust.
“Maybe I should go and see him personally.” Tomiwa said.
“See who, no way! Tomiwa, you would do nothing of such, that man is proud, just too proud, what else does he want, we’ve respected his wishes so far and God has helped us so much that we don’t need his assistance for anything, yet he’s still proving stubborn, in my own honest opinion o, if he likes he should attend the wedding or even if he decides not to come, it’s not the end of the world.
“I will just go and rent a father and if the worst happens, I’ll just adopt another father and disown him, what is his problem gan, there’s kuku nothing that is new under the sun so whatever happens is not going to be new too.” She thundered then hissed while Tomiwa smiled, he’d always found his wife’s anger towards her father very funny.
“It’s okay o, don’t wake the children, there’s school tomorrow.” Tomiwa cautioned calmly.


TBC

Ademidun18:
I love ur work and the story is unique.Am also a writer bt nt yet a professional bt i wil love if u can orientate me,am on facebook nt yet on whatsapp because am using small phone.pls reply me if u wil render any help.

Hi Ademidun, I'm also not a pro but as the saying goes, iron sharpeneth iron, we could help eachother... what's your facebook ID?

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...


ONE YEAR AFTER

Hannah sat quietly in her parents’ living room, she was super happy that she’d been able to keep her promise to herself and had not gone to her mother for any form of monetary assistance. She waited patiently for her stubborn father to show up, she was not moved, she knew he’d be angrier to see that she’d fulfilled her promise of not begging for his forgiveness. Sooner than she’d expected, Mr Ayodele walked into the room, frowning. He sat in the armchair opposite Hannah, his favorite spot, and stared into her eyes with hatred, anger maybe, that had a tinge of love hidden somewhere. Hannah as much as she’d have loved to, did not have the courage to hold his gaze, her throat felt dry and a sweat broke out on her forehead, her voice failed her and she hated herself for the moment because this wasn’t what she’d planned, she’d planned to walk in, drop the invitation card and their lace and then walk out without saying a word, she’d even gone further to imagine, in her mind’s eye, the look on her father’s face after her display and she’d laughed to herself then but now, there was nothing, she just sat like a child boxed into a corner, she smacked herself mentally for her cowardice, she was beginning to feel like her older sister, Ruth, who could never stare their dad in the face in situations like this and she hissed under her breath; with an inner resolve to break the fear she had for her father and also with the revitalisation of her stubbornness, she looked up and stared straight into Mr Ayodele’s eyes, her father, but she was still dumb struck, the expression on his face was more than enough to melt the strength she thought she had.

“Kini o wa se nibi? (What have you come here for?)” Mr Ayodele asked, calmly despite his fierce features, Hannah hated him for that, how could he sound so calm when she was on edge and losing her mind? she thought.

“I-I-I…” she stuttered, unable to form her words into a sentence.
“Iya Ruth, is this why you called me? Is this what you called me for? To waste my time? To listen to this rubbish?” Mr Ayodele asked, with is voice raised a notch.
“Rara o, olowo ori mi (no, my husband), Hannah has come with good news.” Iya Ruth replied and her husband hissed.
“Oya Hannah, soro (talk) now” she continued. Hannah looked from husband to wife and back again, she really afraid at this point, her dad had always been a strict disciplinarian and it had been difficult to look straight at him. She decided talking was a waste of time and energy so instead, she stood, dropped the polythene bag she’d been holding on the table, curtsied and walked towards the door before her father’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Take this rubbish out of my house now!” he ordered and stood to leave, immediately, iya Ruth went on her knees and held her husbands’ legs to stop him; begging him, pleading with him to at least check the content of the bag. Hannah was furious at herself, her plan had come to naught, she stood at the door; she knew at this point that she had to swallow her pride and kneel, not because she was sorry but because she wanted him to witness the success she and Tomiwa had achieved without his help; she also went on her knees without uttering a word as she watched her mom’s desperate plea.
After a good ten minutes that seemed like forever to Hannah, Mr Ayodele finally sat back in his chair and picked the bag to check its content; he let out a laugh that didn’t quite touch his eyes which meant he was bitter then hissed and dropped the bag and the content back on the table.


TBC
P.S- the conversation above is in the Yoruba language.
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Thanks a whole lot guys for the comments, I am very grateful...
Anticipate... Ayomide loves you

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...


“Tomiwa, o ma maa gbe battery kini yii wole lalale ni o.” (Tomiwa, you will need to carry the tricycle’s battery in every night.) Hannah advised.
“Ehn, o ye mi.” (yes, I understand.)
“Daddy, daddy, will you carry us to school with this keke?” Korede asked beaming.
“Shut up jare, olodo, it is called a tricycle.” Yejide corrected and Tomiwa laughed.
“Ati keke o, ati tricycle o (Whether you call it a keke or a tricycle), it is the same and yes my son, from today I will be carrying you to school with it.”
“Eh, will you still be giving us fifty-fifty naira to school?” Korede further questioned.
“Shut up ko gbenu e soun (and keep quiet), fifty naira ko, five hundred naira ni.” Hannah countered and Tomiwa just laughed, this was one of the few moments he loved when every member of the family seemed to be on the same page.
“Oya mummy, let us drop you at work, time is going.” Tomiwa announced and Yejide rushed into the house to get her mom’s bag and also lock the door before the family set out to drop the mother of the house at her work place; Tomiwa took his children on a short cruise around the neighbourhood and tried his best to keep greetings short then he made them the breakfast he’d promised, handed them to mummy Sewa (the neighbour they stayed with) and finally headed to the park for the day’s business.

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

“My dear sister that is how God works, can you see what patience has done?”
“Ah, mummy, thank you for all your advice, I really appreciate it.”
“It is God my dear, only God is capable.”
“He didn’t even tell me what he was planning and the business has been thriving, God had been protecting him.”
“It is God and I hope he’s paying his tithe regularly.”
“Mummy, don’t you trust me? I make sure he pays every week.”
“Ah! Every week ke, that is too much o and besides, tithe is a monthly affair now.”
“Mummy, it is not too much o, Tomiwa earn daily, so paying tithe’s weekly is not too much, even me gan, I pay weekly.”
“Okay o, Mrs Obafemi, if you say so, I should be on my way now, my regards to your husband when he returns.”
“Yes ma, my regards to pastor and the children ma.” Hannah replied as the pastor’s wife stood to leave. Hannah smiled to herself, God had been wonderful to her family; it had been three months since her husband stated his business as a commercial tricyclist and so far there’d been no issue with paying oga Friday monthly, she was glad she’d not listened to her mother even when she’d been tempted on several occasions (and had even voices them to Tomiwa), the new school year had begun and he rwonderful daughter had been promoted to primary six as the head mistress had promised and Korede was now in primary three, Tomiwa too had been doing well, she’d even left the canteen and had rented a stall where she sold foodstuff (small scale though), she and tomiwa had also been planning to hold their ‘tunmigbe’ (remarriage) after they’d settled the keke debts, this decision was not prompted by the need to reconcile with her father and sister but purely because she and her husband wanted to do the right thing and get married properly. (One thing you should know is that Hannah’s father is a very stubborn man and Hannah had gotten her stubbornness from him).


TBC
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Hello fam, sorry for the late update, please be informed that there will be no update until Monday (I need to collect my thoughts and pen them down.)
And also, in addition to my earlier request (it's in the last update), I would love to know if my writing has been visual, I mean have you been able to put the words into pictures from the style of writing?
Thanks for your time, a timely response would be much appreciated.
Ayomide loves you all.

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...


Tomiwa walked into the house and sat heavily in the armchair amidst greetings from his family, as usual, Yejide brought him a bowl of clean water and soap to wash his hands and a napkin to dry it. After sitting for a while, a thought suddenly popped in his head, his wife needed a phone, her phone’s mouth piece was really bad and it was difficult for her to make and receive calls.

“Daddy thank you for the money you gave us in the morning, are you ready to eat?” Hannah voiced into his thoughts.
“Em, you’re welcome, what did you cook?” he asked.
“Eba and Egusi.” She replied simply.
“Daddy, if you eat that Egusi ehn, you will enjoy your life.” Korede added and Tomiwa smiled.
“How long ago have you guys eaten?” he asked, completely disregarding his wife’s offer of food.
“Since nine.” Hannah replied.
“Okay, please give me garri because I bought six hundred naira suya and I cannot allow I cannot allow it to waste.” Yejide and Korede screamed for joy while Hannah had on a perplexed look; Tomiwa had never refused eating except they’d just had a heated argument.
“So it is the food I cooked that can waste or should waste abi.” She demanded.
“No now…” Tomiwa said calmly “… I will eat it tomorrow morning before going to work…” Hannah hissed but Tomiwa ignored her, he planned to tell her about the ‘keke’ tonight but he decided that she was clearly in no mood to receive good news. He turned his attention to Yejide and instructed her to serve him garri and water ten he proceeded to share the suya; he took the smallest portion as he watched his children eat the suya with unmasked happiness; luckily for him, Hannah rejected her portion, probably as a sign of protest and he was only too delighted to eat it. He’d also bought a large loaf of bread and promised the children a breakfast of bread, fried eggs and beverage the next morning. Hannah didn’t say a word to him till the family said their night prayers and went to bed but that was the least of the thirty-five year old’s worries.

The next morning, Hannah woke up, as usual, at five AM, had her bath, woke the children for their bath before she proceeded to the kitchen while her children continued with other chores; after sweeping, Yejide rushed to the kitchen to remind her mother that their dad had promised to make the family’s breakfast but Hannah waved her off. Later, when Tomiwa had had his bath and his wife was about leaving for work, Tomiwa decided to break the good news to his family.

“Good morning everybody…” he began then looked round the room to ensure he had their full attention.
“… who amongst you has gone outside today? (pause)… well, I am pleased to inform you that God has provided a ‘keke maruwa’ for us, I paid the first installment of fifty thousand naira yesterday and oga Friday has given me one of his two keke’s.” he concluded with a wide grin. The family was in celebration mode as the elated children jumped for joy and Hannah knelt as she sang praises to God. Without warning, Hannah gave her husband a warm hug with her tear streaked face resting on his chest; Tomiwa’s insides warmed up instantly and he felt close to tears as he returned the hug; Hannah tore herself from the embrace and cleaned her face with a wrapper.
“Come and show me, I am proud of you my husband.” She said with unmasked joy. The whole family trooped out of the room with Tomiwa as the lead; Hannah hugged him again when she saw the yellow and black tricycle parked by the fence.


TBC
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Hello dear readers, thanks for following this far, I really appreciate it.
I need your help with some things though, so far I know I haven't donr too much with respect to suspense but what I'd really like is constructive criticism on my use of English and grammar.
A timely response will be much appreciated,
Yours truly, Ayomide and here comes my signature emoji.............

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...


Tomiwa had had a very productive first day as a thirty-five year old keke rider, the person he’d bought the tricycle from had been kind enough to introduce him to the garage boys and had explained that he was working for him. Tomiwa only rode short distances and made two hundred naira for trip. By the end of the day, Tomiwa had gone about twenty trips and had made a whooping four thousand naira; on his way home, he bought the suya he’d promised his son and some other goodies, he also made up his mind to save at least five thousand naira a month just so it would be easy for him to pay up his one hundred and fifteen thousand naira debt; his wife would be shell shocked, he knew, she didn’t even know he had a bank account let alone fifteen thousand naira in it. As he rode home, Tomiwa felt proud of himself, soon, he got to his neighbourhood; he’d purposely left the park at night to avoid answering any questions from his nosey neighbours.
Tomiwa opened the gate and rolled the tricycle into the compound, as he locked the gate, he was grateful that there was light so most people were in their rooms, just then, mama Lati walked out of the building tying a wrapper and most likely on her way to dump refuse.

“Ahahn baba Yejide, good evening o, e ku ojo meta (it has been a while)” Tomiwa hissed under his breath, he wondered why she’d not just gone straight to the point when she’d seen him just the previous afternoon and had even asked him why he was home early but he’d laughed it off.
“Abi o, good evening iya Lateefah.” He said with a forced smile.
“Ehn, how work?” she continued
“Thank God o.” Tomiwa replied and continued on his way having had enough of her talk.
“Ehn o, naso e suppose be, na only God fit do am…” she said with a grin “… na who con get that keke?” she asked, finally hitting the nail on the head; Tomiwa looked about him as though he didn’t know what she was talking about before he finally settled his gaze on the tricycle then smiled.
“This one?” he asked.
“Ehn o.” she replied with enthusiasm
“Na God provide am for me and my family, make you help me thank this baba God o.”
“Eh!…” she exclaimed “… congratulations o, this one good o, I pray in Jesus name say this keke no go do you accident (Amen) you no go jam person (amen), person no go jam you (amen), you go dey see plenty plenty passenger(amen), for park, agbero no go see you (amen), all these people wey dey collect money for bus-stop no go disturb you (amen), Almighty God go…”
“Iya Lateefah! The prayer don do, I don tire for today work, thank you ehn, goodnight.” Tomiwa cut her short and rolled the keke to the side of the house without a sideward glance at her.


TBC

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...

By the time he was done, the children were dressed and wearing their shoes; he smiled to himself ‘this time tomorrow, I will carry my family in my keke’ he thought. He retrieved one of his clean trousers and a polo t-shirt then, as usual, helped the children fill their water bottles and made sure their bags were packed with the right things. Yejide wore her shoes and rushed to meet her mom in the kitchen to help pack the ingredients she’d used in cooking. By seven-thirty, the family said a brief prayer led by Hannah and they were ready to leave home; the children to school, Hannah to the canteen where she washed plates and Tomiwa to the keke dealer instead of the mammy market where he helped a friend for a wage of at least five hundred naira a day depending on how the day’s sales went and how much profit was made. Once out of the house and in the compound while Hannah was locking the door, Tomiwa gave the children fifty naira each as opposed to the ten naira their mother usually gave them, the delighted children thanked their father and danced around, one watching from a distance would have thought they’d won a lottery; Hannah joined her family and smiled when she saw her children’s excitement.

“Ahahn, what are we celebrating?” she asked no one in particular as her eyes darted from Yejide to Korede.
“Daddy gave us fifty fifty naira each.” A delighted Korede screamed. Hannah’s gaze immediately swept over her husband, she wondered why he’d given them money, he was probably celebrating something he hadn’t told her because she’d been hostile for a few days now.
“Daddy thank you o…” she said quickly to mask her suspicion “… Oya children, tell daddy thank you and let us leave, we don’t want to be late.” She added and guided the children towards the gate, Tomiwa held her back awhile, covered her right palm with his left palm and left the two thousand naira in it, Hannah was taken aback, this was the first time in two months that her husband was giving her money for anything.
“What is this for?” she asked, surprise written all over her face.
“Just manage it to buy food for today.” Tomiwa replied, he had a feeling his wife was about to say something nasty or probably begin a tirade of questions which he was not ready for and besides, it was still too early for him to argue with anybody so he walked away quickly and waved at the children who were patiently waiting for their mother. Hannah sighed inwardly and walked the children to their school; she was thankful that they were in school but she wished it wasn’t a public school; she had a strong resolution to change their school as soon as she could afford it. In my opinion, Hannah has totally written off her husband and was taking vital and critical decisions on the family without her husbands’ input, really bad! If you ask me.

The day went quickly, it was a sunny Friday afternoon, Hannah rushed home, as was her usual practice, to warm her children’s lunch and make sure they changed out of their uniforms. When the children had changed, done their homework and eaten, she took them to the neighbour’s room and rushed back to the canteen not noticing that her son hadn’t dropped his school bag.
Korede was relieved that his mom had not questioned him about the bag, he was barely able to contain his excitement, he precede his sister into the room, dumped the bag on the floor and immediately tore it open to retrieve the drawing book he’d just bought; a friend of his had brought the exact same type to school on Monday and he’d promised himself to buy his own even though he’d have to save his daily ten naira for two weeks before he could afford it but God had been really kind to him and his dad, out of the blues, had given him fifty naira in the morning and his sweet sister had also ‘dashed’ him ten naira to complete the money. He knew he had to be careful with his treasure because his mom had always been against his passion for drawing painting(sometimes) but his sister and dad have always been encouraging and supportive; his mom had burnt the last drawing book right in front of him saying he was wasting time and money and was getting distracted from studying.

Yejide walked in after a while and saw her brother staring, in awe, at his new drawing book and she smiled.

“You better keep that thing orelse mummy will burn it again.”
“I know, I’ve been thinking of where to keep it since.”
“Keep it with Bolu, you will tell him to bring it for you in the morning and take it home in the afternoon.” Korede smiled, his sister was simply the best, he knew he could always count on her for advice; she always had his back one hundred percent.
“Thank you, I dinor even remember that one.”
“I know you will not remember na…” she said with a smile “… me am going to shade’s house, I’ve forgotten our next week hairstyle.” She lied.
“Hmmm. Lie lie, which forgotten, just say you wantu goan play, sha be going, maybe I will go to Kabiru’s house to play ball.” Korede replied.
“Ah, if mummy asks why your cloth is dirty, am not there o.”
“I will remove it na, are we going to tell mummy Sewa before we go?”
“Yes now, am even going with Sewa sef and instead of going to Kb’s house why don’t you kuku rush to Bolu’s shop and give him the kini.” Korede grinned, his sister was just super smart. They left the house having at the back of their minds that their mother closed by eight pm.


TBC
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Hello dear readers, so sorry for the late update, no excuses, just pure laziness... thanks for understanding, Ayomide loves you

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...



When she got home, as expected, her children were home from school and were waiting in the neighbour’s room. She fetched them and was surprised to meet her husband at home.
“Ahahn, Tomiwa! What are you doing here?” she asked with a frown.
“What kind of foolish question is that? Where are your manners? So I cannot come home again? Yen yen yen yen yen, you can’t even greet.” The children quickly greeted while the woman just hissed. Tomiwa walked out of the house, he’d had a rough day already and was in no mood for a fight with his wife, he didn’t return till very late. His wife and children were asleep and the door was locked, Tomiwa let himself in and sat heavily in the armchair, he was tired, not just in his body but mentally too; he was ahamed that his wife was the breadwinner even though she didn’t have a well-paying job; he was tired of the incessant arguments he always had with his wife but she was always the cause, she constantly reminded him of his joblessness and inability to cater for the family’s needs which always made him feel less of a man, he was just tired. He emptied his trouser pockets on the stool by the chair and began straightening the crumpled naira notes before counting them then he sighed, just four thousand naira and some change, he sighed again, he had pains all over his body and hadn’t had the time to rest but how was Hannah to know, on the very few occasions when they were not arguing, he always told he his dreams and plans but she’d always used them against him during arguments. He made up his mind not to go to the market the next day, he would instead, deposit fifty thousand out of the sixty five thousand he’d saved to buy a second hand tricycle, the owner had said if he could bring fifty thousand, he would hand over the ‘keke’ and the remaining hundred thousand would be paid over the period of six months with a fifteen percent interest. He was sure Hannah would be surprised that she’d not told him all the while, it was high time he took up a more active role and tangible responsibility as the head of the home. He pocketed the money then took off his clothes, promising himself to give Hannah two thousand naira to offset her outstanding debt with mama Taiwo and collect more foodstuff; the children were growing faster than he’d imagined hence the need to feed them with bigger portions and he could not starve them. He looked round the scanty room but there was no sign of food, they most likely had drunk garri before going to bed, he helped himself to a bowl of garri and water and then went to bed.
The next morning, Tomiwa woke up, as usual, at six-thirty, his family was always up before him; Yejide was sweeping, Korede was cleaning his and Yejide’s school sandals while Hannah was most likely in the kitchen preparing the family’s breakfast/lunch or was in the bathroom.

“Yejide, where is your mother?” he asked just so the children would know he was awake.
“Good morning sir, she’s cooking.” Yejide said on her knees while Korede prostrated. He was very fond of his children and very proud of them too, despite the fact that their mates were in senior classes to theirs, they never seemed bothered, Yejide was so good that the school head mistress had promised her a double promotion when the new school year resumed.

“Good morning my children, how was your night?” Tomiwa replied.
“Daddy, I was waiting for you last night, I thought you’d buy suya for me.” Korede said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll still buy the suya, plenty suya for everybody this night when I come home.” He said then picked his bucket of bath water, that was usually placed by the door with his towel and toiletries; for this, he was grateful to his wife, at least she still accorded him some respect as the head of the home when it came to his bath.


TBC

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION

The silence was deafening, Hannah wished the ground would open up and swallow her but she took it back immediately, it was a stupid wish, it just meant more suffering for her children.

“Maami, you have not said anything.” She said to break the silence.
“What do you want me to say?” mummy Ruth snapped at her daughter “… you know what to do if you want any more help from me, afterall, you old enough to make decisions.” She added.
“But maami, how can you suggest such a thing when you yourself can’t do it?” Hannah cried and her mother laughed sarcastically.
“I am married to a responsible man that can take care of me and his home.” Hannah laughed a bitter laugh then shook her head in regret.
“What a pity, my own mother is advising me to leave my husband’s house…” she said to herself with her right hand on her chest whilst still shaking her head in self-pity. She looked up at her mother and spoke boldly;
“I cannot divorce my husband, I am a Christian and it is against my doctrine and you know that maami, moreover, what do you want me to tell my children? I am disappointed that you insist on this…”
“Kuku pa itan fun mi (Why don’t you tell me a story)…” mummy Ruth snapped again “… what am I even saying, shebi it is the person that you married that you will divorce and much as I know, no man has come to ask for your hand in marriage, you have only been foolish and shameless enough to spread your legs wide for a man, not just any man o, a jobless man who is too lazy to look after himself let alone a wife and two children, Hannah, you are disgrace to the Ayodele’s and I am disappointed in you to say the least.” Hannah’s heart was in shambles, it was broken into many pieces, no amount of glue would be able to put them together; she’d never heard her mother speak, about this matter, with so much venom; a reckless tear fell on her wrapper and she blinked rapidly, crying was a luxury that wouldn’t solve anything, she was in so much debt already that that she just couldn’t afford tears, it was just too expensive and very useless with respect to the situation she found herself in and she’d rather save up her energy for something more productive.
Mummy Ruth crossed the room to be with her daughter, she was sorry for all she’d said but it was needed, Hannah needed to hear the truth and confront it too; she placed a hand across Hannah’s shoulder.

“Hannah, my daughter, we are Yoruba and it is against our culture to divorce but you are not married to this man, that is the main reason why dad is angry with both of you, tell him to do the right thing and ask for your hand properly asides that, don’t you know you are living under a curse, your union is cursed because you don’t have the blessing of either of your parents, twelve years of living with a man that is not traditionally or legally your husband is a waste of time and resources.” Hannah was fed up, she wasn’t here to talk about her marriage or rather her ‘union’, neither was she here for her personal needs, she was only here because of her children, she had to make her mother understand.

“But maami, I need your help for my children, your grand-children…”
“Bring the children here, I will gladly accept them, you are a beautiful girl, you will find a man, trust me.”
“Maami, are you listening to yourself, at thirty-two, you want me to start searching for a husband or what? I’m okay like this, thank you!” Hannah stood to leave, she was angry and her mom shook her head in pity.
“Think about everything I’ve said, meanwhile, take this two thousand naira, that is all I have.” Hannah smiled, so her mom still expected her to collect her money, she’d always known had a sense of humour but she didn’t know it was this much.
“Thank you ma, you can keep your money, my husband and I will survive and bring up our children, I’ll be on my way now.” She said and left the house promising herself not to return there to ask for money or any form of help, ever again. She just needed ten thousand; five to complete the capital she’d been saving and the rest to buy foodstuff and offset some bills. She had just two hundred naira in her purse so she decided to walk the first half of her journey home which would have cost her hundred naira and then she’d board a fifty naira bike home.

P.S- the conversation between Hannah and her mother was in the Yoruba language.


TBC

****HANNAH****


CONTINUATION...

“Mama Taiwo good evening o” she greeted and the latter replied with a wide grin.
“Iya Yejide, my customer, wetin happen all this day, you just disappear, you no just follow me buy market again abi I don sell bad market for you before.” She asked.
“Uh, e no kuku be like that o, my children them don keep me busy for some time now.”
“Eyah, how my son?” Iya Yejide scoffed
“That boy…” she said sarcastically “… he just dey give me wahala, he too like rough play, you no go believe say as rain fall plenty reach today, na this today gangan my pikin know say he wan play with sand, he just doti all the cloth.” Mama Taiwo laughed.
“Abeg leave am o, naso pikin them dey do, they nor know say na person go wash the cloth.” Both women laughed shortly iya Yejide spoke.
“Naso o, if person say make them wash am now, e go be like say we no get conscience.”
“Abi o, my sister, oya, papapa, night don come, make I nor delay you with my talk talk, shey na the usual?” Mama Taiwo asked.
“Ehn o, abeg, take this five hundred, how much my gbese con be now?”
“Ehn, two ‘touson’ (that’s the way she pronounced thousand) minus five ‘hunred’ na one-five then plus this new two ‘touson’ everything con be three-five now.” Mama Taiwo replied then she instructed her sales girl to attend to iya Yejide. Hannah’s heart fell, she knew how much she owed but hearing it made her feel so bad. When she was handed her things, she thanked mama Taiwo profusely and also promised to ‘see her’ during the week before she hurried home.

The things a mother would do to feed her children, Hannah just wanted her children to have at least two meals a day, she was tired of sitting idly all day but she needed capital but her husband had always said he didn’t have money, she prayed daily and also believed in the section of the Lord’s prayer that said ‘GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD’ because she knew that things would only get better because she wouldn’t stop whilst she still had her life and her situation just had no choice but to get better because she was one hell of a fighter, a go-getter, more like a goal-getter.


FIVE YEARS LATER

The room was sparsely furnished, mummy Ruth sat in one of the two cane armchairs cushioned by square shaped foam placed on either sides of the low cane table that served as the centre table. There was a TV stand with a TV set on it and a stereo flanked by its two rectangular speakers on either side of it sat in the inner space; on the TV was a DVD player and a television signal antenna, there was also a cane three-seater with a wooden dining table surrounded by six wooden, straight-backed chairs. This was the living room of the Ayodele’s, Hannah’s parents; her mother was fuming, she was mad at her daughter, she had no form of formal education and had married a semi-literate man who had completed standard six, both husband and wife had vowed to stop at nothing until all their three children had completed their university education but Hannah had thought otherwise and had gotten pregnant two years after her secondary education while she was still waiting to write her second UTME examination, the family had been devastated most especially the father of the house.

Mummy Ruth stared at her second child/daughter, she had her father's stubbornness, she tried on several occassions to make peace between father and daughter but all her efforts had proved abortive, she watched her daughter closely for a minute and shook her head then the anger returned. Hannah sat opposite her mother in the second armchair and played with her fingers absentmindedly, she just wanted to feed her children, that was the only reason she was here, over the years, she'd succeeded in putting her children back in school, Yejide, at eleven, was still in primary four and Korede, at nine, was in primary one. She had tried as a mother, she'd put up with people who had no respect and didn't think twice before insulting her, she knew she'd done well, if nobody was going to praise her, she'd praise herself regardless of what society said or felt. She stole a glance at her mother's face and froze, she realized she'd made a mistake, the expression was ice cold, her heart fell, her mom was her only option of getting any form of help from her family, her dad and older sister, Ruth, had told her to her face that they wanted nothing to do with her and her brother was a young married man with a family of his own, she couldn't bother him, if anything, she should be the one giving assistance to him.


TBC

****HANNAH****


"Korede!" She yelled. The four-year toddler scrambled to his feet and ushed in the direction of the voice as he cleaned his mud stained hands on his shorts.

"Ma." He screamed as he got near the out-house that served as toilet to the ten-room bungalow built with esch room facing eachother. His mother was washing the toilet with a very short brrom while his older sister Yejide held a bucket of water for her since there was roster for it and it was her turn. The tall dark woman turned when she heard her son's voice and hissed.

"Paying with mud again abi..." She yelled and the child took a few steps backwards in fear, he knew his mother only toowell and expected that a slap would land on his face any moment but that still did not explain his mother's fury and how did she expect him not to play with mud, all his friends were doing it and he saw no reason why he should be left out of the fun.

"... Okay, maybe your useless father has employed a wash-man or maybe he has bought a washing machine..." This was another thing the child didn't quite understand and found it really hard to comprehend; his parents always cursed themselves at every opportunity they got yet whenever he cursed a friend or playmate, he was always rewarded with a slap; he took a few more steps backward as his mother brandished the broom in haer at him, the young girl stood behind her mother and signalled to the child to move further back and he complied. The woman snapped her fingers at the child and resumed her washing. Korede, young as he was, had the sense to stand quietly and wait for his mother to finish her washing. While waiting, he pondered on the the kind of punishment that would be meted out to him. Sooner than he'd imagined, she was done, she walked past without a side-ward glance at him with Yejide coming up at her rear.

"Shey I dinor teh you that mummy we talk ehn, anything she do for you is your business." She said to her brother and walked on with Korede on her heel.
"Wo, sha bo aso yen kin to fi owo osi gba oju fun e (remove your clothes before i slap you with my left hand)" Iya Yejide, as Hannah was fondly called, yelled as the children entered the house. Korede did as he was ordered and proceeded to dump the clothes in a bucket of soapy water then he sat naked in a corner of the twelve-by-twelve room that served as the family's living room, bedroom and sometimes kitchen. The child sat quietly but alert, calculating, he didn't want to be caught unawares, his mother still hadn't punished, he sat, anticipating, watching her every move, Iya Yejide was in one of her moods, in the anger zone, in my opinion, she was in 'Avatar state'; you know that moment when Aang (the last airbender) is really angry and his whole body lights up? Yes, that was iya yejide's state only that she didn't have the Avatar's tatoos; she had a fierce frown plastered on her face as she was picking this and that and trying to arrange the already neat room. Yejide stood away from away from her mother, she knew better than to move closer, she glanced at the child and saw that he was dozing; suddenly, iya Yejide slumped on the six-by-six bed, held her head in her hands and started crying, Yejide took two confused steps backward, who should she attend to, she thought, was it her crying mother or her sleeping brother whom she was sure would have a terriblr neck pain if he didn't sleep well. She decided to lift the child but she was to scared to lay him on the bed, that would mean getting too close to her mom so she just lay him properly on the cold concrete floor and covered him with a wrapper that had been flung carelessly on the only armchair in the room. Iya Yejide was done crying and she stood with renewed strength and vigour, she woulldn't let life weigh her down, she loosened her wrapper and counted the money she'd tied at the edge, just one thousand and fifty naira; that wasnt enough to offset her debts but she had to feed her children; she placed a five hundred naira note on the bed and tied the rest firmly .

"Yejide, take this money and go to mam Taiwo, just tell her to give you the usual and that I'll see her later." She said and pointed the money at the girl who promptly accepted it and hurried towards the door but was halted in her tracks by her mother's voice.
"Don't worry, I will go by myself, carry that child to the bed and i hope he has soaked those his clothes." Mama Yejide said as she adjusted her clothes, collected the money from the girl and left the room without waiting for a response. Yejide, immediately, locked the door behind her mother, lay her brother on the bed and covered him properly then sat by him.

Mama Yejide quickened her steps because it was already quarter past seven and mama Taiwo never stayed later than seven thirty. Soon enough, she got to her destination to meet mama Taiwo's sales girl packing for the day while the shop owner, mama Taiwo sat on a chair waiting, she was thankful that there were no other customers so she could freely do what she'd come for.


TBC

Dopeyomi:
Abandoned project again!





#Millitary Zone Keep Off

Dear sir, I believe the last update is titled 'STORY FINALE' which signals the end of the story.
Thank you.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE COPIED, TRANSFERRED OR STORED FOR RETRIEVAL IN THE FUTURE WITHOUT PRIOR INFORMATION OF AND PERMISSION FROM THE WRITER.

Copyright 2017.

****HANNAH****

INTRO

Life, they say, is beautiful;
For some, it is a bed of roses;
For others, it is a game.

Life is a game; play it.
Life is a game and your survival depends on how skillful you are;
Your ability to maneuver;
Sometimes, you win, other times, you lose or in rare cases you end up in a draw;
Some claim to be in luck, I sigh at that fact, LUCK! such a rare commodity.

Life is a play, act it;
It all depends on how well you play your character;
Most times, you have to be the character, not just mimmicking.

Life! It means so many different things to different people;
For some, it could mean a game of soccer where twenty-two people struggle for one small thing;
Or a game of scrabble where you are given a letter and asked to fill the whole board of two hundred and twenty five boxes with words
It could even play out like chess, where every player, conciously or unconciously, strives to protect the King and the unfortunate (the pawns) are pushed to the fore-front.

Life! So many interpretations to it by different people
But to me, life is simply 'fulfillment' ;
A technical word it may seem because fulfilment to one may be material wealth;
Just money and nothing else, to another, it could be children or even good health... Hmmm...

But to me, FULFILLMENT is JESUS CHRIST
A life with Jesus is just so sweet, you don't want it to end and trust me, it never will.

My name is Oloruntobi Ebunoluwa Ayomide and this is a story for your enjoyment.

P.S: Don't mind the title, I just couldn't come up with one
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
abefe99, MhiZDherbee, Bollie29, lanjum, Missmossy, Eniqurl, Dopeyomi, Toyin223, IZEGOLD, holufunmie, bummybummy, esthermotunray, akinmusi, spixytinxy, Vicoch, yommy20, Divepen1
I hope I mentioned right.....

Updates by Monday though....
Ayomide loves you

Royver:

The first day Rita had seen him up close he had walked up to punish her for something. He had stared deeply into her eyes and stopped abruptly as Rita, her mouth agape at seeing this adonis so up close, blinked at him stupidly.

"You are not clearing your portion." He had finally found his voice. "You will get double if you don't buckle up."

"Soh..Sa...Sorry senior Mark" Rita had replied, trying to get some spittle in her suddenly dried up throat. He had stared deeper into her eyes until she was sure she wanted the earth to open up and swallow her and then suddenly he took the cutlass from her hand and swiftly cleared what was left of her portion. he handed the cutlass back to her and gave a quick wink, right before Josephine had come running.

"I will help her sir, let me..." she had began

"That wont be necessary" Mark replied quickly and then began to walk away, He stopped short and turned around. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"Mark. Er...I mean...Rita...Rita is my name, senior." Rita stammered.

Mark smiled and Rita felt her whole insides turn to strawberry ice-cream. He winked and then walked away.

"What happened? What did you do? Did he really just help you clear your portion? What did he say?" Josephine poured out the questions, but Rita had only one answer for him.

"He...knows my name."

"Ahhhh, that one? He will forget it before night." Josephine smirked. But Rita continued to stare at the boy from heaven's now distant back.

"Jossy, I...I think I'm in love.

That was a good ten years ago and she thought she'd out-grow her crush on Mark but providence had other plans for her. She got back to the house and changed into and oversized shirt and jogger pants then she made herself a mug of warm chocolate. Josephine had been her all, she just loved the girl. 'Shit!' she muttered to herself realizing that she was thinking of Jossy again. Sometimes she just wished she'd bump into Mark and they could start their love affair, well she'd started in her head already, at least she's older now, she was fourteen then, she'd grown mentally and physically too plus she was well proportioned in the right places. She sighed, she had to get over this fantasy of hers, Mark, most likely, didn't remember that she existed after their short friendship back in high school (it was friendship in her head but in reality, it was more of a I-recognise-my-junior-and-I think-she-likes-me kinda situation).

She had to give other guys a chance in her life but that was proving difficult because of her past romance with a couple of guys in Uni. She had a great job, nice ride, lovely apartment but the only missing thing was a great guy to fit in and complete the square.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Next.....
Me I can't write romance o, na trial and error...

IRETI


STORY FINALE

Everything thing still seemed surreal, mom’s cancer, dad’s death, my dreams but then I give God all the glory. Yes, I said God, I really had a misconception about Him but I am glad that I got to know him at this stage of my life, he had always been there for me, I really don’t know how to pray but every time I close my eyes, the words just come and then I have peace. Dad’s death had been painful, he was the better parent, just so sad that he had to die so early in life, all my life, I had always dreamt of him walking me down the aisle and handing me to my future husband, now all I can think about is getting married without my father. Cancer is just a thing, I don’t know too much of the Bible but I know Jesus died for my sins and by his stripes my mom is healed, chemotherapy had been really expensive and it was really telling on the family savings but I am optimistic that very soon, all will be well. Ayo had tried his best to keep mom’s health away from me and Olamide on the basis that we had to concentrate on our education but whenever something was wrong, I knew mom needed surgery and she needed to be transferred to India where the affected breast would be cut but Ayo was stalling because he hoped that chemo alone would be enough. Ayo had become a shadow of himself; working all day and then staying awake by mom’s bed all night; he was emaciated and I had cried the last time I saw him, my brother never joked with his physical appearance because he’d always said that was his selling point because intending business partners found him irresistible and always said yes to his proposals; Temi had been wonderful, she’d stayed, supported, prayed and helped in any way she could. I haven’t seen mom for a long while now but I know there is hope but I’d felt a shudder of peace the last time I had spoken to my mom and she had called my full name in her weak voice, Iretiola which means ‘hope of wealth’ but in mom’s case, I preferred Iretiola to mean ‘ hope of tomorrow’ because all I wanted was my mom to have tomorrow, losing both parents would be something I just can’t handle now; Ayo had banned us from going home since mom was transferred to Nigeria so we had spent our holiday at aunt Yetunde’s, I had not met Christ then so I was withdrawn and didn’t talk much, when the pressure was much and I needed to let go, aunt Yetunde had advised me to cry it out but I’d taken to alcohol, I drank so much that my roommates had called Mayokun from time to time to talk to me but I would have none of it, I needed better ways to ease the tension that grew inside me. All that had stopped when I’d met Jesus, it was the best feeling ever and I still had not gotten over it.
I roused myself from the bed and stood on the corridor, I’d cut my friendship with the girls over time and I felt alive again, being with them had been fun but they were a very bad influence on me, I am grateful that, even though Turner smoked, I never smoked more than a cigarette (I tried the cigarette once and I landed in the hospital, not because I wouldn’t have done better had I tried but because of the asthma.) and I’m also grateful that I saw Peter for who he truly was before our relationship had gone too deep. Peter was a cultist, a gentle one though, the guy could get anyone killed at the snap of his fingers, I am really lucky he didn’t harm me when I foolishly confronted him with the fact when I’d found out, the relationship had ended on the spot, he ordered me out of his room calmly and asking me to calm down, he had neither confirmed nor denied but I knew the truth and I ran for dear life. Cash on the other hand was a ‘yahoo boy’, I wonder how I came under their influence. I took a deep breath, the air smelt different, my head was clear now, no more nightmares; it still felt weird attending church services thrice a week but with Chioma and my roommates, it was an awesome experience plus RCF is just the place to be, the fellowship of the happiest people on campus, with each service, I understood the saying ‘there is joy in the presence of the LORD’. I looked down the corridor and saw Seyifunmi, the girl had adopted me as her school mother, she just wanted to do everything I did, when I was partying my senses away, she was following my footsteps and now that I’m a church goer, she was tagging along.
“Ola, how far na.”
“Babe, I’m good”
“I know na, I need to borrow that your pink sneakers, I must shine in class today.”
“Madam, you can borrow for Africa, what is happening today o?” I asked with a smile.
“Nothing o, it’s a new semester na, I have to package, almost all the girls are wearing ‘ja tuntun’ (new clothes), I cannot carry last o.” I laughed.
“Sorry ma, I forgot that you’re a Yoruba warri girl, you kuku know where the shoe is, go and carry it, I just hope nobody will accuse me of wearing your shoe one day because you wear it more than me.” She smiled.
“That’s the idea.” She said and winked; I tried to punch her lightly on her arm but she ducked and entered the room. She came out later with the shoe and left after thanking me. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL- I thought to myself, with all the happenings in my life and family, the only consolation I have is Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, and I do not doubt it. I know everything will be fine, it’s just a matter of time; whenever I wake up, I’m happy to be alive and I also have a renewed and strengthened IRETIOLA (a hope for tomorrow).


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
*drops pen*
It has been a wonderful journey with you guys so far, I really am grateful for your encouraging words, advice, love et al.
I hope you enjoyed this story, please watch out for my new thread very soon.
I will definitely let you all know when Ireti is published.
Thanks once again...
God bless you all, Ayomide loves you all

Vicoch:
ayoomodaddy ...... na short story you call am ohh..

LOL

Don't worry, the final part is being summarised, hopefully i drop it today and that will be all till the book is officially launched on paperback.
Thanks for following though.

****IRETI****


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

I stood transfixed to a spot, somehow, I just felt my legs wouldn’t move if I tried; my right hand was on my left ear, something was terribly wrong, maybe it was a prank or a dream and someone would just shake me awake very soon. I looked down and saw my phone smashed at my feet then I realized I’d dropped it when Ayo had told me the bad news.I collapsed on something, someone maybe and I started crying. I don’t know how long I cried or when I fell asleep but I woke up to the incessant buzzing of mosquitoes. I sat up and just stared, trying to fathom the possibility of my mum being down with breast cancer, she had always been healthy, looked healthy, I didn’t see any signs; ‘she was just diagnosed’ I heard a tiny voice say, I sighed and got up from the bed to find my phone, Tomisin had placed a lamp on the table since there was no light, the rechargeable fan was also on. I found the phone next to the lamp on the table, picked it and pressed the power button on the right side, just below the volume control, and it came on; the time displayed on the home screen was three twenty-one AM. I sighed, Ayo would probably be asleep but I dialled his number anyway and he picked up on the first ring.
“Hello” he said, sounding tired, drained, maybe.
“Hello” I replied, trying, very hard, my best, to keep from crying, I just couldn’t bring myself to ask the question, my voice felt heavy when I tried to speak, the tears were inevitable, I just let them flow all over again.
“How are you?” Ayo asked after the brief silence.
“Tell me; is it true?”
“I’m afraid it is.” He said simply but with so much emotion.
“When-whe-when did you f-f-find out?” I asked, trying hard not to let my voice break then I sniffed.
“Ireti! Stop crying, you’re not a child.” He said firmly, I winced at the mention of Ireti but I had no strength to complain or argue, I just needed an answer to my question.
“Please answer my question.”
“She was diagnosed just yesterday in Ghana.”
“How did you find out?”
“I’m with her, we came to finalise a business deal when she fell ill and you know the rest.”
“Oh” was all my voice permitted me say.
“Yes”
“And dad?”
“He should be here later today.”
“How is she?”
“Tired, she’s been admitted for a few days now.”
“Okay”
“What happened the other time I called, the line went dead and your phone was off when I redialled” he said after a brief pause.
“Yes, the phone slipped through my fingers.”
“Stop acting like a child, you’re eighteen already.” I was in no mood for a sermon so I thought quickly and decided to change the topic.
“Does Olamide know?”
“I can’t tell him yet, maybe when I get to Lagos sha.”
“Is she being treated there?”
“Here in Ghana? Well, yes, for now, I want her transferred soon.”
“Okay”
“Honey, I have work to do, mom will be fine, stop crying and we’ll talk later.”
“I’m sorry for disturbing, later then.”
“No problem, be strong, I love you.” I nodded and swallowed a sob.
“Bye” I said and hung up, I sniffed and wiped the tears with the back of my palms and that was when I noticed that the screen of my phone had cracked in about four places, I hissed and replaced it on the table. Ayo was right, I needed to be strong; I needed something to keep me busy, my books had always been my companion but in this case, reading would only be a license to thinking; I picked the phone again after deciding to surf the internet just to check social media, watch a few funny videos and all but I realised that it was a totally wrong decision after about five minutes of seeing sad post everywhere, ‘Just what I needed’ I said and sighed, it seemed everyone had planned to upload bad news at the same time, I dropped the phone and tried to sleep with so much effort, finally, I did drift asleep, I felt like I was floating on a wave, the feeling was soothing, the water carried me gently and landed me in total darkness, I slept, that was the relief I needed.
I woke up feeling tired, I’d thought I’d have a nightmare about my mum or probably see Mr Cute but on the contrary, I didn’t dream at all. My eyes were open but I still felt sleepy, I was actually half awake.
“How are you?” I heard Tomisin ask, I didn’t want her to question me too much, I had to put up and act so I sat up and stared at her beautiful morning face, the girl was just so pretty, she didn’t need any form of makeup to enhance her beauty, not that she used so much. I tried to smile but my lips just wouldn’t form one, I wasn’t ready to share my sorrow with anybody because I’d hate it when people came around to show me sympathy, most likely pity; not smiling was making things worse because of my roommates were looking at me anxiously, expecting me to say something.
“I’m okay” I said in a rush, and stood, determined to go about my day normally.
“What happened yesterday? Abi you don’t want to tell us?” Tomisin asked and finally, my lips were no longer rebellious and they formed a smile.
“Nothing really, I just overreacted ‘cause my mom is sick but she’s being treated and she’ll be fine, it’s not a big deal.”
“Yeh! What type of sickness is it, I hope it’s not worse than typhoid?” Dunsin lamented and I smiled again, if only she knew, what was a mere typhoid compared to the almighty cancer, I sighed inwardly as I felt tears well up in my eyes.
“Eh, it is well o, God is in control, shey you sha know that your phone has cracked?” Tomisin added and I nodded.
“Don’t mind me jare.” I said and they both continued what they were doing, thank God it was my faculty week, jersey day to be precise and I already had my outfit planned. God! I scoffed as I remembered Tomisin’s statement, if he truly was in control, why would he watch and allow cancer to grow in my mom’s body, after all, people say He’s not blind, neither is He deaf, if all those were true, then there was just one more quality that had not been added; He was just a wicked being. I looked around me and saw girls going about their business for the day and I sighed, I didn’t want this thing to weigh me down but I just wasn’t feeling up to anything. It was at this point that I realized that I missed Richard greatly, Peter was my boyfriend but it would be awkward for me to give him so much personal information. I went back inside and met Dunsin fully dressed in a Nigeria jersey tucked into a black trouser, she was in the process of wearing her green sneakers and she had already packed her white handbag.


TBC

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...


We ordered pepper soup and while the men drank beer, Dara and I had malt drinks. The night was boring, I just didn’t see the fun in anything that was happening meanwhile, Dara was having the time of her life. When the night was over, a different car drove us back to the hostel. Dara had agreed on my behalf that we were up for another night of free pepper soup and drinks (that’s the way I saw the night) and I hadn’t argued because I had my plan. I went straight to Tayo’s room when I got to the hostel and narrated the happenings of the night to her and Seunfunmi. I noticed that Seunfunmi was listening to my tale with keen interest and I smiled to myself. I had my bath and changed then slept in their room (whenever I sleep in their room, we join both mattresses on the floor so we can lie vertically).
The next day was a Saturday and I had an eight AM practical class. I rushed to the computer lab on an empty stomach and barely listened through the class. The practical lecturer, a youth corp member, noticed me and asked me to wait after the class. He had asked if I was sick and all of that and I had just nodded all my replies, I wasn’t in the mood to be friendly with lecturers whose only goals were to sleep with a girl and move on to the next victim, when he was tired of questioning me, he concluded by saying he wanted me to look brighter in the next class. Surprisingly, Dunsin waited for me outside the lab and we walked back to the hostel together. The semester had just begun and i was really hoping that it would be as lit as I expected. When we got to the hostel, I met Peter waiting in my room with a small fancy bag, the hunger disappeared as soon as I saw him and I flew into his open arms, how I had missed that feeling. Dunsin exchanged pleasantries with Peter and excused herself. We both sat on my bed and then he presented the small gift he had brought, I hugged him when I saw the content, I like a guy who doesn’t forget what I like even if I’d mentioned it just once.
“Thanks a lot, it must have cost you so much.”
“Nope, just a small token of nine thousand.”
“Babe, nine thousand for me just like that, I hope there are no strings attached.” I asked with a smile.
“Not really, I just need a small favour from you.” He said casually.
“I knew it, okay, fire on.”
“It may sound awkward but I really want you to listen first before you react (he cleared his throat) the thing is, right from when I first met you, till know, your smile has always had an effect on me, I don’t even understand what happens anytime I see that smile, I really like you first because you are beautiful and really smart, unlike many girls I’ve met, you’re just different, I could go on and on but let me just skip all that and go straight to the point, Ola, I would really like you to be my girlfriend, I won’t promise to die for you and all those shit because I love life as much as you do but I will do anything in my power to make you happy if you’d say yes, don’t get me wrong though, even if you say no, I’ll still do everything to make you happy. So what’s it going to be?” I was smiling all through his speech because I just couldn’t help the grin from spreading.
“So how long did it take you to cram that speech?” I asked with a smile as I cupped his face with my hands.
“Ola, be serious now.”
“I am serious, do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you say this, not the whole epistle o, but the ‘will you be my girlfriend’ part, it took you so long.” I dropped my hands to his shoulders and he smiled.
“I had to be sure you felt the same way first.” He said and leaned forward to kiss me then changed his mind.
“This is too soon.” Wait was this guy crazy or what, I had waited so long for this and it was too soon for him. I smiled and kissed his temple instead.
“You are such a good boy, thanks again for the gift.”
“You’re welcome dear…” I hugged him again then he stood.
“… I have to be on my way now, I have a few things to do, see you later girlfriend.” He added and I saw him to the hostel gate then turned back to my room. Peter’s gift was the most expensive thing I’d ever received from a male friend and I was super excited and just wanted to show it off, I couldn’t tell Dunsin first because, lately, she’d become such a kill-joy and just wouldn’t get excited for anything and anyone, even Tomisin had complained. I took the package straight to Tayo’s room, I was so sure she would be in, she never really went out on Saturday mornings. I showed her the gift but obviously she didn’t know what it was so I asked her to google it and then she exclaimed. The perfume, LILY OF THE VALLEY BY YARDLEY FOR LONDON, cost at least twenty dollars in the US, it was my official perfume, I just loved the fragrance, packaging and everything about it, I also told them that we were now officially dating. When I let their room, I thought of texting Dara but I changed my mind, Dara was already doing some underground work so I could date one of her numerous ‘lecturer friends’ but I was so not ready for that so I texted Turner instead, she was happy that he finally asked me, officially that is, to be his partner and then she went on to the sex sermon and made me promise to always use a condom. Peter called me later in the evening ‘just to hang out’ and I was only too glad to say yes. The night was fun, we were at his friends’ place and it had been mind-blowing, funny enough, there was no booze, just a few packs of juice and soft drinks; sometimes I wonder where they get the money they spend on their endless get-togethers and I also wonder what they always celebrate.
The next day, being a Sunday, Dara called me and asked if I still wanted to deal with those ‘brats’, of course I wanted to, I wanted them to beg for mercy such that when next they saw me, they would run. The plan was simple, Dara Turner and I would stalk and waylay each of them, one after the other and if we were lucky to find them all, then so be it; then we would warn them, actually scare them, that was Turner’s job though and that was what we did. The girl now avoided me so much in the hostel and I liked it like that. Peter and I had become very close, we did almost everything together, I was so in love with the boy, I had never felt anything it before and I was so grateful to Peter for this feeling. Our results were out and my first class flag was still flying, Dunsin still needed to work harder, I think with the imaginary competition she’s in, she just won’t make a first class, she just had to let go of the hate and jealousy slowly eating her up; Tomisin had applied for another scholarship, I was certain she would get it because she deserved it so much, I also made a mental note to apply for a scholarship too next year.



TBC

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...


I was disappointed the next day when I woke up and realized I hadn’t even dreamt of anything let alone see Mr cute as I had expected. I rolled out of bed and straight to the kitchen where I met Temi preparing breakfast, she was my idea of ‘wife material’, whenever she came around, she always cooked and cleaned, Ayo was blessed to have her. She smiled a greeting and I hugged her from behind.
“Thanks for talking to that stubborn brother of mine.”
“No biggie, anybody could have done it.” She was frying eggs and had garnished it with diced tomatoes and pepper, spring onions, green pepper and sardines; just the way Ayo loved his scrambled eggs. I inhaled the aroma deeply and she laughed.
“Stop exaggerating, I’m very sure it’s the sardine that has that aroma.”
“Stop being modest, I’ve eaten your meal twice and it was superb, you know you’re a great cook.” I said and she smiled again. I moved back and sat on the deep freezer while I studied her. She had nicely shaped buttocks that looked so good in the denim bum short she wore, her breasts were also sizeable, she always wore a smile and was likeable. I watched as she served Ayo’s breakfast and then packed his lunch. Ayo came in fully dressed in a black business suit, a white clerical collar shirt, black belt and shoes to match. He went over to Temi’s side and kissed her.
“Morning babe.” He said and she replied. I stood and only made it to the kitchen door when Ayo’s accusation stopped me in my tracks.
“Where are your manners Ireti, not even a word of greeting.” I scoffed; I just did not understand why Ayo was being so mean, what is the big deal about greeting?
“Sorry, it skipped my mind. Good morning.” I said and walked out of the kitchen, I heard Temi scold Ayo for the way he had spoken to me. In my mind, Ayo was the least of my worries, I had so many things to do, so much activity to catch up on this semester and I wouldn’t let Ayo ruin it. I checked the time on the wall clock in my room, it was just seven AM. I went straight to the bathroom and turned the heater on, brushed my teeth then step under the shower. I made sure the hot water ran out before I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my lean body; school life had not made things easy for me. I slumped on the bed and looked round the room, my prison for the past nine days. If I had gone home, it would have been better than staying in Ayo’s three bedroom-flat (he had the option of staying in one of the flats dad owned in Aja but he had decided to pay his own rent). I heard the front door open and close shortly after and I realized I had been holding my breath, thank God Ayo had gone to work. I dressed and went to the kitchen; Temi had covered my food with a cling film and had placed it neatly on the kitchen slab, I picked it and went to the living room, settled in the couch and began eating. A while later, Temi came to join me in a lose fitting gown and breakfast in hand.
“I’m sorry Ayo spoke to you that way.” She said.
“It’s fine, afterall, he’s my big brother, you don’t have to keep apologising for his stupidity.” I said, looking straight at her.
“Wow! Slow down lady, you also need to work on your respect for him, the fact that you call him by name is no excuse for disrespect, before education, culture comes first and we are Yoruba and we take respect for elders seriously.” I smiled and nodded in partial agreement, she sounded just like aunt Yetunde, I remembered that I missed Mayokun’s call and made a mental note to call her back after breakfast. Temi was still a job seeker but the girl was already a fashion designer and makeup artist, her parents were not all that rich but she was doing something for herself, she told me she had a wedding makeup to do on Saturday and asked if I’d like to go with her and I said yes, but I desperately hoped that Ayo would call and let me go back to school today, the worst he could do was to make me take public transport. After eating and watching TV for a while, I called Mayokun and she informed me that she’d gone straight to school and was expecting me during the weekend, I had told her Ayo was punishing me but I’d left out the reason.
Saturday was lit, Temi had done a splendid job on the bride and her girls, I loved it so much and I’d taken so many pictures with the bride and posted them all over my social media pages; funny thing was after all the work, Temi didn’t even wear any makeup, not even powder, she had done makeup and gele too and I was so in love with that Saturday look that I just didn’t want to take if off. It was time to go back to school, did I tell you that Ayo didn’t take me back to the hostel to pick my laptop and phone charger? Yeah, I thought as much. I packed my back pack and sat quietly at the back seat of Ayo’s SUV while Temi sat at the front passenger seat; Ayo wanted to take me to the bus park and when he was sure I was safe, he would then drop Temi at home. I sat myself comfortably in one of the front passenger seats of the air conditioned Toyota Hiace bus, Ayo and Temi didn’t leave until the bus had left the park at Ojota. The ride was enjoyable, being my first time of travelling in public transport, I made two videos and when the man sitting next to me had asked, I explained my excitement in full details. When I got to school, both of my roommaates had resumed and were already expecting me. Luckily for me, my laptop had not exploded because Dunsin had resumed the next evening after I left the hostel and she had been kind enough to unplug it for me. I ate and slept, I was really tired from the journey, nothing felt like travelling in a private car even though the bus was air sonditioned, I still felt uncomfortable sitting with thirteen other people; all of whom were total strangers.


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

“Do you know the girls’ name?” Turner asked
“I don’t even know o, I was just trying to make new friends o and the bitch just snapped.” Turner put both hands on her head.
“Yeh! Ola you no resemble me at all, if na me, I go comot blood for her body.” She said.
“Turner the great, the great Turner, fighter of the universe, I salute you ma, wehdone ma, ride on.” Dara added and Turner hissed. It was no news that Turner had the sharpest mouth of the seven of us and she was the no-nonsense type who would have slapped you twice before you even completed your sentence just because she thought you wanted to insult her.
“Turner, go siddon for one place jare.” Vivian scolded.
“You…” Onome said, pointing at me. “… When you now finished fighting, what good came out of it, you’re lucky those hostel porters didn’t catch you, you could have been expelled from the hostel, I’m not saying you shouldn’t defend yourself but there are better ways to go about it.” She concluded and we all hissed, what did she mean by ‘better ways’. We gisted for another thirty minutes before we all went to our different hostels. Dara and I were meeting a couple of young lecturers that night so we went to her hostel to change. Don’t get me wrong, meeting with lecturers doesn’t necessarily mean dating them or something, what we wanted to do was simply to have dinner with them and that was all. As soon as we stepped out of the hostel, Cash called me.
“Babe, what’s up?”
“Nothing, I’m good, how are you?”
“I’m good too, you’ve been avoiding me lately.”
“Have I?” I asked sarcastically, Cash was just all shades of wrong for me because he felt money was everything, I was curious about the source of his money though.
“Yes now, you’ve not been chatting with me, you don’t even call me again.” He complained.
“Okay, what happened to your own hand that you couldn’t call or text when I didn’t?” I asked, rapidly losing my patience, Dara was already complaining with her eyes.
“Ola, do you know who you’re talking to or maybe I called at the wrong time?”
“Yes, this is a very wrong time, I’m in the middle of something very important and you’re disturbing.”
“Okay…” he said and sighed. “… Maybe I’ll call back tomorrow, goodnight.” I was about to murmur a goodnight when Dara dragged the phone from me and ended the call.
“Ola, I’ve told you, you need to move up, leave all these students, they cant take care of you, join the winning team my dear.”
“That was rude, I was about to tell him goodnight.”
“And so? Abeg talk better.” She hissed. After waiting for about five minutes, a Mercedes Benz G-wagon pulled up in front of us and Dara whispered that it was our ride, we hopped in and were driven to a night bar.


TBC

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for your patience and understanding guys, another update coming through tomorrow.
Ayomide loves you

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...

“My brother made me come here because I had not been on my best behaviour in school; we leave for Lagos tomorrow though.”
“I see, were you in a fight?”
“Yeah, sort of, don’t blame me o, those girls pushed me to the wall.” He smiled
“Your brother is just looking out for you, you could have hurt yourself, and I’d most likely do the same if I had a baby sister too.”
“Yeah, whatever, older brothers and their love for power, I just don’t understand.” I said and he smiled.
“You don’t have to, it’s a boy thing…” he said and I scoffed
“… So, how do see this hotel?” he asked.
“Why are you asking? Are you the manager or what?”
“No, not at all, I just want to know if you also find it hellish.” I laughed and he did too.
“Tell me what I don’t know, the food is wack, the DSTV is not working, it’s bad enough that there are only three sockets in my room but only one is working.” I lamented and he laughed.
“Same here, but all three of the sockets in my room are working though.”
“Mehn, it’s just insane, how many stars do they even rate them?”
“This shouldn’t be more than a two star hotel.”
“Abi half star sef”
“Ahahn, give them hope now.”
“Whatever, it is a miracle that I could even eat more than half of my lunch, the food is that bad.”
“I noticed, I’ve been eating out since I first tasted their meal.” I rolled my eyes.
“Liar, you had breakfast here this morning now.”
“You call that breakfast? I’m a hundred percent sure you couldn’t eat that burnt bread they served as toast.” I laughed, the chit-chat continued for about thirty more minutes, then Kayode excused himself on the basis of getting prepared for a send-off dinner party organized for one of his colleagues who was relocating to Ghana, we exchanged numbers and he promised to check on me whenever he was in town again. I stayed on in the restaurant for another fifteen minutes then went back to the room, to my disappointment, Ayo had not even lifted a muscle from his sitting position, I felt cheated, I’d hoped he’d have a reason to leave the room then call me, rather beg me to open the door but none of that had happened. I took off my clothes and wore my shorts, Ayo complained about me wearing only a bra and shorts and exposing my ‘flat breast’. Before we slept, he announced that we were leaving after his ten AM meeting the next day which meant checking out of the hotel at eight-fifteen and waiting for him while he was at his boring meeting and then enduring a terribly long drive to Lagos, this was the height of wickedness and savagery I had ever experienced, I never thought Ayo could be this callous and as expected though, I protested but in his usual ‘big brother’ manner of addressing me, he reminded me of his possession of veto power and with his signatory look, I kept quiet and the best I could do after that was grumble and murmur till I fell asleep.

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


“Would you please release me, you’ve done enough now, it’s bad enough that you made me go through that hell you call a hotel and made me wait for three hours in the car without the air conditioning…” I fell on my knees and locked the fingers of both hands together in mock plea “… Ayo please, I’m begging you in the name of mummy and daddy and Olamide and even Temi, please let me go back to school this weekend, I’ve learnt my lesson and I will never ever ever in my life think of fighting let alone do the real deal.” I said, meanwhile, Temi and Ayo were laughing as they were snuggled together in the three-seater couch.
“Ayomi, just let her go now, I’m very sure she’s learnt her lesson.” Temi pleaded on my behalf.
“Madam advocate, continue now, always pleading not guilty, you chose the wrong profession though, you were born to be a lawyer.” Ayo said as he huddled Temi closer to himself.
“Ayo, don’t change the subject now, we’re talking about my going back to school.”
“How long have you been here gan that you’re complaining, just eight days and…”
“Ayo, eight days of hell, if being grounded, you lock me in and go to work.”
“You don’t mean it, Ayo why would you do that?” temi asked as she sat up to look him in the face.
“Wait, is this a conspiracy of some sort? Did you both plan this? You guys want to back me into a corner abi, your plan won’t work.” Ayo said and put his feet on the centre table, picked the TV and started going through stations. I stood and sulked back to my room. I was really tired of staying with Ayo, he had been so mean lately and I was wondering why he had to go to the extreme just to prove a freaking point. I sat on my bed and cried quietly, I just let the tears fall. Temi came in a while later and consoled me, she told me Ayo was only trying to be disciplined and that he had agreed for me to go back to school and I thanked her. During dinner, I ignored Ayo but he came to my room later and apologised for locking me in but said he didn’t know any other way to punish him and he also made me promise not to fight (the promise was half-hearted sha, I had already told Dara and Vivian what had happened and they were waiting for me to resume before they took any action). I slept that night with thoughts of how to be feared in the hostel and generally on campus filled my head, I was sure my girls would make those girls regret coming to confront me, their stupid coward of a friend didn’t even come with them ‘bloody fools’ I thought as I drifted to dream land with the hope of seeing Mr Cute and telling him about the recent happenings even though he might know already, I just wanted to say it with my own mouth and see the expression on his face.


TBC

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi guys, this is to inform you that i will be offline for a few days because I lost a close relation of mine last night and I need to be actively on ground.
Thanks for your understanding. God bless you all.

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...

My phone ringtone woke me about three hours later, it was Ayo. I ignored the call and went to open the door instead and met him leaning on the doorframe.
“You did this on purpose abi, I’ve been here for over five minutes, knocking and calling and you didn’t respond to any of the two.” I shrugged my shoulders indifferently; I still hated him for using veto power on me.
“I was sleeping.” I said and went back to the bed, I am very sure he shook his head. He came in and began undressing.
“Use the bathroom, I don’t need to see all you have.” He laughed.
“If you don’t want to see anything then use the bathroom yourself”
“You are pathetic dear brother.” He laughed again.
“And you are annoying little sister.” I hissed.
“Had lunch yet?”
“Nope and please don’t invite me to eat with you because I won’t.”
“Fine, suit yourself.” He said and went to have his bath then changed before he left the room. I sat up in bed and looked round the room, taking everything in for the first time, not only was their food bad, the arrangement was ‘badder’ (if there’s a word like that though), what I mean is that it wasn’t worse but just somewhere in between bad and worse. There was a TV set hung on the wall opposite the bed and just in between the main and bathroom doors, I just hated the place, I made up my mind not to have lunch until Ayo came up, I didn’t want to bump into him. I checked my phone battery, it was thirty percent and I hissed; I turned my bag inside out but the charger was not there.
“Oh God, see what this boy has caused now.” I said aloud then I checked his own bag and found his charger. I made a mental note not to return it till he bought a new one for me. I plugged my phone in one of the three wall sockets in the room (the only working one though), and switched on the TV, the white noise pissed me off and I quickly put it in AV. To my greatest surprise, only the free DSTV stations were available.
“Shoot me.” I said to myself and hissed. This was the height of it, a death sentence, Ayo must have done this on purpose, I put the TV off and smacked myself; I didn’t take my laptop from the hostel, I had left it charging in the morning. I hissed again and went to take Ayo’s laptop, thankfully, he hadn’t changed the password. Ayo was quite the movie lover and I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the number of movies to choose from. I selected a horror movie, plugged in the charger then connected my phone to the PC with his USB cord and then settled down to watch the approximately two-hour movie.
An hour into the movie, Ayo came in, he was on the phone with his girlfriend and he was grinning from ear to ear. He lay on the bed with his leg still on the ground; when he was done, he moved up the bed to sit beside me.
“What are you watching?” he asked and I pointed to the PC screen where the movie title was displayed.
“Wait a minute; this is my laptop now, what happened to yours?” I paused the movie.
“Ayo, you made me forget my system when you were rushing me out of the hostel so you shouldn’t complain now o.”
“Madam, that laptop is for work so I handle it with care and you need my permission before you can touch it.”
“Sorry o Mr Exception handler.” I hissed.
“Wait, did you just go all computer scienceish on me?”
“Ayo, why are you like this now, it’s bad enough that you forced me to suffer with you in this hell-hole now you won’t even let me enjoy a movie.” I said and he laughed.
“Live with it my dear but I need to work now so may I have my system back and you’re even using my charger.”
“Take the laptop but this charger ehn, God forbids I give it to you because you made me forget my charger too.” I stood and shoved the USB cord in my trouser pocket, wore my flip flops and went in the direction of the door.
“Well, it’s not my fault that your brain failed when I asked you to pack what is necessary.” Ayo said and smiled without looking at me, there was nothing nearby to throw at him so I threw one leg of the flip-flops instead and he laughed louder because I missed him. I hissed and picked my weapon then left the room and locked it behind me then I kept the key with me, ‘He will smell pepper today’ I said to myself and smiled a satisfied smile. As annoying has Ayo was, there was still nothing compared to the bond of siblings, we fought, made up, fought again but that didn’t mean we didn’t have each other’s backs when the need arose. I went down to the restaurant, I had no choice, I had never been in this part of town so I didn’t know anywhere around. I sat at a table and a waiter came to take my order, when I asked for a menu, he just reeled off what they had offhand and I smiled. I ordered a plate of jollof rice with salad with a glass of orange juice; when I tasted the food, I felt like I’d wasted money because judging from the taste and presentation of the food, the food was overpriced.
My plate had just been cleared when I felt a light tap on my shoulders and I smiled.
“Look who we have here…” I said and gestured for Kayode to join me.
“… Are you stalking me or what?”
“Not at all, let’s just say it is fate.”
“Hmmm, I see, are you lodged here?”
“Yeah, I’m here for business, I’ll be checking out by Friday though, how about you?”


TBC

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...


“Yes, how can I help you?” I asked when I was close enough, I wasn’t afraid of them, Ayo was right behind me, why would I fear.
“Eh, she even get mind to carry boy come hostel.” One of the girls said.
“I beg your pardon, do you girls have a problem with my sister?” Ayo asked, emphasising the word sister.
“Ku orire o, Mr brother.” Another replied and they all laughed.
“Ireti, can you explain what is happening here?” Ayo asked me
“I have no idea, I guess they’re just bored…” I replied then turned to face the girls
“… Darlings, you are in my way, I need to go inside my room.” I said and made to push past them when the first girl that had spoken pushed me back.
“Ogbeni wa, do we look like jokers to you? I go slap you now, you brain go reset.” She said, I don’t know if she had any other thing to say but I did the first thing that came to my mind, I slapped her. Ayo stood between us in two strides and pushed me back.
“Ladies, I am sorry for her behaviour and I promise she won’t act in this manner again.” Ayo pleaded but the girl was having none of it, she shoved past Ayo and charged at me, I was ready too, thank God I don’t have hair, I pulled her weave and shook her head with it, she screamed. Ayo pulled us apart and apologised to the girls again and they left, promising to be back, I wonder why the other two couldn’t rescue their friend. I hissed and unlocked the door and entered. I sat heavily on the bed, fuming, and watched Ayo pace up and down the room.
“I am disappointed in you, I mean very disappointed Ireti.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“And what if I do? You’ll beat like you just did that girl or what?”
“She insulted me, were you deaf when she threatened to slap me?”
“I will bring that threat to life if you disrespect me one more time.” He said, pointing a finger at me. I mumbled an apology.
“Now, young lady, get up, pick whatever is necessary because you’re going back to Lagos with me tomorrow.” He said and I threw my arms in the air.
“You can’t do that…” I protested. “… okay, I won’t fight again, I promise.” I begged.
“Damn right you won’t, just get up and don’t delay me, I have a meeting in an hour and I don’t want to be late.”
“Your mind is made up?” I asked with pleading eyes not because I was sorry but because I wanted those girls to see the stuff I’m made of (just to shakara them since I can boast of beating two of them already).
“Ireti, please don’t get me angrier than I already am, just pack a change of clothes and let’s leave, you have ten minutes.”
“At least, let me have my bath.” I said, he gave me ‘the look’ and I knew better than to argue. I packed my backpack with my toothbrush, change of clothes for two days, my flip flops, underwear and other things I thought were necessary. When I was done, Ayo led the way to his car without saying a word to me; the drive to his hotel was also silent. He showed me to his room, changed into a blue business suit and left the room again. I sighed out of frustration and went to have my bath before I changed into a white sleeveless top and a pair of jeans then went down to the hotels’ restaurant for breakfast. While eating, a young man wearing a pink shirt, wine tie and black trousers with his shirt sleeves rolled just below his elbow, walked up to me.
“May I join you…” he asked and I gave him a questioning look. “… Well the dining hall is quite full.” He said. I looked about me to confirm before nodding my approval for him to sit.
“Thank you and I’m really sorry to infringe on your privacy.” He apologised then dropped his breakfast tray and sat opposite me. I concentrated more on my phone than on the food, I was just frustrated and Instagram was the only consolation I had. The guy hissed and loosened his tie, his face was creased in a frown and he was staring intently at his phone.
“There a problem?” I asked out of politeness, he looked up and nodded, not that I cared anyway. I took a bite of my already cold toast and chewed slowly. Tomisin was resuming the next day so I sent her an SMS informing her that I left out of boredom then she had also delayed her resumption on the grounds that she couldn’t stay alone since the hostel was practically empty. The guy sharing my table cleared his throat and I looked at him.
“Uh, this awkward and I’m sorry to have put you in this situation…” he said while scratching his head like a child who had been caught and was now contemplating whether or not he should tell the truth.
“… Okay, do you know this place?” He asked and gave me his phone to read the address. I nodded and gave him directions to the best of my ability and continued with my food, my tea was already cold, the toast was even worse, I tasted and felt like a stone so I gave up trying and just surfed the internet instead.
“Thanks for your help, I’m Kayode by the way.” I looked up irritated, would this guy let me have some space?
“Ola” I replied simply.
“Nice meeting you though, you a student?” he asked and I rolled my eyes.
“Yes”
“I’m sorry to be bothering you though; I have to be on my way now, thanks again.” He said and made to stand; I leaned back in my seat and smiled.
“You’re welcome uh…”
“Kayode” he supplied.
“Yeah, right, Kayode. So what do you do?”
“I am an engineer, civil engineer and what do you study?”
“Science, computer science”
“Nice, that is a very good course indeed, with the world becoming a set of codes itself, you sure have made the right choice.”
“Yes, indeed, I have, thank you.”
“You’re welcome Ola, good to know you though; I really have to go now, I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Maybe, the university campus is a small place, we just might bump into eachother some other time.”
“Quite plausible, we’ll see about that.” He said and left the restaurant, my eyes followed out the door and I smiled. ‘Quite handsome and young too’ I thought. He couldn’t be more then twenty-three, just like my brother. ‘Just one of those random people you meet once and never again’ I concluded and went back to our hotel room.


TBC

****IRETI****


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

Peter and I had been texting eachother all morning, ridiculous things though, he’d been telling me about his holiday and how he had been wasted from all the fun things he’d done; he and a couple of his guys had gone on a road trip and had driven to Abuja, stopping by every fun spot they saw and had turned right back the moment they were done taking pictures on the famous Zuma rock. I also told him about my boring holiday with Amaka. I had been in school for only two days now and it felt like forever, the school was basically devoid of students, the hostels were worse, all that the porters ever did was resume in the morning, laze around, and probably watch TV when there was light.
“Hugh!” I exclaimed and flattened my tiny frame on my bed as Peter sent his goodnight text. I stood and walked to the balcony, the empty hostel was driving me crazy, I could count the number of students that have resumed on one hand and that was so annoying, I was not used to the hostel being this quiet, even Tomisin that always resumed before anybody had not resumed still. There was a girl filing her toe nails on the corridor, I knew her but not her name because I never really talked to people in the hostel. I walked up to her to see if I could talk, it was eight PM, there was light but everywhere was damn boring, you might be thinking why I didn’t go to the common room but that was a no-no, the DSTV subscription had expired three weeks before our exams last semester and they still had not paid ten weeks after.
“Hi” I said when I got close enough. She gave me a look of disdain and continued filing her nails.
“Good evening.” She replied without looking at me and I scoffed, I was only trying to be nice.
“Yo! Lady, being rude is not necessary; I guess I made a mistake by coming here.” I hissed and turned to leave when she spoke.
“Sorry o, I didn’t mean to be rude but I just don’t associate myself with prostitutes pretending to be students.” Oh no, she asked for it, not that I can fight but this chick is definitely not going scot free.
“Em, what did you say?”
“You heard me” she said and stood up to me, don’t blame though, it was reflex, I slapped twice in quick succession with both hands. She reeled backwards, I didn’t give her time to recover before I charged at her again and pulled at her hair, I don’t know where the strength came from but I was ready to fight this girl tooth and nail if it came to that, she tried fruitlessly to push me but I wasn’t giving up so easily, somehow, I managed to push her to the ground, she clawed at my face, her long artificial nails scratching the delicate skin but that didn’t matter now, I wasn’t satisfied. I sat on her belly and gave her fierce blow on the chest before I stood, I was breathing heavily. Suddenly, she pulled my left leg, I was quick to hold on to the railings, I tried to shake my leg free but the hold was strong, she managed to get up and bite my arm, I kicked aimlessly due to the pain and realised I’d given her a knee jab in the stomach, she let go and I pushed her with all the strength I had left. My breathing was now very heavy, I looked at her on the ground as she clutched her stomach, crying.
“Never in your life call me a prostitute.” I walked away briskly. My breathing was now laboured, I was in big trouble, I needed to find my inhaler and fast too, as the asthma was setting in. I let myself into the room and locked the door, what was I thinking? Getting into a fight like that when I knew my condition, I felt a stabbing pain steadily rise in my chest. GOD! Where was the damn inhaler, I hadn’t used it in a while but I was sure I had one somewhere, I turned my backpack inside out but it wasn’t there, I checked the table then my bookshelf and wasn’t there too, my chest had started to constrict, I was losing air and strength, if I didn’t find the inhaler soon, I could die. Finally, I checked my suitcase and found it in a side zip. I pumped the gas into my airways rapidly until I felt myself calm down. I retrieved a bottle of water (I never drank tap water, I always had bottled water), and drank a little then emptied the rest on my head. I was relieved. I heard a tiny voice say ‘I came through for you’ and looked around before I concluded that I was just hallucinating. Damn those doctors and the fake drugs they gave to me, the asthma shouldn’t be there anymore and I hadn’t even had an attack for so long.
When I was calmer, I called Ayo and told him what had happened since he was somewhere around my school and he’d promised to be in my hostel the next morning so we could go see a doctor. I fell asleep on the cold floor, I need the temperature to calm my nerves and clear my head too. Next morning by seven AM, Ayo was at the door, I brushed my teeth and changed clothes then we were off to the University College Hospital. As expected, the doctors blamed me for not taking my medication regularly and also placed me on fresh medication which included using my inhaler as often as thrice daily, that was disgusting and of course I’d argued with the doctor while Ayo just watched. The doctor had succeeded in persuading me to do a routine check-up and then he’d decide when I could stop using the inhaler frequently, it sounded like a good idea to me. Finally we were done and ready to leave, Ayo and I exchanged numbers with the doctor and then he saw us out of his office.
“Thank you so much.” Ayo said as he shook the doctor’s hand in his usual business-like manner and the doctor nodded his acknowledgement
“Thank you but I must say you have a nice way of persuading your patients.” I said as I shook his hand too and he smiled.
“Let’s just say I was made for the job.” I laughed.
“Made for the job abi, touche.” I replied and we all laughed.
“We have to be on our way now, I still have a lot of errands to run today, thanks once again.” Ayo said and we left the hospital. When we arrived the hostel, I met three girls standing in front of my room.


TBC

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...

I didn’t wake up until noon, the other girl was awake too while the boys were still asleep.
“Hi” I said to the girl who was getting ready to leave.
“How far, the boys are still asleep.” She said.
“Yeah, why are you leaving this early.”
“Auntie, check your time, it is past twelve already and besides I have an appointment, please tell Obi I’ve left.”
“You didn’t have to be rude and why should I be the one to inform Obi, aren’t going through the sitting room?” I said and she hissed. I watched her leave the room and then I heard the back door open and then close, it wasn’t my business because I didn’t know the arrangement she had with Obi but she didn’t have to be rude and I wondered why she was sneaking out. I got up and locked the door, then stood at a corner contemplating whether or not to stay awhile or go back to the hostel. I decided to wash my face, I needed food, alcohol just didn’t work well for me, I felt like I always had the worst hangovers, my head was still banging after sleeping for about six hours. I sighed and went to the bathroom, thankful that the room was en-suite. After washing my face, I sat on the bed, reminiscing, how did I become like this, so care-free and free-spirited, I was never like this, back in secondary school, I was the quiet, mind-your-business, don’t-annoy-me-or else-you’ll-be-sorry type of girl. I never answered questions in class except I was called upon, this was Amaka’s lifestyle, the life of every party, the cute, sassy fashionista, and every boy’s fantasy and now I was living the life. I laughed and hugged myself; it felt so good to be this new me, this me was so in control, commanded respect and even without the physical ‘assets’, she had quite a number of boys following her. I heard a knock followed by a grunt. I sprang to my feet and unlocked the door, it was Peter.
“Hey beautiful”
“Hey you” he pushed past me and went to the bathroom, when he was done, he joined me on the bed.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, pretty much, my head still hurts but I’m not so dizzy.”
“Hmmm. Where’s the other girl?” he asked after looking round.
“I have no idea, she mumbled something about having an appointment and asked me, rudely though, to tell Obi she left.” Peter laughed and his dimples deepened.
“I’ve warned Obi about this girl but he just won’t listen, the babe na runs girl.”
“Not my business though but if she’s rude next time, I’ll give her a piece of my mind.” I said and stood.
“What’s up”
“Nothing, I need to get back to the hostel, I need to change clothes and eat too.”
“You can do that here now.”
“And change into your clothes? Thanks but I’ll pass.” I brushed my lips on his temple and left the room with him following closely behind, Obi was still sound asleep on the floor, he didn’t even stir while we made fun of him. Peter followed me to the junction and didn’t leave until I’d boarded a bike to the school gate. When I got to the hostel, I went straight to Tayo’s room, had my bath and changed clothes (I have some of my stuff there) and had a nice cup of hot chocolate, just what I needed, and then I slept after making Tayo promise that she’d wake me when lunch was served.

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

“So have you had sex yet?” Amaka asked when I was done summarizing my semester to her.
“Hell no, have you?”
“Well, yes, just twice.” I covered my mouth to keep from screaming.
“Shoot me, twice and it’s ‘just’”
“Yeah, the first was a mistake but the second was planned in my head.” She said.
“Whatever dude, I just hope you were wise enough to use protection.”
“Of course, I’m not ready for babies, neither am I ready for an STD.”
“Whatever”
“You don’t have to be so dramatic about it, it’s just sex, you should try it with that Peter boy, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
“Shut up joor.” I said and threw a pillow at her and she laughed.
“I will but who knows, my next victim might just be Ayo.”
“Madam, use your head most especially the brain in it, my brother is taken.”
“Whatever” she replied and stood and walked to the window. She had arrived Lagos the day before, I had ten more days out of my three-week holiday. The holiday had been really boring, mum had been around for only two days, dad was not even in Africa, Ayo had been coming but had barely stayed for more than an hour, Mayokun and her sister had been invited to their step mother’s house and had been there for two weeks now. Even Dele was not in Lagos, I had literally begged Amaka to come to around and she had been hell bent on making me regret that decision.
“How long will it take your silly driver to get chicken and chips?” Amaka blurted after staring out the window for some time.
“Mind your language and who said you could send him on errands like that. If you want chicken and chips and are too lazy to make it in the kitchen, nothing stops you from walking down to the restaurant to buy it.” She rolled her eyes at me, folded her arms across her chest and shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s why he’s a driver, I don’t have to walk anywhwere.”
“I believe the word ‘driver’ has a different meaning from ‘errand boy’” I replied disgusted.
“Whatever, you guys place too much importance on your employees.” She hissed.
“It’s called respect my dear and we accord them due respect because they are older.”
“Please, spare me that rubbish. You know what, I really don’t care, I now I’m beginning to think I made a mistake by coming here.” I laughed. I know Amaka too well, she wanted me to apologise without necessarily spelling it out.
“Old story dear, that stunt doesn’t work no more, you need to come up with something better.” I replied, she hissed and walked out of the room. I stretched myself fully on the bed and closed my eyes. Peter and I had met once and it had been fun, I wonder why it is taking him forever to ask me out though. I really anticipated resumption, the girls had a list of fun things lined up and I was not missing anyone for anything in the world. I really don’t know when I drifted asleep but I know Olamide came to wake me when lunch was ready.


TBC

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...

He came back to the room ten minutes later and changed into a hooded blue flannel shirt and sand-brown khaki shorts then propped himself on one elbow beside me on the bed.
“So where do you want to eat?”
“Anywhere you take me prince charming.”
“Hmmm. Let me see, has any of your boyfriends taken you to that new suya bar?” he asked.
“Nope, I guess they haven’t been as thoughtful as you are.”
“I see, I’ve been there once, you’re in for a treat.”
“People of the world, that bar opened like two weeks ago and you’ve already been there, I guess your exams have been quite easy.” I laughed.
“My dear, I cannot come and go and die because of exam, you only live once.”
“Touché.” He stood and pulled me up with him.
“Oya, wear your shoe, let’s bounce.” He said and he also went ahead to put on his blue vans. When were done, we walked hand in hand out of the hostel to the school gate then we boarded one bike to the suya bar. I felt my life was getting better, I had never felt so in control of my life like the way I felt now, I had forgotten all about the dream and of course, Dunsin’s attitude was the least of my worries. My greatest joy was that I didn’t depend on the girls to have fun, whenever there was a party, they always invited me but then I also had a personal life just like they did and I didn’t have to tag along with Dara or anyone else, this is the life, I thought to myself. At the bar, there were just a small number of people owing to the fact that it was just quarter past six and most people would prefer to unwind later in the evening.
We sat at a table for two then a bartender approached us to take our order, I ordered a banana smoothie while Peter had a mint flavoured chapman. We made small talk as we sipped our drinks because the suya didn’t start selling until seven PM.
“When I first came here, it was filled with lecturers.”
“Hmmm. Looks like a place for them to hang out and drink themselves away.”
“Yeah, it is quite the place.” I nodded and stired my drink with the straw.
“Em, Peter, what kind of girls do you like.” He laughed.
“Why did you ask that?”
“Nothing really, curiousity.”
“Okay, I like smart girls, fun girls, pretty girls, girls that understand me.”
“Okay, I think you forgot to mention girls with large behinds and boobs too like the one you were eyeing the other day.” he laughed and leaned back in his chair.
“You remember that. Well her ass was something but that’s not what I look out for in a lady.”
“Hmmm, I hear you.”
“You don’t believe me?” I smiled at him.
“Let your conscience do the judging.”
“Whatever, finish up, let’s go for a walk, seven o’clock is taking forever to be here.”
“Okay.” I sipped a little more of my smoothie and stood. We just walked round for a bit and went back to the bar a few minutes past seven. The suya guy was already at his stand making preparations and music was already being played in the background, the bar had more people now and our previous seat had been occupied by another couple. We sat at the bar and Peter ordered another chapman while I had water instead. We gisted about random things for twenty minutes then Peter went to pay for our suya. The meat was wow, I never tasted suya like that before, and it had a nice taste that kept you yearning for more. After eating, we stayed on for a bit then went to one of Peter’s friends’ house.
The house was a room and parlour self-contain and it was wow. The sitting room was really nice and if given the space, the guy would have added more. There was a black leather couch, light green window blinds and a green carpet, a thirty-two inch LCD TV, a deck and a wooden bookshelf. It was better than Cash’s apartment.
“You have a nice little haven.” I commented as I sat.
“Thanks.” He said. I got to my feet again and stretched my hand towards him.
“Hi, I’m Ola, Peter’s friend.” He shook my hand and smiled.
“Obi, Peter’s friend too.”
“Nice meeting you.”
“Same here.” He said and released my hand.
“I would have introduced you guys if you’d been patient.” Peter said.
“You were not fast enough.” Obi replied him.
“So you’re coming to the club with us?” Peter asked.
“Before nko, my babe is coming too.”
“Hmmm. The Obi, which of the babes is it o.”
“Chei, you sha want to spoil my rep in front of this fine girl…” he said and faced me.
“… Ignore him o, I don’t know what he’s talking about.” I smiled
“I understand.”
“So what would you like jare, Peter can find his way.”
“Thanks but I’m good, we just ate a generous portion of suya.”
“Ehehn, so Peter has started side shows.”
“Yeah, learn from the master, na that suya place wey just open we go jare.” Peter said. We talked to while away time, Obi’s girlfriend came an hour later and by eleven PM, we were on our way to the club. I had so much fun at the club, we had even entered a tequila contest, I downed five shots in ten minutes, I knew I’d have a hangover later on but I didn’t care, afterall, I hadn’t drank alcohol in a while. The night ended and we all thought it wise to crash at Obi’s, with the boys sleeping in the sitting room and the girls in the room, thank God the next day was a Sunday, I could sleep all I want and wake up whenever I felt like.


TBC

****IRETI****


CONTINUATION...

I had already met Dara’s lecturer ‘friend’, he had not said too much when we talked and hadn’t even asked for my number; maybe Dara was right afterall. I dropped my phone when I was done with my food, I had promised to meet with Peter later in the evening, it was just two-thirty PM, I still had time since afternoon papers started by two and ended by five. I dragged myself lazily out of bed and out to the bathroom, thankfully, the hot afternoon sun had warmed the water. I wore a pair of jeans, a crop top and my gold sandals and left the room without informing Dunsin where I was headed, not that she’d have asked though. Standing outside the hostel, under the scorching sun, I realised I’d made a mistake; I should worn a fez cap or at least taken my sunglasses. I didn’t even know where I was going, I just felt like leaving the hostel. I decided to visit a friend in the boys’ hostel (he’s just a friend, Richard’s former bunk mate). I went straight to his room and knocked and his roommate answered.
“Hello, is Jesufemi in?”
“Em, yes, come in.” he was grinning as he opened the door wider and stepped aside for me enter, boys will always be boys, he probably thought I was his girlfriend or something. I entered and saw six other boys lying around the room, Jesufemi was sitting on a chair by the window.
“What a pleasant surprise.” He said.
“Hi, hello everyone.” I didn’t have any makeup on because I’m not a fan of afternoon makeup.
“Welcome o…” one of the boys said and stood “… all of you don’t have respect o, una see say fine girl find person come and you no fit clear road make she siddon.” I laughed as two other boys got to their feet and began cleaning a chair with their hands.
“Princess, come and sit down jare.” One of the boys said. I murmured a thank you and sat. Meanwhile, Jesufemi had been smiling and shaking his head all along.
“What do we offer you now o, just order anything, we’ll get it.” The first boy said.
“I’m fine, I just ate not long ago.” I replied.
“Abeg, make una leave my visitor, sorry, my in-law. Na she be Richard wife.” Jesufemi announced and someone whistled.
“That boy get eye o, see as the babe fine.” Someone remarked. I never really entered this hostel when Richard was around, I knew Jesufemi because both boys had a bond, they were really close that I thought they had known eachother before Uni.
“Issokay…” Jesufemi said “… sha leave the babe. Ola how far now, to what do I owe this august visit?” he added. A boy who had been lying, shirtless, on the floor stood, picked his shirt and slung it on his shoulder and whistled.
“Nawa o, see as Femi dey speak English because of girl.” He said and laughed out of the room, two others followed suit.
“Yeye people…” Jesufemi said. “… Don’t mind them jare. So what’s up?”
“Nothing really, I just want while away time.”
“Fair enough because I know you can’t just come and visit me like that.”
“Haba, that’s an unfair thing to say.” He rolled his eyes.
“Ehn I know na.” I laughed.
“So are you done with your exam?”
“By the grace of the Almighty God, tomorrow is the last time I will write any year two first semester course, carry over is not my portion in Jesus’ name.” I smiled and then felt a flash of anger pass through me, why did he have to mention Jesus.
“Yeah right, if you haven’t done well then don’t expect too much because the way you are calling Jesus now.”
“Ehehn, that reminds me, there is a program in my church that I’d like you to attend, trust me, you’ll gain a lot from it, we’re having invited ministers, it’s the last lap of the special exam prayers we started since the exam commenced then next week Sunday will be the general thanksgiving, trust me Ola, you don’t want to miss it.” Of course I want to miss it, what did I need special prayers for when I could read, who even told him I was interested in anything related to churches or campus fellowships.
“Oh yeah, what fellowship is that?” I asked, surprising myself.
“MFMCF, where do you fellowship.”
“Uh, I don’t have a particular place of worship, here and there, anywhere.” I wouldn’t classify that as a lie because it wasn’t, I just hadn’t revealed that I didn’t attend services regularly (I’ve only been to a church twice since I resumed Uni).
“Ehehn, I thought you were attending RCF of WCF o.” I was confused, what did those abbreviations even mean.
“Nah, I love to explore.”
“Hmmm. While it’s good to explore, it would be nice to belong to a fellowship, somewhere people can associate you with, not that you’re in CACSA today, RCF tomorrow and all that. I’m not saying you should compulsorily join the work force o but at least just be stable in one place and you’ll find that you enjoy the services as they go by.” I felt like breaking something, how did we get here from talking about exams.
“The evangelist, I hail o…” One of the other three boys in the said. “… he’s just using style ni o, at the end, he will say you should join MFM, that their boring church.”
“No o, can you compare MFM to CACSA? I won’t take that from you.” An argument ensued and I took pleasure in watching them. When it was almost five, I announced that I was leaving and Jesufemi saw me to the hostel gate. I decided to wait for Peter in his own hostel.
After waiting in his room for about thirty minutes, he finally came in.
“Finally, you’re back.” I said and rose to give him a hug.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” He said, smiling. His roommate had kept me company all the while.
“Afeez has done a good job of entertaining me though, you should thank him.” I whispered the latter.
“Since, she’s been waiting for you, ordinary exam since morning.” Peter wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to himself.
“I’m sorry babe, I was waiting for some of my guys.” I locked my fingers behind his neck and smiled
“You’re forgiven, you know I can’t stay angry with you.”
“Em, let me excuse you guys, I’ll be downstairs with Osas.” Afeez said and left the room. Peter released me and pulled me to the bed with him and we both sat.
“So what do you have planned for tonight?” I asked
“Nothing much, seeing your pretty face is enough for me and then we could go to a club, if you’re feeling up to it though.”
“I’ve not been to a club for over a month now, we could go tonight.” I replied.
“Great, but first, we need to eat, it’s not a so-good idea to drink on an empty stomach.” He said and pulled my nose playfully. Peter was such a smooth operator, I loved him more and more every day, it was a miracle that I hadn’t kissed him yet. He stood and took off his clothes. I smiled to myself as I watched him UnCloth to his boxers, he had nice biceps and strong arms.
“You look yummy.” I said.
“I think we should have dinner earlier before someone turns into a vampire.” He said as he wrapped his towel round his wait and picked a bucket and I laughed.
“That sounds like a good idea.” I replied and he smiled out of the room. As I watched him leave, I imagined how my first sex would be like, most likely with Peter and I smiled. I’d never felt like this ever and I was loving it, loving Peter.



TBC

****IRETI****

CONTINUATION...

I had already met Dara’s lecturer ‘friend’, he had not said too much when we talked and hadn’t even asked for my number; maybe Dara was right afterall. I dropped my phone when I was done with my food, I had promised to meet with Peter later in the evening, it was just two-thirty PM, I still had time since afternoon papers started by two and ended by five. I dragged myself lazily out of bed and out to the bathroom, thankfully, the hot afternoon sun had warmed the water. I wore a pair of jeans, a crop top and my gold sandals and left the room without informing Dunsin where I was headed, not that she’d have asked though. Standing outside the hostel, under the scorching sun, I realised I’d made a mistake; I should worn a fez cap or at least taken my sunglasses. I didn’t even know where I was going, I just felt like leaving the hostel. I decided to visit a friend in the boys’ hostel (he’s just a friend, Richard’s former bunk mate). I went straight to his room and knocked and his roommate answered.
“Hello, is Jesufemi in?”
“Em, yes, come in.” he was grinning as he opened the door wider and stepped aside for me enter, boys will always be boys, he probably thought I was his girlfriend or something. I entered and saw six other boys lying around the room, Jesufemi was sitting on a chair by the window.
“What a pleasant surprise.” He said.
“Hi, hello everyone.” I didn’t have any makeup on because I’m not a fan of afternoon makeup.
“Welcome o…” one of the boys said and stood “… all of you don’t have respect o, una see say fine girl find person come and you no fit clear road make she siddon.” I laughed as two other boys got to their feet and began cleaning a chair with their hands.
“Princess, come and sit down jare.” One of the boys said. I murmured a thank you and sat. Meanwhile, Jesufemi had been smiling and shaking his head all along.
“What do we offer you now o, just order anything, we’ll get it.” The first boy said.
“I’m fine, I just ate not long ago.” I replied.
“Abeg, make una leave my visitor, sorry, my in-law. Na she be Richard wife.” Jesufemi announced and someone whistled.
“That boy get eye o, see as the babe fine.” Someone remarked. I never really entered this hostel when Richard was around, I knew Jesufemi because both boys had a bond, they were really close that I thought they had known eachother before Uni.
“Issokay…” Jesufemi said “… sha leave the babe. Ola how far now, to what do I owe this august visit?” he added. A boy who had been lying, shirtless, on the floor stood, picked his shirt and slung it on his shoulder and whistled.
“Nawa o, see as Femi dey speak English because of girl.” He said and laughed out of the room, two others followed suit.
“Yeye people…” Jesufemi said. “… Don’t mind them jare. So what’s up?”
“Nothing really, I just want while away time.”
“Fair enough because I know you can’t just come and visit me like that.”
“Haba, that’s an unfair thing to say.” He rolled his eyes.
“Ehn I know na.” I laughed.
“So are you done with your exam?”
“By the grace of the Almighty God, tomorrow is the last time I will write any year two first semester course, carry over is not my portion in Jesus’ name.” I smiled and then felt a flash of anger pass through me, why did he have to mention Jesus.
“Yeah right, if you haven’t done well then don’t expect too much because the way you are calling Jesus now.”
“Ehehn, that reminds me, there is a program in my church that I’d like you to attend, trust me, you’ll gain a lot from it, we’re having invited ministers, it’s the last lap of the special exam prayers we started since the exam commenced then next week Sunday will be the general thanksgiving, trust me Ola, you don’t want to miss it.” Of course I want to miss it, what did I need special prayers for when I could read, who even told him I was interested in anything related to churches or campus fellowships.
“Oh yeah, what fellowship is that?” I asked, surprising myself.
“MFMCF, where do you fellowship.”
“Uh, I don’t have a particular place of worship, here and there, anywhere.” I wouldn’t classify that as a lie because it wasn’t, I just hadn’t revealed that I didn’t attend services regularly (I’ve only been to a church twice since I resumed Uni).
“Ehehn, I thought you were attending RCF of WCF o.” I was confused, what did those abbreviations even mean.
“Nah, I love to explore.”
“Hmmm. While it’s good to explore, it would be nice to belong to a fellowship, somewhere people can associate you with, not that you’re in CACSA today, RCF tomorrow and all that. I’m not saying you should compulsorily join the work force o but at least just be stable in one place and you’ll find that you enjoy the services as they go by.” I felt like breaking something, how did we get here from talking about exams.
“The evangelist, I hail o…” One of the other three boys in the said. “… he’s just using style ni o, at the end, he will say you should join MFM, that their boring church.”
“No o, can you compare MFM to CACSA? I won’t take that from you.” An argument ensued and I took pleasure in watching them. When it was almost five, I announced that I was leaving and Jesufemi saw me to the hostel gate. I decided to wait for Peter in his own hostel.
After waiting in his room for about thirty minutes, he finally came in.
“Finally, you’re back.” I said and rose to give him a hug.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” He said, smiling. His roommate had kept me company all the while.
“Afeez has done a good job of entertaining me though, you should thank him.” I whispered the latter.
“Since, she’s been waiting for you, ordinary exam since morning.” Peter wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to himself.
“I’m sorry babe, I was waiting for some of my guys.” I locked my fingers behind his neck and smiled
“You’re forgiven, you know I can’t stay angry with you.”
“Em, let me excuse you guys, I’ll be downstairs with Osas.” Afeez said and left the room. Peter released me and pulled me to the bed with him and we both sat.
“So what do you have planned for tonight?” I asked
“Nothing much, seeing your pretty face is enough for me and then we could go to a club, if you’re feeling up to it though.”
“I’ve not been to a club for over a month now, we could go tonight.” I replied.
“Great, but first, we need to eat, it’s not a so-good idea to drink on an empty stomach.” He said and pulled my nose playfully. Peter was such a smooth operator, I loved him more and more every day, it was a miracle that I hadn’t kissed him yet. He stood and took off his clothes. I smiled to myself as I watched him UnCloth to his boxers, he had nice biceps and strong arms.
“You look yummy.” I said.
“I think we should have dinner earlier before someone turns into a vampire.” He said as he wrapped his towel round his wait and picked a bucket and I laughed.
“That sounds like a good idea.” I replied and he smiled out of the room. As I watched him leave, I imagined how my first sex would be like, most likely with Peter and I smiled. I’d never felt like this ever and I was loving it, loving Peter.



TBC

****IRETI****


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

"Wake her now.” I heard someone say.
“You too wake her, I can’t touch her o.”
“Shebi you’re closer.”
“Ehn, you too move closer, see as she’s shaking like someone that is demon possessed.” It definitely had to be my roommates but what did they mean by shaking? I didn’t feel myself shaking instead, I felt stiff, with my hands glued to my sides. The voices continued but it all sounded like so many bubbles, as though someone was gurgling water, then it was clear again.
“That would be better.”
“Ehn, oya goan bring the water na.” I heard footsteps then water being pour into a container, footsteps again and then in my stiff state, I felt something cold and hard drop on my temple. My eyes flew open and I stared wide-eyed at my roommates standing over my head, Tomisin was holding a cup of water and Dunsin was looking as if she’d just seen a ghost
“Ola! Can you hear me?” Tomisin asked; I simply stared, unable to speak.
“Eh, Tee, don’t you think we should take her to the clinic?”
“I don’t know, this one that she’s not even talking now.”
“Ehn, let us just take her there, at least they’ll know better.”
“Okay, check if her body is hot.”
“Me I can’t touch her o.” I stared at both of them, surprised by the conversation. I moved my hand and it hurt so bad but I still managed to touch my temple; it was wet, I sat gently, up on the bed while my roommates watched in horror, as though I was committing suicide. I supported myself with my hands but that was a wrong position to sit, my arms felt like I’d just been hit by a truck load of cement. I moved up the bed, slowly and rested my back on the wall; that, again was a wrong move, the wall felt like ice. I was tired, I hated the way I was feeling and I began to cry, I just wanted to be well. First it had been asthma, now it was this intermittent sickness that I didn’t know the cause and never lasted for more than two days, during which I’d wish the world to come to an end. Tomisin came over to my side and touched the back of her palm to my neck and then temple.
“Her body is not that hot...” she said to Dunsin before she turned to face me.
“… Ola, why are you crying?”
“I don’t know, I just want this to end, to go away forever and never come back.”
“What are you talking about? I think you had a nightmare, you were just rolling and shaking on the bed for close to thirty minutes, we were shouting your name so that you’ll wake up but you did not respond.” I nodded and remembered when the same thing had happened during Christmas.
“Em, do you want to go to the clinic, me I don’t want wahala o.”
“Dunsin, shut up jare. See that she’s crying and all you can think about is yourself.” Dunsin spread her hands out in front of her.
“No o, I’m just saying that because our last paper is on Wednesday so she should go to the clinic for treatment before then.” I wiped the tears with the back of my right palm and sniffed. Dunsin was right but I knew she wasn’t in the least bit concerned about my health, she was more interested in the first class competition, in which she was the only participant, she had entered.
“It’s fine, I’m okay, I just need to take a shower and I’ll be fine.” I said and as I sign, I slid down the bed and stood. The moment my feet touched the ground, I went down straight, it was too cold and I started shivering. Tomisin rushed to my side and pulled me up; Dunsin joined her to lay me on the bed. Dunsin got a duvet and covered me with it. I fell asleep immediately as the warmth took over my entire being.

I felt the sun rays burn my eyes and I concluded that it was afternoon already. I opened my eyes and saw Dunsin on her bed reading with her mp3 plugged into her ear. I sat up, I felt better now but very hungry. I went to check the pot for food but it was empty, I believe Dunsin saw me out of the corner of her eyes.
“You’re awake.” She said and I nodded.
“How are you feeling now?” she asked again.
“Better but hungry.” I replied.
“Ehn, Tee put food in your flask, it’s in your book shelf.” She turned plugged back her headphones and continued reading. I smiled and shook my head as I went in the direction of the shelf at the foot of my bed and took out the flask. I opened and was happy with what I saw; she’d prepared jollof rice and fried chicken, it had been a while I ate such good food since exam commenced three weeks ago. While I ate, I was busy with my phone. I received a text from Cash on bbm.
‘Babe’
‘Bobo’
‘Dropped my pen today’
‘Good for you’
‘Thanks love’
‘Anytime, my last paper is on Wednesday’
‘Wow! That long, why na’
‘I don’t know’
‘I thought we could hang out later this evening’
‘Nah, I don’t think so, I’m not feeling up to it’
‘Yeah, I know you still got papers to write’
‘Yeah, I have to go now, bye’ I didn’t even think twice before I switched off my phone. I was already bored with Cash, Peter was number one on my list now, he was just so good, never stalking me online and knew just the right things to say at the right time. Unlike Cash, I’d not kissed Peter, at least not yet, and I was really hoping that he’d ask me to be his girlfriend.


TBC

****IRETI****

CONTINUATION

The test was quite easy and I was done in twenty minutes (it was a thirty-minute test though). After the test, Dara and I went to eat in one of those food joints that are actually bukas but sell their food per plate. The rest of the day went by so quick that I wasn’t even prepared for nightfall.
“Where were you throughout the day?” I asked Dunsin as she came into the room, that was the first time I was seeing her since she left the hostel the previous night.
“Around.” She replied.
“Okay. How was Okonkwo, I thought we’d read together yesterday.”
“Ehehn, I didn’t see you and I went to read in class with others, there was a tutorial.” I smiled, I just didn’t understand why Dunsin was being so childish to the extent that she couldn’t inform me of a tutorial, not that I needed extra tutorial for Okonkwo’s course but I just felt awkward.
“So there was a tutorial and you didn’t think it would be nice for me to know. Touché.”
“Ah, I didn’t know you needed tutorial na, afterall, you are a first class student.” Okay, I think I get the point, this was not about me moving with Dara and the rest, it was about my CGPA, I smiled.
“Madam, you don’t need this right now, the more you beef me, the less time you have to study and improve, let go and you’ll see that your result this semester will be better.” I replied and lay back on the bed, she hissed. Truth is, I was not ready for negative vibes around me, in my opinion, negativity takes us nowhere, instead, you’re stagnant and just dwelling in self-pity. Tomisin was not back yet, I had made dinner earlier and that was what Dunsin was helping herself to, I wonder if she’ll eat if she found out I was the one that prepared the food; I smiled at the thought. Just ten more days to the commencement of exams, I just couldn’t wait to be home, not that I had any special activity planned out, but I just wanted to take a breather; whenever I come to this dead end called a higher institution, I don’t go back to Lagos until the holiday.


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

“You are such a good girl.” I turned to see Mr Cute smiling and walking towards me. Where was I? How did I get here? Those were the two questions at the back of my mind. I was sitting on a bench in a garden that looked so much like the freedom park in Lagos. Mr Cute soon got to my side and lowered himself on the bench with his right arm across my shoulders.
“You are a very good girl, obedient and all but you still have not satisfied me, I need more from and I know you can do better so why are you so shy? This Seunfunmi wants to be your friend and you keep shunning her, that’s not so nice, you must welcome her with open arms, let have a taste of what you have, the girls were not selfish to you and so you mustn’t be selfish too. To whom much is given, much is expected; I trust you can do it.” There was a fierceness in his voice that I couldn’t understand, he was smiling but his voice was firm, I felt like I was in a trance, as though he were stuffing all his words into my head and I had no control over it. After a while, his arm around my shoulders softened and he smiled, I felt better and returned the smile.
“How did I get here?” I asked, letting my curiousity get the upper hand.
“The how is not important now, what is important now is get I’ve given you a new assignment.” I nodded, I felt like I had been hypnotised. Just then, the intruder came along with his bloodied clothes and stood right in front of us, smiling. Mr Cute averted my face and frowned.
“What do you want?” he asked
“Nothing, I just came to see how your new convert is faring.”
“This one is mine; you can’t take her away from me.”
“I’m not contesting that, she’s yours, I know, I just came to see how your relationship is faring, that’s all.” Mr Cute was on his feet now and I could see what was going on. The intruder wore a wide grin while the scowl on Mr Cute’s face was hilarious and I could not help but giggle.
“See you later.” The intruder said and he walked away.
“And why were you laughing?” Mr Cute asked, still frowning.
“Nothing” I replied simply.
“You better watch it, don’t you ever laugh at me in the presence of that guy.” I was confused, just because I giggled.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Yes”
“Okay, I’m sorry but who exactly is that guy?”
“No one you need to know.” I stared unseeing at Mr Cute, thoughts of the intruder’s identity filled my head. Suddenly Mr Cute wrenched me up from the bench and shook me violently. I tried to break myself free but his hold was strong and fierce, aggressive.
“Be careful, I’m usually not this lenient.” He said and shoved me backwards. I felt myself hit the ground hard and I closed my eyes and I continued falling through space till someone or something caught me and I probably passed out.


TBC

****IRETI****

CONTINUATION

After dinner, I went straight to Dara’s hostel, being the oldest of us all, she was my favourite.
“Babe wassup now.” She said as I entered the room. All her seven roommates were out, seven because each of the three room owners had a squatter while the other two had one each and Dara had two, a friend and her cousin.
“I’m good dear.”
“I know, what of that your new bobo?” she asked referring to Peter but I feigned ignorance.
“Which of them?”
“So they’re many, wehdone ma.” I laughed. Dara had finished her first year with a third class and now that I was closer to her than any of the other girls, I made it a point of duty to help her improve academically.
“Yeah, so how prepared are you for the exam?” she dropped her phone and sat up on the bed to face me.
“Babe, I won’t lie o, I’m not prepared at all, infact, I’m nervous, I don’t even know what I should do because I’m scared. See ehn, anytime I carry my book, it will just be as if I have not read anything as if ehn, omo me am tired o.”
“Okay, point taken. Have you finished ranting…”
“Ola, you have bad mouth, is that what you’ll say after I just explained…”
“Madam, Will you let me finish, not that I want to praise you or anything but will you at least let me talk?”
“Oya talk na.”
“Thank you. Now the truth is, you have been very lazy otherwise you should not be feeling the way you claim to feel, I am very sure and convinced that when you feel like you’ve not read, you just drop the book and go on to do something else. That is not nice, it is stupid to say the least and please don’t think I’m disrespecting you or talking down at you but there are some things you need to change about your attitude towards reading if not you won’t make it past a third class at the end of your four years in this school, that’s even if you make through the four years.
“Look, I’m not good at flattering and you know that but come on you just have to change, granted, you’ve been doing a good job and I love the level of improvement but that’s just not enough, and to think that I even told you about my roommate to boost your morale and you’re still being childish…” I sighed “… I just need you to be more hardworking and trust me, hardwork takes a conscious effort.”
“Thanks, I really don’t know what I’ll do without you. If we’d not become friends ehn, those useless girls will just be making fun of me as if they have better results when they don’t. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So are you here to read or what?”
“Nope, I just came to say hello, I should be on my way now.”
“Can I come too?”
“Yeah, sure, why?”
“So that we can read together for Okonkwo’s test now.”
“Okay, you room is the most inappropriate place to read.” I said smiling.
“You can say that again.” She said and stood. Twenty minutes later, she had eaten, changed clothes, packed her handbag and we were on our way back to my room. Tomisin had just dished her dinner when we got there.
“Welcome o, I didn’t know we were having a visitor, I would have cooked more food.” She said with sarcasm evident I her voice, I was so sure Dara was going to give her a piece of her mind and I was not disappointed.
“Abeg, Ola do I look like a beggar or do I look hungry to you, which one is this now?”
“Sorry o.” tomisin apologised while I totally ignored and went ahead to have my bath. When I got back, I met Dara outside receiving a call. I changed quickly and went to stand outside with her.
“Where is Dunsin?” she asked when she’d ended the call. I shrugged my shoulders because I didn’t know where she was, most likely, she’d gone to read, I didn’t care, she’d ceased to be my study partner for a while now, not my fault though, she changed after Richard left. Some minutes later, Tomisin came out fully dressed with her overnight bag, one look at her and I knew she was going to read in class.
“Em, Ola, am going to class o, see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, do you know where Dunsin is?”
“She’s gone to read too, I didn’t plan on going but this room won’t be conducive for me tonight. See you tomorrow.” She left and Dara clapped her hands thrice.
“Eh, this your roomie is trying me o, who does she think she is ehn, because she’s in year three abi. I swear when next she tries rubbish, I go slap am, she dey craze, infact, I’ll be coming here more often now.” I laughed.
“See the way you’re giving yourself wahala, just ignore her, she’ll come round, trust me.” She hissed and got hold of herself.
“Ehehn, how far with that Peter guy now?”
“He’s good.”
“That’s it? He’s just good? Anyways a friend of mine is dying to meet you.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Ahahn, you didn’t even ask who the person is…” I shrugged my shoulders “… he’s a lecturer, young rich and handsome, he saw your picture on my phone some time ago and he’s been disturbing me ever since.”
“Tell him I’m not interested.”
“Ahahn, it won’t hurt to meet him just once now, just to know what he wants.”
“What else would he want other than sex from a different girl, I can’t deal with that.”
“See, na somebody go still disvirgin you one day one day o.”
“Let’s wait till then.”
“See, my dear, I’m not forcing you or anything but this guy is three times better than all those small small boys that are following you up and down, he’s older and has more experience, he’s richer even if he’s not more handsome.”
“Richer, you say, well, news flash, I don’t need his money or anybody’s’, I’m okay the way I am and my parents are doing a good job, thank you.” She laughed for a while.
“Sorry o omo olowo but FYI, I don’t think this guy wants anything more than friendship, he’s nice, cool, calm and collected, he doesn’t have a string of girls following him so don’t be afraid.” She said and touched her fingertips, lightly, to my cheeks then smiled. We went back into the room, it was just nine PM and the whole hostel was graveyard silent all thanks to the fear of exams, and there was still no light. I set my phone alarm to one AM and we both went to bed.



TBC

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Hello dear readers, I'd like to know your thoughts on the story so far, most especially the characters. I am deeply sorry for my inconsistency, it has been due to part work, part laziness. Thanks for you understanding.
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