The heaven and the earth must have stood
still the moment Martins set eyes on his
one-time roommate and best friend. At that
point Martins knew he was at the right
place at the wrong time. And for the rest of
the occupants of 5, Otolorin street,
Lawanson they had no inkling of what was
going on. All they saw in their mind’s eye
was their caretaker cringing at the sight of a
white walker.

The silence in 5, Otolorin Street, Lawanson was so deafening that you could hear as ants
crawled on the ground beneath. Martins had
come to the rescue of the landlord at the nick
of time, albeit it seemed he needed someone to rescue him too.
Deji stared hard at the intruder like a constable who had finally caught up with a fugitive, many things were going through his mind as his lips tried to make out words. In a flash, memories of events that led to his arrest and subsequent imprisonment played out before him, and all he saw in Martins pale face was a backstabber and a betrayer. He had sworn he was going to pay dearly for it if he ever came out of Kirikiri alive, and he had meant it.
“What the heck are you doing here?”Deji
inquired as soon as he found his voice,
however, Martins still remained mute. “Dude!
are you now dumb?”
“Good day, Deji” he managed to respond.
“I’m sure you never saw this coming. That look on your face must mean the evil men do lives with them right?”
“Martins looked aloof, he wondered who Deji
was referring to as the evil one; the person
that led robbers to assault a bank which led to
the death of his fake client, or the person who gave policemen the identities of the bank robbers”
“It seems you’ve lost your tongue yet again. Do you see your doom already? Common man, we are still friends. Let’s put the dark years aside for now.” Deji stretched out his hand to
exchange pleasantries with Martins, but he
remained transfixed to the spot. He appeared
down in the dumps as Deji made a last effort
to bring him out of his misery. “Dude! You
wouldn’t want the rest of your crew to know
about our little secret, would you?
Martins finally responded to Deji’s outstretched hand of friendship, but instead, Deji drew him towards him to whisper a note of warning to his ears. “Do not let anyone know that me I’m an
ex-convict. Let what happened four years ago
remain between us, do you understand?”
“Yes!” Martins answered soberly like a primary
school pupil who was being scolded by his
teacher.
“I’m still your friend, an old friend right?”
“Yes”
“Good”
“So what was it you said you wanted” Deji
asked, he pretended everything was okay
between them. However, Martins strange
reactions and inactiveness in front of Jamiu’s
flat had aroused suspicions from the spectators who were waiting for the commencement of the meeting.
“Martins what is going on?” the landlord finally broke the ice.
“Nothing sir” Martins answered even before the question was asked.
“Nothing ke! Na him you stand in front of
person flat like LASTMA when we they wait you here make meeting start”, Uju vented her
frustration.
“Oga Martins, you dey there they look like
person wey see ghost and you say nothing they do you”, Nneka added
“I just saw an old friend, I will be with you guys
in a jiffy”, Martins thought he was saving his
face, yet he was implicating himself more.
“Old friend? In Jamiu’s house? Oga Martins is
something wrong?” It was time for Runo to
raise an eyebrow
“Landlord na you cause am o! Na Gen wey you
allow am go off turn my oga to mumu”,
Sylvanus blurted out
” Jamiu don use him jazz turn am to robot” Uju added sarcastically. Martins continued
conversing with Deji amid the side remarks
from the tenants as the landlord remained
speechless
“This is strange! He’s just been there talking in
low tones with whoever is there”, it was time
for Mr Obong – the oldest man in the
gathering, to offer his own analysis to the
situation on ground.
“He doesn’t even appear to be listening to us”,
Mr. Okafor commented yet again
“Sylvanus na that babe him dey follow talk abi
another person dey that house?” Uju inquired.
“See question oh! No be here both of us dey
so?”
It appeared the landlord had seen enough of
the unfolding drama, “Martins!!!”
“Sir!”
“Are you under a spell?”
“I’m just trying to sort some things out” Jamiu
who had been in his room with Patricia all
along, came out to join Deji in the living room.
“Dejex wetin happen naa? Who be the lunatic
wey off my gen?”His sleepy eyes were able to
notice Martins’ presence at the door. “Who be
this one? Oga Martins you don come back?”
“Good morning Jamiu”
“Ah no say na only you fit get liver off gen for
this compound. Dejex wetin una dey yan naa?”
“Free the guy for me”
“Okay naa, abeg make una on the gen oh! make gbege no happen for this compound.”
“Guy enter room!” Deji gave a rejoinder.
Immediately, Jamiu sauntered into his room
while murmuring incoherent words. Martins
thought it was time to make his exit, “Please I
have to join the others for the meeting”
“Not until you put on that gen…”
“Of course.” Deji slammed the door on him as
Martins rambled back to the meeting place still in a confused state of mind.
“Finally! The spell has been broken” Runo
heaved a sigh of relief
“I’m sorry for taking your time, I was having a
chit chat with an old friend.” Martins’ response intrigued Mr. Okafor, “An old friend in Jamiu’s house? Who could that be?” Mr. Obong on the other hand was beginning to lose patience,
“Please can we start the meeting now?”
“Sure!”
“Martins!” Deji howled from the window of
Jamiu’s living room
“Sir?”
“I thought we had an agreement?”
“Oh the gen! ….sorry I totally forgot”, Martins
rose from his seat in the speed of light to the
chagrin of everyone present. “Just a minute
please…”
“Wetin happen again” Uju retorted. He walked
up to Jamiu’s generator house, and in less than a minute, Jamiu’s generator came alive again with a deafening sound that incapacitated everyone outside
“Chai! This Jamiu juju strong oh!” The small
crowd in the compound was held spellbound by their caretaker’s sudden weakness