₦airaland Forum

TheBlessedMAN:
I do them myself

Wow! That's great. How much will you charge me for a cover...My number is in my profile.

Hello...Please an you give me the contact of the person that does your book covers.

I'm back....this will have like 12 chapters...

Acehart:
Mine: My dad was taken to Saint Nich... unconscious; the receptionist held him up for up to 2 hours unless his HMO ID was produced. Two and a half weeks later, he passed away- he never really regained consciousness.

A whole Saint Nicholas. I'm dsapointed in them. Sorry for your loss.

abubakarbabang7:
Please will this story be completed?

Yes it will be completed.

Chapter 8 (Final Chapter)


He was laid up in bed daydreaming, thinking of all he would do with his money he had just won, even though it hadn’t hit his account yet. He smiled. Not only did he win money, he aso saved a young man from a lot of troubles by getting into this underground competition. Ade had since found him to thank him, but he was yet to Tade.


He rolled over on the hotel bed, and the pain in his shoulder made him make a face. In the heat of the moment, he was able to lift and slam the 400 hundred pound Gorilla, but the strain to his body came later; his shoulder ached, his chest felt heavier, and his arm muscles hurt really bad. Although he was fit and muscular, his body was not built to lift a gorilla in a fight; the adrenaline got him through that fit. 


No pain no gain, he thought to himself. Just for that 10 second spectacle, he was going to get fifty thousand dollars added to his participation fee of fifty thousand dollars. 


A violent scene in the new Jurassic Park movie showing on the TV caught  his attention; a man had been eaten up alive by a giant dinosaur. It gave him a flashback of what he had witnessed on the battle ground and he wondered what became of the man that got part of his face beaten off by the silverback. True to Mr. Ahmed's words, paramedics had swamped in to treat the wounded immediately the battle ended. But he wasn't sure that particular man would ever be whole again. He shuddered thinking of how that could have been him. 


A knock at the door derailed his train of thought. A smile appeared on his face as he got off the bed and walked over to the door. "Nasir, are you in there?" Tade said in a low voice as she continued to knock from outside the door. She was started at first when they came face to face as Nasir had opened the door abruptly. But she quickly gained her composure, and a big smile appeared on her face as she hugged him closely. They stood still for about a minute in silence, listening to each other's breathing. When they disentangled, she looked up at him still smiling as she said, "tell me everything."


"Are you sure you want to hear about the details?" He said as he led her to the bed. 


"You're here right? Alive." She said as she sat next to him. He nodded at her. "Then nothing could be scarier than the thought of you dying."


He smiled at her before saying, "here we go then."


Her facial expression matched each part of the story as he narrated it to her. At one point, she asked him to stop saying that she had had enough. And then a few minutes later, she urged him to give her more details. Her eyes occasionally dashing all over his body, obviously looking for his own battle scars. When he finally told her the part where he body slammed the ape, her eyes grew bigger, and her jaw dropped to the floor. She repeated the words 'you're kidding me' about half a dozen times dramatically before she allowed him to continue the story.


The room got quiet when he concluded the story. He could see in her eyes that she actually felt pity for the animal. Even though it wasn't killed, it did take a beating; a beating it hadn't asked for. "Well, I better get going." She said all of a sudden as she got off the bed and checked her wristwatch. "Our ride out of here leaves in about half an hour." She said as she smiled at him. And then she had her hand outstretched at him. "Thanks a million for getting my brother out of that bad deal."


"I'm glad I could help." He said as he got off the bed and shook her hand. After shaking hands, and moving it up and down for a few seconds, they both burst out laughing. 


When the laughing stopped, she looked at him again intensely for a while, and went in for a hug. His phone beeped and he slowly pulled away to pull it out of his pocket. It was a text message; not only a text message, but a bank alert. Even though he was expecting it, seeing it there still shocked him.Right there in his domiciliary account was a six figure payment for less than a day's work.


"It has hit?" She asked when she saw his facial expression. He said nothing, nodded his head, and kept staring at his phone. "Yippie!" She shouted out, grabbed his hands and started jumping up and down. Her excitement was so contagious that he started jumping with her. He stopped abruptly with a loud noise when he tried to raise his hands really high. The shoulder pains were activated again. "Are you okay?" She asked with a look of concern on her face.


"I'm okay. But I strained my shoulder muscles from...from slamming that gorilla." He said as he moved his left arm in a circular motion a few times before sitting back on the bed.


"Sorry." She said in a low voice as she sat on the bed next to him


"Thanks."


"I could massage it for you."


"That would be great."


"Just kidding." She said and got off the bed smiling. "I have to go now. We should keep in touch."


"Yeah." He said and watched her walk out of the room. He really wished she could stick around a little while longer, but he understood if she had to leave with her brother. There would be other times. Just as the door was closing, she opened it and came back into the room. 


"I guess I can find my way after all." She said under her breath and when Nasir asked what she had said she changed it to, "I guess I have some pain killers in my purse."  She said as she sat on the bed and went through her purse. "Found it." She said out loud, and then proceeded to tickle him. He laughed not only at her tickling, but also at how unexpected the act was. 


Things turned to a little playful wrestle as he tried to tickle her back till they ended up lying down on the bed, exhausted, facing each other, staring romantically at each other. And then Nasir leaned in and kissed her.


The End

(Chapter 7)



The gorilla stopped its charge just a few meters away from the crowd of men, who had gathered together now. It beat its chest again, very fast and even though it was at least twenty feet away from Nasir, he could hear the ferocious sound loud and clear from where he was. It was scary and made his heart beat to the same rhythm for a quick second. There was a lot going through his mind. Mr. Ahmed had given him a personal task; something to do to the gorilla to get a special prize money. At first it was just the cameras mounted at different points of the battle ground that were capturing the fight. But now, he could hear and see small drones buzzing over them. He needed to act fast before someone else did what he had been asked to do. He had a feeling he wasn’t the only one given the private mission. 


The gorilla dropped back on all fours, turned around and was retreating to its container when a man led a solo charge towards it. It spun around with swift agility, and gave the man multiple punches to the chest. It was still ready to go when the man dropped to the floor. It thought the fight was over, but a group of six men started approaching it from all sides. The silverback seemed confused. It didn't know which direction to charge. The men were moving really fast, as if they had practiced this many times. Nasir was impressed they had the nerve to still want to attack the gorilla after what they had seen it do to at least a dozen men so far. Then he realized something, the gorilla seemed out of breath and tired. He guessed he wasn't the only expert on gorillas here. Although fast and strong, they tire easily. The men wanted to take advantage of that and not let it gain its strength back


Some of the men it had taken down earlier had gotten up, and were also approaching it from the back. The beast got aggravated and dashed for the closest man; lowered its arms, and raised them up in a form of double hand uppercut. The man went flying in the air. It moved so fast, and before they knew it, it had grabbed another man. Blood splattered on the ground as it bit the man's face, and took a chunk off flesh. The man screamed out loud as he fell to the ground rolling around. 


At this point, about two dozen men approached it at the same time, grabbing different parts of the body. It managed to fling some off, but eventually they had it restrained in one position. They took turns punching it in the face multiple times, trying to rack up their prize money. 


As Nasir moved in closer to where the main fight was going down, he took his time to examine the wounded. He was surprised to see a lot with broken bones, dislocated joints, and deep bleeding cuts. It didn't look like the damage was that severe when they collided with the gorilla, but that showed him just how strong the animal was. As he got closer to the scene, his run turned into a slight jog, and then he started to walk slowly. The gorilla had been able to throw off all the men holding it down after getting a wind of energy. Everything happened so fast; one minute it was held down and nasir was approaching it. The next minute it was clubbing through men and ended up face to face with Nasir. That was the opportunity Nasir had been waiting on. Without thinking too much, he launched forward, grabbed the silverback by the neck and groin, and bodyslammed it to the ground. He froze booking down at the beast, not believing what he had just done. Within a split second, the gorilla gave him a kick and bounced back on its feet. Nasir fell to the ground and quickly rolled over as the gorilla attempted to stomp him out. And with luck on his side, a few men were back attacking the gorilla, trying to subdue it. 


At least fifty men charged at the gorilla, circling it, and surrounding it. As if practiced, they all started grabbing parts of its body at the same time; hands, legs, neck, two to three men to a limb. When the gorilla was immobilized, men started taking turns to punch it in the face. It almost seemed like the gorilla would never feel the punches, but at one point it started looking dizzy. 


And after about 20 of the biggest men took turns in landing punches to its face, it finally lowered its head in defeat. When they let it go, it fell to the ground. The goal was to knock it down, not kill it. There was a loud cry of victory from the men as the gorilla lay on the ground taking deep breaths.

Chapter 6

The contest was going to go down inside a giant abandoned fish pond, circular in shape, sort of like where gladiators fought in ancient Rome. It was like the size of a standard basketball court; big enough to contain 100 men and a gorilla, and small enough that they would have to engage in a fight. They had natural illumination from the full moon and bright stars. 


Nasir stood a few feet from the circular contraption and watched as men went down the metal ladders attached to the large upside down dome in about half a dozen points. Most of them were locals that were familiar with each other. They spoke the Yoruba language, and from the way they laughed, Nasir believed it was either they were very confident or naive of what they were up against. 


The costume for the combat was red, locally made Aso-Oke paints with no pockets, and white t-shirts. Each contestant had his number in black on the back of his t-shirt. The fit Nasir had gotten was too tight and had his muscles bustling out of the top, and pants a little above his ankles. He ended up cutting off the sleeves of the top to allow him proper arm movement. 


When it seemed like the last set of men were going down the abandoned fish pond, he took a deep breath and started heading towards the nearest ladder to him. For some weird reason he wasn't nervous. He felt it was because his mind had not fully grasped the fact that he and 99 other men were really about to fight a silverback gorilla. As he descended down the ladder, the atmosphere felt chillier. At a point just before his leg hit dirt, reality hit him and his legs started to shake. He held the metal bars of the metallic ladder for a few moments after setting foot on ground, took a few deep breaths with his eyes closed, and when he got full composure of himself again, he let go and went on to mingle with men gathered in small clusters here and there. One thing that gave Nasir hope was the sea of men; seeing a hundred men gathered in one spot looked more intimidating than he had thought it would look. 


Most of the men were really fit and athletic like him, except for a handful of skinny looking men. He wondered why in the hell they would sign up for this; One slap from the gorilla could totally damage their spine. It amused him how they all continued to joke about the situation. After searching through the men, he found what he was looking for. He was slightly taller than Nasir, and just as bulky as him. His bald head shone under the moonlight, and he had a scowl on his face. Now, this is someone I can partner with, Nasir thought to himself. He moved his shoulders in circular motions, cracked his neck and then began the walk towards the man. 


"How are you doing?" He said to the man when he got close enough. The man nodded without looking at Nasir. He had his eyes on the perimeter, as if planning an escape of some sort. "So, I'll go straight to the point, how about we team up?" The man finally looked at Nasir but still said nothing. "It will really give both of us a chance."


"Are you aiming for the first-to-hit prize money?" He said in a husky voice. 


"No. I just want to survive the night." Nasir said. 


The man chuckled, sized-up Nasir for a few seconds before saying, "It's a deal then."


"It's a deal." Nasir said and shook baldy's outstretched hand. 


Just as he was about to ask the man for his name, the murmuring around the men got louder, and he looked away to find out what was happening. Everyone was looking up, and he saw the container the gorilla had been kept in earlier being lowered into the arena with a crane. His heart started to beat fast; the lower the container got, the worse his heart palpitation got. He took a deep breath and got on the ground. Pushups had always had a way of calming his nerves. No one looked his way as they were all focused on the apex predator being lowered into the place. 


The murmurs got quieter as the container hit the dirt, with their eyes focused on the thing. The door started opening upwards, slowly as if remotely controlled. The ten seconds it took for the lid to be fully lifted felt like eternity to most of the men. And then there was cemetery silence. A full minute went by with no movement inside the box. And just then, the silverback ran out of the container; on all fours, sounding like a horse galloping towards them. Nasir was on his 99th pushup when he felt dirt hit his face as his team mate kicked up dust running towards the animal. And then there was pandemonium. Nasir got on his feet and looked in disbelief as about a dozen men charged towards the gorilla with loud war cries. Watching them run towards the gorilla with no weapons left him dumbfounded. 


What got him more flabbergasted was the fact that the half a dozen men in the front of the charge were the smaller men. They kept chanting loud noises, some chants sounding like something out of an exorcist movie. At first Nasir thought they were stupid, till he saw how confused the gorilla looked as they spread out just as they got close to it.  The first man to get closest to the gorilla let himself fall to the ground backwards and slid right past the gorilla. Then as if they had choreographed it, about 4 others did the same, all on different sides, confusing the silverback even more.


Nasir's brain started working at top speed and he caught onto their gameplan. It really brought a smile to his face. The smile slowly disappeared when the gorilla seemed visibly irritated, and it charged forward, ignoring all the guys sliding and jumping around him. The first man it grabbed, it flung to the side. The next man got a blow to the face. Then it grabbed one man by the leg and dragged him about ten feet towards the container. It all happened very fast, and there was silence afterwards. 


The gorilla left the unconscious man on the ground and turned back around to face the crowd of men. Just as he was about to charge forward again, baldy came from its side and landed a clean blow across its face. Before he could turn around and hit the gorilla with a second punch with his left hand, it attacked with a 4 piece punch combo; two to the chest, and two pounds to the top of the head. Baldy went down fast. 


The gorilla stood tall, beat his chest rapidly and charged towards the remaining men.

IkeIgboNiile:
Wow....i just stumbled on this story tonight and i have been smiling sheepishly ever since. I love how different and refreshing the plot is. Please keep it coming.

Thanks for this comment.

I'll post the last 3 chapters within the next couple of days (starting from tomorrow). I just wanted to prolong the suspense a little and get the views up.

(Chapter 5)


Nasir was sitting alone in front of a pool with a full moon out. The waiter had served him his drink and disappeared. Slow music played in the background as he took slow sips of his glass of Guinness Stout. When he woke up this morning, he prayed for a change to occur, but never in his wildest imagination did he think the change would come in this form. He was literally about to get rich, or die trying. 


Mr. Ahmed had spoken to him again after the initial briefing, and obliged to house him, Tade and Ade at his hotel till midnight, when the event would start. The place was a ten minute drive from his home, and luxurious, but empty. The man also told Nasir that there would be top notch medics on ground to treat all the injured during the contest. It gave Nasir a little consolation, but what if the gorilla tore his limbs out of his body. The thought that alone made him shiver. 


Footsteps behind him made him turn around. Her face went from poker to a quick smile, and then back to a plane face. Even as he was about facing a life threatening event, his heart still melted as he saw her. She was a balance in this rocky journey he currently found himself in. "I thought you had slept." Nasir said. She shook her head before taking the seat beside him. 


"I can't sleep." She said and looked around the place after taking her seat beside him. "The whole thing...it's...it's just so surreal."


"I know."


"It's like we're in a horror movie. I...." She was saying and then stopped to shudder. There was silence for a while and then she turned to look at him for a few seconds before saying, "The other reason why I can't sleep is because I feel we dragged you into this."


"No. It's my choice at the end of the day."


"But, if you didn't drive us down to see the man..."


"I don't believe in chance meetings." He said, cutting her off. "I was meant to be there. A golden opportunity presented itself to me, and I took it."


Her eyes grew bigger as she was about to say something, but then she stopped. She looked into space for a while, and then said, "But aren't you scared? You're going to be fighting a freaking gorilla."


"Tade, I'm going to be fighting that gorilla with ninety-nine other men. Ninety-nine!"


"Yeah, but...." She stopped to bite her nail for a second before saying, "I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos about gorillas all night. They are...they are very vicious."


"I know that.” He said and looked into space.


"A gorilla can actually tear your face off. They can..." She was saying and then stopped when she realized she wasn’t helping his current situation. 


He was silent for a while before turning to her and saying, "You don't have to feel guilty for me being in this position. Once again, it was my choice."


“It's not that. Or, I should say, that’s not all." She said looking at him, and then she looked away. "Earlier, you said you don't believe in chance meetings."


"Yeah."


"I kinda feel...umm...I kinda feel like our meeting has a reason." He looked at her intensely as she said this, and she blushed. 


"Why do you feel so?"


She looked away before saying, "I just like you. I'd like...I'd like to be your friend."


"Do you know what?"


"What."


"I have a rule of never getting involved with my passengers, but from the moment you stepped into the car, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."


"Really?" She said with a big smile on her face.


"Yes. I was ready to break my rules for you." He said and slowly held her hand. "It's so magical to know that the feeling is mutual." The smile on her face lingered for a while and slowly disappeared. And then she had a faraway look on her face. 


"When you're out there on the battle ground later tonight." She said and stopped to look straight at him. "Just know I'll be praying for you. I'll be waiting for you after the contest."


He looked at her for a long time before saying. "Thank you for being very open tonight. You have just given me the fuel I need to succeed tonight."


A smile slowly appeared on her face. They stared at each other passionately, till Nasir leaned in for a kiss, and Tade met him halfway.

(Chapter 4)


They walked into a lounge-like area of the house. It was a small sitting area with dark brown mid-century modern couches; two on each side of the room, and one backing the entrance. Ade was sitting on the sofa with the man, on the left side of the room looking sad. The room was dimly lit and the gray colored walls gave it a grim feel. 


Mr. Ahmed was a stocky built man in his mid 40s who had grown through the ranks in the underworld gangs to become associates of crooked politicians and government officials. They occasionally used him for their dirty works, and he got handsomely rewarded for it. Over the years, he had educated himself, which made him go further among his peers. 


He had on a dark blue safari suit, and his legs were wide apart as he sat with his hands clasped together as he watched them come in. He smiled and waved them over to the long couch facing him. Nasir didn't want to stare too long at him, but he quickly noticed a scar on the man's left cheek that looked like something he had gotten from a knife wound. Also, his right eye was gone, replaced by a plastic one. That and his dark black goatee made him look very menacing. 


"Okay, let's get straight to it. How am I getting my money back?" He said, facing Tade.


"Umm, sir. We will pay it back over the course of 12 months, and..." Tade stopped talking when she heard the man chuckle. "I'll stand as a guarantor sir. I will drop my employment details so you can have assurance that the money will be paid."


He looked at her for a few seconds before saying, "I have another offer for you." He took time to admire her a little more before adding, "I have a likeness for girls like you."


"Sir..." Ade started to say, but stopped when he remembered who he was talking to.


"I like slim girls with long legs like yours." What he said made her uncomfortable and she sat up and pulled on the hem of her gown. "If you agree to become my mistress I'll cancel the debt."


Nasir looked from Ade to Tade. Both had shocked looks on their faces. They were offended at what he was proposing, but they were also shocked he would let go of such a huge amount of money for something like that. 


"We'll find a way to pay the debt within 6 months sir." Tade said, with a near angry look on her face.


"I can't wait that long." He said and looked at his watch. "I want my money paid in full 30 days from now."


"Sir, that's too short. We just..."


"End of discussion." He said firmly, cutting her off as he got off his seat. "I have a big event tonight, you should stick around. It's going to be epic." He was about to head out when he stopped. "Wait, you..." He said, pointing at Nasir. "You did real good with the Gorilla earlier on."


"Oh. Umm, yeah I guess so sir."


"You know a lot about Gorillas?"


"I know a lot about animals in general sir."


The man looked at Nasir for about a minute before heading back to take a seat. He looked down, and played with his goatee for a second before saying, "Can you please stand up.” He said and Nasir slowly got up. "Impressive physique." The man said, examining Nasir as if at an auction for slaves. 


Nasir sat down after a few awkward moments of standing. There was silence in the room as Mr. Ahmed appeared to be in deep thought. "You're the driver that brought them here, right?"


'Yes sir." Nasir answered. 


"How would you like to make some money tonight?" They all sat up, wondering what the man was trying to say. "99 men have already entered for the competition, and I was having a headache looking for the 100th man?"


"Wait, are you trying to do what I'm thinking?" Ade said under his breath.


"Yes I am. 100 men versus a gorilla."


"What the hell." Nasir cussed under his breath and Tade started taking deep breaths. 


"He might be able to save you guys?" The man said with a smile on his face. "If he agrees to be a participant, I will cancel the debt, and he will still get his participation fee in full."


The room was awkwardly quiet. Everyone was deep in thought. Ade was shocked at first, but the fact that all his problems could be wiped out if the Uber driver entered into the competition gave him some hope for a fresh start. Tade was thinking of how dangerous gorillas could be and how it would be a bloody sight if this competition did happen. Nasir was shocked at first, but eventually started thinking maybe he had gotten into this situation for a reason. This could be the universe giving me an opportunity to level up in life, he thought to himself. And lastly, Mr. Ahmen was thinking of how long it would take before Nasir agreed to be in the competition. From his experience dealing with all sorts of men, he already knew Nasir would agree in the end. 


"The prize for participation is fifty thousand dollars." He saw their faces light up when he dropped the number, and he knew the basic human instinct was now at work. It made him smile. "All you have to do is last till the end of the competition.”


Even though the act was a dangerous one, the money still felt too good to be true. Fifty thousand dollars was equivalent to 75 million naira. That would practically change his life overnight. But he was thinking how the man was going to be able to pay 100 people that amount. 


As if reading his mind, the man continued with, "Just like a football game, there are big time sponsors in the background that have already paid me to make this happen." The man robbed his brow for a few seconds before adding, "To make things interesting and competitive, the first person to hit the gorilla would get double the pay. And for each time a man hits the gorilla, he gets a thousand dollars added to his money." Nasir's heart was racing; he couldn’t believe he was actually now seriously considering getting into the competition. 


Mr. Ahmed got up now, a smile on his face. "So, are you in?" He's said, with his eyes focused on Nasir. 


Without looking up, Nasir said, "I'm in sir." Tade turned to look at him in disbelief. 


"That's great." The man said and stretched out his hand at Nasir. "Trust me, you made the right choice." The man added as Nasir stood up to shake his hand.

(Chapter 3)


Nasir was in the driver's seat of his car, scrolling through breaking news online when the rain started. Slow thudding sound of rain drops like drums beating, and then the passenger's front door swung open. "Can I come in?" She said while leaning in, out of breath.


"Come in! Come in!." He said and she quickly got in the car next to him, droplets of water on her bare arms and face. She pulled out a handkerchief from her brown leather cross body bag and dabbed at her wet skin with it. 


He watched as her eyes travelled from his car air freshener hanging on the AC vent to the car’s central console. In a restless mode, she picked up a cylindrical air freshener that was in the bottle holder spot, smelt it and smiled. "You like the smell?"


"Yeah." She said and leaned forward to take a scent of the second air freshener. "This smells good too."


"Yeah, I just wanted a unique smell, that's why I have the two."


"Your car is pretty neat and put together."


"Thanks."


There was a little silence for a while before she said, "Can I ask you a question?"


"Go ahead."


"How tall are you?"


"I'm 6 foot 5."


"Hmm..."


"Why did you ask?"


"When...earlier, when the gorilla charged at you, and it was right in front of you, standing, you towered over it pretty well."


"Oh..."


"Yeah, it was...it was really a scary experience, but seeing how much taller you were, gave me some confidence to stand still."


"Well, thank God it didn't attack, cos it would have dragged me around like a rag doll."


She laughed a little before saying, "You're funny."


"Gorilla's are really strong. They are terrifyingly strong.”


She kept laughing as she said, "I'm sorry, visualizing what you said about the gorilla dragging you around is just so comical."


He chuckled and looked at her. He didn't know the type of trouble her brother was in, but he was glad he could make her laugh, even if for just a while. She looked at him looking at her and smiled. "Thanks for earlier."


"You're welcome." He said and asked her if she knew why the man would own a gorilla. He didn't want to go straight to asking why they had come to see the man, and felt she would tell him herself as they eased into the gorilla story. He wasn't prepared for what he heard next. She said some men use gorillas for money rituals as it was the closest mammal to a human. 


It explained why the man would be living in the middle of nowhere, but he still felt there were many people involved for this whole thing to be about a money ritual sacrifice. 


Their conversation veered off the gorilla talk, to normal everyday life. She asked a lot of questions about his life, and tried not to go too personal. But it was clear she was interested in him. He didn't know if it was because they had just shared a life and death experience. But he felt a strong connection to her. 


After a while, she started opening up to him about herself, and he realized that she and Ade were not just brother and sister, they were actually twins. Ade had gotten into a money problem with the man they had come to see. He had invested the man's twenty million Naira in a stock that crashed, and now the man wanted his money back by any means necessary. The reason Tade had come was to work out a repayment plan with the man. Being a banker, they felt he would take her word for it. 


The thought of owing twenty million naira made Nasir shudder. Now he understood why they had been going at each other all day. That was a lot of money for people in their mid twenties. His mind wandered off on other things as she explained to him how she and her brother were planning on selling off a few assets to pay off the debt, as the man was notorious for making people disappear mysteriously. He sat up when she said that so nonchalantly. It felt like he was hearing about a villain from a James Bond movie. 


From the corner of his eye, he saw Mr. Kazeem approaching. "You can come now." He said to Tade as he stopped a few feet  from the car. She looked at Nasir before slowly getting out of the car. Just as Mr. Kazeem turned around, ready to lead her into the house, his phone rang and he stopped. He picked up and spoke in it for a few seconds before disconnecting it and putting it back into his pants pocket. He slowly turned to face the car, bent a little to be in Nasir's view before saying, "Mr. Ahmed would like to see you too."

Chapter 7- Nothing Was The Same


I had become more of a loner after we were sent home for the school riot and destruction on campus. After we paid for the consequences of our actions, some hostels were reopened, but not every student felt the need to come back on campus. They preferred to keep coming from home for the rest of the semester. 


Once in a while, especially as we got closer to the end of semester examinations, I would stay with some classmates that had gotten rooms so I could study properly. I was in class one night, copying notes of a class I had missed when I started hearing murmuring and giggling from some of my female classmates sitting all the way in front of the class. They were four, and the one that was doing most of the talking was Jane. She was a girl I had always admired from afar for her height and fashion style. They would turn around, look at me, talk to themselves in low voices, and then laugh. I ignored it at first, but the more they did it, the more curious I got to know what they were talking about. They were girls I rarely talked to, so I couldn't just walk up to ask them what was going on. 


After getting done with my reading for the night, I decided to listen to a little music before going to my hostel. I pulled my metallic gray discman out of my book bag and carefully untangled the earphones. Music has always been a way to go somewhere else mentality for me, especially since I recently became a one man army. While bopping my head to some hip hop tunes, I saw from the corner of my eye that one of the girls was saying something to me. I removed the earpiece and asked her what she had said. She repeated herself, asking what music I was listening to. Before I could tell her what it was, she had already gotten up and was coming my way. The rest of her friends followed. They came and sat all around me. After telling Jane, the leader of the pack what music I was listening to, it got awkwardly quiet, but they didn't leave. They just kept smiling and staring at me. I was about to ask Jane what was really going on when she said, "Kunle, you look really handsome tonight." I was dumbfounded. That was definitely not what I was expecting her to say. I smiled and said thank you. 


These were girls I had known for three years, and they had never really looked my way,  till tonight. It almost felt like I had taken my bath with a special type of soap that day. "So...how long have you and Victoria been dating?"Jane asked. She had her head resting on her arms on the table, and smiled up at me, waiting for my response. The rest of her friends also looked eager to hear what I had to say. 


I had a puzzled look on my face for a few seconds before saying, "Victoria and I are just friends."


"Don't lie, you guys are dating." She said with a smile as she got up abruptly and left with her friends. She turned around once, and I could tell from the look on her face that she had not believed what I said.


The whole interaction didn't make sense to me. She was so sure I was dating someone I wasn't dating, and yet she was flirting with me. I guessed my value had gone up in their eyes because they heard a rumor I was dating a pretty girl from another department. I was wondering who had started this rumor, then I remembered the girl that had greeted Victoria and I the last time I was at her place. 


A few days later, I drove down to see Victoria after not hanging out for a while. We were outside her hostel, sitting in the backseat of my car, and she was hardly talking. After about an hour of asking what was wrong, she finally confessed that she and her boyfriend had an argument over me. The guy wasn't comfortable with our friendship. I had totally forgotten she had a boyfriend till that very moment, because we had spent time together all over campus, for months and this had never come up. The girl that saw us together outside her house must have spiced up the story, because I didn't understand how it spread so fast, and what the big deal was. It wasn't like Victoria was seen leaving my house. 


As much as I liked her and wanted her to be mine, I didn't want to be the reason she was caught up in a scandal. So I gave her a little space. We saw less and less of each other, and we spoke less on the phone too. It was difficult watching our friendship suffer, but there was nothing I could do about it. I felt the ball was in her court.

Good day to you all. I have decided to complete this story after abandoning it for so long. There are 2 chapters left. I will post the next chapter in a few minutes.

You can go back and read from the book 1 to understand the story better.

Book 1 (https://www.nairaland.com/4960053/diary-shy-college-kid-year)

Book 2 (https://www.nairaland.com/5196882/diary-shy-college-kid-year)

Chapter 2


It felt like time had slowed down, or his brain was working faster than usual. Within a few milliseconds, he had gone through the possible outcomes of the scenario he currently found himself in and most of them looked scary. He decided to go with the one that meant he had a chance at surviving. "Don't run. Don't move." He said very slowly to Tade, even as the gorilla's ferocious charge intimidated every fibre of his being. Ade and Tade had started running off initially, but Tade froze at some point. And she was currently behind him. She instinctively looked down, and held on tightly to him from behind. 


The gorilla didn't slow down, but Nasir knew there was no other option. If he decided to run with the girl, the gorilla would attack them and do major damage. He avoided eye contact, and made his body still. The silverback gorilla came to a halting stop just a few inches from them. The apparent lack of fear in him had made it a bit disappointed, and as it turned around to gallop away, Nasir saw something on its back. He looked closer and saw it was a tranquilizer dart. The gorilla took a few steps towards the driveway before it made a grunting sound and fell to the floor. The loud thudding sound its body made when it hit the ground sent shockwaves through Nasir's body. 


Even though the gorilla was down. the girl held on closely to him tighter. It was then he realized how petrified she was. Her body vibrated, and her voice shook as she tried to speak. He could feel her heartbeat as her chest pressed against his back. "It's okay now." He said as he slowly got out of her grip and turned to face her. "It's okay now." He repeated again. 


A man appeared from behind the truck holding a tranquilizer gun. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a white t-shirt. "Did it hurt you?" He said as he slowly approached them, with his eyes on the gorilla. 


Nasir turned to face him before saying, "No. We're okay."


Tade was finally able to speak, and she said "thank you" repeatedly; her voice still shaken. Ade appeared a few seconds later, with a worried look on his face when he saw the state his sister was in. And then when he saw the gorilla on the floor, he shouted a curse word and appeared shaken for a few seconds, before he got his composure and came to his sister's aide. He held her by the hand and led her to a concrete bench by the side of the fountain.


A few men had joined the man that had shot the gorilla; they were helping to lift the silverback on a wooden plank that looked like a worn-out door. It took four of them to successfully lift the gorilla on the plank. Nasir was still stunned as he watched them walk away. Even though outwardly he appeared composed, his mind was racing, joggling through a number of what if's. He also wondered why they had transported a gorilla to this isolated location. He had heard of rich people owning exotic animals like ostriches, and horses, but a gorilla? thought came to his mind, and he shook it off. He didn't believe what he was thinking could be true. He didn't want to believe someone was stupid enough to pull it off, or get people to participate in something like that. 


Nasir shook his head and headed towards the siblings. He needed to try and find out the real reason they had come to this place. Usually, he never wanted to know anything about his passengers' business, but this scenario was quite different. He still had to drive back to where he picked them from and he needed to be sure his life would be safe in the interim. They were back arguing again, and he slowly changed his course to the side of the house. The back of the house was visible now, and it was about two acres of empty flat land. There were three buildings to the left far ahead; two duplexes, and a bungalow. In the middle was a crane, which seemed out of place. And to the far right were tents covering about 100 by 50 feet of land. His gaze went back to where the crane was, and he saw that there was some sort of large circular underground reservoir right next to it. The whole setup looked strange.


Thick clouds started to gather up in the sky and he walked back to where the siblings were seated. They lowered their voices when he got close enough to them, and then stopped talking all together. From what he could gather so far, Ade was in some sort of trouble, but he couldn't tell what type of trouble would have him bring his sister to this place. Nasir took the silence as a cue to ask them questions, and just as he cleared his throat and was about to speak, Mr Kazeem, the man with the Oyo tribal marks started approaching them and Ade got up. The man stopped half way and waved Ade over. Tade also stood up but the man said out loud, "Only Ade for now." Tade sighed and sat back on the bench. 


"Don't worry, this won't take too long." Ade turned to say to Nasir. There was fear evident on his face that Nasir hadn't seen there even when they had the encounter with the gorilla. Tade turned to stare at his sister for a few seconds before walking off. The look felt like a goodbye look and it got Nasir worried.

Rhayne:
Very interesting. When I read "a loud bang", thought it was gunshots, lol, definitely didn't see this coming. Well done, looking forward to more updates

Thanks for your comment. Not only are you the first to comment, you pointed out something specific that intrigued you about the story so far. This is a source of motivation for me.

(Chapter 1)


The inside of the car was quiet aside from the humming sound of the air conditioner. Nasir loved the time between passenger pickups, when he could gather his thoughts before the next stranger hopped into his car, and it was time to expect the unexpected again. He sometimes felt like the lady of the night, who could never tell what the temperament of her next customer was going to be like. Since he lost his bank teller job, he had found driving the best means to pay the bills. The only other thing he could do for money was be a club bouncer because of his towering height and build. But the driving gig hadn’t disappointed him thus far.


The door opened and slammed so fast and it jerked him back to reality. He turned around to see who had gotten into his car. It was a slender young lady about his age, with her hands folded, and a frown on her face. Her braids were properly parked to the back. With minimal makeup, she had a natural beauty to her.  "Good afternoon." He said, and before she could respond, the door on the other side opened, and a guy got in. He hadn't even been properly seated before they started an argument. They were both dressed in the mid twenties, probably a few years younger than Nasir. As he thought of how to ask if he could start the trip, the front door swung open and someone else came in. He was a middle aged man, with visible tribal marks on his face that ran vertically on both sides of his chicks. He greeted Nasir respectfully with a bow of the head, and asked him to start the trip. 


The destination was off the grid, a new site that wasn't on the map.The only reason Nasir had agreed to the ride was because he was very familiar with the area. A few years ago, he had bought two plots of land there, which he used for a poultry farm, till the country's inflation made the poultry business less profitable, and he had to shut down the place. 


About ten minutes into the journey, the car got quiet, and Nasir turned on the radio. It was on the oldies station, and he left it there. Not like they cared for any kind of music, he just wanted to do something about the awkward silence in the car. He took a quick glance at the rearview mirror and saw the girl staring at him. At first he couldn't tell what the look on her face was; whether she was pissed at him for turning on the radio, or she was curious to know the kind of person her driver was. But when he looked again, he recognized the look. He had seen it many times. The lusting stares from girls that found him attractive. A strong jawline, pointy nose, smooth black skin; these were qualities he possessed that some girls found irresistible. 


Nasir found it weird that she could give him that kind of look with her boyfriend sitting right next to her in the car. Maybe she was done with  him and was ready to move on. He faced the road, and his mind wandered off. 


He had been driving for two years now and had become numb to the people that got into his car. He had very little conversation with them, and focused more on getting them to their destination as quickly as possible. Whether good looking or not, he was never moved by their looks; all they were to him was his passengers. But this particular girl had him daydreaming about spending time with her. Her eyes had spoken to him for the couple of seconds they had stared at each other, and it felt like she had telepathically told him she wanted him. 


He saw it quick enough to slow down and not run it over. The girl leaned forward and asked, "Why are we slowing down?" Before Nasir could respond, she said, "Jesus! Is that a snake?"


"Yep! A python."


"What the f..." The boyfriend said under his breath as he also leaned forward to get a glimpse of the magnificent brownish-gray rock python that was crossing the road. 


"Wait, how come you're not shocked?" She said, directing the question to Nasir.


"I used to drive down this road every day a couple of years back, and I would encounter them crossing at least once a week."


"Oh! Wow!"


"Yeah. The Oba prohibited people from killing them so they move around freely in the community."


"Interesting." The girl said as she scooted to the window to have a good look at the python as the car slowly drove away.



..........


The property had a long drive way, like the type you would see in old Hollywood movies. He couldn't tell the extent of the land because of the line of tall trees on both sides of the road. Even though it was broad daylight, it felt a little eerie. After driving for about a minute, the magnificent building came into view. The circular part of the driveway had a fountain in the middle. It felt like a dream, not because of how beautiful the building was, but because it didn't make sense. It was a modern glass house in a village-like community. 


They stepped out of the car one by one, admiring the house. The middle aged man didn't seem phased, it appeared like he had been here before. "Wait here." He said before heading towards the back of the house. The clear field behind the house stretched as far as the eyes could see.


Nasir noticed a truck with a small wooden container attached to it by the side of the house; the type of container horses would be transported in. He squinted to see if he could notice movement inside, but he didn't see anything. Tade, and Ade were leaning on the side of the car talking, peacefully this time. He had gotten to know their names during the course of the trip, and after studying them closely, he concluded they were siblings, rather than lovers. 


A sudden bang sound made him jump where he stood. He looked towards the truck and felt the container vibrate with the next loud sound. "What the hell!" Ade said behind him. They were three more quick successions of bangs and then everything was silent. A few seconds later, the silence was shattered by a thunderous loud sound as a gorilla broke through the container. It stumbled to the ground, but quickly got its composure. It looked around, and its eyes fell on them. And then it started charging towards them at frightening speed.

Good day to you all. This story has 8 short chapters, and I plan on posting a chapter a day for the next 8 days. Depending on how traffic on the story is, I might skip some days, but I should be done posting by the 11th day.

The first chapter will be posted in a few hours.

Literature section stories are back on front page. Nice.

chinedusamson:
Omo money wey I de owe them don increase from 480k to 690k just in 17 days

Hmm...where you able to pay? What happened?

Chapter 2 (Can It Be All So Simple)


Joshua was seated in the front passenger seat of Idris's car, just outside Juliet's house. Her street was a long dirt road, filled with newly built houses, or houses under construction. The neighborhood was just outside the estate Idris and Joshua lived in.


Every now and then, a car would drive by, but people rarely walked by on foot. So when he finally caught the figure of someone from the car's side mirror, he paid rapt attention. He quickly discovered that the tall and chubby woman dressed in black actually had a little toddler beside her. The boy couldn't have been more than 3 years old, and he was in a dark blue school uniform. He seemed to be a spoiled brat, as he couldn't be controlled. He would walk close to the gutter and not listen when the woman who seemed to be his mom called him over


When they got to the side of Idris’s car, the boy decided he didn't want to walk again, and leaned on the Corolla. The lady apologized to Joshua before pulling him off the car. While walking with him on her shoulder, he kept yanking at her hair, till she finally dropped him. He punched her leg when he was on his feet, and when he decided to kick her, he missed, swung around, and fell on his butt. It cracked Joshua up.


After trying her best to get him off the ground, and the boy resisting with all his might, the mother left him and kept walking, slowly. Just then, Idris emerged from a house close to where the boy was seated with a cigarette in his hand. He stopped to inhale, and exhale, before starting the walk towards the car. The boy, still on the ground, had his head tilted, looking up at Idris. When Idris was just about to get close to him, he got up and ran towards his mom, crying. Joshua cracked up for a second time.


As Idris approached the car, walking with a bounce, Joshua's mind wandered off again. He had agreed to the plan, even though he had to pay double of what he had initially given Idris. The idea Idris came up with fascinated him, and he felt it was worth that much. Even if it didn't work out, he knew he was about to have a really great time. 


Just before he got into the driver's side of the car, Idris let his cigarette fall to the floor, and squashed it with his foot. "Damn! It's hot in here." He said as he turned the key in the ignition. A few seconds after, he turned on the car's AC and wound up the car's windows. "Did Juliet come out at any point while I was gone?" He asked, and Joshua shook his head. He pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket, and as he was about to dial her number, the gate slowly swung open. 


A dog emerged first, wagging its tail, and leaping in the air. And then Juliet stepped out, talking on the phone, and trying to avoid the Alsatian from messing up her clothes. She had on a simple, short tiny strapped sky blue gown, clinging to her body. Black sunglasses were placed up on her forehead. Sun rays reflected off her glossed up succulent looking lips, and her brown skin was glistening under the sunlight. Joshua got excited just looking at her, and wondered how Idris was able to convince her to agree to the plan so quickly


Still talking on the phone, she made a hand gesture for the dog to get in, and it reluctantly did so, while shaking its rear, and wagging its tail. Her voice got louder and louder as she approached the car, and the feminine sound of it turned Joshua on. Just before she got in the car she said bye to the person she was talking to, and ended the call. "Sorry for the delay guys. So...what's up?" She said with a smile on her face, looking from Idris to Joshua, who were both turned around in their seats, looking at her.


"You look...really good." Joshua said.


"Awwww! Thank you babe." She said with a smile, and it left Joshua stunned for a second. Idris turned to look at Joshua with a smile on his face, before turning back to Juliet. "So...are we heading to the party now?" Juliet said and looked at her wristwatch. 


"Yea, but first, I need you guys to get into character." He said and she smiled as she turned to look at Joshua. In a seductive manner, she patted the side of her seat with her eyes on him all along. Joshua smiled and turned to look at Idris, who then motioned with his head for him to join her in the backseat. This was all meant to be acting, but she was doing such a damn good job it felt real. Joshua laughed lightly before opening the door and getting out of the car. He strengthened up the white polo top he had on, and adjusted his belt before proceeding to get in the back seat of the car. 


Sitting side by side, Juliet slowly rested her head on his shoulder. Joshua was mesmerised by her smooth and spotless skin for a few seconds. His eyes traveled from her arms, to her legs, and back to her legs before slowly holding her hand. She took it a step further by intertwining their fingers together. Idris smiled at them from the front seat. Even Idris himself was surprised at how perfectly they meshed together. "Perfect! Just stay like that." Idris said before turning around. He put the car in drive, looked at them one last time in the rearview mirror before driving off.