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Ciara9251:
This is what I call comments, man. Just look at how everyone is interactive. I love your story, Mr. All stories of yours...

Thanks.

Ciara9251:
22 likes ooo. God when will I reach this stage?

Lol! The story got on Front Page, that's how I got 22 likes. Literature section stories/posts were getting on front page back then. But still, you can build a following, and with time, get even more than 22 likes. I wish you all the best.

Chapter 12

As he headed to the lounge where he was to pick up Bayo, he felt great driving the Mercedes Benz. Even though the car wasn’t his, he had a feeling of success. For many years, it always felt like a dark cloud was hanging over his head, but it was starting to feel like his sunshine had come. He caught his reflection in the rear-view mirror as he switched lanes and the person staring back at him was far from the person that jumped into the Lagos lagoon a few weeks ago. He had gained some weight, and his cheekbones weren’t obvious anymore. He no longer looked scrawny. His skin looked clearer and fresher, from the great home cooked from Bola, and from always being in air-conditioned rooms and cars. Life was getting better for him.

John had spent a total of four weeks with his friends, and he was beginning to feel like he was infringing on their privacy. As happy as they seemed together, there were times he had heard them arguing in their room. Couples have disagreements once in a while, but he wished he didn’t have to be here to witness theirs. He was beginning to miss his humble abode. Every time he brought up the topic of moving back home, they would ask him to stay another week. Bayo had been giving him cash every other day for anything he might need; five thousand today, seven thousand tomorrow. As good as it felt having money in his wallet, he wasn’t really the type to depend on anyone. He needed to start making his own money.

……….

John was seated with Bayo and two of his friends in the dimly lit lounge, discussing old school hip hop. They were in the smoking section of the lounge, with the scent of lavender air-freshener and cigarette smoke hanging in the air. A portrait of Bob Marley hung on the grey painted wall behind John, and opposite him was a big screen TV playing rap music videos, with the sound on mute. Two black leather couches, face to face, separated by a dark wooden table; this was the setting in the four corners of the room.

John had thought he was just heading there to pick up his friend, but Bayo wasn’t ready to go home just yet. He had initially started getting bored when the guys talked football, but when the discussion switched to Hip Hop, he almost took center stage in the discussion. That was something he had been a fan of since he was a kid, riding around with his dad, listening to 80s and early 90s rap music. He had gone from stealing his dad’s tapes, to buying his own. And as the years progressed, he saw the transition from tapes to CDs, to MP3. His passion never wavered over the years, and he started writing about Hip Hop at the university. He was like a Hip Hop historian; there was nothing that happened in Hip Hop from the 90s to the current day that he didn’t know about.

From the corner of his eye, he had noticed a man staring at him at another corner of the lounge. The guy’s stares made him really uncomfortable, and he started fumbling his words. He wasn’t homophobic, but was never really cool around queer people. Then the guy whispered something to his friends, got off his sit and started heading towards were they were seated. He was bald, with aviator sunglasses, had on jeans, a white polo top, and a dark colored blazer on top of the top. He looked like a middle aged man trying to look younger than he was.

He greeted everyone at the table, and turned to ask if he could talk to John for a second. Bayo was a bit tipsy and joked about the guy trying to talk to John like John was a woman. Everyone laughed. The man also laughed, and asked if he could sit at their table. One of Bayo’s friends sitting opposite John moved a bit for him, and he sat down. He cleared his throat before saying, “I’m really impressed by your knowledge of hip hop music, especially old school hip hop.”
“Oh, thanks.” John said and relaxed.
“I…I…” The man was about to say something but stopped to look around as if not really comfortable saying what he was about to say in front of the rest of the people there. But then he shrugged and went on to say, “My partners and I run a network that host podcasts, and we’ve recently been looking for someone with your type of knowledge.” He stopped for a few seconds to look into space. The whole room was quiet now, waiting on his next word. “You know what a podcast is, right?” He asked John.
“Yes. Sure.”
“Well. I don’t know what you do, but if you can start a Hip Hop podcast for the weekends, we can sign you on.”
“Hmm. Tell me more.”
“Wait, hope there is money in this business?” Bayo cut in.
“Of course sir.” The guy said with a light laugh. “All he has to do is talk about Hip Hop like he has been doing here, we handle everything else.”
“Everything like?” john asked.
“Umm! We set up the studio to your taste, get all the equipment, cameras, microphones, microphone stands, etc.” He stopped for a second to rub the back of his neck, as everyone at the table waited quietly for him to continue. “We also handle the promotion, marketing, your branding on and offline. Basically, we take care of everything. All you have to do is be yourself, and talk about what you love.”
“And he gets paid?” Bayo asked.
“Yes. We have contracts with different podcasters on our platform.”
“Like how much are we talking about?” Bayo asked.
“Well, I can’t talk about that here right now. But, what I can say is that it would be worth his time.”
John’s heart started racing. He didn’t know this would be his reaction to a potential life changer. It just felt like he was in a dream, or that he was being pranked. Because of his silence, Bayo took over the conversation with the man, asking the guy about the name of his company, and wanting to know more about the business module. It was obvious the whole thing also seemed too good to be true to Bayo, but John knew enough about the podcast business to know that there was money in it if the structure was solid.
“You can think about it, and call me so we schedule a proper meeting.” The guy said, pointing his business card at John.
“Okay.” John said, and collected the white card, still in awe with the whole situation.
“Alright. Thanks for your time. The guy said and walked away.
The place was quiet for a few seconds after the guy left, and then they went back to talking hip hop music. But John’s mind was far away in the land of what ifs.

Chapter 11

The human mind is more powerful than a lot of us realize. It has two phases; the conscious, and the subconscious. The conscious mind, which we use for critical thinking is just the tip of the ice berg. And the subconscious, where habits, beliefs and programs are stored is the bulk of the ice berg; buried underneath the surface. John had learned that his problem was buried in his subconscious mind, where his debt program was stored. He had to input a new program of abundance in his subconscious mind to counter the negative program of debt. To do this, Dr. Jane had thought him how to reprogram his mind by the use of auto-hypnosis.

When he first heard the word, he thought it was going to be something very complex or spooky; but it turned out to be as simple as going to bed with his ear phones plugged to his ears, while his phone played his new program. A program he had recorded himself, in his own voice and words. The goal was to get his new program to the subconscious mind repeatedly till the subconscious accepts it. And the only way to do that was to bypass the guard at the entrance of the subconscious mind; the conscious mind. When we drift off to sleep, the conscious mind no longer functions and this creates an easy access to the subconscious mind. This is why auto-hypnosis works.

‘Keep the words describing your new program short,’ Dr. Jane had said. So he kept it down to seven words; ‘money comes to me easily and effortlessly.’ He had been programming his mind every night for three weeks now, with no physical results yet, but he could already feel it in the debt of his soul that a positive change was coming. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but it was building up within him and even adding to his confidence.
John had just finished yet another session with Dr. Jane, and as he made his way to the exit of the mall, he saw her walking in front of him. Her black camisole dress went down to her ankles, fitting her slender body just right. The color of the gown was a contrast to the white walls of the mall’s corridor, so she was easy to spot out. He wondered if she had super powers too, because he had left her behind in her office, and now she was in front of him. Then recalled he had stopped by a store to buy a six-pack of Irish Spring soap and two Old Spice deodorants. Her head was bowed, and she was walking slowly as if going through something on her phone. He didn’t want to shout out her name, so he hastened his pace.

He tapped her arm and smiled when he got by her side. Her facial expression went from a frown, to a smile within a second when she realized it was John. Then she toned down the smile when it was obvious she was happier to see him than she would want to reveal. ‘Oh my God, I love his height and the way that blue denim shirt looks on him, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. I hope he can’t tell I’m attracted to him. She thought to herself as she ran her hands through her braids, making sure they were neatly packed to the back.
“Sorry, hope I didn’t startle you.” He said as they walked along.
“No. It’s okay.” She said in her American accent. “You did some shopping after you left my office.” She said, looking at the white paper bag in John’s hand.
“Oh, yeah, just a little this and that.” He said, holding up the bag and examining it, as if he wasn’t the one that had bought its content. “You’re heading home?”
“Yes. I’m trying to order a ride, but network is really terrible right now.”
“Oh, I can you drop you off.” He said, and she stopped for a second. “Or does it go against your doctor-patient rules?”
“No.” She said with a smile on her face. “My house is quite far from here.”
“As long as it’s in Lagos, there won’t be a problem.”
“Egbeda.”
“That’s perfect. I’m actually going that way.”
She laughed a little before saying, “I’ll be okay. You don’t have to go out of your way.”
“I’m serious. I’m actually going to pick up a friend from a lounge around there. It’s his car I’m driving.”
“Oh.” She said and looked up at him for a few seconds before saying, “Okay. I won’t mind a ride then.”
“Cool.” He said, and they started walking again.
John led the way as they exited the mall, and walked silently through the car park. He was trying to figure out what would be appropriate to talk about, so he kept quiet. Today was their third session, and he had gotten really comfortable talking to her, but that was professional talk, not casual conversations. He slowed down when he got close to Tunde’s black Mercedes.
“We’re here.” He said as he pressed the key fob to unlock the car.
“Nice ride.” She said as she walked over to the passenger’s side of the car.
“Yeah, it’s cooler than I thought it would be.” John said as he got into the car. He pressed the push to start button and the car came to life. She got in, and there was silence as he waited for the car to warm up.
“So, before we start this long ride, I have one request.”
“Okay?”
“No therapy talks.”
“Oh! Okay. That’s fine by me.” He said with a smile before backing out of the spot he was parked in.

……….

They spoke all through the journey, and he got to know a whole lot about her. She was born and raised in North Dakota, USA. In a city called Minot, close to the Canadian-United States border. Even though she had visited Nigeria every Christmas since she was born, she only relocated to Nigeria about three years ago. Now, she traveled to the US during holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas to see her family, but other than that, she was proud to call Nigeria her new home. ‘In Nigeria, I am not in the minority group. You have no idea how great that makes me feel.’ She had said when John asked her why she had chosen to live here, instead of a country with a better living condition.

According to what John was looking at on the GPS screen, they were now just a few minutes from her house, and the car had gotten quiet. John switched on the car stereo, and a song was just ending on the radio station he was tuned in to. When the beat of the next song came on, she started gently moving her head to the beat with her eyes closed. It was Brandy’s 1994 classic, ‘I Wanna Be Down.’ The mid-tempo song with the thunderous beat also got him in the mood to move his body to the rhythm, but it was really funny seeing her dancing to the song. She seemed like an entirely different person from Dr. Jane he had been having therapy sessions with for the past couple of weeks.

She shocked him further by singing along to the song. ‘I would like to get to know if I could be; the kind of girl that you could down for.’ She stopped singing and turned to face him before saying, “Hey, I don’t mean…I mean, the lyrics are not meant for you.” He laughed at her, and she went on to say, “You know what I mean. I’m just singing along to the song.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He said with a smile.
“I love this song.” She said as she went back to moving to the beat of the song.
“I do too. I’m surprised you know even now the song. I was a teen when this dropped.”
“I was probably like 5 when I first heard it.”
“Hmm…Okay.”
“My twin sisters played it all the time. They were in highs school at the time.”
“Oh. Okay. That makes sense now.”
They were by the gate to her street now, and as John made a move to drive in, she turned to him and said, “You can drop me off here, thank you.”
“Oh. Are you sure? I’m already here; I could as well go all the way.”
“I don’t want my aunt thinking I’ve brought a husband home.” John laughed lightly, and she went on to add, “She keeps asking me, ‘Jane, when are you bringing husband home?” Her attempt at using an Igbo accent made John laugh some more. He couldn’t believe this was the same person he had been seeing for the last couple of weeks professionally. He guessed therapists too need someone they can talk to about anything.
“Thanks a lot for the ride. I really appreciate it.” She said as she opened the car door.
“You’re welcome. I really enjoyed the conversation.” He said and she smiled. As she got out of the car, he said, “We’re seeing next week Thursday, right?”
“Yes.” She said as she shut the car door and leaned on the window. “Yes; same time. Try and come early. You came late today.” She said.
“Yeah…sorry about that, it won’t happen again.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” He said and watched her walk away. She turned around for a second after walking passed the red street gate and waved at him, with an expressionless look on her face. He smiled and nodded at her driving off.

EkopSparoAyara:
Just the Sunday that passed, I was about calling your attention to this story.. I just let it slide, little did I know that you were preparing something..

John needs to share the new program Dr Jane showed him, someone out there could be needing it..

BRAVO KAYO80

Coming up.

Ann2012:
A solution will be available soon

Thanks for the update Boss

Thanks

Chapter 10

There was heavy traffic heading back to Bola and Tunde’s house after the therapy session. He sat at the back of the black Camry he had hired, relaxed and not at all bothered by the rush hour traffic, because he was still basking in the euphoria he had felt during the session with Dr. Jane. He had finally realized what was wrong with him all these years. Damn, she’s good, he thought to him.

After relaxing him with meditation, she had asked him to speak freely about the problems he was facing. He poured out his heart to her for about half an hour, feeling great finally having someone to talk to; someone that was professional enough not to judge him.

She went on to ask him a series of questions. At first, he thought it would all lead nowhere. It seemed pointless, till he found himself talking about an incidence that happened when he was 13, in secondary school. As he spoke about the incidence, he was gripped with fear. It was as if he was reliving it all over again.
When John was in JSS3, he was a video game freak. Back then in the 90s, it was all about Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo in his neighborhood. John had the Sega Genesis and he would play the video game every chance he got. He would sometimes run away from school and sneak into his house after his parents had gone off to work, just to play the game. His obsession was quite unhealthy.

He got in trouble when he did a cartridge swap with one of his classmates; Mortal Kombat for his The Little Mermaid game. He went ahead to lend a boy in his neighborhood the Mortal Kombat when he went off to boarding school, and that was the end of it. He never got the game back. It was always one excuse or the other. The owner of the Mortal Kombat game, although in the same class with John, was older and two times his size. After a while, he started beating up John every time he asked for his game and didn’t get any tangible answer from John.

The boy later asked John to pay up three thousand Naira if he knew he couldn’t get him the game. That was a lot of money for John at that age. He had never even owned a thousand Naira in his entire life at that point. This tormented him for weeks, and months. The thought of owing 3,000 Naira was on his mind twenty four hours of the day, seven days a week. That was all he could think of, because he knew another beating was coming up the next time he ran into his tormentor.

Dr. Jane let him know the vicious cycle of always being in financial debt started with that incidence. She explained to him that the subconscious mind was like a tape player with many programs; each program controlled a part our lives. Programs in the subconscious mind are programmed in the mind over a period of time. When we have a particular thought over and over, it creates a neural pathway in our brain, and a program is formed. A habit is formed.

One of John’s programs was recorded during the period he was in debt of three thousand Naira, and that program had played itself out throughout his life till date; over and over. No matter what he did, as long as that program was still in his subconscious mind, he would always end up in debt. The only way to get out of that loop was to record a new program in his mind that would counter the negative program of debt. And she had thought him how to do that. It all made sense now, and he wondered why he was hearing this for the first time.

His phone beeped in his pocket and he realized he hadn’t touched it or had the urge to check it for about half an hour. That was how joyous he was. He pulled out the black Android phone and saw the notification was a text from one of the loan apps he was owed, reminding him of the amount of days he been defaulting. For the first time in a long while, he seemed unfazed by this. He still didn’t know how he was going to pay up the debt, but he was confident a way would present itself very soon.