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They had settled the fight situation quickly as the man’s ego wouldn’t let him stick around longer than necessarily. He just cleaned his nose, got his car and drove off a sober man.

Now they were in the engine-powered canoe that was taken them to Ibeshe, and Janet found herself sitting next to Anthony. The driver of the canoe had done a lot of reshuffling of people’s sitting positions to get the canoe balanced, and Janet found herself sitting next to Anthony. He had changed to a black t-shirt that was a little too small for him, bringing out all his rippling arm muscles. Janet was never into muscular guys, but for some reason, she was sexually drawn to him. They didn’t exchange any words as they had not been introduced, but the sexual tension she was feeling was driving her crazy. She didn’t recognize herself any longer as it was unlike her.

A lot of the others were taking pictures as the canoe sped through the water, but her mind was on controlling her emotions. They cut through water smoothly, and as they took a bend, water started splashing on them. Anthony was at the edge, and in his protective nature, he shielded her from getting wet. She smiled at him, and he smiled back and nodded.

……….

Everyone retired to their individual rooms when they got to the resort. The place had rows of bungalows with dozens of rooms. There was a pool beside the bungalows and a bar that played really loud Nigerian afrobeat music behind the pool. After people freshened up, they came out for food by the beach, before coming back into the resort to swim.

Majority of people got into the pool, but Anthony stayed on the sidelines, sipping from his red cup. Frank had quickly recovered from the beat down he received earlier, and he and Benjamin were cracking jokes in the pool. They were the funny duo. At a point, they faced Anthony, and started pressuring him to get in the pool, till he succumbed to the pressure. He had said he couldn’t swim, but they said the pool was just about 4 feet deep, and at 6’2, he could walk around the pool with no issues.

When he came out in shorts, most of the girls were fixated on his body. Janet also couldn’t help herself. Her eyes were glued on him. He had muscles that looked like they had been carved by an artist. She wasn’t into all that, but what attracted her to him was the fact that he was such a powerful person, but appeared so vulnerable and shy as he got in the pool.

They were playing volleyball in the swimming pool, and he happened to be on her team, by her side of the pool. He relaxed after a while, and even though they had not been introduced formally, they started to have little chit-chat about the sport, and then about swimming. She tried to get him to float, but he wouldn’t let himself go and relax, and it made her laugh how stiff and scared he appeared.

After a while, everyone got out of the pool, and retired to their rooms. She didn’t bring up the cheating issue again when she was alone with Frank, but she wasn’t in the mood for sex, and pushed him away when he made a move on her. They ended up watching music videos on TV till Paul knocked on their door at 9pm to inform them it was time for burn fire and barbecue.

……….

They were by the beach now; everyone was scattered here there, in little clusters of crews. Some couples sharing romantic kisses in dark areas of the beach, Paul and his barbecue crew were working the grill, some couples were strolling around the beach, Benjamin was going from one small gathering to the next, cracking jokes, Anthony was sitting by himself close to the water, and Janet and frank were leaning on an abandoned canoe, not talking to each other.

Frank was restless. She had been with him long enough to know what he was up to. There was a girl that didn’t have a date he had been eyeing all night, and she knew he was looking for a way to get her busy so he could go after the girl. “Anthony!” He shouted out all of a sudden and startled Janet. She lost balance and almost fell into the canoe. Frank grabbed a hold of the dashiki she had on and pulled her back to place.

“Anthony, what are you doing there by yourself? Come here jor.” Frank shouted out. Reluctantly, Anthony dusted off sand from his jeans and walked towards them. “Mr. Geographer, abi you are calculating the distance between the moon and the stars?” Frank said and they all laughed. “Ehen, Janet is also a Geographer.” He added as he shook his friend’s hand.

“Frank, I’m a geologist, not a geographer.” Janet said.

“All join abeg.” He said and started walking off. “Let me go get drinks.” He added and walked off.

“Hello.” Anthony said to Janet.

“Hi.”

“So…what school did you study Geology in?”

“University of Ibadan.”

“Oh, nice.”

“And you?”

“University of Lagos.”

“Nice. That was my dream school, but they don’t offer Geology.”

“Hmm. Are you sure? I’m positive they do.”

“Well, I might have been mistaken. Maybe I heard their Geology department isn’t so good.”

“Okay.”

“Yea…most likely.”

“So…you always wanted to be a geologist?”

“Yea, after I watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as a kid. But the course didn’t turn out as interesting as I had envisioned as a kid.” She said and they bought laughed. Frank came back with a bottle of cognac, and plastic cups. He handed them cups, poured them drinks, and disappeared again.

“What about you? Did you always want to be a geographer?” Janet asked.

“Nah. I actually wanted to be an Economist. But I couldn’t get in, and the next option was to study Geography.”

“Hmm.”

“Well, I don’t regret it. I loved every moment of the four years I spent studying the course.”

“Cool. I guess God works in mysterious ways.”

“Yea.”

……….

They had talked for about an hour, and Frank was still nowhere in sight. When silence overtook them, Anthony checked his watch and said, “Frank has been gone a while, let me go look for him.”

“Don’t go.” She said as she grabbed him by the arm. She let go when she noticed how awkward it was. “I know he is busy shagging that girl he has been eyeing all day.” She said in a low tone.

Anthony laughed lightly before saying, “You’re kidding, right?” Janet just shook her head. She knew her nonchalant attitude about the prospect of Frank cheating on her concerned him, but she had already made up her mind to dump him when the trip was over. She wondered why she stayed with him this long. He could be funny and a sweetheart sometimes, but his philandering ways was getting too much for her to condone any longer. It was like he had no control whatsoever over his sexual urges. “Did you see that?” Janet said, pointing at the ocean.

“What?”

“The green light.”

“Green light?”

“Look, it came on again.” She said, tapping his arm to get his attention. “I hope it’s not the liquor getting to me.”

“Where did you say you saw…” He was saying then stopped when he saw the green light. It came on for a split second, and then went off again. “Oh, I think I saw it.”

“What do you think it is? Do you think it is some invaders from Mars or something?”

“Invaders from where?” He said between laughs.

It was so cool seeing him actually laugh and it made her smile. “It could be. Okay, what do you think it is? Look, another green light a few meters from where we’ve been seeing the first one.”

“Yea, I saw it too.”

“It can’t be a ship. Ships don’t come this close to the beach.”

“True. It is probably fishermen boats; they sometimes fish at night.”

The place got quiet again, and Janet fought the constant urge to move closer to him and just have been hold her in his arms. She felt the literal green light was a figurative green light sign from the universe for either of them to make a move. She had never been one to cheat, even though, like most girls she had her fare share of fantasies, but tonight, she didn’t know if she could keep her good girl status much longer.

Stylishly, she closed up the gap between them so that their arms now robbed against each other when they moved. She could feel the sexual tension between them and she knew he wasn’t going to make a move, so she slipped her hand into his, turned to face him, looked him in the eye for a second, before leaning in to kiss him. He kissed her back for a while before pulling away. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t. Let me go and look for Frank.” He said and walked away.

She felt crushed. The first time she was making a move on a guy, and she got turned down. She was about to start walking off to meet the rest of the group too when he suddenly turned around and started walking back towards her. “I’m sorry Frank.” He said under his breath before holding her face in place and kissing her passionately.

……….

The next day, while going home in Frank’s car, she felt dirty for the make-out session she had had with Anthony the night before. She felt no better than Frank’s cheating ass. Not like she had done it to spite him; it had happened naturally, but still she regretted doing it. She was sure Anthony also felt the same, because even though he knew his friend was a serial cheat, he had broken the bro code by having something to do with his friend’s girl, and she was sure he was someone with high morals. She felt guilty for seducing him and even though she was genuinely attracted to him, she made up her mind not to follow it up.

There were a lot of her friends in the past that she had known to cheat on their boyfriends and justified I with the two can play that game mentality, but it never made sense to her. Now that she had done something close to it, the mentality felt stupid to her. She didn’t even feel she had the rights to be angry at Frank’s infidelities any longer. Although hers was a mistake that would never happen again, she still did it.

It would break his heart in a worse way than all his meaningless sexcapades could ever do to her. She decided to keep it a secret and hope Anthony did the same.

The End

Sorry for the delay, my laptop battery died as I was about to post the story at midday.

I thought I should update this before I sign out...


17. A Valentine's Day Party (https://www.nairaland.com/4347834/valentines-day-party-short-story)

18. All in One Night (https://www.nairaland.com/4235540/all-one-night-romance-novelette)

19. 30 Days and 30 Nights (https://www.nairaland.com/4283497/30-days-30-nights-romance)

20. The Last 12 Hours (https://www.nairaland.com/4180938/last-12-hours-short-romance)

21. From Nigeria with Love: Part 3 (https://www.nairaland.com/3981524/nigeria-love-part-3-romance)

22. Not Just an Ordinary Day (https://www.nairaland.com/4207272/not-just-ordinary-day-short)

23. The Loose Noose (https://www.nairaland.com/4077851/loose-noose-short-story-kayode)

24. Tiwatope's Redemption (https://www.nairaland.com/4437645/tiwatopes-redemption-romance-novelette-kayode)

25. The Midnight Encounter (https://www.nairaland.com/4470765/midnight-encounter-short-crime-story)

26. Jack and the Residents of No. 7 Cole Street (https://www.nairaland.com/4583693/jack-residents-no-7-cole)

27. Don't You Remember (https://www.nairaland.com/4711161/dont-remember-short-romance-suspense)

28. Freedom (https://www.nairaland.com/4738517/freedom-flash-fiction-story-kayode)

29. In Murky Waters (https://www.nairaland.com/4715786/murky-waters-romance-suspense-novelette)

30. The Genesis (https://www.nairaland.com/4418025/genesis-flash-fiction-story-kayode)

31. Magical Attraction (https://www.nairaland.com/4855924/magical-attraction-romance-suspense-novelette)

32. One Night in Ibeshe (https://www.nairaland.com/4946850/one-night-ibeshe-short-romance)

33. Ndidi and the Telekinesis Man ( https://www.nairaland.com/4510215/ndidi-telekinesis-man-fantasy-romance)...Not Complete.


Above are the links to my blood, sweat, and tears.

dammyd46:
Mr Kayo80 do you have like a blog or page we could follow you on

No. I don't.

This is my last story before temporal retirement...or should i say, a long hiatus. I know I have one unfinished story, but I am not in the right frame of mind to complete it. I will do that in the future.

One Night in Ibeshe

By

Kayode Odusanya



There were four vehicles parked haphazardly in the large compound; two black Toyota Camrys, one grey wrangler jeep, and a white Toyota bus. The mansion would have been a sight to be hold in the 90s, but now had worn out lemon green paint, peeling off its walls and patches of grass here and there. Paul and his nineteen friends were wearing white tops, hanging around in small gatherings, all over the compound, waiting for the last person before they would head out to the resort centre at Ibeshe. Paul had put everything together. That was his speciality, along with making mouth watering chicken barbecue.

Everyone was getting impatient, and the displeasure was evident on their faces when Paul’s mom called everyone together for a prayer. Thank God it didn’t last more than five minutes, and there was a thunderous amen at the end when she said they should make sure to have fun.

Paul, a big and black guy shaped like a giant teddy checked his watch with a frown on his face, and then gave the order for everyone to get in their cars and move out. “We don wait enough jare.” He said when Frank went to meet him and asked why they were no longer waiting for Anthony. Frank wasn’t happy with the new development, but he too had to admit to himself that Anthony had delayed the crew for far too long. They were meant to have left about half an hour ago if they weren’t waiting for Anthony.

Janet was in the front seat of her boyfriend’s Camry, waiting for him to come in when his phone beeped. She wanted to ignore it, but it beeped two more times and when she looked she saw the message, ‘When are you getting back? I’m really Hot.’ She took a deep breath, looked back to make sure he wasn’t approaching. He was still talking to Paul as she quickly picked up his black Android phone, unlocked it, and checked the message. All she needed was the girl’s name. When she got that, she put the phone back on the Camry’s centre console.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with Anthony sef. We asked him to come in from Ibadan yesterday.” Frank said in a grumbling manner as he got into the car and started it up. Frank was about 5 ft 5, and 55kg in weight. He had the stature of a junior secondary school student even though he was in his mid twenties. He never let his size dictate the kind of girls he went for; in fact, like Janet and his past girlfriends, he liked them tall and thick.

“So are we leaving him behind?” Janet asked, showing no sign of anger from what she had just seen on his phone.

“I don’t even know. I guess we will wait for him at the bus stop.” Frank said as he put the car in drive and drove towards the gate.

The grey wrangler jeep went out first, then the white Camry. The bus was about to drive out when it stopped, the door swung open, and lanky Benjamin shouted out, “Anthony in the building!!!” Anthony had finally arrived. He was a quiet looking guy who looked like the black version of Ron Perlman; the actor that played Hellboy in the Hellboy movie. He was tall, buff, had strong facial futures, and ugly. Janet could feel the excitement in Frank’s voice when he poked his head out of the car and shouted out, “Anthony baba!” The guy smiled and waved at Frank before getting into the bus. Frank had told her a lot about him, but this was the first time Janet was seeing the recluse who never liked to leave his home.

Although there were twenty-one people in total embarking on the trip, the original friends were just four; Paul, Frank, Anthony, and Benjamin. Every one else was a friend, or a friend of a friend.

The vehicles formed a single file outside Paul’s house and began the journey to the jetty.

……….

The drive down to the jetty at Satellite Town was a hectic one. Lagos was known for traffic, but the side of Lagos they were heading to was traffic haven. At several points, they lost each other, and had to make calls to form the convoy again.

At the time they finally got out of traffic, Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Starting Something came on in Frank’s car, and he started dancing in his seat while cutting through the expressway enthusiastically. It pissed Janet off that he was cheating on her and was so cool with it. At a point, he started repeating the words from the song, ‘ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa’ over and over again. It got on her nerves and she blurted out, “Who’s Annabel?” He looked at her but didn’t respond. She turned down the volume of the sound system and repeated herself, “Who is Annabel?” He turned to look at her like he didn’t know what she was talking about and kept his eyes back on the road.

After a prolonged silence, he said, “Why did you go through my phone? Why?”

“How long have you been seeing her?”

“Janet, not now. Not now. Please don’t ruin this…”

“Frank!” She screamed. The black Benz in front of them had stopped all over a sudden, and Frank quickly applied the breaks. The car came to a screeching halt, but not before giving the Mercedes a little bump.

“Shitt.” Frank cursed under his breath before unfastening his seatbelt and getting out of the car. He walked to the front of the car to check for damages; there wasn’t much, just a scratch. “I’m sorry.” He said, when the driver of the Benz came out. He was a mean looking man in his thirties, dressed like he was still in his late teens with the way he had his pants sagging and the tight fitting black tee he had on.

The man lowered the dark shades he had on and examined the car for a while without saying anything. By this time, Janet had gotten out of the car as people were gathering. “Young man, what are we going to do now?” He said with a sinister grin on his face.

“Sir, the damage is not that bad. I’m sorry. Let’s just…”

“Just what?” The man’s disposition quickly changed. “You bash my car because you dey talk to your Olosho, and you are…”

“Who is Olosho? Are you crazy?” Janet cut in. She was instantly angry, and had to hold herself back from attacking the man physically. “You must be mad this man.”

“Guy, hold your girl o.” The man said to Frank.

“Bro, you no suppose talk to my woman like that nah.” Frank said.

“See this pikin o.” The man removed his glasses and put them on his Benz’s boot. “Or what? What will you do?” Frank didn’t say any more words, he just lipped forward, throwing a punch that the man swerved back from, and a scuffle begun.

The man was a lot bigger than Frank, and in no time, he had overpowered him. He pinned him down by the rear end of the Benz and started pounding him with punches. Frank had his hands up, covering his face, and the man went on to punch him continuously in the abdomen.

Janet stood there, watching her boyfriend being humiliated. Wanting to get into the fight, but hoping her man would overpower the man himself and have his ego in tact. The moment she felt the beating was too much and was about to get into the fight, someone ran past her and grabbed the man off Frank in one swift move. And, wham, the man was on the floor, getting his ass beat up.

She froze, looking at Anthony, her boyfriend’s best friend who she had never met before, beating the man that had just beat up her boyfriend, and for some strange reason, she was turned on. He was like a loyal beast that had come to his master’s rescue.

The other guys were around now, and they had to pull Anthony off the guy, as the beating was getting too graphic. It took two guys to do that; his white polo top had patches of blood stain here and there.

Hello guys. This is a short story I wrote yesterday. I will divide it into two parts...the first half will be put now now, and the second half by midday. The story was inspired by true events...but i added some things.

Chapter 13

After her hysteria and shock, she was able to embrace the idea of getting married on the same day she had been proposed to. Good thing she had just had her hair done for a photo shoot; a photo shoot she later discovered was fake. It had been put up by Sade just to make sure she looked glam for her wedding.


After the helicopter carrying Judith, Sade, and Rosemary flew off, another one landed and carried Tony and the camera crew from the reality show. Everything was captured on camera for the reality show; from the proposal, to the air flight, to the full wedding, which was held at a ocean view front of a mansion in Ikoyi, which belonged to the owner of the network that was handling their reality show. The reception followed immediately in the large compound of the opulent home. Only close family and friends were invited.


Judith had started out pre shoot session for a movie, which she was meant to be a bride in; she found out that day that that was also a fake job, set up by her agent, Tony’s friend. The glamorous wedding dress she was meant to wear in that movie ended up being her real wedding dress. A catholic priest officiated the wedding, and D Banj and Tiwa Savage performed at the wedding reception. It was a bowl.

As they slow danced to Tiwa Savage’s ballads under the white tents outside the white mansion, Judith looked up at Tony and asked, “How long did it take you to plan this?”
“Umm! About four weeks.”
“Hmm.”
“I got lots of help from Sade and your agent.” He said, and just at that moment, Judith saw Sade smiling at her in the crowd. She smiled back at her.
“Sade is such an angel.”
“Yes. She has a great heart.” Tony said and it was his turn to catch her eye in the crowd. They smiled at each other, and just before they broke eye contact, he thought he saw a longing in her eyes.
“So…I guess we live happily ever after now.” Judith said and smiled at Tony.
“Yea; happily ever after.” He repeated slowly with his eyes on her, and then they both broke into a laugh.

The End

Chapter 12

4 Weeks Later
Things had been going smoothly till one night when Judith got tempted to go through Tony’s phone and found out he had been keeping in touch with Sade. There were no text message exchanges between the both of them, just phone calls, so she wasn’t sure what was really going on. But the recent and numerous phone calls between the two had her worried. Her happily ever after story was now more like happily never after. She got paranoid and reached out to one of Sade’s coworkers at 123 who promised to help her out with some underground investigation.

It was a regular day, she had just gotten her hair done early in the morning, in preparation for a magazine shoot she had been booked for the next day and was heading home when she got a call from Rosemary, her informant at Sade’s office asking her to come to a certain location for answers.

As she drove down to Kings College Lagos, she wondered what she was going to meet. This was the secondary school Ikenna and Tony had attended, and she wondered if there was something she was missing.

Tony’s blue BMW was the first thing she saw when she arrived at the school, and when she looked closer, she saw Sade’s black Corolla parked in front of Tony’s car. She parked on the other side of the road from their cars and sat in her car for a while, trying to steady her heat beat. Her mind raced. She wondered what was going on inside. If this was a hotel, she wouldn’t have needed to think too much to know what was going on. But this was a school. What the heck are they doing at a school? She said to herself. She braced up; smoothed out the grey gown she had on and stepped out of her black Range Rover.

As she approached the big white gates of the school, she realized she hadn’t asked her informant how she would get into the school. What would I tell the people by the gate that I came to do? She thought to herself. The two young looking security guards at the gate let her in with no questions asked. Judith smiled back at them as she walked into the premises of the prestigious school. She had forgotten how popular she was. The security guards were in their early thirties and would probably have watched a few of her movies, which explained why they didn’t ask her any questions. But she still didn’t know what was going on at the school. Apart from a few cars parked here and there, the whole place looked deserted.

Judith was about dialing Rosemary’s number when she saw her up ahead, waving at her. She walked towards her lanky informant in the blue gown, her beating fast again. She almost lost her footing as she walked up the three steps that brought her up to the elevated corridor of classrooms Rosemary was standing on. Rosemary quickly grabbed her hand and helped her up. With no word exchange, Rosemary led her to the back of the classrooms, where a large football field was in view. Immediately she saw Tony in the middle of the field, she knew what was going on, and tears rolled down her eyes. Rosemary chuckled, held her by the hand and led her to the field. Halfway to the center of the field, she stopped, and let Judith continue on her own.

Tony was wearing sunshades; he took it off and hung it on the ash colored long sleeve shirt he had on as she approached him. When she was a few meters away from him, he pulled out something from his jeans pocket and went down on one knee. She stopped for a minute, turned her face to the side, and stood still with her palm covering her face. Then she wiped the tears from her eyes, put a smile on her face, and walked up to him.
“Judith, will you marry me?” Tony said with the ring held out in front of her. She smiled down at him and said, “Yes. Yes Tony, I will marry you.” He held up her hand, located her ring finger, and slipped the diamond encrusted ring into it. It fit perfectly. The ring sparkled under the sunlight when Judith lifted up her hand to check it out.

As Tony got back on his feet, there was a large celebratory roar all over the place. Judith jumped from shock. When she turned around she saw students in all the empty classes, in different color checked house wears, clapping at them with smiles on their faces. Her whole reality TV camera crew was also in place, recording everything. Rosemary and Sade were by the sidelines, standing beside some of her other friends, smiling at her. She turned around to face Tony and leaned forward to kiss him, and then hold him in a tight embrace. “I really love this. Thanks for making this unforgettable.”
“There is more.” Tony said, and she pulled away from him, searching his eyes for answers. Just then, a faint rotor noise could be heard in the sky. The sound got louder with every second. She looked up and saw a black helicopter approaching their airspace. The big black chopper started a slow decent, blowing air everywhere. She held on tightly to him as the helicopter descended, sending paper bags and small pieces of paper flying in the air. It landed about 100 meters away from them. Judith was still looking up at Tony for answers when Rosemary and Sade got to their side. “Congrats.” They echoed.
“Go with them.” Tony said out loud over the loud sound of the helicopter. “You need to get your wedding dress. We are getting married today.”
“What?” Judith said as her phone fell to the floor.

Chapter 11

Judith came from behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. The unexpectedness of that made him jump. She chuckled and laid the side of her face on his back; a smile quickly formed on his face. He placed his hands on hers and they just stood there, not saying anything; as if communicating in the spirit.

Judith and Tony had gone from acting like lovers to actual lovers. It was no longer an act for either of them, everything was natural now. If anyone had told him he would end up falling in love with his friend’s kid sister ten years ago, he would have called them crazy. But she was his world now; his whole world. The day she walked into his life was the day everything started to work out for him. It was fate; it was meant to be.

“You’re thinking about that night, right?” She asked all of a sudden, and he nodded. “Tony, you have to forgive yourself. It really wasn’t your fault.” She added. Tony’s mind raced down memory lane again; he saw a flashback of Ikenna’s lifeless body on the hospital gurney. As much as he had tried to erase that memory from his brain over the years, the image was the first thing that popped in his head every time he thought of that night. “God forbid you had stayed around and also got killed. That would have been a worse scenario.”

It was odd to him that she was the one trying to help him forget the incidence when it was her blood brother that had been killed that night. He turned around to face her, and she put her arms around his neck. The smile on her face melted his heart. He couldn’t resist her beauty. He leaned in and kissed her.

When they pulled away and he stared at her beautiful face again, an idea slowly crept into his head. The thought of it made him smile. “What?” She asked, with a quizzical look on her face.
“Nothing; let’s go home.” He said and held her hand as they walked back to where their car was parked; A smile remained on his face all the way to the car.
As they got into the car, Judith turned on the inner lights of the car and she reached out to the back seat to check for something. She stopped to look at Tony as she was about to turn off the lights. “You really have to tell me what’s making you smile like this.”
He looked at her for a while before saying, “I just realized how much I really love you.”
Judith smiled shyly, turned off the car lights and looked ahead. “I love you too.” She said without looking his way.

Tony turned on the car, let the engine warm for a few seconds before driving off. A smile was still evident on his face, but this time he was smiling at the fact that Judith still didn’t know why he was initially smiling.

Happy new year guys!

Very short chapter ahead...then two more chapter till the end.

Chapter 10

It was a parlor party with loud music and everywhere was packed. A few people were dancing, but they were more people socializing. Although they were not the organizers of the party, Tony and Judith were the center of the party. They were being approached by old friends, and new fans. Tony knew he had to keep up appearances for the sake of the contract he had signed, but this place was the last place he wanted to deal with Judith’s fans. He had come here to catch up on old times with old friends. At some point, he excused himself and quietly left the party.
He got out of the noisy house and decided to take a walk down memory lane; literally. On this particular street was where he experienced life as a teenager. A lot had changed, but there were still a few buildings that remained the same, and he had a nostalgic feeling just walking past them.

When he got to the house he and Judith had lived in, he could barely recognize it. It used to be a cream colored four flat building, with low fences. Now, it was a white, modernized duplex, with high walls. He stood there looking up at the building as memories came flooding.

December 2001
It had become the norm over the years for Tony and Judith’s brother, Ikenna to throw an end of the year party in their compound every December. This particular year was no different, except from the fact that both Tony and Ikenna had just gotten into separate universities, which led to the party being more crowded, as they had gotten new friends. Tony was in University of Lagos and Ikenna was in University of Benin.

The party had been going smoothly, till some of Tony’s friend’s got into an argument with Ikenna over drinks. Ikenna was a hard head, and built like a bull, but didn’t want to lose his cool. So he walked away, and started shouting Tony’s name all over the party scene, wanting him to handle his friends. Tony at the time had gone to drop off some of his female friends that had come for the party, so he was nowhere in sight. Tony’s friend’s thought Ikenna was chickening out of a fight, and they started making fun of him, till he lost his temper and charged at them. They turned out to be all bark and no bite as Ikenna beat the two lanky guys to ground in seconds.

One of them ran off, while Ikenna made the other one lie down in the gutter. Some of Ikenna’s friend’s had to come to the guy’s rescue; they got him out of the gutter, washed off the dirt on his body with a few sachet water, and got him clean clothes to wear. He was silent all through, and left without uttering a word. Only to come back about half an hour later, with about a dozen guys in two cars. And then all hell broke loose at the party scene.

By the time Tony got back, Ikenna had sustained serious head injuries, and had been rushed to the nearest hospital. The fight hadn’t lasted long; once the goons had identified and gotten a hold of Ikenna, they dragged him out on the street, and repeated what he had done to their friend. Added to making him lie in the gutter, they stumped him out with their boots, and broke a few beer bottles on his head.

Ikenna was in a comma for a week, and died afterwards. Tony never forgave himself. He felt the fight would never have broken out in the first place if he had been around. Ikenna’s parents had moved Judith and her other siblings out of the house to their cousin’s house on the night of the fight, and after Ikenna died in the hospital, they never returned to the apartment.

Yes. I'm back on this story. There are 4-5 chapters left, and I should be done with it by next week. Chapter 10 coming up in minutes.

Merry Christmas to you all. I will start updating the part 3 of my Me, You and Them story tomorrow... Before then, if you haven't read this, you can go and do so.

carloz685:
One more thing I would love it if u am mentioned in your next story... God bless every if your hand work...

Okay...will do.

carloz685:
Bros Kayo80... I have been waiting patiently for your other story... Buh me no see anything... I didn't want to disturb you then... Buh me I no see anything ooo... And December don dey end... That ngozi story still dey my head... From your biggest fan on nairaland...
Carloz...

Yea...I wanted to start immediately, but I just wanted to stay off writing for a few days, so that the characters from this story will leave my head...so I won't carry them to the other stories. lol! It is hard to explain. Anyway, I wanted to start writing on Monday, but an event came up and I had to travel on Wednesday. I just got back yesterday night. Just give me a day or two more, I will start. Thanks for being a loyal fan. I appreciate it.

OluwabuqqyYOLO:
Dear Kayo, you are a very good writer and I am confident that you will will make good money from your hardwork. Please do not give up at all. We will see each other at the top.

AMEN!

carloz685:
Buh y you no mention me na... You wan vex me abi... No worries I no dey vex for December...

I mentioned you na. Look at the the names again.

I want to say thank you to all the moral support I got from you guys while writing this story. Most of my novelettes are usually about 10,000 words, but this one is 13,400 (Completed in exactly 3 weeks and 3 days). Thanks to you guys.

Thank you Ann2012, nastynic, LightQueen, skubido, crossfm, queenitee, collinometricx, OluwabuqqyYOLO, abubakarbabang7, carloz685, OlufemiWhit, MhizDherbee, evajael, shedrak1, froze6, fabulousbrainzz, emperorblog21, superjaks, CivilyzedTiger, Oloyedprince1, Djex614, michael123pelemo, Electricboy, Happiness98...I really appreciate you guys. It ain't easy writing sometimes, but you guys kept me going during the course of writing this story.

Chapter 14

According to psychologists, Lawrence and Ames, what we see when we look at something depends not so much on what is there as on the assumption we make when we look. We don’t actually see with the eyes, they only take snapshots of what’s in front of us, send to the visual cortex part of the brain, which then interprets the images based on the brain’s data bank. Our brains are responsible for our perception of vision. This was one of the scientifically proven facts that Sesan had learned over the weeks working closely with the magician. When people come to magic shows, their assumption is that they are going to witness magic, so they zero in on that; they only see the magic, and not the tricks behind the magic.

Dressed in black pants, black t shirt, and a black jacket, Sesan stood at center of the stage, looking at the audience of little over a thousand people in front of him. He was about to perform his last magic trick of the day and couldn’t believe he had handled the show all by himself.

His grandfather had come down with a fever from exhaustion at the last minute. If Sesan hadn’t been a great student, they would have disappointed the large crowd in front of him. So far so good, he had done well and was about to perform his most daring trick. “I need a volunteer for this last magic performance.” He called out into the audience. A few hands went up with murmuring everywhere. Sesan pointed at a girl on the front row to his left and called on her to come on stage. She had a smile on her face as she walked on stage excitedly. The black gown she was wearing clung to her slender body. Sesan held out his hand as she approached him, and she took it. Behind them, two of Sesan’s stage girls, dressed in white one-piece bathing suits were wheeling in a coffin-like box onto the center of the stage. The girl that volunteered for the magic performance looked back a few times, and the smile on her face slowly disappeared. Sesan whispered something in her ear, and she smiled again. He then led her to the box, and instructed her to climb into it. She did so, and lay flat inside, with her head and legs protruding out on the two ends of the box. Sesan stood aside and waved his hands at the box, showing the audience that the girl was really in the box.

The two girls that had wheeled in the coffin were wheeling in something else; it was a large, industrial buzz saw. The round stainless steel blades shown under the deem stage light. The girls placed it at the back of the box the girl was in; the scary looking blades now hung a few feet high up from the box. Sesan waved his hands at the box one more time before walking over to circular saw. He turned it on, and started lowering it onto the box. The large spinning saw made a menacing sound, and the girl in the box looked really worried. Silent murmurs could be heard in the crowd.

There was a large outcry in the audience when the saw went through the box, cutting the girl in the half, and leaving the stage bloodied up. A woman in the crowd shouted “JESUS!” and ran out the hall. The rest of the crowd sat there, dumbfounded as the box was pulled apart by the Sesan’s stage assistance, showing that the girl was really sawed in half. The girls then pushed the wheels back together, making the box whole again.

Sesan waved at the box a few times, before the girls walked over to the front of the box and covered it with a black cloth. They removed the cloth after a few seconds, and Sesan walked over to the box, opened it, and pulled out the smiley faced volunteer. The crowd gave a standing ovation as Sesan and the girl walked forward on stage. They both bowed at the crowed in a cheerful mode, before he gave her a hug, and she walked off stage, back into the audience.

He was still bowing at the audience when another outcry erupted from the audience. One of his pretty stage girls was walking towards him from the back with an axe in her hand. Before he could turn around, she raised it up and let it come down on his neck. Sesan bent over to catch his head before it fell to the ground, put it back in place, and stood upright to the shock of the audience. The whole room was quiet, till the pretty assistance dropped the ax and smiled at the crowd. They received their second standing ovation of the night.


……….


The night was a success; more of a success than he had ever dreamed, and he was excited as he slipped backstage. His online friend, Chun Lee had asked that that they meet by the car park immediately after the show and he couldn’t wait to see her. ‘I would be dressed in all white’ she had said in her last message to him.
He saw a tall muscular guy in all black, standing next to a girl in glasses when he stepped out of the hall through the backdoor. The girl had on jeans and a white top. “Hello.” She said as she approached him. Could this be Chun Lee? He thought to himself. “My name is Ndidi.” She said with an outstretched hand. He shook it and looked behind her as her friend approached. He was just about an inch taller than Sesan, but he was much more built physically. “This is my friend, Olu.” The girl said as she placed her hand on the guy’s shoulder. “We…We are big fans of your magic show and think we might have a job for you.”
“Umm. Okay. But I’m kind of in a hurry right now.”
“Okay. No problem. We will call you later.” The girl said and they walked off. Sesan stood there, wondering what she meant by her last statement then he heard a voice in his head say, ‘We have your number. We will reach out.’ It sounded as loud as if the person that said it was actually beside him. He shook his head, and hurried along towards the car park.

She had her back to him when he saw her standing next to a black SUV. Just like she had said, she had on all white; a short, white sleeveless gown, and white shoes to match. His heart started racing as he approached her. When he finally got to her back and she turned around, his jaw dropped to the floor when he saw who it was. “You’re Chun Lee?” He asked her and she nodded. “You have been Chun Lee all the while?” He asked, and she nodded again. “Wow! How…how did you pull it off? I’m sure there was a time Chun Lee sent me a mail when you were right there beside me.”
“I told you time and again to change your network provider.” She said and smiled.
“Wow! I don’t know what to say.” He said and she remained silent. She looked so enchanting. “I’m kind of glad you turned out to be Chun Lee though.” He said and chuckled.
“Can I ask why?”
“I was…I was falling in love with Chun Lee and Ngozi at the same time, now I don’t have to make a decision.”
She smiled and looked down for a while before looking up and saying, “You remember that day I was driving you home and you told me the magician…your granddad had thought you about visualization?”
“Yeah.”
“I actually went home that day and started doing exactly what you explained to me.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“Yeah. I started visualizing you as my boyfriend.” She said and looked away shyly. “I guess the stuff does work.”
“I guess so.” He said, and she slowly turned to look back at him. He had never seen her look that nervous before and he just wanted to hold her in his arms. He took a few steps forward, leaned in and kissed her. He pulled away after a few seconds, and she looked away with a on her sheepish smile on her face.
“So…what happens now?” Ngozi asked after a prolonged silence.
“I guess we live happily ever after.” Sesan said, and she laughed.
There was another prolonged silence before Ngozi said, “Umm. Can we try that kiss again; it didn’t feel magical enough.” They both burst out laughing. When they got quiet again, Ngozi pulled Sesan forward by his jacket, he stylishly slipped his hand around her waist, and they locked lips.

The End

Chapter 13

Around 9am the next morning, he was outside the magician’s house; this time not in his mom’s Kia, but in the front passenger seat of Ngozi’s blue hatchback Renault. The car was silent as he composed his thoughts, and went through all the questions he wanted answers to.

He turned to the side to look at Ngozi applying makeup with her eyes focused on the rare-view mirror. She was dressed casually in blue jeans, a black top, and had she a black bandanna covering her hair. She looked a little like Genevieve Nnaji. Even though she still had a splash of her tomboy swag, she was looking more beautiful than she had ever looked to him.

“Are you going to go and talk to your grandpa or you’re going to be staring at me all day?” Ngozi said and he laughed lightly. She rolled the lipstick in her hand a few times till the top part she had been using to paint her lips rolled out of sight, and then she capped it. She turned to face him as she rubbed her lips together. “Oh, you are wearing that blue polo top I got you?”
“Yes. Thanks again.”
“It looks really good on you.”
“Thank you. And thanks for the ride.” He said as he opened the car door and got out.
“You want me to wait for you?”
“Nope; I think I’ll be here a while.” He said, leaning on the car window now.
“Okay. I wish you luck.” She said with a smile.
“Thanks. Bye.” He said and hit the roof of the car before turning around and walking towards the gate. Ngozi honked twice and drove off.
Yusuf opened the gate before he even knocked. He looked shocked to see Sesan earlier than usual. Sesan greeted him and stepped into the compound. He had called his grandfather the night before, immediately his mom finally gave him the go ahead to go and see him, so the man was expecting him.

Sesan met him in his regular sitting position when he walked into the house. He was still in his pajamas and had a big white mug in his hand with steam dancing around the top.
“Good morning sir.” Sesan said as he proceeded into the living room.
“Good morning Sesan.” The man said with a warm smile on his face. Sesan sat opposite him in an upright sitting position, with his hands clasped. “I guess we should get right to it.” The man said and Sesan nodded with a smile.

After a prolonged silence, the man said, “Before I start, I would like to say the man you see sitting in front of you today is not the man I was fifty years ago.” He stopped to take a sip from his hot cup of tea, dropped the mug on the table and continued with, “I met your grandmother when I was in my early twenties, fresh out of the university. I had just returned from England at the time.” He stopped to smile, and look into space, reminiscent of the old times. “It was the sixties; there was no AIDS back then and we barely used condoms. I was reckless and ruthless at the time; going from one girl to another. But your grandmother was really special; I just wasn’t ready for the responsibilities of fatherhood.” He cracked his knuckles a few times before continuing with, “My brothers and I had just founded Quantum Petroleum at the time and all I cared about was the growth of the company.”
Sesan’s eyes popped out; shocked at the realization that his grandfather was a co-owner of Quantum Petroleum. That was the biggest downstream oil company in the country. “I asked her to get an abortion, and when she refused, I got angry and left her. Abortions back then were quite dangerous, but I didn’t care. I was really heartless back then.” Sesan imagined his grandmother as a young girl, pregnant and helpless, and it saddened him. She was just about Ngozi’s age when she got pregnant, and he couldn’t even imagine how Ngozi would handle an unwanted pregnancy. “By the time I had come to my senses, and went to look for her, she was nowhere to be found. I got tired of searching after a while, and believed she would at least come to me when the child was born, but it she never did. One month turned to one year, one year turned to ten years, ten years to thirty years. Time goes by so fast when you are making millions and traveling the world.” He sighed and reached out for the mug, took a few sips, and placed the mug back on the table.

“And then one day a few years ago, I saw her obituary on the walls of a church I had been invited to. I went for her funeral, and approached your mom, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with me.” He stopped to rub the back of his neck for a while before continuing with, “I kept trying over the years, but she kept making it clear she wanted nothing to do with me. I had been married twice, but never found happiness. My career had been my life. I had all the money in the world, but I felt unfulfilled.” He sighed and sat back in his seat.

The room was quiet for a while before he went on with, “I had always been fascinated by magic, so I resigned my position as the group chief executive officer at Quantum Petroleum and traveled to India.” He had a smile on his face now. “My kids and other family members were furious, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to make the most of the remaining years I had left. I wanted to do something that I loved which at the same time would put smiles on the faces of thousands.” He reached out to get the mug again, and took down the remaining content in it. “It wasn’t an easy task because of my bad health, but I had money, lots of it, so it made things easier. I learnt from the best. They were exciting times.”

After a short pause, he went on with, “And when I came back to Nigeria early this year, all I could think about was getting to know you.” He smiled at Sesan. “I had a young man that worked in the IT department of Quantum Petroleum that I had paid handsomely to keep a tab on you and your mom over the years. Johnson did a great job.” When he saw the quizzical look on Sesan’s face, he said, “Sorry about that. I just wanted so much to be a part of your life.”
“I think I understand.” Sesan said.
“I had left my mansion in Parkview, Ikoyi, and moved into this two bedroom bungalow just so I could live an ordinary life. Of course my kids didn’t like that, especially Nike.” He said with a smile.
There was a question that had been on Sesan’s mind for the past twenty hours that he needed an answer to, and when he saw an opportunity, he asked, “Sir. How did you get me to see that ad on Facebook? Was it magic?”
“Maybe that was a bit magical, but Johnson did that.”
“How?”
“Thanks to accuracy of reach in Facebook advertisement; he narrowed down the reach of the advertisement to male, born in December, twenty-one to twenty-two years old, in Akoka. Of course a few tens of people called, but I knew you would call. I just knew. Once you did, we deleted the Ad.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Yea, that’s the beauty of technology I guess.”
The room went quiet for a while, and then the man asked, “Now that you have the full story; do you still want to go on working with me? Do you still want to learn the magic tricks?”

Sesan had gone through a roller-coaster of emotions while listening to his story, but he felt he couldn’t hate someone for mistakes they made in the past if they had become remorseful of those mistakes. He looked up at the man and with a smile on his face, said, “Yes sir.”

Chapter 12

By the time they got home, Sesan had heard the whole story. He had always believed his grandfather died before he was born; now he was hearing that the man had abandoned his grandmother after she got pregnant for him. Sesan’s mom also told him she didn’t know about him till after her mother died a few years ago, and he showed up trying to come into her life.

She had lived her whole life believing her father had died when she was a baby. And then she heard he had abandoned her at birth, she developed a strong hatred towards him and never wanted to have anything to do with him ever.

When they got back home, instead of going to up to his room as usual, he sat in the living room silently with his mom, going through all that had just been revealed to him in his head. It was too much to take all at once. He had too many questions. Like his mom, he wondered how it happened that he had been the one to answer to the advertisement his grandfather had put up o Facebook. He also wondered why his grandfather, the cofounder of of one the biggest oil companies in Nigeria was now a magician. It just didn’t make sense to him. Did he loose his stake in the company? Sesan wondered.
“I have to talk to him mom.” He said; breaking the silence.
“You will do no such thing. We will look for a way to pay him back the rent money.”
“But mom…Mom, you said you wanted to meet him up for the money initially.”
“Yes. I was desperate at the time. Besides, I don’t like how he went behind my back in meeting you.”
“He didn’t. It’s the universe that did.”
“The universe? What are you talking about?”
“Mom. I really have to talk to him.”
“No you won’t see him again. And that’s finally.” She said with a loud angry voice.
He sat there, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down as he was losing his tempter. He knew his mom would never lie to him, but he just didn’t want to believe the same man he had been working closely with over the last couple of weeks could do something that heartless. He needed to think. He needed a walk. “Mom, I need to get something from Ngozi. I need it for a school project.” He said as he got off his seat.
“Okay.”


……….


Sesan and Ngozi were in her upstairs living room talking. The place was quite small, with just one couch; a long three seater facing the big flat screen TV on the cream painted wall. It was reserved for the children, and it used to be where Sesan, Ngozi, and her brother played video games in the past. He hadn’t come up here in a while, and he felt nostalgic as they sat side by side on the couch talking. A cooking program was showing on TV, but the volume was turned down.

He had told her about the magician turning out to be his grandfather and how his mom had banned him from ever seeing him again. After initially going gaga over the story and asking him for more details, she suggested he call the man. “At least your mom didn’t say anything about not calling him.” She had said. But he said he respected the man and didn’t think it would be proper discussing a sensitive topic with him on the phone. She agreed with him.
Ngozi yawned, and Sesan wanted to leave, but she pulled him back on the couch. She was clearly tired from the new responsibility she had taken up. It was clear in her voice even. The ever fast talking Ngozi, was talking slowly, and in slurs sometimes. It was funny to him how sexy he found her slow talking voice. Also unlike her, she was wearing perfume and she smelt so good. She had on jeans and a black tank top, and their bare arms from the elbow area to their arms touched, sending chills up his spine.

After a while of sitting in silence, she put her fingers in between his and looked up at him with a poker face as she said, “Just do what’s in your heart.” He didn’t know if that was meant as a double entendre by her, or she was only talking about the issue with his grandfather. Their eyes locked for a while, and then they both looked away. She slowly disentangled her hand from his, and turned up the TV volume a few notches. They spent the rest of his stay there watching TV in silence.

Hey guys, I want to talk about something real quick. I need your help. I need your help with ideas on how to successfully monetize all the stories I have. I know none of us is as intelligent as all of us, so I know you guys can come up with ideas that can help me achieve my purpose.


So, basically what I'm trying to say is, I am trying to become a successful literary entrepreneur with the help of you guys. I know my weakness and my strengths. I know I am not the best writer on this forum, but at least I can score myself 7/10 abi . That is good enough. My strength is really in coming up with story plots. I have almost 30 stories on Nairaland. As I am typing now, I have 2 story ideas in my head that I want to start working on, as soon as I complete the 2 uncompleted stories on the platform. I can start and complete two novelettes every month on Nairaland.


I'm a poultry farmer, and that's where my main source of income comes from, but I believe I should be able to make at least $1,000 from this my writing talent . So, I call on all you readers of my stories...the ones that show themselves, and the ghosts, help me come up with ideas to achieve my goal. I have 25 of my stories published on Okadabooks, but barely make anything from there. I just believe there must be a way. As I said earlier, none of us is as intelligent as all of us.




Thanks.

Hey guys..Thanks for reading thus far. The story is remaining 5 chapters...so, I should finish it in the next 48 hours from now.

Chapter 11

The next day, at about 2pm, his mom called and asked where he was. After getting off the phone with her, he called Mr. Ojo and told him about his mom coming over to meet him. The old man sighed and was quiet for a while before saying, okay. Sesan wished he didn’t have to trouble the man with this, but he also could understand why his mom would want to meet the man who paid off their eight hundred thousand Naira house rent.

She mom picked him up in her black Kia Rio at his school gate by 2:51pm, and at exactly 3pm, they were parked outside the magician’s gate. Sesan got out of the car and went to knock on the gate. He was in plain white polo top, and brown chino shorts; dressed nothing like someone that was going to work. His mom made a remark about this when she walked up to him by the gate, and he told her the magician didn’t care about formal dressing. She stood beside him, almost a full feet shorter. She was in her sparkling white nurse uniform.

Yusuf opened the gate with a smile on his face, which was quickly replaced by a worried look when he saw Sesan’s mom. Sesan greeted him and Yusuf stepped out of the way for them to walk in. His mom made a remark about the whole place being too quiet, and he told her it was a home office, and that he was the only employee working at the place. She looked at him strangely, and then her view went over to the tall coconut tree just before the main entrance.

Sesan knocked twice on the front door, and the magician said, “come in” in a lazy voice.
“Good afternoon sir.” He said as he stepped in and held the door open for his mom to come in. “This is my mom sir.”
Mr. Ojo dropped the newspaper he was reading on the center table and smiled up at them before saying, “How are you Bimpe?”
Sesan’s mom stopped dead in her tracks. She stood there dumbfounded, with a confused look on her face. Sesan looked from the magician, to his mom, and then back at his mom. “You know my mom?” He asked.
“Yes I do.” The magician said and got off his seat. A key fell off his lap, and he bent to pick it up He put it on the center table, straightened out his brown Ankara attire and started approaching them. “I…”
“Sesan let’s go.” Sesan’s mom said, cutting off the old man. She grabbed her son’s hand and led him out of the house. Sesan followed reluctantly, looking over his shoulder in confusion.
“Wait mom.” He said, coming to a halt by the gate. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I said let’s go.” She responded in a low voice. The stern look on her face made him conclude it was the wrong time to argue with her. From the corner of his eye, he saw Yusuf looking worried as he approached them. Sesan looked back at the Mr. Ojo one last time before stepping out the gate. The man had an expressionless look on his face.


……….


They had driven in silence for about ten minutes before his mom finally uttered her first word. “So you don’t know who he is?”
Sesan turned to look at her with a quizzical look on his face before saying, “No.”
She smiled and shook her head for a while before saying, “You kids nowadays don’t watch the news at all. All you do is read gossip sites.”
“Who is he mom?”
“He is one of the richest men in Nigeria.” She said and Sesan had a lost look on his face, wondering whether his mom had gone crazy. “Ironically, he is the one I wanted to initially go and meet for the rent money.” She added.
“Wait mom, I don’t understand. You said he is one of the richest men in Nigeria?”
“Yes.”
“I find that hard to believe.” He said but she didn’t say anything back. He looked ahead, lost in thought for a while, then as if realizing something, he turned to his mom and asked, “You said he was the one you wanted to initially meet for money; how do you know him?”
She took a few quick glances at him, then switched gears before saying, “Sesan, he is my father. He is your grandfather.”

Shedrak1:
Mr. Kayode, Having Gone Through Most Of Your Literary Work On This Platform, I Must Confess, You're Really Good At What You Do! You Have A Special Way Of Getting Your Audience Glued To Your Work, ( Tiwatope's Redemption) Really Captivated Me, I Must Say, You've Got The Skills, The Magic And The Flows, Keep It Up! I Hope To See You UP UP In No Distant Time, Cos Thats Where You Belong! Your Ink Shall By No Reason Run Dry My Brother!

Amma Die-hard Fan Already.

As For The Magical Attraction, Lets Watch As The Magic Unfolds With Each Episode!

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your comment.

Chapter 10

The next couple of weeks in Sesan’s life went by fast. As the magician’s assistant, his job now entailed him driving Mr. Ojo around to Sawmills and carpenter’s shops around Lagos as they worked on building the stage props they would be using for their magic tricks. Some of those trips were quite tiresome as the man took hours inspecting the wood, making sure it was the right type to build his disappearing boot, and the dismemberment box. He always wondered how the seventy something year old man got all the energy to walk around in the sun. Passionate was one hell of a fuel, he thought.

When they were through buying all the wood, they started daily trips to the carpenter’s shop to inspect the work he was doing on the boxes. He had to get all the dimensions right, as that was paramount to the magic trick working perfectly, so they had to inspect the work closely to make sure he didn’t try to cut any corners for his own profits. It was interesting watching the whole thing come to life. What was just an idea in the magician’s mind was coming to life in the real world, and it was a sight to behold.

During their daily lunch breaks, and time at the house, the man explained the tricks behind the magic to him, and he couldn’t wait till the carpenter had completed all the boxes, so they could start the real rehearsals Even from what he had heard so far, he knew the old man was going to give a great performance come Christmas. He couldn’t wait for the world to see what they had been working on.

The more he worked closely with the magician, the less of Ngozi he saw. There were days she couldn’t take him to school as she had also gotten busy with preparations of her mom’s primary school’s end of the year party. They kept in touch on Whatsapp, but he now communicated more with his friend, Chun Lee. He was going to get to see her in a few short weeks, and their back and forth messaging had increased. He still didn’t have a picture of her or knew how she looked, but he didn’t care, she was a beautiful soul to him, and that was all that matter.

Two weeks had gone by since Mr. Ojo had said he would help with his house rent, but the man had not said anything about it. They had been so busy with work Sesan had also forgotten to remind the man. The day they finally got all the wood work done, he decided to bring it up as they drove home in the man’s old black Mercedes Benz 500SE, popularly called Shagari Benz in the 80s.
“Umm. Sir…I want to remind you about the favor I asked for a few weeks ago.” Sesan said in his deep voice.
“What favor?” The man said, with a quizzical look on his face.
“About the rent sir; I don’t need it till 6 weeks time though.”
“Oh! I forgot to tell you. That has been taken care of.” The man said and went back to the newspaper he was reading.
“Sir; I don’t understand”
“My daughter is a lawyer and real estate agent; I had her take care of it last week.” The man said. Sesan still looked lost and the man added, “I got your address from the employment form you filled and Nike happened to know your landlord.”
“Oh.”
“Yea, sorry, I thought I already told you. My memory is really bad these days.”
Sesan kept driving in silence as he thought of what the magician was telling him. “Thank you, sir.” He said and the man smiled. If he understood the man correctly, their full eight hundred thousand Naira rent had been paid off…just like that. Since the day Mr Ojo's daughter collected his number, she had spoken to him almost every day as the man had some form of illness, and she needed him to make sure he always took his drugs. He knew they both appreciated what he was doing, but paying off his rent of almost a million Naira was out of the ordinary.

When he got home later that day and told his mom about the rent being paid in full by his boss, she was shocked. She called the landlord and he attested to the fact that it surely had been paid off. The whole thing puzzled her.
After looking dumbfounded for a while, she asked him, “I hope you have not become a Yahoo boy.”
Hearing those words out of his mother’s mouth made him laugh uncontrollably, and when he saw the stern look on her face, he said, “Mom, you know me better than that.”
“Then why would your boss of less than a month pay off our house rent?”
“He wants me focused.”
She sat there, looking frail in the white Bubu she had on. All the thinking of how to pay the rent had taken a toll on her. She shook her head slowly for a while before saying, “I need to meet this man. Can you call him right now?”
“Mom, he has a medical condition and would probably be asleep by now.”
“I’m definitely following you to work tomorrow.”
“Mom…”
“I’m serious.” She said firmly, cutting him off. “Something seems wrong somewhere.”
Sesan sighed and sat back in his seat. “Okay mom.”
“I’ll take time off work tomorrow. What time do you normally resume?”
“3pm.”
“Okay.” She said and looked lost for a few seconds before getting off the couch. She was heading towards the stairs and stopped all of a sudden to say, “There is Jollof rice and chicken in the kitchen. I dished into the green cooler as I didn’t know when you would be back.”
“Thanks mom.”