Hi nairalanders, this is my first attempt at writing a book which I've been putting off for quite sometime now. I would really appreciate your encouragement and criticism as the case may be, please feel free to post your thoughts and interact so we can all learn and be entertained.




ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

All writers and readers on nairaland Literature forum. Thank you.










All rights reserved.
This story is entirely fiction. The names, characters and Incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s Imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the Author of this work.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author


Special shoutout to Chistart01 for inspiration and mentorship

It was one of those nights where you begin to appreciate the beauty of nature and life in general because you’re not sure you’ll ever see it again. The cold air brought with it the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs but no one paid any attention to anything, even the light-hearted jokes and chitchat had died down as everyone faced the reality and tried to get themselves in the right psyche, the state of my nerves had me wishing for a rolled up joint to calm down but the job at hand needed me to be completely alert. We glided quietly on the swampy waters, our float barely making a ripple on the water surface. Most of the guys here were locals or indigenes who believed what we were about to do was right and even just. I knew it was wrong… dead wrong, I knew the risks and dangers involved but no risk no reward. Most of the past two weeks had been spent preparing my mind and justifying what I was about to do with myself, I had put forward a million and one reasons to back down and successfully countered all of them in my mind. My reasoning was you have to do what others are not willing to do to get what they do not have.

I caught the eyes of one of the older guys staring at me and tried my best to act experienced, I was a newbie but I wasn’t about to let anybody think I was one small boy that they could Bleep with. This was business and image is everything in business. The whirring of motor boats caught us all by surprise, as we were suddenly assaulted by lights and sound. How had they gotten so close to us without making any noise and more importantly... Who were they? Our leader wasn’t about to wait for introductions though as our own engine roared to life and we took off into the gloomy night. All of a sudden, the quiet of the surrounding was shattered as deafening gun shots which I was sure could be heard from the next state were heard. The awareness that we were being shot at didn't generate any panic on our float... nothing ever prepares you for violence but violence itself. Our leader was standing as though oblivious to all the gun fire and chaos around him, he shouted some orders in their local dialect and his crew leapt into action pulling out big guns I hadn’t seen until now… Hold on… hold on… I’m getting ahead of myself here, where are my manners?

My name is CJ, yes…, that’s it. You didn’t think I’d tell you my real name did you? I am a tall dark complexioned guy with a face some people might call fine studying biochemistry at the University of Lagos . My family is not particularly well to do but we do okay. I was born as the last child to two wonderful parents who fell in love, got married in their youth and had four beautiful kids. Perfect family right Not exactly, you see there was a big problem, they did not have money. And as I have come to find out in my short time on this planet, love really doesn’t conquer all… Money does. Still their marriage was bliss while it lasted, at least that’s what my mum says but I don’t believe her though. My dad died when I was much younger, apparently he died while working in a factory or something, never really cared to ask for the details and the burden of taking care of me and my two lovely sisters fell on my elder brother. We grew up in Lagos state, Mushin to be precise. You’re probably thinking street kid when you hear Mushin but my mum really didn’t give us the chance to be “street”, we never spoke Pidgin English in my house and we weren’t allowed to go out to play. My mum raised us on books and Jesus and it was a particularly proud moment for her when my brother got admitted into a Russian university under scholarship from a private company. My sisters are both in the University of Benin and they’re doing well. Now let’s get back to me and getting into Unilag, which is where it all started.
***********

I was feeling particularly fresh, wearing a brand new pair of moccasin, my trusted jeans and a very well starched shirt, all black. I arrived at the exam hall a bit early, or so I thought. The ICTC hall where we were supposed to write the exam was almost empty but there were a few people who looked like they were there for the exam too so I decided to just blend in. I quickly scanned the area and a pretty looking girl caught my eyes, she looked up at me as I approached her, smiled and took off her earphones.
“Hi, are you here for the exam too?” I asked
“Yes, obviously” she replied coldly
“Any idea why they’ve not started? Please don’t tell me they’ve already finished” I said smiling.
“I don’t know, I just got here too” she replied without acknowledging my feeble attempt at humor.
“I’m CJ” I said, stretching out my hand.
“Ella” she replied taking my outstretched hand, “what department are you applying for?”
“Biochemistry, so Ella as in Isabella right?”
“Nope, Otuella”
“Hmmm... close enough” I said smiling, “You seem a little bit tense, exam pressure and all right?”
“Yeah I’m a bit scared, aren’t you?” she asked
“A little bit, but don’t tell” I started to say but was cut short by a small commotion at the front of the hall.
A wiry looking man stood on the stage giving instructions, it seemed like he was trying his best to ensure that nobody heard him. We both started moving towards the stage subconsciously, Ella was already in front of me.
“The exam venue has been changed, you all should make your way to the Basic unit and look for your faculty exam venue cause the exam has already started, we are about to have a lecture here” The man said and walked out without giving anyone the opportunity to ask any question.
The commotion that followed is best imagined, everyone scrambling to get out of the hall. nobody knew where this new venue was but everyone seemed to be going in one direction so I followed. I looked around for my new friend but I couldn’t find her anywhere.
After walking a bit we got to the basic unit, the crowd in front was shocking. They had already started verification and some people were on their way into the hall already. I quickly found my departmental queue and stood close looking for an opportunity to get into the front, I wasn’t about to go the end of the line.
The queue seemed to be moving at snail’s pace and the crowd continued to grow, a small commotion at the other line gave me my opportunity and I quickly slipped into the front of the queue. As the invigilators processed the guy in front of me, I did my best to calm my nerves. This was not my first time writing Post-UME for someone and there was always the possibility of getting caught but the pay was good and this new "change" regime meant I was low on funds... I needed this sixty-thousand badly. When it got to my turn, I produced the necessary documents and waited as the female invigilator entered in my details. She took a little too long examining my photo-card and the feeling of drea crept up my gut.
"Mr man, your picture on the online portal isn't the same as the one on this photo-card" she said, studying it more closely.
My insides were turning to butter as she said those words but I put on my best game smile tried to look cool "that is an older picture ma, this is the more recent one."
The security man behind her had noticed the delay and was approaching us slowly. I looked back and saw that my way back was blocked by the large crowd. The only way to go was forward, towards the Invigilator and the huge guard, I was trapped... Damnn....

what a lovely and nice write-up. keep it up bros, and i wishes u d best of best.

Nice piece chocckidd. You should work on your spacing though and I'm should probably the last person to say this but update often

Episode two


Death is a strange phenomenon, we all know that it is inevitable but no one ever really thinks about it. Most of us have never really thought of how we want to die and probably won't till it is staring us in the face. I was at that point, me and my crew members were being shot at by unseen and unknown assailants, all that was on my mind was that I didn't want to die in a place like this, in one of the swampy creeks in Ijaw kingdom, where my body would probably not be found not to talk of being buried, surrounded by men I had met about a month ago and killed by an enemy I couldn't see. I definitely wasn't ready to die, with this on my mind I picked up an AK-47 rifle and joined the fray. What was supposed to have been a simple oil bunkering had turned into a gun battle with the highest stakes possible. We were moving really fast but not fast enough and the enemy boats were gaining on us fast. As we race into open waters, we could make out the silhouette of two gunboats in hot pursuit, they might be faster than us but at least we now had something to aim at. Rat-tat-tat-tat... The force of the recoil on my gun suprised me, I had handled one before but never in the heat of battle. I held on to the gun somehow and continued shooting at the closest boat. Most of these action movies make it seem easy to handle a machine gun and hit a moving target but that is all lies believe me and that is not something you want to learn from experience. The guy beside me was gesturing at me and shouting something I couldn't hear over the gunshots, he pointed behind me, I looked and saw our captain with a bazooka on his shoulder aiming at one of the gunboats. You might be wondering how we had such weapons on board so I'll explain a little about oil bunkering, militancy and our role in everything.

Militants know that in an open fight with security operatives and military forces they'll probably be out-manned and out-gunned so they resort to guerilla tactics, they move deep into the creeks and only come out to hit targets and then they evapourate back into the creeks like thin air leaving destruction in their wake. The creeks is their home and foreign soldiers can never penetrate, a lot of military missions have been thwarted and they have learnt the hard way that you cannot fight what you do not know. Militants in the creeks require supplies nd weapons from the mainland and that is where the communities and bunkerers come in. There are certain communities with pipeline installations which can be vandalized and oil gotten from them at stipulated times, the militants never touch these pipelines in fact they guard them and in return the bunkerers deliver supplies to them and give them vital information. The oil gotten from these pipelines is refined on the spot under the protection of militants who have their cuts, sometimes some military men collect their cuts and turn a blind eye to these activities. The refined oil is sold through the high sea and the profits are massive so everybody gains. As we go along in this story I will explain some of the intricacies involved but this should suffice for now.


On this Particular expedition, we had a special weapons cargo to deliver and right now we were using the merchandise. The bazooka made a light whoosh sound like rushing air and flames leapt out of the tip. The loud bang that followed left my ears ringing and all that was left of the first gunboat behind us was scrap metal burning on water. A few men had jumped from the boat into the water for safety and their comrades in the other boat had to slow down to help them. We kept going at full speed for a while, and each of us kept looking behind for pursuit, when none came we slowed down a bit and changed course. Fela had taken a bullet in his neck, two in his abdomen and he lay dead. Sunny, our captain said a few words in his local dialect that sounded like an incantation, poured some alcohol into the corpses mouth and eyes, the bottle was then passed around for everybody to drink and wash our faces. His corpse was dumped over-board and everybody was quiet for a while. Ginger had taken a bullet in his arm and he tied up the wound with strips of cloth, I struggled not to look at the bone protruding from Chizzy's leg as he sat in obvious pain. Everyone was harbouring one injury or another but I was just Glad to be alive.
"Patrol been no suppose dey that area today." Sunny said, as he looked around at all of us,"The only reason them go comot na if them get intel say something dey go down, I don dey run with all of una since... Na only you be the new person here" he said, pointing a clean looking pistol at me. "I go only ask you one time, who you be?"

pleased:
what a lovely and nice write-up. keep it up bros, and i wishes u d best of best.

Thank you very much, your encouragement means a lot.

chistar01:
Nice piece chocckidd. You should work on your spacing though and I'm should probably the last person to say this but update often

Thanks mehn, I appreciate.
P.s: you really are the last per to be telling me that one

chocckidd:
Patrol been no suppose dey that area today." Sunny said, as he looked around at all of us,"The only reason them go comot na if them get intel say something dey go down, I don dey run with all of una since... Na only you be the new person here" he said, pointing a clean looking pistol at me. "I go only ask you one time, who you be?"

Damn! You just had to stop here didnt you? Suspense kills o.

you write like a pro, i find it difficult to believe this is your first story ever

@chistar01, this guy na your brother? The story pure and him writing come resemble your own..
@op, nice one. Am on board bruh.

Encorecasmie:
@chistar01, this guy na your brother? The story pure and him writing come resemble your own ..
@op, nice one. Am on board bruh.

Maybe thats why I am already addicted to the story.

chistar01:
Maybe thats why I am already addicted to the story.

when should we be expecting another piece

chistar01:
Maybe thats why I am already addicted to the story.

when should we be expecting another piece

The sweltering heat in the bus was enough to stifle any bit of friendliness in a human, that was probably why there were no smiling faces around me. The man beside me dabbed his forehead and sighed for the umpteenth time as we made our way slowly through the traffic at Yaba.
"Conductor, please open the door let small breeze enter now", a female voice behind me said
"You want make heat kill us for here? " the man beside me exclaimed as he dabbed his face again.
"Shey na una go help me pay the 10k when police hold me for here?, we go soon reach. " said the driver, visibly irritated by their mumblings.
The traffic eased up a little as if to confirm the drivers words. Everything happening around me didn't have any effect on me, today was the day I was going to face the senate panel having been caught impersonating someone during last weeks post-ume and despite my best efforts the case had been brought to the senate. Only the grace of God could save me from rustication, I had barely been in the school for a year and here I was om the brink of getting kicked out.

My admission process had been straight forward through direct entry after finishing my ordinary national diploma at Yabatech. Having been born and brought up in Lagos, Unilag had been my first choice of school. It had always been Unilag or nothing and it was this stubbornness that had resulted in me spending 2 extra years at home after my SSCE. My mom had put her foot down during the third year and insisted that I at least accept admission into one of the polytechnics instead of staying home idle. My two years at yabatech had been spent hustling, I sold clothes, watches, phones and everything I could get my hands on. Getting customers was easy, a lot of my friends were "yahoo boys" who had cash to blow and I was making incredible gains. Most of this Money had been wasted on women and alcohol and during my stay there I was a happening guy, some of my friends had offered to teach me how to start "yahoo" but it didn't really appeal to me and I didn't want to involve myself in the fetish one with major pay which is called "yahoo plus", I guess the plus represents the extra risks and cash you stand to make. Books had always come easy to me and I didn't need to read much to understand hence I was able to juggle this double life and still come out with a good enough grade to get into the dream school, unilag.

"Make una dey drop for here, I no dey go front pass here." the drivers voice brought me out of deep thought.
A few passengers complained about the distance they were going to walk but a lot of other important things were on my mind. I came down from the bus, put my earpiece in, turned the music to the loudest and started walking. The walk to where the unilag shuttle buses were was a short one. Throughout the journey to the senate building, my mind Ga already assumed the worst and different scenarios were playing in my head. Only one question was always on my mind in all of them... "what would I tell my mother?"

I was at Bar S16 at Elegushi later that night with some of my friends, Olabisi had just come back from Port-Harcourt had invited us out that night. I could barely concentrate on my surroundings as I drank my orijin straight from the bottle, the taste of the drink didn't register in my mouth, I was only after the high.

"So, you no even see any member of the panel today sha" Idris said, he was a Unilag student too and I had written his Post-UME only a year before.

"Guy, I just tire.. I siddon there for 3 hours today waste my time only for one prof to come tell me say them no wan see me" I pause to take another swig of my beer before going on "him talk say na next week I go sabi my fate after them deliberate finish"

"See matters ooo, una Dey try sha. This kind thing for uniport na 10k matter, you settle sherriff na there e end" Olabisi said "but you sef lose guard wey you let them hold you"

"that one don pass jare, I just dey try reason my life for here, I no know which way I wan do am"

"Shey I don gist you about my admission runs for Uniport? Na just 100k and e sure die, any course wey you want. Na wetin I use enter."

"oboy Port-Harcourt too far, you be bad belle sha, dem never even finish my case you don dey reason me another school" I laughed and said but the idea of Uniport was already in my head...

Encorecasmie:
@chistar01, this guy na your brother? The story pure and him writing come resemble your own..
@op, nice one. Am on board bruh.

Thanks...

okay now dats a story abeg nor follow oga chistar late post syndrome

chocckidd:
.
"See matters ooo, una Dey try sha. This kind thing for uniport na 10k matter, you settle sherriff na there e end" Olabisi said "but you sef lose guard wey you let them hold you"

"Shey I don gist you about my admission runs for Uniport? Na just 100k and e sure die, any course wey you want. Na wetin I use enter."

I think am gonna love this story

My brother, saying that you are good is an understatement.. This thing too sweet, and true true, 10k even less to sheriff and you are a free man in uniport.

Episode three


A light rain had started falling as the sun was slowly making it's way up in the east but it was like time stood still and my mind was basically a blank canvas and my thoughts were nowhere to be found. Not yet one day into my attempt at oil bunkery and death had come knocking again. This was the second time I was staring down the barrell of a gun and the person whose finger was behind the trigger the first time was somewhere he couldn't threaten anyone ever again... He had been a very good friend. Growing up in the streets of Lagos had taught me a lot of lessons, how to recognize a real threat, when to call someone's bluff and when decisive permanent action was needed. Right now, the odds were fully in his favor and he seemed very paranoid, there is nothing more dangerous than a man who beleives his own delusions, reasoning with them is futile.

"Sunny comot that thing from my face before something go happen for here" I spoke without thinking and stood up to face him squarely.

"Sunny calm down reason am, the boy no even know the route wey we take, which kind intel him wan pass, abeg siddon somewhere your pressure don too much" Ginger said laughing, he seemed to be taking it all lightly.

"Sunny drop the matter" Pilot said, he was simply known as Pilot and it was rumoured that he could handle any vehicle on land, air or sea, if you needed a getaway driver for any situation he's the man "Na marshall wey vouch for the boy and na him go answer the case when we reach, the boy no fit run go anyhere now, na me myself go off am if Marshall no talk well."

Sunny had kept the gun pointed at me throughout the exchange but he lowered his hand a bit when he heard Pilots voice, his opinion was obviously held high. I had heard that the two of them went way back and they were basically brothers. He tucked the gun into his trousers and went back to arranging the crates of weapons as if nothing had happened and I knew how close to death that was, this was not a man to be toyed with.

They rest of the journey lasted for several hours as we went deeper into the creeks, with water so polluted you could basically reach in and scoop some oil off the top. Most of the trees here had blackened and stunted with age. There was nothing like shrubs or grass around and it was obvious the soil around here could no longer support life. People love to have opinions about things they had never seen which is why I just laugh and shake my head when people who have never been to the Niger Delta talkless of going deep into the creeks talk rubbish about the fight of militants. I do not endorse their activities but having witnessed the state of things first hand I had great respect for their fight.

"Who goes?" the voice had come from nowhere and I could see nobody.

"Na Odin first born be this, who be that wey dey talk for there, wida you." Sunny shouted back, visibly irritated.

I could now make out something like a barge in front with about five heavily armed men standing with their guns aimed at us, the barge ha been cleverly constructed such that it couldn't be seen until you were almost upon it and there was dense foilage and tall trees in this part of the creeks, I guessed that the barge would be invisible from the air too. Marshall was with the men on the barge too and I had never been so glad to see another human being in my life. Sunny flung himself from the float before it stopped and we all followed suit, Pilot was last as he had to stay and tie the float to the stump of what was once a tree. The men on the barge boarded the float and started offloading the weapon laden crates without any words.

"Why those two crates dey open?" asked one of the militants who I guessed to be their leader cause he was the only one in a plain shirt and khaki trousers with no big guns, just one small knife hooked on his belt.

"General, we been jam small JTF problem when we dey come and we use some of the guns, one of my men def don go" sunny replied, "see as them nearly destroy my boat" he pointed to the bullet ridden sides of the boat.

"Hmmm, which kind talk be that one, make we go reason inside" General said, "make una offload those things arrange am well, find these boys better to drink." he looked at me and stopped "who be this one, I never see am for here before?"

"Na Marshall boy ooo, me sef wan know where him find the boy from, the boy be like snitch" Sunny said.

"You be fool ooo, you dey reason say person na snitch you still carry am come my camp" he said as he looked at me "Marshall drop wetin you dey do come here" he shouted, then he looked at me and said
"So you be spy" while fingering the knife on his belt...

iamprotocol:
I think am gonna love this story

Thank you.

Chuksyd1:
My brother, saying that you are good is an understatement.. This thing too sweet, and true true, 10k even less to sheriff and you are a free man in uniport.

Lol... You sabi. Thanks mehn

okay, this is nice. More ink 2 ur pen @op #following

@op. Nawao. I thouqht the guy telling the story was @ the bar. Now u took us back to the creek. Confused somewhat. How did he leave the bar and back to the creek? What happened to him and the University senate?[b][/b]

Encorecasmie:
@op. Nawao. I thouqht the guy telling the story was @ the bar. Now u took us back to the creek. Confused somewhat. How did he leave the bar and back to the creek? What happened to him and the University senate?[b][/b]

The story is going back and forth from the past to the future, that's why each episode is two parts.

Kudos bro...I'm following

Thoughts of Uniport and a fresh start were prevalent in my mind throughout the week and I could barely concentrate on anything. I hadn't completely lost hope in Unilag but the allure of something new was intoxicating, moreover the school was fast losing its appeal to me. Lying down on my bed in my sparsely furnished self contained apartment I reasoned and tried to convince myself that all hope was not lost. I had tried to watch the latest episode of Game of thrones but even that could not hold my attention for long. The sound of My phone ringing brought me out of my reverie and the caller I'd showed a strange number, Normally I don't pick up calls from numbers I don't know but the prof had said they'd call me anytime this week so I hesitantly picked..
"hello CJ what's up?" a female voice said.

"I'm alright, who is this?"

"So you don't recognise my voice again abi, guess who now."

"Just tell me your name, I'm really not in the mood right now" I was sure my irritation showed in my voice, I really hate it when people call with sttrange numbers and expect you to know who and I was close to cutting the call.

"Sorry ooo, it's Awele, what's up? Is anything wrong? I haven't heard From you for a while now"

"Oh babes, nothing is wrong ooo, just been extremely busy that's all. How are you doing?"

She was the last person I expected to hear from cause I had been avoiding her calls all week. We were not really dating but we had a thing going on and she had a boyfriend which was fine with me, I'm not really a relationship guy and she knew that but it seemed she wanted to ruin the beautiful thing we had by catching feelings. She had suggested we start dating a while back and I shot her down.

"I'm alright, you really hurt me C.J, even if you don't want a relationship that's no reason to be avoiding my calls. I never expected this kind of behavior from you."

"Babes don't talk like that jare" I said as smiling in my mind, the only reason she'd go to the extent of getting another number to call me after I had ignored her for so long meant only one thing, she wasn't angry and she really wanted me, I decided to play along "I told you before that I'm not ready for any commitments and the feelings I have for you will not allow me to raise your hopes when I have no intention of honouring them"

"Hmmm, so you do have feelings for me..."

"Of course now, especially the parts of your body that give me great joy." I said laughing.

"Serious jooor, I'm really angry at you."

"Seriously I'm really not used to feeling this way, so I guess I panicked when you brought up relationship talks. I miss you though."

"Hmmm, that's what you'll say, if you missed me you would have called. Are you at home?"

"yeah, why're you asking?"

"Nothing, just wanted to know, I missed you too big head. I just wanted to hear your voice, I'll call you later."

"Alright, take care of yourself"

"You too"

I sighed as the call ended, "females really don't know what they want" I thought as I restarted the Game of thrones episode for the third time. I realized that I was smiling a little. This girl had managed to get my mind off my problems for a short while.
About twenty minutes into the movie, I heard a knock on my door, I paused the film and went to check.
"who is it" I asked as I searched for the key to the door.
"it's me, Awele"

I opened the door and the sight wowed me, she was wearing a body hugging red gown with low breast cut that showed off her ample cleavage. She looked absolutely stunning.

"Are you just going to stand there with your mouth open or are you going to let me in?" she said .

I smiled and opened the door fully...

chocckidd:

The story is going back and forth from the past to the future, that's why each episode is two parts.

Thanks

MzChistar:
okay, this is nice. More ink 2 ur pen @op #following

Thank you very much. Please don't forget to share.

Nice one bro

am enjoying d story so far.
at first I thought it was 2 different stories but as I kept going further I discovered it was d same story about d same person but at different timeframe.
I kinda like d concept.

Consistency bro... consistency.

Op u'r chistar01's reincarnation