Daniel Efe was driving home at a snail’s pace, battling with the striking rain that slammed against the windshield of his car. A call came into his phone, it was from Mr. Kunle, his private investigator. He slid his hand into pocket and took out the phone.

“Hello?”

“It’s me, Kunle. If you really want answers to your questions, then I suggest you go home now without delay.”

The caller immediately hung up before Daniel could utter another word. He stepped on the gas at once; the night seemed darker than usual and his headlights could barely illuminate the desolated roads. Suddenly, a figure darted in front of his car like a flash, he slammed on the brakes and halted at the edge of a pavement. He clung on to the steering wheel and his heart began pounding. When his pulse slowed, he opened the car door and rushed towards the figure he had knocked down.

“I’m really very sorry for my reckless driving. My name is Daniel, please let me take you to a nearby hospital.”

She struggled to stand amidst winces. “I don’t need your help!”

She clutched at her purse and limped into the dark streets. He wasn’t able to see her face in the dark. His conscience nagged him as drove off.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/24/summer-rose-part-2/

The gentle ray of the sun was dripping down from the blue sky, gifting the day with its warmness.

Somehow, I knew it was a Sunday. Wasn’t I supposed to know anyway? But how could I be in a Sunday whose preceding Saturday I had no memory of? Did I just move to the future? Perhaps.

A Moment in the Future https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/23/a-moment-in-the-future/

I remember those days you would visit, they would call me from the play ground and tell me that ‘Daddy m Jos’ had come. I remember the pride and love in your eyes as I walked in. I remember the malt you left for me that day, and how you were heartbroken when I said, “My aunty told me not to take things from strangers.”

It wasn’t your fault, fate tore us apart. She had died and we were separated. I remember the toys, clothes and beverages you brought for me.

I remember the first day I followed you to Jos. They had told me you were my dad and against my aunty’s wish, I followed you. I remember your jacket, yes I remember that smell of comfort and safety, and your cap you gave me in the bus because it was cold, while you managed with that thin shirt. I remember when we arrived and I met my step mum. She dished my food; eba and soup and I rejected the food. I wanted tea. I remember you going out that night to buy bread.

I remember you washing my school uniform and socks and my step mum complaining that I was old enough to do those things. I remember when you would call me into the kitchen when you were cooking and you would tell me the reason why you put in every ingredient. You knew I didn’t get along with my step mum, so you took it upon yourself to teach me how to cook. I remember you being a father and mother at once.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/22/i-remember-2/

I couldn’t resist the urge to cry. The moment was too emotional. Seeing mother and child reunite after years of separation, made me realize what I might be lacking within.

The Night I Still Remember https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/22/the-night-i-still-remember/

Chained like dogs
Bruised and battered
Hair’s a mess, mind is blurry
Hazy memories
Pains and flashbacks
Thin line of
Pain and misery.

Trafficked
https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/22/trafficked/

The night was dark, still and cold. There was a crackling thunderstorm which made the bulbs blink for a second. Samantha stood in the kitchen, washing the dishes and muttering unclear words to herself. The twenty-eight-year-old young lady seemed to be in a horrible mood, like a volcano about to blow up.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door, she dropped the white ceramic plate with red flowery imprints which she was carefully washing, back into the sink and stormed to the front door.

“I wonder what took her so long. I’ll definitely give her a piece of my mind tonight,” she said to herself.

She inserted the key immediately into the keyhole, gave it a twist and flung the door wide open.

“Young lady, where have you…” Samantha’s voice was trailed off as she saw who was standing on her porch; her eyes widened in shock. An all black on black figure sauntered from the shadows pointing a gun at her. He had a black bandanna over his face which concealed half of his face, covering his mouth and nose, leaving his eyes and forehead exposed. Her lips quivered. She felt chilled with fear.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/22/shadows-of-the-past/

“I don’t want you in my life anymore. This whole relationship between us was a total mistake. You are simply worthless!”

The words came out of his mouth, cold and tinged with anger.

Bleeding Heart https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/20/bleeding-heart/

Love, a powerful feeling that can bring happiness as well as sadness and destruction.

I am a living proof of the destructive power of love. I sat on the cold floor, surrounded by shame and guilt; my head in between my hands and staring endlessly at nothing, I was totally lost in thoughts.

Valentine's Day Tragedy https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/19/valentines-day-tragedy/

“You don’t know what you have till it’s gone.”

I never understood the weight of that saying until my crises with Hannah began. There was neither peace for my mind nor sleep for my eyes. I was like a zombie.

As the days passed, Hannah moved farther away from me. Everything irritated her and my actions around her were like the steps of a man with a basket of eggs on his head and his hands bound with a rope. My Hannah would not let a day pass without hearing from me but now, she didn’t care. In fact she saw my call as a nuisance.

Love is a disease that cannot be cured. Every time I tried to get Hannah to meet me, she always gave excuses and if I pointed it out, she would tell me that we didn’t need to see each other physically to know that we were dating. I mean, who does that? I really wanted to hold her and tell her how much I loved her but I was the only one feeling that way. It seemed like Hannah’s mind was made of stone. Each time we managed to speak on phone, I kept apologizing for things I did not even understand.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/19/what-breaks-a-man-part-2/

Lol.

The night was cold, very cold. It was a night she had wished that her husband would be home, both on the bed after their night shower; she, swallowed by his warm embrace, the breeze escaping his nose flooding her body with goose pimples as it tickled her, facing him and watching his lips moved as he professed his love for her. She would smile; her mouth arced into a half moon shape, the kind of smile that would make him call her, “Ụtụ m.”

She sat on the sofa, alone in the cold night, staring at a picture strapped in between her fingers. She saw the picture of her smiling self being suspended in the air, in the arms of her man. They were both smiling. She wore a white gown and he wore a black suit. It was on their wedding day. She smiled at those dimples punctuating his face. His dimples become well pronounced when he grins. It was this dimples that gave him that kind of innocent aura that tripped Nkemdirim (Nkem for short) the first day they met.

That day, Nkem had decided to go to the market from her work. She had granted her house maid a two days off from duty, and so had to do the cooking. She jostled herself through into the heart of the market; people brushing her roughly as they walked pass. The sky tainted gray while the silvery grayish light shimmered through. There were thick dust particles suspended in the air. She saw sellers, wielding a horse tail with which they used to dust off the brown dust that had coated their goods. She trudged along with the two heavy bags. She looked around wishing that she could catch a sight of Ebere coming towards her. Ebere was her best friend and she owns a big boutique in the market.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/18/a-green-snake/

Seven years had passed since I started living with Tama, as I called her. Another girl joined us five years ago, and we blended very well. I did numerous jobs to get enough money to further my education. I finished school last year but there was no job forthcoming.

“O girl, how market?” Idara, the new girl asked Tama.

“I no even understand; na small small boys just dey find me. I be their mate?”

“I be dey plan say we go move go another house,” Idara said thoughtfully. Tama hissed derisively at her.

“With which person money? Abeg no make me vex o. Eh eh, Mma, is your boss still giving you dat look?” Tama asked raucously.

“Yes, I already quit yesterday,” I said sadly, “men and their trouble.”

“I’m going to Jos very soon,” Idara announced.

“To do what?” I asked skeptically. She smiled.

“To study Accounting na. Didn’t we discuss this before?” she asked upset that I didn’t remember.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/17/mma-episode-two/

In a soul with no feelings
Stars are made…
Upon those tender walls of its heart
Made to darken the unwanted…

The unnecessary urge to fight it
To dim the piercing light
False images built to feel better
Total blockage to feel nothing
Actually there is no feeling at all
He just makes it seem like there is

That perfectly sculptured face
With smiles made to change the world
Laughs made through constant practices from videos on YouTube
Oblivious to the beauty of love
Knowledge of pain of love
Emphasis of loneliness within
You don’t even care about my care for you

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/17/a-chance-to-see-you/

“You can’t turn me on and off whenever you please,” he shot at me, making his way to the zipper of his trousers. He was stark naked in an instant.

What did that mean anyway? What did it mean to turn him off and on? I had no idea what he was going on about.

I was afraid to look at him… a naked boy… and I was in his room, fidgeting like jelly! I was in a compromised place, I realized, sadly.

The rest of what happened, you can imagine for yourselves, but I did struggle and scream and shouted but no one came to my aid.

I remember him carrying me back to my room, cleaning me up and telling me how much he loved me. I also recall him asking me not to relate what had happened and that it was to stay between us two. I felt weak… I couldn’t cry anymore. I couldn’t do nothing.

I was in that place of guilt where the ticket of redemption was been torn, into pieces. There was no coming back from this, I was sure.

Yesterday, I was a virgin maid with red roses round my head but today I was nothing. Not a glory anymore to my name. I was no longer a blooming flower and I was still a maid—his maid.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/17/the-maid-part-3/

Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thus was the sound of the talking drum.
It speaks, we hear
Even the deaf could not bear
O! The enemies seem to fear.

Its sounds were messages to humanity,
Its rhymes were filled with melody.

Its beautiful sounds perform wonders,
It made the lame dance to stupor.
The dumb sang to exhaust at ion,
The blind saw from afar,
And the deaf heard it melodies,
O! What a reality!

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/17/the-talking-drum/

“Papa, please not today again,” I cried.

“Come on, shut your mouth! I paid for your mother’s bribe price, it means I get to inherit everything that belongs to her. Sleeping with you is my right,” that foolish old rag said boastfully.

My mother just stood there with arms folded, sobbing. Foolish woman! She believes she’s in love with him and can never leave him, even if it means satisfying that goat with me.

“I don’t want to do anything!” I yelled.

“Mma please, just let your father sleep with you this night. Please,” she pleaded.

“Mama what is your problem? Can you even hear yourself?”

Paaaah!

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/16/nma-episode-one/

She must have slept for a long time because when she woke up, it was dark. She knew so because her windows showered no light except for the German bulbs that enchanted her room. She cocked her head a bit to look over the bent shape of David, sitting at the edge of her bed.

“What a gentleman,” she thought. He had tucked her in, nice and smooth. This was a man for every girl’s dream. He must have fallen asleep watching her sleep.

She gave herself a light laugh. The sudden thought that he might have a girlfriend she had never met stole her laughter right from the corner of her hungry-for-kisses lips.

She was afraid he was becoming an obsession. The man does not love her still she could kill on his behalf. In her life, all she had known about love was that it was never requited. It hurts so much that she felt her eyes grow hot from savage tears.

Suddenly, she gave out a shrill laughter that sent Dave jostling out of his bag of sleep. He looked up to find her staring at him.

“Did you know this baby was made in his office? It was the last time I saw him,” she said gaudily like she was talking about a happy past and not an utterly sad one.

If Dave had not known the ‘him’, he would have been thrown off balance by such a weird question as the one thrown right now at him.

He could not understanding anything still he decided to humor her. “How do you mean made in his office?” he pretended to tilt his head as a show of interest in this bizarre topic.

She swung her head like a little cat, smiled sheepishly again. Dave couldn’t help but think she needed some fresh air.

“Well, when Michel married me, I was just fourteen years old. I was the most timid girl ever. On our nuptial night, he professed his undying love for me. I was so stupid!” She started crying now, rolling the tip of her gown around her tallest finger. She was looking down at whatever she thought she was doing with her hands.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/16/weird-triangle-part-2/

You are like the rain that cascades from the clouds,
Now I’m wet with your love,
Your movement is the one that mesmerizes me,
Your curves charm me, now I’m seeing double,
You’re like a vibrant white daisy that floats on a clean water,
Or a pink tulip; bright and folded with beauty.
You intoxicate me like a new palm wine,
And as you wiggle your buttock-
You banish me into a long period of unconsciousness.

I must tell you to veil your face from my friends,
And never to show your hips covered with expensive velvet,
For they will die of want and glow with envy.

Ìbàdí àrán:
The scent of the flowers cannot deluge your fragrance form me,
And when you smile; its like a venom-
Every man dies, while you become my own antidote,
Even my heartbeat hums the tune of love
As your veil flutters over my eyes…

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/16/ibadi-aran/

Thanks.

As I entered the parlour, I sensed tension almost immediately. She sat at the edge of the three colourful cushions. He sat in one of the other two facing her. A blank expression was written on his face.

“Bastard,” I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes at him for an instant and wondering if his mother saw me. I sat down on the empty seat next to him. His familiar fragrance of peach and strawberry hit me. How had I managed to be so crazy around his cologne? To be so jealous and possessive over someone who was never mine?

These begging questions took my mind back to how it all started.

“What’s going on between you both?” her question threw me out of my necessitated reverie. I landed back to the spot of present reality and realized too late why we had been summoned!

“Does she know?” I wondered.

“Precious, I want to know….. how did these all happen?” the sound of my name made me take in forced breath.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/15/the-maid-part-1/

You could still remember the first day you had met him. You had both gone to register your GS courses in the School of General Studies. You, like many others came out as early as 6am to queue in front of the office so that you could complete the whole process in one day and also attend your afternoon lectures.

He had come later than everyone present, by 8:30am. No one wanted to let him go before them, so he came to ask you, telling you that he lived far from school and that he also had lectures that afternoon. For you, it was love at first sight. You fell in love with his voice and then overtaken by his charms, you had let him stand in your front much to the anger of those behind you. With some broken words of apology from you, they reluctantly calmed down and allowed the both of you to go. While you stood on the line, he didn’t say anything to you. You just stood behind him twirling your hair and imagining the day you would get to him.

You no longer paid attention to the queue, someone had to tap you to wake up from your daydreams as it was your turn to go in and register. With surprise, you had looked around and discovered that he had gone inside the office. You felt that it would be the last time you would see him so you decided to brave it all and move up to introduce yourself to him. After you got registered, you ran to catch up with him crying out,

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/14/the-heart-wants-what-it-wants/

You were coffee,
Concentrated Cuban coffee
Saturated with caffeine
And I took more than one sip of you…

No wonder I am so hyper
No wonder I cry just looking at the moon
No wonder I have been awake for thirteen months
Counting from the day you said goodbye…

You were coffee
Dark and all shades of beautiful
Your aroma drove me crazy
And I took more than one sip of you…

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/14/coffee/

She cantered to the kitchen door as if the ghost of Enebele would suddenly awake.

The pot of Egusi soup was still sitting still on top of the gas cooker. She took a cursory look at the untidy image of her once glorious kitchen and tried to compare it to its days of former glory.

Shreds of dried onion peels conversed on the sink, vehemently argued by the pile of unwashed utensils which added more horror to the atmosphere.

She perceived the foul smell and knew the source to be the soup pot which was left uncovered.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/14/the-past-in-the-soup-pot-part-1/

The sun illuminated my room with its bright light, overtaking the darkness; and its glare reminded me that it was morning. I covered my face with the duvet, biting my tongue from cursing the sun for shining. It was not the sun’s fault. It had been like that since the beginning of the world; the sun shines from morning till evening and allows the moon to take over in the night. The moon for darkness, the sun for light. No wonder most evil things happen at night. Nothing good ever really happens at night.


Believe me, I wasn’t totally a religious person, but I believed in righteousness. I believed in God and the Son of Man. I wasn’t the type that went to church every Sunday morning and not the type that prayed and read the Holy Bible every day.

I was the type that woke up in the morning and gave thanks to the Almighty; I was the type that remembered him when I was confused and in trouble; I was the type that did whatever I wanted; and I was also the type that questioned God about humanity and why some people were created the way they were. Such as why he created me the way I am, making me suffer in silence, well not entirely suffering.

I had my parents to cater for my responsibility and my elder brother Matthew and older sister Marilyn to make me happy and feel worthy of my existence, my best friends, Josh and Sammie that always make my day in school. Apart from these people, the rest are sources of nuisance to me. Oh I forgot my doctor, Dr Lincoln, and my therapist, who I see twice a week and not six days in a week, Dr Anita. Sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out if I wasn’t diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/13/the-miracle/

“You don’t know me until you met me,” she said, to the Hercules of a man she met online two days ago. Though she hadn’t met him, yet she fell in love with him.

“Is this infatuation or real affection?” This question kept popping in her head like the crest and trough of a sinusoidal wave. It was last month Oke ditched her over a piece of pizza while they were on their third date. She didn’t know whether it was because she wanted to heal from the broken relationship or whether she wanted to forget about him so fast.

In the end, she just wanted this new online dude so badly that it seems she was the progenitor of the whole thing.

Sonia was revered amongst her peers as a lady that always got what she wanted. Starting from her secondary school days, when she wanted to be the head girl, the president of the debating club. All these she got with almost a flick of her fingers.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/12/willful-surprise/

Love and Lies Part 3)

(https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/11/love-and-lies-part-3/

Love and Lies (Part 2)

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/09/love-and-lies-part-2/

“Hey, why are you staring at him like that, as if he is not your boyfriend?” that was Sheila, a girl I had never spoken to. In fact, nobody ever speaks to her in class. She was a half-caste. Her father was a European expatriate and her mother a Nigerian from the Delta region. Her parents were divorced. And because of the way she carried herself, and kept to herself everyone felt that she was a snob.

Surprised that she was talking to me, I remained quiet.

She sat down beside me, “You all think I’m a snob right?” she asked, looking at the football pitch. She knew the answer and yet she was still asking. She behaved like one, dressed like one and does every other thing like one, and so nobody in our class wanted any dealing with a snob so we all kept our distance.

“Sure, you behave like one,” I said .

She smiled, “If I were really one, I wouldn’t be talking to you, would I?” And without waiting for my answer, she asked, “Can we be friends?”

It was another shocker. I looked at her, “Are you serious?”

“I don’t look like I am joking, do I?” she said without waiting for an answer again, she continued, “You look like something is bothering you, can you share it?”

I looked at her. Was my worry that visible? I looked away, “Its personal. I don’t want to talk about it.”

She didn’t stop asking, “A problem shared is half-solved. Come on, what is the problem? I’m willing to listen.” She looked at Dave on the field, “Is it him? Or family problems?”

“Is it possible to have sex just once and not get pregnant?” I blurted and immediately wanted to slap my mouth. What if she went around telling other people. We weren’t even friends.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/11/love-and-lies-part-3/

I remember the sound of Abimbola’s laughter and her wide toothy grin
I remember Veronica’s gentle nudge to fess up to the boy I liked
I remember the day the heavens threatened to let loose and sent us running home, bags on our head
Is it a curse or blessing, I remember it all.

I remember the quick whispers of gossip Enitan fed me in the Biology lab
I remember the closing hours of painted legs and lips, with powdered faces just to draw the attention of the boys
I remember the first stirrings of attraction on Adebayo’s face from the first time
Is it pain or bliss, I remember it all

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/11/i-remember/

I didn’t know what was going on. But I knew that whatever it was, it wasn’t all good.

Mama Nkechi was holding Mama so tightly. Even though the big body of Mama would toss the skinny body of Mama Nkechi around, she persisted in holding mama from thrashing and kicking.

Our sitting room was so filled to the brim with people that it threatened to spill over.

The first time people thronged to our house was when Papa invited them for a celebration. They came and had their stomachs filled with the rice and Salad Mama and other women who came around had prepared.

That night, Papa told me and Ezinne my younger sister that our lives were taking a new leave. He told us that the government had called him up for a peace treaty. I couldn’t understand why Papa would have to hold a celebration when he was leaving —when he had planned to leave us behind to a different world altogether.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/10/papas-love/

Sitting and gazing at the feet of love
Cupid’s arrow has met me here surely
Forever lost I’m in this abyss called love
For I am held captive by the chains of love

Like a mermaid she drew out of the water
Like a temptress she seduced me without any effort
I fell into the web of her love
And I became her slave forever

Permit me to feast on your lovely skin
Permit me to kiss your perfect fingers
Permit me to rest on your sweet bosom
Permit me to inhale your pleasant scent
And I swear on my life I wouldn’t let go.

Read more on:

https://www.thezenpens.com/2019/06/10/enchanteress/