Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(5)

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'i no fit lie to you Jojo'.....Obi said
'You must be joking ,Obi,seriously?'.......I couldn't believe what i was hearing and the fact that Obi kept this as a secret all the while.
'na so e be o'....he said again.

I kept on looking at Obi,i had a feeling he was holding something back
'Obi,are sure that is all?'...i asked him
'i swear Jojo!'......
'The fact say u swear sef no make me believe you jor'.......
'I de tell youuuuu'......he tried convincing me
'I bet there is more,it can't be because of prison ,na him everybody dey use bad eye dey look this house?...
'nothing else o'....
'wetin Alhaji do sef wey e de chop beans?......i was sure by now Obi was hiding something
'Him na Dagbo man now,e get plenty things for him hand'...
'ehn ehn'...

I knew i had to change my approach if i wanted to get the information out of him and the only way to do that was to use his weak point....women!!.I would have to balckmail the info out of him.

'Lola even talk say u dey chike her sister?'.....i asked him
'Omo,i like that logo o,gba,she tell u?'....Obi's face lit up
'I see am self,she ask after you'......
'ehen ehn,true true?'.............
'Ehn now,i fit arrange make una meet sef'...
'Jojo ,my man!!!!!........
'Trust me now,na benbele thing'.....
'so how we go do am?........he was off his guard now.
'condition dey sha o'.....
'u don come o'...he went on the defensive
'wetin Alhaji do wey make am go prison?......
'omo,i think say we don forget that side now?.....
'Ok,no worry'...

I started to stand up all the while waiting to see his reaction.

'come now jojo,no go like that now'......Obi jumped up anf grabbed my hand
'Leave my hand guy'....
'wait na,u no say i gbadun that logo na,why u dey blackmail me now'........
'na u know o,if u like talk if u like no talk,na go i dey so o'..........i bluffed him

He paused for a while ,then i guessed he must have weighed what he would be losing compared to the information.

'No be say i no want tell you,the thing just get as e be'......Obi said
'Talk!!!'......
'But make sure say u no tell Uche o ,you fit still maintain pass am..........he was refering to Uche my room mate.
'Ok,ok,talk ,he wan pass say Alhaji shubi?'.....i preesed on
'E pass that one o'...
'Oya!'...

Obi swallowed his spit once again and suddenly ,i had this feeling that made me re think if i really wanted to know what Alhaji did but  it was too late because Obi just opened his mouth.

'Jojo,Alhaji kpai person!'....
'He what?...........i asked incredulously
'No be only that o'...
'ehn,there is more?'.....my eyes was about to pop out of its socket..

'he killed someone in this very  building!.................Obi whispered

'I did not know when i shouted ,MOGBEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(4)

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'No way'...i said to myself
'Make we enter now,come see my room you go like the inside'.....Obi broke into my thoughts..

As soon as i stepped my foot into the building,the saying that 'never judge a book by the cover' slammed me in the face.
It was as if i was crossing the Niger bridge from Onitsha with all the violence to Asaba cool serenity.

Obi was right!......I liked the spacious room,well plastered and  painted,it had a ceiling fan already and all i had to d was move in.Obi saw that i was impressed,

'I tell u say ,you go like am,oya come see my own room'......he said as he started to open the opposite door.
Stepping into Obi's room erased all my doubts,the way it was painted  off white, his reading tables ,his bed,everything was apt.We discussed the rent and went to see the wife of the owner where we finalised it.

Back in school ,a friend of mine who was looking for accommodation suggested we share the room and split the bills.Sounded like a good idea to me so i agreed.

The following week was a busy one academically but eventually we found time to move into the apartment after paying the rent to Alhaji's wife.

The weeks went by and we were busy moving into the new room,at that time the bungalow had four rooms,obi and i had a room each while the other wing was occupied by a police man and his family.

After some weeks i began to notice some funny attitude towards us in the environment,one,i could not get any young boy in the area to help me out with my laundry or other chores,all of them kept on lying to me and they never turn up.If i go to buy food stuffs and maybe i need to give the woman some additional money,she would refuse to allow her son to follow me home to collect the change, anyway there was this chick that was living on my street that i really fancied,she was a student also at the mini campus and her parents were living on the same street,they had been living there for a while before i moved in.I finally had a chance to talk to her and she responded very well but any time i tried inviting her to my house she always seems to blow me off,at first i thought she was just taking her time.A particular day got us talking and i brought up the subject

'Lola,i need to ask you a question and i want you to be honest with me'......i asked her
'Ok'.....
'is it that you don't like me enough or why don't you want to come to my house'..
'Of course i like you,i like you a lot,its just that'.........she paused
'Just that what?'.....i pressed on
'That your house has some kind of history and am afraid to enter'...
'Ehn,what kind of history,please tell me'.........by now i was really at full attention
'You know we have been in this area long before you?....
'I know ,i know'.....i was getting impatient.
'Go and ask Obi now,i have to go before my parents come back'..........and she stood up and started leaving
I tried to persuade her but she didn't wait.

My head was boiling,what happened in this house that Obi did not tell us? no wonder i kept asking him where the Landlord was living because i could not imagine the owner of this big bungalow letting out all the rooms without staying,he would waive the questions .I couldn't wait  to get to the house,i was more like jogging than walking.I went straight to his room.
'Obi,we need to yan o'.........
'As per wetin?.......

Obi was not willing to open up to me but i would not leave the room and kept on barging him with questions,eventually i worn him out and when he started talking ,my mouth was left agape.The house was owned by  Alhaji for sure and according to stories ,he was a very dubious person up to armed robbery.

'Jojo ,you be dagbo man now,you suppose understand this kain thing'.........Obi said
'Omo! bone that o,oya where is Alhaji now.
'Na wa o'......
'Obi,answer me ,where is Alhaji!!!?........by now i was really really angry

Obi knew i was really mad at him,he looked at me and swallowed some spit.He probably reasoned that it was better he told me the truth.

'Jojo,Alhaji dey for Prison'

'Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'...................i screamed

Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(3)

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I went through the rest of the semester mechanically with just a pair of jeans and two shirts and a cherokee ankle boots,I couldnt wait for the Easter break to come.I needed to regroup.

It was afterwards i decided i did not want to stay on the campus again and started talking to my friend of any room for rent outside campus.
'Jojo,i hear Obi is looking for a co-tenant o'......my friend Larey informed me
'ehn ehn,make i go follow am word,where him dey sef?'...
'Check am for Lab,he get test'....
'ok,wasere'........

Obi was one of the funniest dude i had ever known,he was such a clown that he could'nt complete a sentence without people bursting into laughter and he was also a master of slangs,he rolls out new slangs every day and it was just an effort to keep up with him, he would have made it as a comedian if he was born in this age and time.
I tracked him down later in the day at the Lab and as usual he was talking to a babe,well,scoping babe was more of a hobby for him.As soon as he saw me.he excused himself and moved towards  me at the same time yabbing.

'Jojo with your shorrrrrrt body!i hear say u wan mule?.....

'You kin?...which kind mule e be?.....i asked him the kind of accommodation he had

'Omo,mule na mule o, as you no get choice now'....he laughed saying ,a house is a house o.
'Mule no be mule jor,e get water?.........

'Mule wey i de stay already,e get water now,na just one room free as the landlord no dey around'..

'ehn ehn,when make i come check am?.......

'make we fix am for tommorow na,i get waka with that logo'......meaning he had a date.

'hmmm,dagbo man,the logo na mati,she de bosu?............i asked if the chick was from a rich background,cos i knew that was his speciality.

'Trust now,with your logo logo body,but no be only she de bo o,as she de bo,i de bo,she de bo ,i de bo'.............meant we both spend on each other.

'tommorrow now'.....i said

'Ok,dagbo man'......

The next evening ,i met up with Obi at Tipper garage so we could go and inspect the house

'Tell me a bit about the mule now?'......i started to probe

'I don de live there since now,the landlord no de around so na the wife dey let out the rooms'...
'ok'...

We passsed through some streets and ended up beside the community bank ,crossed the busy road and entered another street adjacent the bank,we turned right and was immediately in front of a bungalow.

'Na the Mule be dis o'.......Obi pointed at the bungalow...
' Mogbe!'.......i shouted
' wetin?why u shout?'.........
'why i no go shout?na the mule be dis?
'Omo,mule na mule o?....

we were standing infront of an uncompleted building.............................................

Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(2)

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Everywhere was in six and sevens,no doubt ,someone had stepped on some fragile toes and they were trying to make him pay for it.The panic stricken students started pushing and shoving and some were even trampled on.I 'plastered' myself against the wall to avoid being pushed.

I had seen things like this several times in Lagos,the best way is to do exactly the opposite of what everybody else was doing,so while everyone was rushing towards the open space,i made my  way to my room.

Now let me tell you about my room,my room consisted of some Christan brothers,Muslim brothers and OPP boys.We had three big musical decks in the room in each corner and in a bid to outdo each other with their own kind of   music,they all play at the same time,you need ear muffs so as not to go deaf.

Brother John was blasting Don Moen's Album and Saddam was blasting Obesere Fuji music,my corner was blasting Snoop Doggy's rap music....i guess everyone was trying to out blast each other,so you could not actually enjoy a good nap in the room and since we had no choice,we just had to tolerate.

By now i was able to sing all Don Moen's song,a particular album by Obesere and Snoop Doggy's rap song subconsciously by heart.I knew all the lyrics

'Saddam,una no go use noise kill person for this room o'.......
'Jojo,u sef see am,na so dem dey do'.....
'u sef join now,hahahaaa'......
'if i can't beat them i no go join them,na these brothers no dey hear word,i dey see people dey run,wetin happun?
'Na some boys dey excited come dey shook themselves o'....
'ehn, bafana bafana?....
'ehn now,the boys the boys.......i laughed as i picked up my books to head to the class area.

Getting to class,i met some of my class mates and it turned out there were having a tutorial session,i joined and was there all night because our next lecture for the following day being a Friday would start by mid day.

Early the next morning .i dragged myself back to my hostel room only to find all my room mates huddled up together in front of the room with some other guys from the rest of the rooms.

'Wetin happun Saddam' ..i asked immediately ,fearing the worst.
'omo,na shubi o'....he answered......

I looked at the faces of the my other room mates,it showed bad news so  i ran in quickly to check my bags.........it was not there.For the next 20 mins i searched my bed space like a mad man looking for Agege bread.

Everyone had already done their own checkings before i came so all were silent while i was checking my belongings.

I came out and sat on the floor with both my hands on my head......all the hustling i did during the ASUU strike had been for nothing.

The room had been burgled and all my bags with my clothes were gone,i had only two shirts and one black Lee jeans to wear till Easter break.

It was a black Thursday........................................................

Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(1)

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So here was i,chilling with Makanaky and his men.........I stopped spending my money and all our wants were met by ''men'' trying to get into his good books,sycophancy was at its peak but Makanaky being who he was ,was used to such and able to separate the chaff from the wheat.

Bonfire night was so much that after everyone had gone to bed,Makanaky and his men started their gyration and started forming cycle singing their confraternity song...i was the odd one out but every now and then he would send one of his boys to come and serve me drinks and all....After some time he came to sit besdide  me

'Jojo u no see twins,since dat day he has been begging me make i no jam am'...
'Omo,e good as u put the guy on suspense jare,that will keep him in check,him own too much..
'Dagboness no be for one person na,see your landlord back in Ilorin for instance"......he laughed
'Ha Alhaji,omo ita agbalagba,that one dagbo from belle''...........i answered him with a note of nostalgia.

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I had arrived the university with my cousin, Ola, as a fresh faced Teenager  although Ola was already a stalite i had him to thank for allowing me to stay in his room for a while till i could get a room on campus.I quickly integrated into the system with his help although he was in the medical sciences but soon i was able to find my way around the campus ,at least i knew where the important places were.

My orientation was so fast that it took me only 2 weeks to be 'inducted' into the general assembly of the association of Abe igi.I met a friend of mine back in high school that took it upon himself to take me to coca cola village and let me meet the 'boys'' , infact that was the first time i would get drunk in school.Everybody was fresh from house and enough money in the pocket plus i made the mistake of declaring drinks for boys first ,i didn't know i was setting myself up,the rest as they say is history.

I  became friends with 3 other guys and lucky enough one of them had a bed space allocated to him,we eventually found ourselves in C block room 15

After a couple of weeks i strolled down lambaba,one of the butteries downstairs,it was a cool evening and i just wanted to have a bottle of solo coke and a stick of cigarette.I met some boys there and we argued football for a while,i was bored and did not feel like reading so i decided to watch some TV programmes at the common room.I left the common room like 9pm as i stepped out onto the walkway,i saw a guy running towards the walkway being chased by two other guys.

He zoomed past me and i noticed a big gash on his head and blood dripping down,i turned to look at the pursuers and both of them were holding ake uti (cleave axe that usually has a hole at the tip)...
the noise alerted all the students in the common room,.......

Pandemonium broke loose.........

SERVANTS OF THE BOOKS......Chapter one

I had the book as her soul was leaving her body ,It was time!! the books were ready,it has happened countless number of times.
Death was also with his book and ready for her soul,her soul lifted lightly then floated for a while,
As her name was melting from my book,it was getting very legible in the book of death.Well, my duty is done here! i was about to close the book of life when suddenly the book started shaking,i quickly opened it wider because i knew what it meant.Her name started slowly began to appear in my book and at the same time disappearing from the book of death.Her soul descended gently back into her.
I was used to this occurrence it shows how merciful the creator can be,am guessing he has special plans for this soul.'I AM THAT I AM' have spoken.
Most ideologies fail to realise that there are actually two books,one for death and one for the living.I saw death leaving,he did not have to stay he knew that the higher authority had spoken and for the nature of his job,he was an ever busy entity and besides she was still going to die eventually,she is only living on borrowed time,everybody dies!.Death knew this and a chance to take a soul only meant more jobs for him with all the wars,terrorism,suicide,earthquakes e.t.c going on,he probably had his hands full already.
Son of man subconsciously think of Death as an ugly ,dark ,looking monster who appears with a trident to take one's soul,i amuse myself with the fact that he is actually the opposite,he had the gentlest spirit in our realm and only had to do what he does because it has been written.

I did not have to stay but something compelled me to s,i felt her eyes boring through  yet i knew she couldn't see me,apart from the fact that am a spirit,she was blind from birth.

Death and i are called the servants of the books.