.....
Alhaji was not a loquacious person ,he rarely talked and when he did,it sounded more like whispering and you really had to lean in close to him to hear his voice.Obi said maybe it was the torturing they gave him while in police custody that had affected his voice.
'Jojo,u no know say na only one shirt and one trouser follow Alhaji comot from prison?...........Obi informed me.
'Before nko,dem dey dash clothes for prison?...
'But forget o,Alhaji was bragging to yesterday that he will soon get a car o'....
'Person wey no get work dey buy car?........i quipped...
'Sebi him wife de work'.........
'Mscheeeew,how much she de collect?...........we ended the gist on that note.
Before the arrival of Alhaji from prison,we already made it a habit to always make chicken soup every weekend by seizing any available chicken that mistakenly comes near our house.
Obi would use a trail of corn to tempt the chicken inside the house and from there ,it ends up in our pots but since Alhaji's arrival,we found out that we no longer had chickens coming around again because Alhaji was in the habit of killing them everyday.Alhaji had a younger brother of his living with him and both of them were brothers in crime.
Not that we as students were not also committing the same crime,but we felt ours was born out of necessity.This was getting too much ,we had an emergency meeting.
'Omo ,this one wey Alhaji don pai all the cowboys we dey this area i hope the landlord association dey take notice o,make dem no go dey yan say na students now'..
'Jojou funny o,dem no wan know o,if anything miss na we o'...Obi corrected me
'Haa,that one no go funny o'.......
'We need to change tactics and prey'.......Uche suggested.
'Like what?...
'Four wheeler'..................Uche replied
We all looked at each other ,if what Uche was suggesting was what all of us were thinking ,then it would be a jamboree every month with enough meat to go around.Uche suggested we should move our mark from chickens to goats!!! The meeting was not concluded,we had an indigene living in the house now and the guy was also an immigration officer,we had to be very careful.Uche was telling us to up our game,that needed a lot of thinking and we all agreed to think about it.
The next day was a weekend and i was relaxing on my bed when i heard Obi banging on my door ,i jumped up and quickly opened because with Obi,anything can happen.
'I no tell you say Alhaji say e go buy car?'...Obi was excited.
'Eh ehn,wetin come hapun?'
'come outside'......Obi started dragging me..
On getting outside.....Alhaji was leaning on a blue coloured Mazda 626,grinning from ear to ear.
Alhaji had struck again!!!!!!
This was not the era of yahoo yahoo and the only way Alhaji could come up with cash was to carry out an operation.
We did not know the kind of operation he did and none of us had the liver to ask him,all we could do was celebrate with him as he ordered for crates of beer and resigned ourselves to everyday life of fear not knowing when the police would come again,we could only prepare ourselves by making sure we did not harbour any incriminating stuffs in the house.
This particular day was the only day i remembered that Alhaji bought any livestock with his money,he bought some live chickens and we fried them to be taken with the cold bottle of beer.
In a lame man's terminology, when referring to someone that had suddenly come across good fortune,we say......
Alhaji has arrived!!!!
Wednesday 31 December 2014
Thursday 18 December 2014
Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(7) cont....
..................
Seeing Caleb with that team meant this was more of a student issue.Till today i really do not know what warranted the raid,we knew amongst ourselves that we were lucky.
On our way to the campus in the morning ,i began to question Obi
'My guy,the tin wey happun today,you know about am?'
'No o,how i go know'
'Ehen hen ,you no know abi?
'i no know o'
'ok ,i go ask Caleb'
'which one be say you go ask Caleb,i say i no know'.....
I knew Obi was hiding something and the fact that i bluffed him using Caleb name did not shake him.Anyway we got to the campus that day and after lectures i looked everywhere i know to see if i would bump into Caleb but i didn't and at a point i thought he did not come to school at all only to see him later in the day at the Law Library.I moved closer.
'Caleb my man!'.....i greeted him
'Your man meaning what?'......He turned with a straight face
'Ahan han cool down now,are you not my man again?'.....i acted surprised
'ehnn,meaning what now?......he apparently knew why i was hailing him and he was quick to put up a defence.
'This morning for my house,what was that all about ?...i asked him point blank.
'I don't know what you are talking about?...he denied.
'I know your are not obligated to talk,just give me a hint'.....
'Its classified Jojo'........
'I know but a hint will help me know who to talk to,was it about Alhaji?....i pressed on
'No '
'landlord association?'..
'No,when u see Obi ask wetin him do,i no fit talk pass that one'
'Thank you Caleb,just what i needed'.....
I thanked him and stood up,my fears had been verified,like i suspected Obi was not entirely clean but he would not own up.I decided to let him be and wait for an opportune time to raise it up again.
Having finished our exams we all proceeded for the long vacation and the matter was forgotten,we even turned Alhaji's name to a taboo never to be discussed which kept the peace in the house.Before leaving we had two vacant rooms for rent and we could not get any student to rent it since it was close to end of Semester so Obi told Alhaji's wife to be patient until we resume for the following semester so she could get premium rents for the rooms.She agreed.
Once in Lagos.the rush of the city got me back hustling,i had to make good money before going back to school.Lagos is the land of opportunities and you have to be very sharp to see them and turn them into money.
Before you say Jack Robinson,the holidays were over and i started thinking of going back to school,I asked Obi when he would be leaving for school and he said the next day, i promised to join him the following week.My room mate was not Lagos based but i know he usually resumes earlier than me.
My journey back to school was smooth,the bus dropped me at the roundabout,i took a cab because of my luggage and we headed straight to Tanke, i had a John Grisham novel i had been reading in the bus,i quickly brought out so i could finish it.
Getting down from the cab ,some of the street boys came around to help me with my luggage,I crossed the busy street, passed Bostra restaurant and turned into my street ,i could see my house from the junction and i noticed that a snooker table was in front,a lot of boys were smoking,drinking and playing and i could even hear someone of them betting and going to one corner to give a man the bet money.
As i moved closer ,i noticed that the man was quite older than all the boys,he had a small stool in front of him with a big bottle of stout and his stomach was almost touching the stool table.
As soon as Obi saw me,he shouted and everybody looked my way and we started exchanging greetings.
'Obi,who be that man wey get big stomach?;..i quickly pulled Obi to one side.
'hahahahahaha'.....he laughed
'Talk jor'....
Jojo;na Alhaji be that o'
'Alhaji? our landlord? ! is he back from prison?....
'Yes o,na him be onile (bet moderator) now'....
'wetin e de find here?'....
'Omo,the man don move back with him family into the other wing o'..
'how come?Oga Police nko?'....
'He don give that one quit notice since na,e don move comot'...
'Oh i see,so he is back?.....
'omo na so meself jam am as i come o.infact he don even collect two more tenants'....
'ehe ehen,students?....
'one student and one Alfa'...
'Alfa bawo?that one go dey scatter our runs o'
'Meself tire,make we see as e go be'....
We ended the conversation as i followed Obi to be introduced to Alhaji,i felt like a sheep being led to the altar for sacrifice.Alhaji was a short man with a very protruding stomach,his belly was massive compared to his frame,i could not help but to wonder how this mammoth of a man could be a robber and be this big,what if they were being chased by the police but i only had to look at his eyes and i had my answer.Alhaji had a cute face not handsome like but babyish but his eyes gave him away as a very dangerous person,they were sharp and spoke volumes,the kind of eyes that make one feel uncomfortable when it scrutinises.
He smiled at me when i greeted him and his smile was more like a snarl,though his chisel like teeth were bared,his eyes were cold as ice and as soon as he shook me,a cold shiver ran through my body and i needed nobody to tell me that i was in front of a deadly man.
Now things are really about to get ugly,Alhaji being back meant we would be living with an armed robber and a murderer and i really don't have an idea how this will pan out but i did not have to wait that long....................................................................
Seeing Caleb with that team meant this was more of a student issue.Till today i really do not know what warranted the raid,we knew amongst ourselves that we were lucky.
On our way to the campus in the morning ,i began to question Obi
'My guy,the tin wey happun today,you know about am?'
'No o,how i go know'
'Ehen hen ,you no know abi?
'i no know o'
'ok ,i go ask Caleb'
'which one be say you go ask Caleb,i say i no know'.....
I knew Obi was hiding something and the fact that i bluffed him using Caleb name did not shake him.Anyway we got to the campus that day and after lectures i looked everywhere i know to see if i would bump into Caleb but i didn't and at a point i thought he did not come to school at all only to see him later in the day at the Law Library.I moved closer.
'Caleb my man!'.....i greeted him
'Your man meaning what?'......He turned with a straight face
'Ahan han cool down now,are you not my man again?'.....i acted surprised
'ehnn,meaning what now?......he apparently knew why i was hailing him and he was quick to put up a defence.
'This morning for my house,what was that all about ?...i asked him point blank.
'I don't know what you are talking about?...he denied.
'I know your are not obligated to talk,just give me a hint'.....
'Its classified Jojo'........
'I know but a hint will help me know who to talk to,was it about Alhaji?....i pressed on
'No '
'landlord association?'..
'No,when u see Obi ask wetin him do,i no fit talk pass that one'
'Thank you Caleb,just what i needed'.....
I thanked him and stood up,my fears had been verified,like i suspected Obi was not entirely clean but he would not own up.I decided to let him be and wait for an opportune time to raise it up again.
Having finished our exams we all proceeded for the long vacation and the matter was forgotten,we even turned Alhaji's name to a taboo never to be discussed which kept the peace in the house.Before leaving we had two vacant rooms for rent and we could not get any student to rent it since it was close to end of Semester so Obi told Alhaji's wife to be patient until we resume for the following semester so she could get premium rents for the rooms.She agreed.
Once in Lagos.the rush of the city got me back hustling,i had to make good money before going back to school.Lagos is the land of opportunities and you have to be very sharp to see them and turn them into money.
Before you say Jack Robinson,the holidays were over and i started thinking of going back to school,I asked Obi when he would be leaving for school and he said the next day, i promised to join him the following week.My room mate was not Lagos based but i know he usually resumes earlier than me.
My journey back to school was smooth,the bus dropped me at the roundabout,i took a cab because of my luggage and we headed straight to Tanke, i had a John Grisham novel i had been reading in the bus,i quickly brought out so i could finish it.
Getting down from the cab ,some of the street boys came around to help me with my luggage,I crossed the busy street, passed Bostra restaurant and turned into my street ,i could see my house from the junction and i noticed that a snooker table was in front,a lot of boys were smoking,drinking and playing and i could even hear someone of them betting and going to one corner to give a man the bet money.
As i moved closer ,i noticed that the man was quite older than all the boys,he had a small stool in front of him with a big bottle of stout and his stomach was almost touching the stool table.
As soon as Obi saw me,he shouted and everybody looked my way and we started exchanging greetings.
'Obi,who be that man wey get big stomach?;..i quickly pulled Obi to one side.
'hahahahahaha'.....he laughed
'Talk jor'....
Jojo;na Alhaji be that o'
'Alhaji? our landlord? ! is he back from prison?....
'Yes o,na him be onile (bet moderator) now'....
'wetin e de find here?'....
'Omo,the man don move back with him family into the other wing o'..
'how come?Oga Police nko?'....
'He don give that one quit notice since na,e don move comot'...
'Oh i see,so he is back?.....
'omo na so meself jam am as i come o.infact he don even collect two more tenants'....
'ehe ehen,students?....
'one student and one Alfa'...
'Alfa bawo?that one go dey scatter our runs o'
'Meself tire,make we see as e go be'....
We ended the conversation as i followed Obi to be introduced to Alhaji,i felt like a sheep being led to the altar for sacrifice.Alhaji was a short man with a very protruding stomach,his belly was massive compared to his frame,i could not help but to wonder how this mammoth of a man could be a robber and be this big,what if they were being chased by the police but i only had to look at his eyes and i had my answer.Alhaji had a cute face not handsome like but babyish but his eyes gave him away as a very dangerous person,they were sharp and spoke volumes,the kind of eyes that make one feel uncomfortable when it scrutinises.
He smiled at me when i greeted him and his smile was more like a snarl,though his chisel like teeth were bared,his eyes were cold as ice and as soon as he shook me,a cold shiver ran through my body and i needed nobody to tell me that i was in front of a deadly man.
Now things are really about to get ugly,Alhaji being back meant we would be living with an armed robber and a murderer and i really don't have an idea how this will pan out but i did not have to wait that long....................................................................
Monday 8 December 2014
Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(7)
.........
When trouble show face, the saying that 'Police is your friend ' always fails the test.
My brain went into overdrive,i began to think of all the possible bad things that could attract police to our apartment on a rainy day and so early in the morning.I began to sort and sieve.
'was is the white cockerel that Obi tricked into the apartment with pieces of corn and that ended up in our pots?,
'Was it the goat that we stole and used for pepper soup during Larey's birthday?
'Has Obi gotten all one of these area girls pregnant abi Obi has gone to swindle an indigene? i could not really vouch for him,he was a restless person and liked the fast life'
My mind kept on churning out different scenarios but none would warrant this kind of bursting early in the morning and particularly on a rainy day.
We had no choice! the door must be opened eventually as the pounding increased.
...
Six hefty plain clothes detectives bounced into the apartment.
'why e take una 2hrs to open down!!!!?...shouted one of them
'Oga,na candle we dey find to light sir'.......Obi replied them,kind of looked as if he was prepared for their questions
'who be dis?.....the Policeman swung his torch light to make out Obi's face.'Go wake everyone up ,now now!
By now all the 5 occupants of the apartment had woken up and we all lined up at the corridor while the policemen went into our various rooms and started searching.Na that day i know say if Police wan work dem sabi their work,all our rooms were turned upside down,they even searched inside the engine of our T.v.
I kept on looking at Obi's face to read his expression but it was blank and i started to think if this was not in connection with Alhaji's past deeds.I had to clear my head and think fast,i was not sure what they were looking for and not sure what they would find.
'Oga ,abeg i wan piss'...i nervously asked the policeman guarding us
'Go outside go piss'....he said casually
i was surprised that he did not intend to follow me ,that was when it dawned on me that these guys knew who they were after.
I went out in the rain and saw the silhouette of their wagon van,because of the darkness i missed it at first but as i passed the pickup ,i noticed that there was someone at the boot,and you know you can actually see through the trunk of a 505 wagon.The person looked tied up and folded like the foetus of a new born baby.
I quickly relieved myself and started back because i was wet already from the torrential rain,as i was close to the main door of the apartment,some of the officers were coming out.
I almost bumped into them because i was running from the rain.
'Sorry sir,i quickly apologised'...
'it;s ok'....... came back the reply
That voice made me take a second look at the officer,our eyes locked and he showed no sign of recognition or rather he chose not to.
The voice was unmistakable.
CALEB!!!!!
Caleb was a student in the Law department,and we even relate very well
OH MY GOSH!!!!! SO THIS GUY NA SPECIAL SECURITY OFFICER.
When trouble show face, the saying that 'Police is your friend ' always fails the test.
My brain went into overdrive,i began to think of all the possible bad things that could attract police to our apartment on a rainy day and so early in the morning.I began to sort and sieve.
'was is the white cockerel that Obi tricked into the apartment with pieces of corn and that ended up in our pots?,
'Was it the goat that we stole and used for pepper soup during Larey's birthday?
'Has Obi gotten all one of these area girls pregnant abi Obi has gone to swindle an indigene? i could not really vouch for him,he was a restless person and liked the fast life'
My mind kept on churning out different scenarios but none would warrant this kind of bursting early in the morning and particularly on a rainy day.
We had no choice! the door must be opened eventually as the pounding increased.
...
Six hefty plain clothes detectives bounced into the apartment.
'why e take una 2hrs to open down!!!!?...shouted one of them
'Oga,na candle we dey find to light sir'.......Obi replied them,kind of looked as if he was prepared for their questions
'who be dis?.....the Policeman swung his torch light to make out Obi's face.'Go wake everyone up ,now now!
By now all the 5 occupants of the apartment had woken up and we all lined up at the corridor while the policemen went into our various rooms and started searching.Na that day i know say if Police wan work dem sabi their work,all our rooms were turned upside down,they even searched inside the engine of our T.v.
I kept on looking at Obi's face to read his expression but it was blank and i started to think if this was not in connection with Alhaji's past deeds.I had to clear my head and think fast,i was not sure what they were looking for and not sure what they would find.
'Oga ,abeg i wan piss'...i nervously asked the policeman guarding us
'Go outside go piss'....he said casually
i was surprised that he did not intend to follow me ,that was when it dawned on me that these guys knew who they were after.
I went out in the rain and saw the silhouette of their wagon van,because of the darkness i missed it at first but as i passed the pickup ,i noticed that there was someone at the boot,and you know you can actually see through the trunk of a 505 wagon.The person looked tied up and folded like the foetus of a new born baby.
I quickly relieved myself and started back because i was wet already from the torrential rain,as i was close to the main door of the apartment,some of the officers were coming out.
I almost bumped into them because i was running from the rain.
'Sorry sir,i quickly apologised'...
'it;s ok'....... came back the reply
That voice made me take a second look at the officer,our eyes locked and he showed no sign of recognition or rather he chose not to.
The voice was unmistakable.
CALEB!!!!!
Caleb was a student in the Law department,and we even relate very well
OH MY GOSH!!!!! SO THIS GUY NA SPECIAL SECURITY OFFICER.
Monday 1 December 2014
Chance or Destiny....Part 6...(6)
.................................................
'You have to be kidding me ,Obi'......i was still dumbfounded
'No be joke o guy'.....
'Why u no tell me?'......i asked him
'Haba,if i tell u ,u go collect mule?'......
'Na wa o,details,give me details'....i wanted to know more
'Omo,meself no know the whole story because we de semester break that time but i hear say na one of him gang member wey dem get kwanta as per sharing the loot wey dem hustle.....Obi explained.
'ehn ehn'......
'but not our wing sha ,na the other wing where that Eke de stay'.....Obi was trying to reassure me.
'no be the same house?'....i hissed and stood up
'no forget your promise o,as per kemi'.....
'i don hear'......i moved out of his room
I had time to think it through the following day and i knew it would be difficult for me to raise another money if i intend to go looking for another apartment,besides the mule has a a toilet which was rare to get in that vicinity .I decided that the best thing to do was wait out my rent and see how things would unfold.Well a whole lot of things happened afterwards.
Approximately 2 months into our mid semester tests,i had arrived early from school hungry and i went to Bostra restaurant to eat,i only had twenty Naira on me and that was enough to buy me two wraps of fufu and two pieces of meat.I headed up back to mule meaning to have a short nap but i met Uche my room mate waiting for me.
'i don de wait you since na'.......Uche said
'I go lem'.....i answered
'oh ok,Obi drop light bill o'.....
'Make i see am'..i collected it from him..
I browsed thru the bill and how the bill was shared among the rooms and very crafty of Obi to share the bill per head instead of per room.
'This bill na per room or per head?'.....i turned to Uche
'Na why i de wait you make u see am urself'......
'Obi don come back?'....
'No'....
'Okay,when e come we go thrash am out'...i folded the bill and put it in my back pocket
I waited till late in the night for Obi to return until i eventually had to go and sleep.I woke up to the sound of thunder and lightening as the heavens opened up and it started to rain,splendid for me,it will ensure i had a good night sleep.Uche was snoring as usual and i had to use my pillow to deaden the noise.
I must have dozed off for a couple of minutes,when i heard the banging,at first i thought it was the thunder clapping again but it went on obstinately,i realised that it was someone banging on my door,i checked the time,it was 2.am,I got up slowly.
'Who be dat?....i shouted above the noise of the rain
'Na me Obi!!.......
I opened the door and Obi was soaked to his feet,his eyes showed panic.
'wetin hapun,why u wet like dis?'....i quickly asked him
'Omo,Eke dey outside o'.......he whispered
'Eke like how?u mean our neighbour?'
'Nooo,na busting o,u get any contraband for inside'...
'nooo ,ooo'....i was awake now
Before i could ask further questions,i heard a loud banging on our main door....
gbagbagbagbagba!!!!!!!
I had to summon courage
'who dey there?'.....i shouted
'POLICE!!!!!!!OPEN UP!!!!!!!
'You have to be kidding me ,Obi'......i was still dumbfounded
'No be joke o guy'.....
'Why u no tell me?'......i asked him
'Haba,if i tell u ,u go collect mule?'......
'Na wa o,details,give me details'....i wanted to know more
'Omo,meself no know the whole story because we de semester break that time but i hear say na one of him gang member wey dem get kwanta as per sharing the loot wey dem hustle.....Obi explained.
'ehn ehn'......
'but not our wing sha ,na the other wing where that Eke de stay'.....Obi was trying to reassure me.
'no be the same house?'....i hissed and stood up
'no forget your promise o,as per kemi'.....
'i don hear'......i moved out of his room
I had time to think it through the following day and i knew it would be difficult for me to raise another money if i intend to go looking for another apartment,besides the mule has a a toilet which was rare to get in that vicinity .I decided that the best thing to do was wait out my rent and see how things would unfold.Well a whole lot of things happened afterwards.
Approximately 2 months into our mid semester tests,i had arrived early from school hungry and i went to Bostra restaurant to eat,i only had twenty Naira on me and that was enough to buy me two wraps of fufu and two pieces of meat.I headed up back to mule meaning to have a short nap but i met Uche my room mate waiting for me.
'i don de wait you since na'.......Uche said
'I go lem'.....i answered
'oh ok,Obi drop light bill o'.....
'Make i see am'..i collected it from him..
I browsed thru the bill and how the bill was shared among the rooms and very crafty of Obi to share the bill per head instead of per room.
'This bill na per room or per head?'.....i turned to Uche
'Na why i de wait you make u see am urself'......
'Obi don come back?'....
'No'....
'Okay,when e come we go thrash am out'...i folded the bill and put it in my back pocket
I waited till late in the night for Obi to return until i eventually had to go and sleep.I woke up to the sound of thunder and lightening as the heavens opened up and it started to rain,splendid for me,it will ensure i had a good night sleep.Uche was snoring as usual and i had to use my pillow to deaden the noise.
I must have dozed off for a couple of minutes,when i heard the banging,at first i thought it was the thunder clapping again but it went on obstinately,i realised that it was someone banging on my door,i checked the time,it was 2.am,I got up slowly.
'Who be dat?....i shouted above the noise of the rain
'Na me Obi!!.......
I opened the door and Obi was soaked to his feet,his eyes showed panic.
'wetin hapun,why u wet like dis?'....i quickly asked him
'Omo,Eke dey outside o'.......he whispered
'Eke like how?u mean our neighbour?'
'Nooo,na busting o,u get any contraband for inside'...
'nooo ,ooo'....i was awake now
Before i could ask further questions,i heard a loud banging on our main door....
gbagbagbagbagba!!!!!!!
I had to summon courage
'who dey there?'.....i shouted
'POLICE!!!!!!!OPEN UP!!!!!!!
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