..................
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....................................................................
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