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“Good afternoon ma,” I said, trying to look at as normal as possible.

She shoved me away and walked into the apartment. Mama Joshua was a short, fat woman. Her backside was probably bigger than her entire body, that didn’t stop her from being agile though. Her store doubled as a provision shop and a pharmacy, I doubted if she was certified. The ruthlessness in which you used in injecting the kids of the zone when we fell ill was a nightmare.

“Where did you people put my chicken, they told me that you stole it. Ugo! Where is my chicken?”
Ugo looked at his feet like his toes ought to talk for him. Tope ran out of the kitchen to greet Mama Joshua.

“Mummy J, good afternoon ma, you are looking wonderful oh!, Ah!” he said, smiling cheekily.
Mama Joshua shook her head slowly; Tope was quite a pathetic sight. His idea of ass kissing wasn’t working at all.

“What did you people do with my chicken? How can you people just take what does not belong to you. Una no dey fear God?”
Tope walked closer to her.

“ Mummy J, we don’t know what you are talking about, all those lazy neighbors that don’t have work are telling you rubbish, if they had a big shop like yours, it would have been better for our societal values. But we shall not be deterred, mummy! We must pray for them. Go home and worry no more, you chicken is somewhere enjoying the afternoon sunshine.”
Like Ugo, I can’t remember the first time I saw Tope, because he had been with me all my life. But his grandeur speeches had started when he got to SS1, I thought it was a thing of the moment then, but it apparently never stopped.

“Tope, if I slap you ehn!” she said, storming into the kitchen.

Ugo was shaking, Tope’s hands were on his head, I had to think of a way out, apparently, there was none.
When she came out, it was with a black pot, badly stained by the fumes generated from bad wicks used in kerosene stoves. Inside the pot were pieces of boiled chicken. Its head was the most visible, its eyes were closed.

“Ugo, your father must hear this. I don’t know how a policeman will have a thief as a son. As for you Fifi, I pity your life, Tope..hahahaha..Your mother and I will talk!”

“Mama Joshua, let’s not put the cart before the horse,” Tope said, faking a smile.

“Tope, just shut up!” Ugo screamed.

Mama Joshua’s head gear was around her waist, she was ready for war.

“Ma, we didn’t know the chicken belonged to you,” I said.

“What if it belonged to someone else, that gives you the right to steal it?” she asked.

“No ma,” I said, feeling stupid, “How about we get another one for you, same size and colour?”

“Hehehehehe, you want to go and steal another person’s chicken for me?”

“No ma, we will go to the market as soon as you leave,” I replied.

“If you knew you wanted to eat chicken, why didn’t you go to the market instead of stealing?”

That was another question that made me feel stupid.

“I will give you people till 7pm, after that, your parents will hear about it,” she threatened.

She must have forgotten that I didn’t have a parent, except she intended to write a letter to my mum.

“Thank you ma!” Ugo said, relieved.

She hissed and walked out, raining abuses on us as she descended the stairs.

“Fifi, how much chicken we go buy?” Tope asked.

“How much dey your hand?” I asked in return.

“50 Naira, sorry 40, I buy bread 10 Naira this morning.”

Many a time, I have wanted to throw a punch at Tope, this was one of those times, but I held on to my fist.

“I get 300 Naira, how much you get, Fifi?” Ugo asked.

“200 Naira, and that chicken in the market will be nothing less than 900 Naira,” I replied.

“We are bleeped,” Ugo said, looking dejected.

His father was a violent man. It was not strange to see Ugo with belt marks in school. He was also a drunkard, but he was smart enough not to carry his rifle to the bar.

Tope took a wing from the pot and started chewing. He was shaking his head with remorse at the same time. The picture looked annoying.

“Let’s go and look for Tony, that’s the only chance we have now,” I said.

“I don’t like that guy, I am sure he is not going to give us the balance,” Ugo retorted.

“He wouldn’t give us, we would have to earn it from him,” I said.

“How?” Tope asked.

“Through Gamble.”

The Estate was divided into 5 Zones. They were Zone A, B, C, D and G.R.A. In low cost housing like ours, the hood had five strata of guys. Those that just got into secondary school and had not written their J.S.S exams had their own group, those that were freshly in Senior secondary school but were still ‘boys’ had theirs, those in SS2 and SS3 that where at the edge of being big boys also had theirs. This was the group I belonged too. There were those in the university, they were the most violent in all the zones. The last group was the graduates, employed and unemployed, though I must add that the unemployed outnumbered the employed by 7 to 1.

Groups in the lower ebb like ours had guys fighting for superiority. Our weapons were height, alcohol, girls and violence. This organization was Peculiar to each of the zones in the estate, except G.R.A. the guys there were mainly children of Lecturers and workers from LASU.

We lived in Zone D, and would have been the undisputed head if not for Tony. Tony was an SS3 student from Command day Secondary school, Ojo. He was 17 yrs old, with moustache that depicted age 30. He was the most feared among our peers. He had everything, from the height to girls and he was pretty violent too. One thing he wanted but couldn’t get was Ogechi. I believed they would have been dating if she didn’t know how much her brother detested him. Tony didn’t like us either and he used every opportuinity he had to show it. This included baring us from coming to play his Playstation game. He was among the very few that had it then in the low cost housing.

He was a gambler like me. WHOTS, soccer, dice were our thing. Sometimes we added the game of Ludo. Rubber band throwing was a gamble for the lower strata. Unfortunately, he held the key to providing Mama Joshua with her Chicken.
As expected, he was at Zone D car park, with his followers. That was where ‘monkey post’ football was played in our Zone. There were usually people there playing for fun or money. Tony was usually there, waiting for those who would play for money. Monkey post football was a kind of football played with miniature posts of about 3feet by 6feet, and maximum of 5 players per team. Tony was seated by a drainage that overlooked the park with black shades that protected him from the sun. Grown-ups usually arrived with their cars from 6pm, the idea was to finish all activities before they came with their automobiles.

“Tony, howfar, make we play ball na, 5, 5 hundred,” I said, sitting beside him.

“I get injury,” he said raising his leg to expose a bandaged feet, “but we fit gamble on those guys wey dey play,” he said pointing the group of younger boys playing four aside.

“How do we choose a team?” I asked.

“We flip a coin,” he replied.

His guys encircled us, Tope and Ugo were seated beside me.
After flipping the coin, our team was the one on the right. So we left to inform them that we had placed money on their head, victory was all that mattered. They would play for 30 minutes, 15 per half. It was a winner wins all and loser loses all.
I thought we had the upper edge in the coin flipping because our guys looked bigger. After informing them about the agreement we had made without their consent, we promised to give them 100 Naira to share among themselves.

I thought we were done talking and it was time for soccer, but Tope was having none of this. He assembled the boys and prepared to motivate them.

“ Fellow brethrens, in one accord we find ourselves in this hallowed ground. To find out if this team or any other team, so blessed in skills and bravado can longer endure.”

I could swear I heard phrases from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address, but he just continued with the assassination of the speech. The poor boys had no idea what my lunatic of a friend was talking about.

“Let us remember, that as women use breasts and bumbums as a weapon to express love, we must use our victory to express why we are here.”
I tapped him to quickly finish the speech.

“Most importantly, you are warriors, what you are fighting for is for the greater good, it will save us from the brink of destruction!”

I couldn’t help but agree with him on that last part.

“Dearest comrades, don’t forget what you are fighting for!” he concluded like he was expecting a clapping ovation. More than one of the boys sighed, they must have been confused about what they were playing for, wasn’t it just football?

Ugo, Tope and I were the only ones that knew that this match was about Mama Joshua’s Chicken. As the clock hit 5pm, the match started.

Niceee

Footsoldier:
I'm blind at night.

...

If I thought I had the upper hand in the game, I was getting disappointed by the minute. Tony’s boys seemed to be well organized, their passes were more accurate, and Williams, their top striker was a wonderful dribbler with the ball. My boys were just running all over the park. I didn’t want to consider it, but Tope’s stupid speech must have had an effect.

It was Five minutes to the end of the first half when William got his way through the back man and was just a shot from beating the keeper ( in Monkey post, using hands was an offence) my heart was in my stomach as he struck. The force of the strike was much for such skinny legs, luckily the ball struck the cross bar of the post and bounced away harmlessly. My keeper was already sprawled on the floor, even before the ball was struck.

“ O’boy,my own don finish,” Ugo said, his head was between his knees.

He said he was done watching the game, I felt bad for him, I was pondering our next option when I heard Tope yell.
“Goal! Goal! Goal!”

I had to look carefully to make sure Tope was rooting for the right time. I was surprised to see that my team had actually scored. I didn’t know how they did it, I didn’t care. I expected Ugo’s spirit to be lifted but he remained skeptical.

At half time, scores was 1-0, advantage us. Tope was about to give the boys another speech when I convinced him to get sachet water for them instead. Tony looked apprehensive; I could see him shout at his boys. I told the boys to play a defensive game in the other half.

The game resumed in the same pattern of the first half, except that my boys remained mainly in their half. My boys played with a lone striker, and I was impressed by their discipline. Even Ugo was watching the match and smiling again. It was fun as I watched Tony fret, he was getting very uncomfortable. Then Williams did his magic. He collected a pass from his own half and was with three of my players to beat. He was a dribbler and they were expecting him to start so they can close him down. Instead he skillfully lobbed the ball over their head, the semi obese boy that served as the keeper jumped after the ball had passed him. He landed just as the ball settled into the waiting arms of the net. Tony became ecstatic, jumping and shouting, Ugo became said again, Tope’s disposition was unreadable.

We had 8 minutes more, I still had hope that my big for nothing boys will surprise me. That hope became dashed when Williams almost dribbled all my boys to score another goal. After that it became an onslaught.

The walk away from the car park was depressing, apart from the fact that the 500 Naira we took there was gone, Tony laughed at our faces. Ugo was trying to keep a brave face but I knew he was dying inside, Tope kept shaking his head. It was 5 minutes past s6pm when we returned to Ugo’s house. Ogechi was in the kitchen, washing dishes.

She winked at me when she came to greet her brother, careful to make sure that I was the only person that saw it. Ogechi was a very beautiful 15yr old girl. She was light skinned with long limbs. This didn’t affect her bumbum from shooting out or her breasts from being bounteous. Sometimes I really wanted every soul in the zone to know that she was my baby, but Ugo was a hindrance. More than once, she had insisted I informed her brother, but I convinced her that the time wasn’t right.

“Why are you looking gloomy?” she asked her brother.

Before we could stop him, Tope told her everything, even the football game that crowned our misery. Accepting our faith, I bade Ugo goodnight. Tope and I were strolling to my apartment when I heard my name being called. It was Ogeche. I told him to go home, that we would see in school tomorrow, then I walked up to her.

We walked with some distance apart until we got to a secluded area between 2 blocks of 16 flats.

“You promised to come and see me in my class today, you didn’t,” she said pulling me closer to her.

“I’m sorry, something came up in school, I miss you.”

My hand cupped the cheeks of her round backside; she leaned closer and kissed my lips.

“I have 1000 Naira, I have been saving it for a while, you can use it for the chicken,” she said, using her left hand to place in the money into my breast-pocket.

I was so happy, I lifted her up her feet, she giggled like the princes she was.

“Now quickly go to the market, its 6:30pm!” she said, freeing herself from my grasp.

“Thank you very much; you are the best, Oge!”

“Stop thanking me, you know I love you,” she said.

Every time she said those words, she expected an obvious reply. But I couldn’t tell her that I did, those words were scary.

My dad loved my mum, she left him…he killed himself.

“I will come to your class tomorrow, I promise,” I said, instead.

If she was mad, she didn’t show it, instead she pushed me to hurry and make it to the market. I ran with all the speed my legs could muster.

hnmmmmm...
hope you didn't do any silly package with Hanatu and Ogechi..

Love in low cost hosing estate....... Tatatata.... I hope fifi's sis wont have attack oo.... I'd just break down and cry for i have fresh memories of what they go through.

I got to the market to meet closed store. The few that were opened were definitely not selling chicken. I don’t like markets, especially the smell that came with their butchery sections. I searched round to no avail. It would have been silly for me to buy a frozen one. I dashed to Mama Joshua’s store to explain to her, but she wasn’t there either. It was 10 minutes to 7, I didn’t have much time.
Joshua was closing up the store when I got there.
“Howfar, where is mummy?” I asked him.
“What do you want to buy?” he asked
“Nothing, I have to see her.”
“She has gone to church.”
That was all I needed to hear, Mama Joshua was a popular Cherubim & Seraphim church member, her church was in the estate. I thanked her dreadlocked son and embarked on my new destination.
The church was constructed with wood and an aluminum roof. I was not much of a religious person but it looked like the ark Noah must have built. I could smell the burnt incense from outside. I also saw a lot of foot wares by the door. Waiting for someone to come out so I could send a message for Mama Joshua, I was spotted by a new arriver.
“Fifi, eeeyah, you want to worship with us this evening? Come inside,” Oga Ade said, he was a popular carpenter in the zone.
“No sir, I came to see Mama Joshua,” I said.
He acted like he was deaf, he instructed me to pull my slippers, and follow him inside the church. The air was thicker inside, burnt incense was like a cloud above our heads, with majority of the members dressed in white garments. I was among the very few dressed differently. I found a spot at the back row.
They were in their praise period, the movement was nothing like I had ever seen. Most of the songs were in Yoruba. It was electric, the drummer has hitting the drum ferociously. The choristers were singing, clapping and shaking their big backsides at the same time. I wondered why most of the female had very big bumbums, could it have something to do with the sutana? All I could do was clap, a little boy that had been abandoned by his due to her devotion to praising God, crawled to my position. He made actions that suggested that I should pick him up, but he was covered in dirt and catarrh, I ignored him. The teenage girls started dancing in circles, with body parts that they shouldn’t have at that age.
Finally, it wasn’t a bad idea to be at the church. My eyes were clearly entertained and I decided to use the opportunity to say a prayer for the soul of my dad.
A very tall skinny man with an over-sized sutana started dancing in the middle of the church. His gown was different, even the cloth tied around his waist was of a different color. He was dancing with a leg then he switched to the other leg, making sounds that humans born of a woman wouldn’t understand.
The drummer was excited. I was scared he was going to break the skin of the drum, the choristers gathered around the majestic man and danced around him. He was like a rockstar!
I sighted Mama Joshua from a distance; she saw me too and smiled. I wondered if she had told her colleagues in church that they had a thief among them. I was wondering when a girl seemed to go into trance. She twisted and turned, ran to and fro, some older ladies ran to her side to hold her, then she started talking.
“humlalai maliaka ransom lai ku daya!”
A woman with a red cap that had lady leader written on it, came close to the girl. She was holding a shiny metallic rod.
“Talk to us Jesus, we are listening (in Yoruba),” she stretched her hands in front of the lady, for that episode, the lady was a vessel of God.
“humlalai maliaka sorogun juju manina tudu wa!” the girl said.
Was this heavenly language? It was not like those people I have seen speaking in tongues, it was melodic, something only the speaker and interpreter understood.
“God said he is pleased with the praise,” she informed us.
The church was joyous; people clapped and shouted “Ogo/hallelujah”
“humlalai maliaka blun go ra yogi ma yama!” the girl continued.
“God said, peace be to everybody that was in church today. Nobody shall die in your house, you shall prosper, and your enemies shall perish!”
The spiritual sentence seemed way shorter than the interpretation but I listened. God started speaking to people personally, the woman kept interpreting until the convulsing girl ran to where I stood. She started pointing at me, I was embarrassed.
“humlalai maliaka yaka yam aka go sare lo mi na maliaka!”
“God said you should never forget that he is your creator”
I didn’t know who I should have looked at, the girl or the woman, so I looked at the small boy that didn’t want my attention anymore.
“humlalai maliaka go so ta rayin ku li ba li ma sa kun dey ruga!”
“God said you should be careful of the curse on your father, be careful that it doesn’t materialize in your life. If it does, you will die!”
The girl started singing in that same strange language, then she walked away.
The remaining part of the service was about bible study and prayers. I was looking at Mama Joshua as we started filing out of the church, it was 15 minutes to 8. Someone tapped me at the back, it was the lanky man.
“Boy, what is your name?” he asked
“Fifi,” I replied.
“You heard what God told you?”
“Yes”
“Good, you should pray and fast for seven days, when you are done, come to this church and I will perform deliverance for you.”
It sounded rather ridiculous, but I kept that inside.
“Thank you sir.”
I didn’t want to lose Mama Joshua, I could see her royal chubbiness walking briskly away. As soon as the man released me, I ran up to her.
“Fifi, what were you looking for in my church?” she asked, not even bothering to look at me.
“Ma, I went to the market to buy the Chicken but they had closed”, I brought out the money so she would believe me, “this is the money Ma, please accept it.”
“Don’t worry my son. I was just angry at that moment. You people should not steal people’s chicken, its bad,” she said, still not looking at me but laughing.
“Thank you, ma”
“How is your sister, Hanatu?”
“She is fine ma, she is at home.”
“How is life without your father?”
I didn’t like people talking about him. I didn’t like discussing him with people.
“Fine, ma”
“Hope I will be seeing you in church?”
“Sure ma,” I replied.
I hoped that was the last time I attended a church that predicted my death. I had 1000 Naira in my pocket, I decided to get fried yam and Akara for my lovely sister. I would add a bottle of Fanta to it. Tomorrow morning I would surprise her with the amount of money she would have has school money. I whistled as I strolled home.

Why u com like beans like dat? Not to worry sha, i go get all 4u, come siddon.

Psalmwise:
chai u dn get am...make I jez see #100 agege bread...and youghurt preferably(d wan wey dn tey for inside freezer)

I hope nothing has apnd to Hanatu in his absence oo...chai! Hmm...

She was waiting when I got to the house. I had to knock five times consecutively for her to open the door. The only other people that knew that pattern was Ugo, Tope and Ogechi.
“Where have you been?” she asked, visibly worried.
“I went to church.”
“Are you serious?” she asked.
I didn’t reply her; instead I gave her the food I had gotten. I confirmed that she had taken her drugs and I retired to my room.
The house was empty; the only cozy place was Hanatu’s room. She had moved into our parent’s room. It once had a television, but I sold it last month. My room had a mattress and a table which doubled as my wardrobe, as my clothes were folded on it. In the estate, we had taps and all but water never ran, electricity was epileptic so we didn’t bother that NEPA had cut our lines a long time ago. My priorities were straight, food and drugs. Electricity and all were luxuries that didn’t bother me.
Just as I sat on my mattress, having ensured that Hana was ready for bed, she came into my room. She was 10yrs old but looked smaller. She was also too lean for comfort. She was a J.S.S 2 student in a cheap private school in the estate, very close to the house.
“I’m scared, can I sleep in your room tonight?” she asked.
“Why are you scared, what happened?”
“Somebody in class called me a sickler, he said I would soon die,” she replied.
“Don’t mind him, you will not die, you are strong,” I assured her.
She giggled and lay down beside me.
“I know, it just got me thinking. So can I stay here?”
“Of course, mama.”
I have been calling her mama since I could remember. It’s the name dad called her too.
“Thanks bro. I want you to promise me something”
“What?” I asked.
“That you will never leave me alone.”
“I promise, dear”
She smiled happily and turned facing the wall. I left the room to get her blanket and some drugs in case she needed it at midnight. The questions she had asked me and what her classmate had told her in school got to me. I didn’t know I was crying until the tears came between my lips. She was asleep when I got back into the room. I covered her with the blanket and slept beside her.
I dropped her off at school daily but that morning I lingered, I told her to point out the boy that said she would die. When he came in, I called his attention and led him to the school toilet.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked him after we got in.
“No,” the obviously pompous boy replied.
“I am Hanatu’s brother, and the next time you say any hurtful words to her, I will kill you.”
I must have looked serious because he tried running away. I caught him and twisted his eyes till he cried out in pain. I didn’t care that he was way younger than I was, I wanted to bury my fist in his face but I let him go.
Hanatu was all I had, and I was going to protect her with whatever was necessary. I exited the school and boarded a bus that led me to mine.

thz for d updates davidflo

Big ups,very nice work. Big ups,very nice work.

Great write up,I must confess this piece is really touching.........I am urgin all ghost readers to please come out and comment.
Weldone Dafidflo.

Fifi

It’s was a year after dad died.
I had written my Jamb exams as most of my colleagues had. What was left was WAEC exams. My lovely sister had written her J.S.S.C. exams. She had about 6 months before she was to resume. She was easily the most brilliant person in her class. Sometimes I doubted if I was even brainier than she was. Ugo was planning to go straight to the police college after school, Tope and I planned to be students of Lagos state University.
I was getting addicted to Oge; we even planned to have sex after I was done with my exams. I also planned to tell Ugo that I was dating his sister and that I have been doing so for the past 3 yrs. I had a girl in school, her name was Ene. She was easy on the eye too, but I saw her as a temp. She also wanted me to screw her, as a testament of the relationship. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to, but I wanted Oge to be my first. After Oge, then I could come for her. Oge was like an angel to me, especially with the way she took care of Hanatu. I remember the first time Hanatu saw her period. We were both confused. Hana locked up herself in the bathroom, I ran to Oge to explain that my sister was ‘on’ but we didn’t know what to do. Oge had insisted I remained in her house while she went to mine to see Hanatu. When I got back much later, Hanatu was smiling again, albeit with a new pattern of walking. Oge also sneaked out food from her house to mine. Even the new bros that had packed into a flat in our block was not a threat to me. His specialty was straffing secondary girls after having lured them with goodies. Oge was a virgin, deflowering her belonged to me.
Three weeks before the exams, Hanatu got very ill. She had to be admitted in the hospital. I didn’t have money and was tempted to rent out the vacant room in the flat, to raise the cash. The hospital bill was #12,500. All I had was #4000, half a bag of garri, three dericas of rice and a bottle of oil. Even the kerosene in my stove was drying up. I couldn’t contact any of our relatives because apparently, I didn’t know their location. My dad’s father had disowned him when he impregnated my mum and ended up moving living with her. He was supposed to be a good Muslim man, but he wasn’t.
The reason why I didn’t want a tenant was so that I can protect my sister from external influences. I didn’t want any harm to befall her. The WAEC exams dropped down my priority list as I hustled to raise the money for her treatment. When I got back from school, I would go to G.R.A to do menial work for the middle class. I Fetched water for them, washing dirty rugs and every other thing that could bring fast cash. Ugo gave me some money too, Tope was as dry as a pissed prostitute. By the end of the week I had 10k, that night as the doctor made her round, I explained my predicament.
“Oh, you are such a cute boy,” she said after I had explained to her that my parents had travelled to the village.
She was a young doctor, probably a student doctor.
“It’s against hospital policy but I will give you #2000 to balance up,” she brought out the leaves of cash, “you will be a great guy in future.”
I thought I was already a guy. Didn’t she notice my baggy jeans?
I paid the bill and also kept working so I could make the house more comfortable for Hanatu when she got back. I bought a second hand Television from Alaba International, I couldn’t afford a DVD player so I got a VCD player. I got all the Disney cartoons she always went to watch in Ugo’s house. I also noticed she fancied Indian movies, so I got them.
The way her eyes shone when she walked into her room to see those things was priceless. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
“You are the best brother in the whole world,” she said.
Oge had prepared her favorite dish of garden egg sauce and yam as a welcome home gift. Life was beautiful whenever my little sister was happy.
I was not doing well in my exams though, except in mathematics which I had a thing for. My mind was in being done with the papers so I can be at home, hang out with my friends and take care of my sister.
Things looked that they would go on smoothly until Oge broke my heart.

oge don too try nw abi wetin u think

how she take do am.
oya kiakia come tel us

davidflo:

Things looked that they would go on smoothly until Oge broke my heart.

Oh, here we go

How would oge wanna break his heart na

Dat poor homely boy huh?

Nice update davidflo

DAVIDFLO, i said i would not read any of ur story again because of jafar's death, but i can't resist this story so i'm following

:D9ice story Davidflo
*Plz don't kill Fifi at the end o