Why I Want To Be Bad 38

 

-38-

 

FUNMI

 

I was at school at last and that was good news because it meant that my days of chores were gone, well at least till the next time I had any reason to go home.

 

I had two things in mind as I walked into my apartment. I needed to talk to Maxwell and I needed to start reading because my course rep had been kind enough to text the examination time table and on reading it, it turned out my first paper was on the upper week Monday.

 

After showering, I picked up the notes I had photocopied and folded myself at the edge of the bed. I found out over time that I understood faster when I read why lying down than when I sit up right, do not ask me how that’s possible because I do not understand the logic behind it as well but experience had taught me it was fact and not myth.

 

Ayo left the house and for over thirty minutes she was missing, I was glad because that gave me the peace and quiet I needed to read but soon enough she came back with Henry.

 

She and Henry walked to the balcony with Henry simply waving as he walked passed me. I did not bother to check what they were doing because that would have required I moved and broke the perfect position I had founded after consistently adjusting, but some minutes later I started perceiving the sour scent of cannabis and my unasked question was answered.

 

That was the last thing I needed but I could not say anything so as to avoid the ‘you just dey show yourself because na your house’ reply I expected Ayo to give me if I had complained so I reluctantly packed up my books and left the house for them. The things we do for friendship.

 

Of course, I climbed upstairs to Maxwell’s house once I had left the room, after all, if the mountain does not go to Mohammed, Mohammed would go to the mountain. Besides Henry was at my place, it was only natural I repaid the favour.

 

The pleasant smile on Maxwell’s face once he opened the door was so wide I feared his lips might touch his ears if he stretched it just a little bit more.

 

He quietly moved aside so I could pass. I walked in, dropped my books on his table and sat on the bed.

 

He locked the door and came over to join me on his bed where he continued smiling and staring at me still without saying a word to me. I was starting to get nervous as it was getting creepy.

 

“What?” I asked as I noticed he was not going to say anything but stare all day if I let him.

 

“You look beautiful,” he replied, still smiling.

 

I smiled. “Yea, I’ve known that for a while now,” I bragged playfully.

 

“And it’s a wonderful thing because I know I’m the lucky guy who have you,” he replied.

 

Can you imagine such brute confidence?

 

“You don’t have me, don’t fool yourself,” I said meaning every word. I sure as hell was going to hear his excuse for kissing another girl before even considering him.

 

“Oh I do, and before you start to show yourself I think you should know I am all yours as well,” he said.

 

“What is wrong with this one?” I asked pulling back.

 

“I love you and if you did not feel the same about me, you won’t be here right not,” he replied.

 

“I only came here because I wanted to read but Ayo and your roomie has refused I read in my room my contaminating the air. You better warn him for me oh,” I defensively replied hoping my facial expression didn’t look as fable as I sounded.

 

“Oh really” he asked dragging the really to imply he did not buy my cock and bull story.

 

I was going to prove him wrong so I stood up from the bed and wanted to walk to the table where I had dropped my books but I felt his really soft palm grab my hand and for some strange reasons I felt shivers down my spine as our skin came in contact.

 

“Did you feel that?” he asked, standing up to face me and turning me around.

 

“I did not feel anything, please leave me alone,” I faintly replied. My voice was failing me.

 

“I don’t believe you,” he said and then he moved his palm from my hand and then placed it on my cheek. He leaned closer and our lips met.

 

Funmi pull back! You need to read your books! He has not even explained himself! A little voice screamed loudly in my head but the heart and flesh was not willing.

 

I kissed him back and our tongues met. I felt like I understood his pain, his struggles, his heart as we kissed and I wished the moment could have lasted forever but eventually the connection was broken and I could finally pull myself together.

 

“Maxwell, don’t do this,” I said as I noticed he was about to make another move. “We need to talk and make sure we understand ourselves well,” I said, my voice growing louder with each word.

 

“Baby, please let’s just let go of the past and embrace the present,” he said.

 

“All I want to know is why you went and kiss another girl even after all you said to me, or is all these your activity a scheme just to get into my pants?” I asked straight up. The funny thing is I had not had such thoughts before I blurted that out.

 

“I hope that was just a joke?” he asked. His smile was nowhere to be found anymore.

 

“I’m not joking. I know how you guys are, when you guys are chasing the thrill excites you but once you’ve gotten what you want its goodbye,” I found myself saying. I swear, I planned none of this.

 

“Funmi, what the hell has come over you?” He asked moving a few steps back and staring at me as if he was checking if I was the one still talking.

 

“Why are you avoiding the question? The more you prolong the matter the more I doubt your motives,” I replied calmly. So calm I was sure he was getting more confused as to who was talking to him. I had never attacked him in such way before because I was too busy being sweet and cute.

 

He walked back to his bed and sat back down. “Well since you insist, Mary-Anne was the one who kissed me and not the other way around, I pushed her away once she made such move but you had already seen us so your mind registered what you thought you saw but I can assure you that whatever I had with Mary-Anne is ancient, like the Pyramids,” he finally opened up.

 

I still had one question on my mind.

 

“Say I believe you, how do I know you are real and I’m not making the worse mistake of my life?”

 

“I am disappointed in you for asking that question and I would rather not reply because I expect you to know better,” he said and walked to the balcony where he leaned on the rail staring at the people who walked on the street at a distant.

 

I stood affixed for several seconds unsure of what to do next. I felt bad that I had doubted his feelings for me because he either meant all he had said to me or he was a good actor, either way, I believed him.

 

“I’m sorry,” I said as I joined him at the balcony. I leaned on the rail as well, purposely avoiding eye contact.

 

He kept me quiet.

 

“I’m new to this love concept so please don’t get mad at me because I don’t quite know the dos and don’ts yet,” I pushed.

 

“Okay then, in that case you have the best teacher,” he turned to look at me and I saw his smile had returned and that made me smile.

 

They say the real beauty about love is knowing that the happiness of your loved one make you happy and frankly I could not have said it any better because if at all I had any doubt before concerning love then it is all gone because staring at Maxwell smile sheepishly as his over grown incisors glowed only made me understand one thing; I was in love.

***

 

MARY-ANNE

All I had in mind when I stopped Amaka at the front of the gate was to warn her about what David, the NSS agent had said to me. I figured if someone had approached my friend claiming to believe I was somehow involved with something as delicate as a murder, I would be pissed if I was not immediately informed.

But before I told her I needed to know how much she knew, so I went on to ask her several times about David who I saw her leave the lounge with but she either did not know much or was not just willing to spill and was even about to get angry so I just decided to tell her anyway.

“He approached me this morning,” I told her referring to David.

“What did he want?” she asked anxiously.

“Something about the death of Agbaya,” I replied calmly. I was not even sure what I expected her to do with such information so that was why her reaction to it surprised me.

“Come in,” She said and moved away from her door so I could pass.

I quickly sat down on her chair and dropped the nylon bag filled with ingredients I had planned to cook soup with on the floor.

I watched her as she paced round the house silently. She walked to the balcony, stood there for a minute staring at blank space and the walked back into the room.

“Can you calm down and talk to me?” I asked as she was starting to make me feel uneasy.

She paused at the front of the toilet, looked at me for a few seconds and then continued pacing. She was murmuring some words to herself that I could barely hear.

“Amaka!” I yelled her name. It was like five minutes now and still she had said nothing.

She paused again and turned to look at me. This time she walked to the door and bolted it before she sat on her bed and then with her two hands tucked in-between her laps she finally started to talk.

“Mary-Anne, can I trust you?” She asked.

When someone starts a conversation like that then you should know the person is just looking for encouragement and a reason to tell you something they shouldn’t .

“Yes Amaka, you can trust me,” I calmly said, staring straight into her eyes.

She stared back in my eyes, looking for a hint of sincerity but I stared her right back, holding back the urge to blink.

“Very well,” she started to say, “what I am about to tell you is not something I should but the burden is too big for me to carry alone and just need someone to tell me that everything would be okay.” She said and waited for a responce.

What an introduction, I thought. Whatever she had to say was clearly very important.

“Well, we are friends now right?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Being my friend means that I will always have your back no matter what,” I replied, hoping that would be convincing enough for her to spill whatever was in my mind.

I was really interested to know what was bothering her so much because primarily, I genuinely cared but I also kind of felt cheated after I told her my story of how I whored myself around Henry which was my deepest secret and she did not tell me anything about her. I sure deserved to know one of her secrets as well.

“Okay then, promise me you wont freak out when I tell you,” she said.

“I can’t make any promises but I’ll try not to freak out,” I replied.

“The NSS agent is right,” she took a deep breath before adding, “I am somehow involved with the death of Agbaya.”

This was the single most shocking news I had heard all my life. Amaka who I had defended so furiously was not so guilty after all? How can she be involved with such a thing? My mind starting racing at 250km/hr as I thought about the different ways she could have been involved but everything I thought just did not match up to my impression of Amaka.

“How are you involved?” I finally give up trying to decipher the puzzle and just ask.

She became dumb again for another few seconds before she replied, “I was there Mary-Anne, I saw him killed with my very own eyes.”

As she spoke, I noticed beads of tears were gathering in her eyes. Even though they were tucked in-between her legs, her hands were visibly shaking probably because of flashes of the horrible sight that must have been crossing her mind at that moment as telling the story was making her relive the incident.

I was shocked at this discovery but I just needed to hear all she had to say first before I reacted.

“So you know who killed the man then?” I asked.

She nodded slightly in response.

“Who?” I asked, there was a huge chance I did not know the person but wouldn’t you ask if it were you?

She stood up and walked to nearest wall, backing me in the process she paused for a bit before she finally replied.

“Henry,” she said.

My heart stopped beating, I pulled back with my mouth and eyes wide open in shock. I wanted to say alot of things but the words just refused to be voiced out.

Henry? Murder? How come? What does this have to do with Amaka? Is Maxwell involved as well?

So many questions popped into my head I felt it was going to explode anytime soon.

“What are you thinking, say something please,” she pleaded as she pulled another chair closer to me and sat down at my front.

This time, I was the one who was quiet. I just did not know out of my one million and one questions, which I wanted to know the answer first.

“You promised you won’t freak out,” she reminded me.

I made no promise but that was not what was important at the moment.

“Tell me everything,” I said, thinking that was the best way to go. “And don’t skip any part!” I added.

Having spilled the biggest part, telling me the remaining story was easy as she went on to tell me a story that I bet you only see in movies.

“…so I’m really confused on what to do, Henry is not acting really concerned with what’s going on maybe because he has a back up plan so I need a back up plan of my own,” she concluded. She was no longer crying but her hands were still vaguely vibrating.

“Amaka, this is a lot to take in,” I replied.

“I know but I really need to do something to secure my interests,” she said.

I drifted off in my thoughts.

Apparently, Henry had not only destroyed my life by taking the only person that mattered to me, Maxwell, away from me but he also wanted to spoil destroy Amaka’s life as well. Maxwell was even at risk to some extent.

I decided I was not going to let him hurt anyone again, if not for my friends then just for the satisfaction of a revenge well executed.

I concluded to do the thing one thing Amaka was not able to do.

“Let me think about it for a few days,” I said to Amaka as I picked up my nylon bag and walked to her door. “I will let you know when I have an idea on what you should do but till then, don’t do anything.”

I did not give her the luxury of a reply before I walked out of her house and headed to mine.

As soon as I got to my room, I pulled out the complementary card that was still in my pocket and dialed the number on it.

“I knew you would eventually call,” the voice at the other end of the line said once the call was picked.
TO BE CONTINUED

PS: It’s been a long exciting ride that’s why it saddens me to announce that the concluding chapter of Why I Want To Be Bad would be posted on Tuesday, 31-05-2016 by 5pm on the dot so I expect you all reading this to be present. The epilogue would follow shortly.

PEACe

Why I Want To Be Bad 37

 

-37-

 

FUNMI

 

I had a couple of theories on what Ayo planned on discussing with Susan but I still was not exactly sure of which way she would go.

 

Susan had walked into the room and from how she sat on the edge of the chair, she was clearly nervous and that was understandable because I would have been nervous if I was in her shoes.

 

“Hello Susan, my name is Ayo. I’m her friend,” she said, pointing at me. “And I’m sure you know she is Greg’s elder sister, right?”

 

Susan nodded in response.

 

“Before I go any further, how old are you?” Ayo asked pacing round the chair Susan sat on.

 

“Sixteen plus,” Susan replied.

 

“Oh! I see. And which class are you?”

 

“SS 3.”

 

“Good,” she replied and leaned on the chair Susan was sitting on from the back, “So what the hell are you doing with a thirteen years old kid?” She asked.

 

Susan kept her quiet for a while, staring at me as if she expected me to intervene or something but even I wanted to know the answer to this question.

 

“I asked you a question!” Ayo said as she had not gotten a reply.

 

“Nothing, he is just my friend,” she finally replied.

 

“So you could not find any of you age mate to be friends with?” I asked standing up and starting to pace too.

 

Susan had a confused look on her face.

 

“We just moved into the neighbourhood not quite long ago so I don’t have any friends yet,” Susan replied.

 

“Funmi, is that answer fair enough?” Ayo asked me.

 

I reason her reply and it makes some sense but I still have some reservations.

 

“Greg is not around right now so I’m going to let you go but I’m going to be blunt with you,” I started to say, “I don’t like you being around my brother so I’ll advice you keep away,” I said so calmly it sounded sinister.

 

“And consider that a warning, you might not get another one. Am I understood?” Ayo asked.

 

Already visibly shaking, Susan nodded rather furiously. I feared her head would fall off.

 

“Good! Now run back to your house!” Ayo yelled.

 

Susan quickly bolted out of the house in a flash. I was sure she would not be a problem anymore.

 

Once she bangs the door behind her, both I and Ayo starts to laugh uncontrollably.

 

***

 

I love going to church. Not just any church but my family church which had been our preferred place of worship since my birth.

 

I would not bullshit you and tell you my love is as a result of how well the pastor preaches because I frankly don’t care about that but my love is simply because I get to see my friends once again.

 

Growing up, if you needed to see me you should check my school first but if I’m not there then you go straight to my church and I bet you’ll find me there.

 

Spending so much time in church was all thanks to my mother who was a chorister, the leader of the girls brigade and a regular volunteer of the cleaners committee. So if she was not singing, she was marching or sweeping, either ways, we were almost always at church.

 

After spending so much time in the church vicinity, I naturally started making friends with other kids that were in the same shoes as mine.

 

They say twenty friends cannot play together for twenty years. So as time went by, these friends grew up and for several reasons either stopped being my friend or stopped attending the church. This continued happening until my long list of friends was cut down to just two people, Daniel and Dora.

 

As customary, dad woke me up by 4am to start preparing for a church service which was to begin by 7am. He never joked with his punctuality. He always claimed that the two most important segment of the service were the opening prayers and the closing prayers.

 

Due to this fact and to avoid missing the opening prayer, we got to church that Sunday morning so early that Ayo had to ask, “Abeg, na your papa dey hold the church key?”

 

Even though she whispered it, my mum who we did not notice was at our back as we walked to the chapel from the car park heard it and chuckled.

 

“Don’t let him hear you oh,” she said smiling as she walked passed up.

 

“Your mum is so cool,” Ayo said after she was sure no one was around.

 

“Yea, she could be at times but when she gives you tonnes of chores to do every day you might reconsider your stand,” I replied.

 

We got into the chapel and of course sat at the very last seat at the back. The church was almost empty safe for my family and a lady who was dusting the altar.

 

I and Ayo did not have much so chat about so after I told her about Maxwell’s text message and she teasing me about how she knew something else had motivated me to rush back to school we were quiet until the service started.

 

“In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit,” the priest started to say from the altar as we all stood up. The chapel was almost filled with people by now.

 

As the service progressed I was finally relieved to see when both Daniel and Dora walked into the church through the back door because in my attempt to surprise them I had purposely not called either of them to inform them of my presence.

 

I had to wave furiously before Daniel eventually turned and spotted me. His initial sober face turned into a wide smile. He tapped Dora who was looking around for a place to sit and without any hesitation they both walked to where I was and sat down by my side.

 

“When did you get home from school?” Daniel asked excitedly.

 

“Just on Friday,” I replied.

 

“And you did not think calling me would have been smart abi?” Dora asked, she found that rather offensive.

 

“Anhan, calm down na, I only wanted to surprise you guys,” I explained.

 

“You know how I feel about surprises, I’ve warned you specifically not to try and surprise me,” she replied. I actually did know she did not like surprise and there is a story behind it but that’s a story for another day.

 

“Dora, it’s not fight na,” Daniel replied, “Oya Funmi tell her sorry.”

 

“I’m sorry, you know I would never offend you knowingly,” I apologized.

 

“It’s cool,” she replied and then smiled and turn to me, “So what did you bring for us na?”

 

I laughed, “So you expect me that is coming from school that is basically filled with stress and suffer to bring something for you that has been at home flexing?”

 

“As far as I am concerned you travelled and when someone travels they bring something for the people they left at home,” Dora said.

 

“Firstly my school is still in this same Lagos so that doesn’t classify as travel but if you still insist, I brought book for you?”

 

Daniel laughed as he heard this, “wetin you wan make we do with your book na?”

 

“I expect you to read and acquire knowledge,” I said with a smile.

 

An usher who was passing by at that moment ask us to keep quiet so our focus turns back to the sermon that was being preached.

 

The preacher was talking about the only thing they seemed to be always talking about these days, wealth creation through divine means. The entire church was spell bound by his word with everyone taking notes as he preached.

 

By the time the service was over, I was woken up by Ayo. I did not even know when I slept off. I just found the sermon boring as I had heard so many different versions of it, same old ‘You shall be rich in Jesus name!’ and the usual roar of ‘Amen!’ as if they expected that the person with the loudest amen would receive the most money.

 

As we walked out of the church paired in twos, I and Ayo, Dora and Maxwell, I noticed that Dora hand was entwined in Daniel’s own.
“Are you guys together now?” I asked with the intention to tease them but the reply was quite shocking.

 

“Are we that obvious?” Dora asked as she turned around to face me.

 

My mouth was open, “You are kidding me right?”

 

“We were going to tell you soon but couldn’t find the perfect timing,” Daniel replied.

 

“Wow!” I exclaimed.

 

It was shocking because Daniel had always had a crush on me since childhood and had expressed himself to me but I just did not feel same way for him, but he had promised that he would wait till whenever I was ready. Dora all along had always teased us about it and here they were, admitting they were an item now.

 

I know I had no right to be angry or jealous but deep within me I felt a bit sad and I could not understand why.

 

“I’m sorry Funmi,” Dora said as she figured what I was thinking.

 

“Sorry for what? I’m happy for you guys,” I lied. I really felt jealous.

 

“Phew! You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that,” Daniel replied. “Let’s go to that store at the front of the church and maybe grab some drinks,” he suggested.

 

“Nah, I need to go home and get ready for school,” I declined. Although getting ready for school was important, I really just wanted to leave their presence.

 

They reluctantly had to let me go as my excuse was perfect and I went home using public transport because my dad had left by that time. You notice how dad always forced me to come to church but don’t bother to take me back home, right? Maybe one of these days when the wires in my head touch, I would fight such injustice.

 

***

 

AMAKA

 

Henry is a big fool. He is being investigated for a murder which he is guilty of and the fool is there fooling around with some random chick. Why does it seem like I am the only one that is really worried about the possibility of being caught and convicted?

 

As I arrived at the gate of my house I heard someone call my name from behind, so on turning around I saw Mary-Anne walking towards me holding a nylon bag, I gathered she was just coming from the market.

 

“What’s up na, you just left me at the lounge yesterday,” she said as she got close enough.

 

I had forgotten all about that. “Oh! I’m so sorry dear, I left with some guy like that and you know we both had quite a few drinks,” I replied walking into the house.

 

“It’s okay. Anyway I saw that handsome guy you left with,” she winked at me.

 

I force a smile, “You did?”

 

“Yea I did. What his deal anyway?” she asked.

 

I became a little defensive as I don’t want to even remember what the ‘handsome guy’ had requested I did for him.

 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

 

“I’m just curious to know more about the guy that made you leave me at the lounge without even saying goodbye.”

 

“Nothing happened between us if that’s what you what you want to hear,” I replied. I thought about telling her about the whole incident starting from the very beginning hoping maybe she would be able to advise me on how to go about the issue but since she had nothing to do with the whole case, I hold back the thought.
“So you left me all for nothing?” she asked.

 

She was starting to get pushy and I was starting to get suspicious.

 

“If there is anything you want to tell me, start talking,” I replied her as attempt to open my door with the key.

 

She paused as I asked the question.

 

“What makes you think there is something I would want to tell you?” she asked.

 

“Madam what’s up with you, if you want to talk, talk, if you don’t want to, no wahala” I yelled a little too loudly.

 

“Calm down jhur, I’m just asking because you are now my good friend and I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said.

 

My interest was piqued. “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

 

“He approached me this morning,” she vaguely replied.

 

“What did he want?”

 

“Something about the death of Agbaya.”

 

As soon as I heard this, I realize that maybe she have something to do with the whole case after all. I decided it was time to involve someone else that is not more concerned with getting laid than being arrested.

 

“Come in,” I said and let her walk through my door.

 

That was the beginning of the end.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Why I Want To Be Bad 36

 

-36-

 

MAXWELL

 

Seeing Henry’s love life blossom irrespective of all that was going on was all the motivation I needed to make contact with Funmi. So I called her phone but she did not pick, I reasoned she was still pissed at me so I sent her a text message.

 

Hey sweets, I’m really sorry about what you saw the other day but I have a very good explanation. I have something really important to discuss with you so please call me as soon as possible.

 

I received a message almost immediately and was so happy that she had at least replied, only for me to open the text message and see it was actually from Henry, the message was simple and plain as it had just three words in it; Abeg comot room.

 

On reading the text message I waited for exactly four minutes, yes! I timed myself, before I finally made a comment.

 

“Guy, I wan quickly reach Ray J side. I wan go reason am unto that stuff wey we been talk about,” I said to Henry as I threw a shirt over my body while standing at the front of the mirror. I noticed my abs were not as sharp as they used to be.

 

In reality, I was not going to Ray J’s house and I most definitely did not talk about anything that concerns Ray J with Henry but I said it anyway and I will tell you why.

 

Just incase you are thinking maybe it was because of the difference in our rent let me clarify that by stating that we both paid equal halves of the rent so nether of us had an upper hand in that aspect.

 

However, I left for just two reasons.  Firstly, the sacred unwritten Bro Code states that if one bro is about to get ‘some’ and another bro is obstructing this progress, the ‘another bro’ is expected to stop the obstruction with immediate effect without arousing the girl’s suspicion. Secondly and most importantly, I needed to talk to Funmi in person as she had refused to pick my call or reply my text message.

 

I left the house once I had sprayed my Explore body spray, it had been my preferred brand for years.

 

I climbed downstairs to Funmi’s door really feeling optimistic but my heart was broken after I knocked for a while and had to accept the fact that she was not home.

 

Where could this girl have gone to? I thought sadly.

 

So now, I was stuck outside the house with no legit plan of where to go nor what to do so I sat on the staircase and started browsing random websites, mostly Wikipedia though as I like to learn about new stuffs.

 

Being forced to sit on the staircase taught me two things, firstly, I did not have much friends in the lodge and i noticed there were more people living in the lodge than I thought as I had to reply almost a million greetings from the people that passed me.

 

I was getting uncomfortable as more people kept on passing and forcing me to keep on adjusting in the process, in my plight to look for something better to do, a silly idea popped in my head.

 

I decided to fulfil my promise and call Mary-Anne.

 

“Hello, are you home?” I asked as she picked the call instantly.

 

“Not really, but I will be in about five minutes, what’s up?” She asked.

 

“Okay, good. I’m on my way to your place now so hurry up,” I hung up.

 

I had initially planned on not honouring my promise but you see what they mean when they say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop?

 

I got to her house minutes later and just like she was a psychic, she opened the door just as I was about to knock.

 

“You can be creepy sometimes,” I said as I walked pass her into her all too familiar house.

 

She laughed, “I saw you enter the gate through my window and when I heard footsteps walk towards my door I figured it was you,” she explained.

 

I nodded and sat on her bed.

 

She locked the door and chose the chair as a more suitable spot for her to sit.

 

“So what’s up?” She asked.

 

“Nothing much. Good afternoon by the way,” I replied.

 

“Good afternoon,” she replied, “You know I wasn’t really expecting you to actually call me.” She rolled her eyes.

 

She was right to think that but since I had called anyway I decided to play along, “I am a man of my words, you should never doubt me,” I said.

 

She chuckled, “yeah, right!” She exclaimed sarcastically.

 

I laughed, apparently she knew me a lot better than I thought.

 

“So now that I am here, what now?” I asked, moving on.

 

“Well, for starters I think I owe you an apology for kissing you just like that the other day,” she started to say. “I don’t know what came over me to make me think that kissing you would wipe my slate clean.”

 

“It’s cool,” I replied plainly.

 

“And I also know no amount of apology is enough for what happened between me and Henry,” she stood up and knelt before me placing her palms on my lap, “but I really hope you would find a place in your heart to forgive me.”

 

“Please let’s just leave that gist,” I replied. I was getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

 

“Maxwell, I want you back,” she looked up to my face and I saw a drop of tear roll down her face.

 

Crocodile tears, I thought.

 

“Mary-Anne I’m sorry but that ship already sailed. Let’s just be friends,” I offered so she would just let it go. It seemed like we were just going in circles and I was starting to get irritated.

 

“I don’t want to be just friends with you, I can’t live with that,” she replied, tears were rolling more freely now.

 

Usually, tears, especially hers used to mean so much to me but watching her cry now was just plain irritating. Why was she being so fake?

 

“Maybe Henry was right after all when he said you are just a bitc-h,” I said angrily hoping that would make her realise that whatever I had for was long dead.

 

“After literally seducing me, Henry had the guts to call me a bitc-h?” She asked drying her tears with the back of her palm.

 

“That’s not what is important here,” I said, “You and I are over. I only came here just to fulfil my promise and now I’ve done that, can I leave?” I asked regretting my decision to call her in the first place.

 

She took was quiet for a bit, took a deep breath then stood up and went to open the door.

 

“Yes, you can leave!” She yelled.

 

I was surprised as I did not expect it to be so easy but I stood up and left her house.

 

I stopped at the door and looked at her, searching for the best last words I could say but she looked away.

 

I deeped my right hand in my pocket and walked away.

 

***

 

HENRY

 

Someone once described love as a rollercoaster, in her words she said ‘love is like being on the best rollercoaster ride ever. In the very beginning, you climb in and think ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this, what the hell was I thinking, maybe this isn’t such a good idea, blah, blah, blah’ except at some point, it’s too late for backing out because you’re moving. And you’re climbing and then spinning and looping all crazy and the thoughts are that you’re pretty sure you’re going to survive because how many deaths are there, really, from people falling out of rollercoasters? But you don’t really know because you never really paid too much attention to rollercoaster fatality statistics because you weren’t into riding rollercoasters. Until now. And every twist and hairpin turn is exciting and you realize you’re enjoying every scary minute and you start to just let go and trust…no, you start to truly believe…that you’re definitely going to make it. Except there’s always that ‘gotcha’ turn when the bottom drops out and your stomach lurches, but then you’re back flying again and you’re laughing your head off because you made it and you’re alive and this is all the most real stuff there is. And the ride begins to slow just a little bit, and the turns and twists are more like echoes of the stomach-turning ones from before, but you’re okay with that. You’re okay with everything. And  you’re pulling into the place where you started from, smiling, happy, enriched, and knowing you’re right where you always wanted to be.’

 

I totally agree with her because staring at Tonia, I felt every bit that way.

 

I stood up and went to the kitchen to drink some water and by the time I turned around, Tonia was at my back. She was wearing flat sandals, short jean shorts with her pockets below the hem, and a tight tank top revealing her amazing curves

 

“Shit!” I exclaimed in shock, “you scared the living hell out of me.”

 

“Why would you be scared when you know its just the both of us in the house?” She asked.

 

“I didn’t hear you follow me,” I replied.

 

“You know that now we are dating, I must warn you.”

 

“Warn me? Hmm… Should I be scared?”

 

“That depends on if you break my heart or not,” she replied. “So I recommend that you make the right decision.”

 

I laughed, “Are you threatening me?” I asked as I walk closer, towering over her so as to look more intimidating.

 

“If that’s what you want to call it,” she replied and pushed me away backwards. “I know you are taller than me, you do not have to flaunt it.”

 

I walk forward and grab her arm, pulling her close to me, letting her feel how hard I was getting and just how much he wanted her. “You know no one threatens me and goes scot free?” I ask as I raise her head and kiss her nose.

 

“So what are you going to do about it?” she asked.

 

“You want to know what I would do about it?” I asked raising her head, trying to level it with mine.

 

She looks at me with desire in her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. She was about to press against my lips, both of our mouths open, close enough to capture our warm minty breath. Just as she was about to press against me, I placed a hand around her throat and pushed her back to the ground. I got on top of her pinning her hands above her head, kissing her lips, and sucking on her tongue. I moved my hand off her throat and pushed it up under her shirt feeling her perfect perky tits as I kissed her causing her to squirm. I moved her back slightly and tied her hands down to stakes that were in the ground then ripped her shirt off of her grabbing her tits. I went down on her chest biting and sucking her perky nipples as they tripled in size. Her screams and moans heard only by the two of us.

 

I reached down and unbutton her shorts sliding them down her legs as my fingers rub over her moist pussy. I unbutton my trousers as she lay restrained on the ground and I pressed the tip of my throbbing cock on her tight wet pussy. Pressing against her I rub my cock over her wetness getting the tip of my cock wet enough to penetrate her. I finally thrust in her, penetrating her wet pussy. My cock filling her and stretching her as her body began to relax from the amazing pressure and feeling of my big cock. I lean forward pumping my hips into her as my mouth latched on to her nipples, biting her hard as she screams. As my teeth pull her nipples away from her body, her screams continues from my thick long hard cock thrusting harder and deeper into her. She begins pushing back into me rolling her hips towards me loving how good I felt deep inside her.

 

Her screams transitions to moans as her pussy engulfs my huge cock, gripping and massaging my shaft in her. Her cum provided the lubrication to enhance the friction between both of us. She begins moaning with pure ecstasy as she started to fuck me back, grinding in perfect rhythm. Both moaning, our eyes locked as I kiss her and put my hand back on her throat. She pushes up into me moaning and screaming, she is going to cum.

 

I lean forward and order her to beg me to fuck her, I like rough sex and plan on using this as an excuse to take it to the next level.

 

“Please fuck me harder. Fuck your little slut. I am your whore fuck me harder,” she moans. I grab her face and slap her like a whore as she releases a moan and a subtle smile.

 

Her begging makes me slam harder into her as I instruct her to cum with me. To my greatest surprise she gets more vocal, telling me she is going to cum. Her pussy clenches my hard cock pulling it deeper inside her. “Fuck my hard cock”, I order her. “Come on, you little slut, fuck my cock like you mean it. Fuck it like the little slut that you are.”

 

She begins to cum as her body contracts and massages my cock. As she constricts my shaft, I start to cum with her, exploding ribbons of cum deep inside her tight pink pussy. We moan together as my mouth takes her nipples, my teeth clamped on her nipples as my cock explodes inside of her.

 

With her body exhausted and tired I released her restraints and turned her over on all fours. She cleans and sucks my sensitive cock as I grew in her mouth. Her beautiful eyes looking up at me wanting to please me as I grab her hair and pull her deeper on me. She gags slightly but takes it with her eyes watering looking up at me. Her tongue under my cock, out of her mouth, taking me deep.

 

Once I am hard again, I pull her face off of me and turn her around. I spank her curvy ass, pull her hair, and takes my spit covered cock and slams it into her cum filled pussy. Some of her cum pushes out of her and I use my fingers to rub the cum into her tight ass. I push deep inside her, one hand pulling her hair, the other spanking her and tracing her tight ass with my cum-covered fingers. She screams with pleasure.

 

I moan in her ears, “I see you like it rough as well. That’s good because I am only just getting started.”

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Why I Want To Be Bad 35

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-35-

HENRY

I was so glad that Maxwell did not eventually f-ck Amaka. If konji kills then that would have been pure suicide for me because I was fully aware of what was going on between their two but as Maxwell was my man and I did not want to spoil his show, I decided to play dead and not move so that they would not be discouraged.

Maxwell, although he would rather die than accept it is a player. He is not just any player but that kind of player that your best player aspires to be. How he juggles three girls at the same time almost smoothly baffles me. I had just one girl, Tonia, on my radar and I could not imagine myself adding another girl to the list.

I don’t think I have ever addressed the Mary-Anne incident so let me tell you guys that what happened between I and her was not my intention really. I was just trying to be a nice guy to my roommate’s girlfriend and got carried away. She is a whor-e and chances are that she does not even know that, but I do because why else did she not stop me when I made advances at her knowing fully well that she had a boyfriend who loves her.

Well enough of my past conquest and let’s talk about my perfect morning where the love of my life appears at my doorstep.

“Hello Henry,” Tonia said.

“Tonia!” I exclaimed in shock, she was the last person I expected to see at the door. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” she asked with her eyes wide open, “Okay oh, I’m sorry I came,” she said and turned to leave but I quickly grabbed her hands.

“You know what I mean,” I said and then pull her closer to me, “I know I pissed you off by saying things I shouldn’t have and I’m sorry but after calling you consistently but being ignored you should understand my surprise seeing you here.”

“Well I thought about it and decided that maybe we were both just having a bad day,” she said.

“So you thought about me?” I asked grinning.

“Don’t let it get into your head,” she rolled her eyes.

I laughed, “Don’t be shy to admit it, you are not the first to catch feelings for me,” I winked as I pulled her into the house.

“In your dreams,” she replied.

As we walked into the house, I saw that only Maxwell was left on the bed.

“Where’s Amaka,” I asked. He pointed to the bathroom.

“Hi,” Tonia said to Maxwell, “Good morning.”

“So you have fallen into Henry’s web?” he asks her.

“Web? I don’t understand.” She replied.

“You ordered him not to call you ever again and ignore his calls only to surprisingly appear here this kain early morning,” he explains, “the only explanation for that is you have fallen for him and can’t get your mind off him.”

She smiles, “I don’t know what you are talking about o.”

“Of course you do,” he said and pulled the wrapper over his whole body. “I’m off to dreamland,” he said as he turned to back us.

“Lazy motherf-cker, your mate don dey farm dey plant yam, you dey here dey sleep like mumu,” I say as I pulled Tonia to the balcony.

I offered her the chair while I sat on the paint bucket.

She looks at the floor and sees ash littered all over with the empty bottle of vodka, she shakes her head and asks, “Do human beings live here or chimneys?”

I laughed. “A lot happened last night,” I replied.

“What happened?” she asked with keen interest.

I consider telling her how Amaka came to my place in the middle of the night to slap me because she was approached by the government over the murder of a man I arranged. Nah! Can’t tell her that, I conclude.

“It all history now and besides, I don’t want to bore you with the details,” I replied and keep quiet for a second before adding, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Go on,” she urges me on.

“What exactly are we?” I asked, “Are we dating already or what?”

My question seemed to have hit her as a surprise because she stared at me vaguely for the next one minute before she collects herself and finally say something, “Do you want us to date?” she asked.

“I really like you, and it’s pretty obvious you like me as well. I think we would make a cute couple,” I replied.

“That does not answer the question,” she said.

“To answer your question I will need to understand your definition of the word ‘date’.”

“You like too much talk oh,” she sighed and I laugh. “How many definitions does dating want to have again na?”

“Dating means different things to different people, what I want to understand is what it entails to you so I would know if I want to do that with you,” I smartly explain.

My reply makes her think for a while. “Dating me basically entails loving and taking care of me,” she said and pauses before she quickly adds, “And it also entails not getting blindly angry at me so that you don’t end up saying things that you don’t mean.”

I think about what she just said and then ask, “So in other words, dating you is all about you you and you alone. My own feelings are irrelevant?”

She giggles, “You know same rules applies to me.”

“In that case my answer to your question is yes, I would love to date you,” I replied with a smile. “I expect you feel the same way, right?”

She shyly nods and stares deeply in my eyes.

“Some people are trying to sleep here so can you guys should kiss already so we can all move on with our lives?” Maxwell say from inside the room. Turns out he was eavesdropping all along.

We both chuckle and I try to lean forward to kiss her but the distance between us makes that impossible. So I stand up, pulling her up in the process and our lips collides. For those few seconds, everything seemed to perfect but we were cut short by the voice of someone I had no idea was still in the house.

“So you to can love?” Amaka asked me and then turns to Tonia, “I’ll advice you to run away from this guy because nothing good can come out from dating him,” she said and then storms out of the house without even waving at Maxwell.

Tonia gave me the ‘explain yourself’ look.

***

MARY-ANNE

I was starting to regret my decision to ignore seeing Ebuka enter a car that was being driven by a guy that looked like the same guy who had taken Amaka out of the club.

Something fishy was going on and seeing the both of them sit across the table side by side was proof of that. I should have suspected something was out of place as Ebuka was really pushy and unnecessarily trying to be nice to me.

I guess the thought of him just wanting to get to know me better was what made me see the signs. His persistence was not normal. Guys don’t usually take a girl’s number the night before and call her early in the morning to buy her breakfast. They usually give it a little time so as not to see desperate and if we like the guy, we girls just play along and act like we don’t see their little tricks. So I pinched myself for not sensing something was different about Ebuka earlier.

“Ebuka, what’s going on here?” I asked sternly.

“Miss Mary-Anne please calm down, you have no reason to be worried. My name is David, I work for the NSS and I have an offer for you,” the bald guy said.

“What’s NSS?” I asked.

“Nigerian Secret Service,” Ebuka quickly replied.

“I don’t understand what’s happening here, have I done anything wrong?” I ask a bit relaxed to knowing the answer to my question was negative.

“No you haven’t,” David replied. “But I need you help to solve a case.”

“Which case?” I ask mostly out of curiosity.

“The gruesome murder of one of your lecturers, I believe he was popularly known as Agbaya amongst you students,” he replied.  “Did you know the man?”

Of course I knew him, everybody in the school knew him! He was legendary for his several affairs with female students. Even his fellow lecturers knew of his escapades but no one called him to order so his death was very much welcomed as he was a nightmare for most students.

“I think I do,” I replied. “How am I supposed to help you though? I never came in contact with the man so I don’t know anything that can help you.”

“You know a lot than you think you do,” David said.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“You are friends with one of our suspects,” Ebuka replied.

This revelation shocked me.

“Who?” I asked.

Ebuka turns to look at David for confirmation, he gets a nod.

“Amaka,” he plainly replied.

For a few seconds, I let the information register in my head and then burst out in laughter. The both stare at me looking all serious.

“Am I being pranked here?” I asked chuckling, “where are the cameras?” I search around for the lens.

“This is no prank,” David replied, “We have solid reason to think that she either murdered the victim or have information that would help us to find who did.”

I laugh more, “You have to kidding me!” I exclaimed, “Amaka is a lot of things but a killer is not one of them!”

“That’s where you are wrong, we all have killer tendencies and it takes the right combination of motivation, timing and victim to bring it out,” David calmly said.

He was too serious to be joking here, I decided to just give a little benefit of doubt and hear his perspective.

“Okay then humour me. What makes you think she’s a murderer?” I ask.

“We know she was at the hotel as at the time the victim was there and we also know the victim was forcefully hitting on her so that accounts for the motive,” he replied.

For a moment I actually reason that maybe David was right and Amaka is a killer but I just couldn’t picture her butchering a human being.

“I’m sure many other people were at the hotel at the same time Amaka was and if at all he was hitting on her then I am glad he was killed,” I said and then pick up my bag to leave, “you are chasing ghosts and I cant help you,” I said and stand up to leave the table.

“Mary-Anne please don’t be stubborn. Just hear us out!” Ebuka pleaded.

“Thanks for the meal and what are you doing with such company anyway?” I asked.

“Agbaya might have deserved to die but I don’t think that was a decision just anybody could have made, so I just want to see justice served the proper way,” he said.

“Suit yourself and don’t call me again,” I replied.

“In case you change your mind, here is my card,” David gives me a card and I snatch it from his hands before I take of.

“Don’t worry, she will call,” I faintly hear David say with so much confidence.

I wonder why he thinks so.

***

FUNMI

Having read Maxwell’s text message, I tired calling him several times but his number was not reachable so I gave up.

The text seemed so truthful and had made me curious as to how he planned on explaining kissing some other chick after he confessed he had feelings for me.

I was not mad anymore at him so I was ready to hear his explanation.

“Can you imagine that bastard wanted to leave us and run away o?” Ayo asked as we sat on the dinning table eating food that I had cooked. Greg had gone to school and my parents were at work so it was just two of us in the house.

“When I used to tell you that that guy was fake and had no true feelings for you, you thought I did not know what I was saying shey?”

“I never expected that from him, I wish the police lock him up in a cell and not accept bribe sef,” she said.

I laugh, “na this our Nigerian police you dey talk about? I’m sure Tunji is at his house smoking weed with those two policemen as we speak.”

She sighs out of frustration as she sees the truth in my comment. “If it was Ghana eh, they might still take bribe too but would make sure the guy bankrupts after that,” she said.

“Well, this is not Ghana,” I replied.

We eat in silence for a while before I think of another information to pass to Ayo.

“We are going back to school tomorrow after church,” I said.

“Why na? Have your school called off the strike?” She asked.

“Yes o, exams have been pushed nearer sef maybe to punish us for the riot,” I inform her.

“Okay oh, no wahala. I no even like this area again.”

“Because your sweet heart is not so sweet after all shey?” I teased, referring to Tunji.

“Na you sabi,” she plainly replied.

I was about to tease her further but the door bell stopped me.

I opened the door and saw Susan standing there.

“Good afternoon, please is Greg around?” She asked.

I feel Ayo eyes staring at my back so I turn to look at her, “tell her to come inside,” she mouths at me.

“Come inside,” I instructed her.

She walked into the house and saw Ayo so she greets her as well.

Ayo stood up from her chair and pulled out another chair from the dinning table.

“Good afternoon Susan, come and have a seat. We need to talk,” She said.

TO BE CONTINUED

Why I Want To Be Bad 34

 

-34-

 

MAXWELL

 

A wise man once said; One of the most effective ways to know if you are on the right path to achieving something great is by accessing the challenges you encounter in the process. If there are many obstacles then you are probably on the right path and vice versa, ceteris paribus. Granted, this assumption is not always accurate but many at times it is.

 

If the statement above can be used as a yardstick for my current predicament, I’ll say my sleep is very important. How else can you explain why something always seems to come up whenever I try to sleep?

 

The information I happened to have just gotten access to was however very important as well. Apparently my roommate and closest friend was a killer and I do not even mean that in the literal sense. He actually fuck-ng killed a human being with his own hands… well, not exactly with his hands but does that really make much difference?

 

That was not quite the kind of news one would look forward to hearing about his closest friend but as it happened to be my case the unasked question was what was I going to do about it? I clearly had two options since I was already involved whether I liked it or not; I could be a good citizen and report the revelation to the police or I could be a good friend and stick with Henry. I had decided to go with the latter.

 

Having made my decision, we needed a plan just to make sure we did not end up in a prison cell. But to device an effective plan, we needed to have access to all the data and that posed a problem as the details were still a bit shaky. We could not be entirely sure if the self-acclaimed secret service agent was indeed what he claimed to be and if he was, how much he knew and his true motives. Also the question of how many other people had useful knowledge concerning Agbaya’s death was something we needed to find out

 

As our facts were still very rusty I had advised both Henry and Amaka to simply lay low while we await further contact which I was sure was bound to come eventually.

 

Having crossed that hurdle I was faced with another, Amaka.

 

I am a hopeless romantic and what that entails for me is that if I ever catch feelings for you, I will always have a soft spot for you.

 

I really was just trying to be a nice guy by offering the big bed to Amaka even though I sure as hell needed the bed more than her but it had been a while we spent quality time together and it took a little bit time apart for me to realise I was more into Amaka than I had thought.

 

“Good night babe,” she said to me as we laid on the bed.

 

Hearing her call me babe after so long sent shivers down my spine. She was the only one who called me that and sure made me happy, plus she was drama free.

 

Damn! I’ve miss this girl, I thought as I threw my arms over her hips. She sure was still as curvy as my memory serves me.

 

“Good night Sarah,” I said. I found out her name was Sarah a while ago when I saw it written boldly on one of those big green files our school gave every student once you did your clearance, it usually contained her school documents, Letter of Attestation, Affidavit and stuffs like that.

 

She was namesakes with my mother so that alone made it stick and at the same time, I used the name to store her number on phone.

 

“Sleep tight,” she whispered.

 

She had clearly not changed her brand of deodorant as she still smelled the same way I had always love. I placed my lips on her neck and kissed her, my eyes closed subconsciously. She did not react or move so I was not quite sure if I should continue. I did not want to give her the wrong impression but what really was the wrong impression anyway?

 

I decided to push my luck. I went on and kissed her ear, she confessed to me that that always turned her on. It was her weird fetish. She moaned lightly and waited a bit before she turned to face me. Even as there was little light in the room, I could feel her eyes searching mine for something.

 

I leaned closer to her and locked my lips on hers, she was still for a bit but finally she kissed me back.

 

As we kissed, I felt her hands slide to my back and she pulled me closer to her. She kissed me more desperately.

 

As we kissed, she slipped her hands down, in between my legs and slowly grabbed my crotch. I shrugged. She started caressing it and I could feel a sensation as my feeble manliness was slowly getting erect.

 

Suddenly she stopped and for a few seconds I did not feel her but then I felt as she slipped her hand under my boxer-shorts. She search for the shaft and pulled it out anxiously like she had always been waiting to do that.

 

She started stroking it, I moaned with each stoke and was starting to worry that Henry would be woken up. She broke free from my lips and pushed my back down furiously. She went on her kneels and bent over until her lips met with my rod. She kissed the cap and then licked it all the way down. She went on to repeat the action till she had tasted every spot. By this time my manliness has stretched to full length.

 

She stroked the shaft a couple of times before letting it slide down her mouth and started sucking it as she maintained a rhythmic strokes. I felt like I had been taken from this world to another. If heaven was a feeling then this was definitely it.

 

You know when you want something so bad but the feeling of guilt just won’t let you be? That was how I felt as thoughts of Funmi started flooding my head.

 

“Please stop,” I weakly whispered.

 

She continued. Stroking and sucking even more, the protruding veins on my manliness were pulsating in response.

 

“Amaka, please stop,” I reluctantly said with my eyes tightly closed. I sure as hell did not mean a word I said. The flesh was indeed willing but the spirit was at crossroads.

 

I placed my hands under her jaw and raised her head, freeing my manliness in the process.

 

“I want you! I really do, I swear but I just can’t.” I said as her brown eyes stared at me. “I’m sorry.”

 

She shrugged of my hand and then laid back on the bed, returning back to her former sleeping position, “No, I am sorry,” she said.

 

***

The next morning a knock at the door woke us up from sleep.

 

“Who be this idiot wey dey knock for person house this kain early moor moor,” Henry murmured as he stood up to open the door. I and Amaka stared at him curiously.

 

“Abeg check who e be before you open o,” I suggested. The last thing we needed was some unwanted person storming into the house unexpectedly, I had the secret service agent in mind.

 

Henry nodded in response and peeped through the peep hole. As he saw who it was, he walked to wardrobe and quickly wore a shirt before he opened the door.

 

“Boogie abeg no vex say I no bring the kappa yesterday,” I heard the person plead. “I been no get rubbers to reach your side.”

 

“Souja boy, you dey mad o, you wan dey try me abi?” Henry asked.

 

“Boogie no be so, dem never born my papa well to try you, I swear say na just this morning wey I raise money to come here,” he said.

 

Henry stared at him for a few seconds the sighed, “Where the kappa?” he asked.

 

The person stretched forward a phone and handed it over to Henry. “Na him be this, I even charge am full,” he said.

 

 

Henry snatched the phone from his hands. “I don tell you make you stop to dey obtain people anyhow for road but you no wan hear. Our two go get serious problem if I hear say you obtain person again o,” Henry warned.

 

“I don hear you,” Souja boy replied and stretched forward his hand to anchor Henry, Henry took the hand in his and said something I did not quite hear before he locked the door.

 

Henry walked towards the bed and threw the phone at me, “if you like, loose guard again,” he said.

 

Before I could reply another knock was heard at the door.

 

“Wetin this bastard want again na?” Henry asked as he went back to open the door thinking it was Souja Boy once again but he was wrong.

 

Standing at the door with her four inches heels was Tonia.

 

“Hello Henry,” she said.

 

***

 

FUNMI

 

It all felt so surreal to me. How can you go to see a guy and he runs away, leaving you at the mercy of uniformed men with big gun. Whatever happened to gentleman-ism?

 

“Stop there!” The fair man screamed as he leaned over to grab Tunji but he missed by an inch. He tripped in the process.

 

Kpa Kpa!!! I heard the loud sound of a gun roar in my ears. My eyes were on Tunji so I saw as he froze in his steps and quickly bent over as if he was expecting a third shot. I got to learn that this uniformed men are a lot faster than they look as the dark one sprung towards Tunji and cleared his feet off the floor in a flash, Tunji lost his stamina in the process and fell with a loud thud, he almost hit his head on a lone stone.

 

He further went on to start kicking Tunji and the fair one joined him almost immediately.

 

“Oga abeg! My head! Ah! My leg! Abeg no vex!” Tunji pleaded as the black boots continuously got registered on his body.

 

“Thunder fire you! You. Wan. Use. Your. Papa. Mate. Play. Shey?” The dark one said, punctuating each word with a kick.

 

“Okay oga abeg no vex, make we talk, make we reason,” Tunji said.

 

“You get five hundred thousand naira to talk?” the fair one asked as he bent over to slap Tunji with his back hand.

 

Ayo chuckled at this point reminding me that she was still at my side. “Oga beat am well well for me,” she said.

 

I laughed as I watched her dramatically said swing her hands twice as she said well –well.

 

“Senior man, abeg no follow her mouth,” Tunji pleaded, “make we talk na.”

 

The fair one raised a clenched fist and was about to punch Tunji when the dark one held his partners hand and calmed him down. “Make we hear wetin hin wan talk,” he said.

 

The fair one glared at Tunji as he laid on the floor all bruised, “Na God save you today say Aburo dey here o, I for waste you now now,” he spat at Tunji.

 

The dark one offered Tunji a hand to assist him stand up, “if you like no talk well, this my friend ready break your head for here as e dey so.”

 

They pulled Tunji back to the truck holding him firmly on his belt. I and Ayo walked closer and the fair own turned around to ask, “Wetin una still dey do here na, gerrahia!” he barked. I wondered if he was always this angry as we hopped back to my house.

 

I got home to see I had three missed calls and two text messages from Yaba-Tech and Maxwell respectively.

 

I read the text first and found out that school had uploaded a new adjusted academic calendar on their website. I quickly visited the website and I first saw an article where the school management denied the death of any student even though other reliable sources had stated otherwise with pictures as proof, they also said that each student was going to pay a rather ridiculous fine for the damages. From the calendar, I gathered that school was going to resume in two days with exams starting at exactly a week later. Great Yaba-Tech!

 

I was far from ready for the examinations but did not want to think much about it just yet so I went on to read Maxwell’s text message.

 

Hey sweets, I’m really sorry about what you saw the other day but I have a very good explanation. I have something really important to discuss with you so please call me as soon as possible.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

Why I Want To Be Bad 33

 

-33-

 

AMAKA

 

The plan was simple. I was to lay low for as long as I could, don’t attract any unnecessary attention to myself and if I’m contacted by anybody again, specifically the secret service agent, I am to inform Maxwell right away, apparently he would know what to do and give orders on the next step of action.

 

I wanted to go home after I had calmed down a notch but Maxwell had given me enough reasons as to why it was best I slept at his place and not go to mine.

 

This was actually the first time I had been inside his room. We dated for a while in the past, thinking about it now, I’m not sure if I can actually call that dating. We just had a relationship where we went out to fun places and we always retired to my house, mostly attributed to the fact I lived alone and he simply did not.

 

“You can have the bed,” he offered.

 

“For wetin na?” Henry questioned.

 

“Guy, na our visitor. Let’s act like gentlemen,” he said.

 

“Oga forget that thing! My back dey pain me so I no go fit crash for ground,” he said.

 

“You don forget say one small bed dey for inside wardrobe?” he asked, “You go use that one.”

 

Henry accepted defeat and went on to bring out the small bed which was rolled up in the wardrobe. He spread it down at the feet of the big bed and then went on to lay it with a bedsheet he got from the wardrobe. He snatched one of the pillows from the big bed and threw it on the small one before falling like a log of wood on it.

 

As I laid on the big bed, Maxwell retired back to the balcony and sat on the chair there. I watched him as he expertly rolled up a joint and lit it.

 

“I never knew you smoked?” I said as I joined in in the balcony. I could not sleep.

 

“I only smoke when I need to,” he replied. “And I think you can use a drag right now as well, do you care for?” He stretched the joint towards me.

 

“Nah, I don’t smoke,” I said and sat on the paint bucket that was there. “But I drink though,” I picked up the half-filled bottle of vodka and poured a bit into a cup.

 

He watched me take a sip before speaking again, “You realize this is the first time you’re stepping your foot in my house, yeah?”

 

Apparently he too had noticed even though it was never an issue.

 

“I guess so. Your place is nicer than mine, I wonder why we did not come her more often?” I asked taking another sip in the process.

 

“Dhurr!” he dragged, “Henry is always around na and we are not exactly porn stars,” he giggled as he spoke.

 

I understood what he meant. All we basically did was go to fun places together and f-ck.

 

“It’s only you that know what you are talking about,” I joked.

 

“I am not going to argue because I know you know better,” he replied and I laughed. “Those were good days?” he added.

 

There was a long silence after he said this. I flashed back to the so many moments we had spent together and how happy I was. Memories of laughter, peace and of course great sex crossed my mind.

 

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.

 

“Sure, shoot,” he replied.

 

“What happened to us? Why did we cut of contact?” I whispered. I only just realized how much I had missed Maxwell. I finally saw reasons why Mary-Anne could not get him out of her head, he was the perfect guy.

 

He took two quick drags in quick succession and I watched as the smoke from the edge of the joint flowed freely to the sky and dispersed.

 

“I don’t know really, I guess we both had a lot on our plates,” he said.

 

Fair enough answer, I sure as hell had my plate filled to a point I really needed to offload it or get a bigger plate.

 

He waited for a response from me but got none so he went to take a long drag from the joint which was almost finished. The joint was so tiny he burnt his fingers in the process, he had to flap the blunt in reflex action as it had stuck to his thumb and as it fell to the ground he stepped on it to make sure it was quenched. He stood up from the chair immediately and stretched his arms upward, a yawn was released in the process. He wore no shirt so his abs all protruded in my face, I found that very hot.

 

”I need to crash, I have been trying to sleep all day but something keep on coming up,” he complained as he walked into the bedroom.

 

“Yeah, I need to crash as well,” I said and followed him into the room.

 

He brought out a wrapper from the wardrobe and threw it at me. He then brought out a blanket which he wanted to spread on the floor but I looked at the bed and saw it was too big for me, besides I longed for how I trembled whenever I felt his breath hit my neck just before he kissed me.

 

“Come and join me on the bed, its big enough to accommodate us,” I said.

 

“Don’t worry about me dear, enjoy yourself, it’s all yours for the night,” he replied.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous, do you want me to die of cold?” I asked.

 

He thought about it, “not at all, if you insist.”

 

“I insist,” I replied.

 

He turned around and climbed on the bed. I joined him on it but backed him.

 

“Good night babe,” I said as I threw the wrapper over my legs.

 

There was a brief silence but then he rolled closer to me and placed his hands around me. I shivered at his touch.

 

“Good night Sarah,” he whispered in my ears. I was surprised he knew my English name, I was sure I never told him. I wanted to ask but that might have spoilt the moment so I kept it to myself.

 

“Sleep tight,” I said but deep within me I was sure we were definitely not going to sleep sh-t.

 

***

 

MARY-ANNE

 

Morning came in flash. I recalled getting home from the lounge and passing out almost immediately but by the time I opened my eyes to go an ease myself it was already morning.

 

I thought about going back to bed and actually attempted it but the sun rays which my light curtain had failed to block kept on hitting my eyes till I was forced to give up the fight.

 

I did my chores and quickly showered then I realised I had nothing important to do since school was on an indefinite strike therefore, my lectures for the day and till further notice were cancelled.

 

It is times like this that I hated the fact that I had zero friends.

 

I am a fan of literature and prose is my preferred genre but I read basically everything I can get my hands on though.

 

The internet however made reading a lot more easier as thousands of books and stories are published online on a daily basis and since I happened to be in need of something to keep myself busy, I decided to go online in other to check if my favourite writer, one Chistar guy like that, had posted a new chapter of his ongoing series on his blog and I was glad when I saw that he had. The guy is talented, I’ll give him that much but he is lazy and as a result of that had not achieved half of what he was capable of. He probably does not understand that the key to success is consistency.

 

He always had a way of filling each chapter with suspense and this chapter was clearly no exception as  I held my breath while I read through but just when I was about to reach the climax of this particular chapter, my phone first started vibrating, then an unknown number popped up on my screen before I heard my ringtone. I silently cussed whoever the caller was before I reluctantly picked the call.

 

“Hello,” I said, I was sure the caller could hear the disappointment in my tone.

 

“Hi, please who am I speaking to?” I heard the caller say from the other end of the call.

 

I hung up immediately at this point. I hate when people do this thing. How can you call someone and ask who the person is like you just typed a random number on their keypad and dialed it.

 

Having hung up, I turned my attention back to the story and was going through, trying to find the exact place I had stopped when another call made my phone to start ringing again. It was the same number.

 

“Who is this na?” I asked once I picked the call. I made a mental promise to hang up and block the number if the person did not speak up at once.

 

“It’s Ebuka,” the caller replied.

 

“Ebuka from where?” I asked, the name rang a bell but I was experiencing one of those annoying moments when you know an information is in your head but you just can’t assess it for reasons no one really understand.

 

“Haba! You’ve forgotten me already again?” The caller complained. “The guy you gave your number to last night,” he explained.

 

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry,” I apologised as vague memories of yesterday’s event flashed through my mind. This was the second time in a roll that I had forgotten who this guy was.

 

“It’s cool,” he replied calmly, “so good morning, I hope I’m not calling too early or disturbing your beauty sleep considering last night et all?

 

“No o, not at all. What’s up with you?” I asked.

 

“I’m great. So I was thinking that maybe we should hook up today, how does that sound?”

 

I couldn’t have had it any other way, I was frankly looking for something to do with my life, “that sounds fine to me,” I replied.

 

“Okay then, I guess you haven’t eaten this morning right?” He asked.

 

That was when it occurred to me that I hadn’t even thought about food, “No I haven’t,” I replied.

 

“Okay then, meet me at Sizzlers in twenty minutes. Come with your appetite.” He said and hung up right away.

 

Before I moved an inch, I made sure I finished the chapter I was reading and as usual I was left in a loop, I understood that Chistar was just doing his job by making sure any reader who had a taste of his story would want more but I still hated the fact that I could not satisfy my curiosity once and for all. Who knows when he will post a new chapter?

 

It was just an eatery we were going to so I figured dressing casual would be appropriate but at the same time I had to look sexy enough for Ebuka to want to have a taste of my not-so-hot body.

 

To this effect, I threw a tight poker dots patterned skirt and a black top that showed just the right amount of cleavages.

 

In my attempt to be fashionably late, I got to the eatery about fifty minutes later.

 

A quick glance round the eatery and I sighted Ebuka sitting all alone at a table close to the northern wing of the counter. Unless you were looking for him, one might not have easily seen him from where I stood. Thankfully, I was looking for him.

 

I smiled, adjusted my top so as to find the balance between under exposure and over exposure before I cat walked towards his table.

 

His lips curved into a wide grin as he raised his head and saw me just as I got to his table.

 

“Oh my goodness!” He exclaimed.

 

I was shocked. “What happened?”

 

“How did you get this beautiful overnight?” He asked grinning sheepishly.

 

I sighed and sat with a frown.

 

“Got ya!” He chuckled.

 

“It’s not funny,” I replied and folded my arms for effect.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re being serious here?” He asked.

 

“I am, in fact I’m leaving,” I replied and stood up to leave and for a few seconds I could feel his eyes on my ass before I felt his palms grab my hand.

 

“Where do you think you are going,” he asked, “I’m sorry, I was only joking,” he pleaded.

 

I turned to face him and it was then he saw my grin, “Got ya too!” I replied and laughed.

 

His lips curved into a smile, “Nice one, the scores is one-one, game on,” he said an ushered me back to the table.

 

The waiter came just about then.

 

“What do you want to eat?” He asked me.

 

“I need something light, you guys have meat pie, right?” I asked the waiter.

 

“Sure,” the rather handsome guy with an apron replied.

 

“Alright, I’ll have that and a bottle of coke,” I ordered.

 

“I’ll have the same thing,” Ebuka said and watched as the waiter left to get the meal.

 

“I like a lady who drinks Coke,” he said to me.

 

I smiled, “I like a guy who likes a lady that drink Coke.”

 

He chuckled. “I have something I want to discuss with you,” he said.

 

“What’s that?” I asked with renewed interest.

 

“Don’t worry, let’s eat first,” he said.

 

I kept quiet in response. But I thought something was off.

 

The meal was devoured in a rush as we both ate in silence, safe from the one time he saw a new video from an underground artiste, Post Malone, show on the TV screen and asked if I knew the artiste. I replied in the affirmative.

 

“So what did you want to talk about?” I asked once the waiter cleared the table.

 

“Are you always this anxious?” He asked with a warm smile.

 

“Yes, I am,” I indifferently replied.

 

“Anyway, my friend is going to help me out here,” he said.

 

“Which friend?” I asked as we clearly had no company.

 

“That would be me,” I heard a voice say behind me, I quickly turned to see who had said it.

 

Behold! It was the same bald guy that had picked up Amaka from the club and I also thought I saw driving the Range Rover Autobiography which Ebuka entered last night.

 

“Ebuka, what’s going on here?” I asked sternly.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Why I Want To Be Bad 32

 

-32-

 

FUNMI

 

First morning at home for over two months and mum had left me with a long list of chores to do. This was one of the reasons coming home never really sound exciting to me.

 

As expected, Ayo had made up her mind not to help me so I had to spend all morning washing dishes and bathing the dogs, I don’t even know who sent them to buy dogs, three bloody puppies for that matter! What were they freaking thinking?

 

By the time I was done, she had bathed and dressed up so she started trying to make me prepare faster so we could go and hook up with Tunji.

 

Tunji was basically poison to Ayo. He was her first true love and was the one who taught Ayo all the bad things she now happened to be a professional at. I used to preach against him when they first started but Ayo had a way of letting me talk but never listen so over the years I got tired and finally started making attempts to accept him as he was always trying to be nice to me.

 

Although they were mostly far away from each other and had clearly went on to date other people, they never officially broke up so they always continued from where they stopped whenever time and space gave them the opportunity to.

 

Due to her nagging, I was forced to use barely twenty minutes to bath, pick an outfit and make up. If you are female, you will understand that I literally just performed a miracle.

 

We both stormed out of the house looking like super models shortly afterwards.

 

Due to the fact that Tunji’s house was in the neighbourhood, we got to his place minutes later.

 

He was what we Nigerians called a G- Boy. He lived all alone in a rented three bedroom apartment and each time anybody asked him why he chose not to live in a smaller apartment and saved costs he laughed and answered, “what’s the point of having money if you can’t spend it?”

 

The house was pimped to the teeth. All the rooms had air conditioners and television sets,  as well as the kitchen. He made sure he pasted the most expensive wallpaper he could get all around the house and for reasons I could not understand, he had three laptops. He was clearly rich, maybe that’s why Ayo could not leave him.

 

“Baby!” He exclaimed at Ayo as he opened the door for us to enter. He wore a black top and a camouflage combat short.

 

“Sugar pie!” She replied and threw herself at him in a warm hug.

 

“I’ve missed you so much,” he said as he stared deeply into her eyes, I actually believed he meant every word.

 

“Same here love,” Ayo replied.

 

“Funmi, abeg is it my eyes or is she looking hotter than before?” He turned to ask me.

 

“This one? Hotter? Tah!” I teased.

 

“Jealousy!” Ayo exclaimed in a rush and we all bursted out in laughter.

 

“I hope you still do White?” He asked Ayo.

 

“Sure na, do you have some?” She asked excitedly.

 

“I don’t but let me arrange for some,” he said and made a phone call quickly. “I’ll need to go and meet my dealer at the junction, you guys should help yourself with whatever you like in the freezer,” he said and made to leave.

 

“Let’s come with you,” Ayo said and before he could object we had joined him at the door.

 

Once we were out, we headed for the junction where his dealer was already waiting.

 

Unlike what I had I mind about how dealers should look like, this particular dealer wore a light blue corporate shirt and tucked it in a dark blue pant trousers to match. I was impressed.

 

They exchanged pleasantries and he handed over a pack of cigarette to Tunji which he quickly kept in his pocket. I really doubted Tunji would go through all this stress just to buy cigarettes so I assumed something else was in the pack.

 

The shakes hands and we turned to go back to Tunji’s house and just when we were arms length from his house two SARS men popped out from behind a truck parked by the side of the road. It was like they were hiding and waiting for us to come back. One was dark in complexion and the other was fair.

 

“Are you Tunji Adeleke?” They asked referring to Tunji.

 

“No officer,” he smartly denied.

 

They laughed, “E be like say you think say we dey play here abi?” The dark one asked.

 

“No officer, I’m not Tunji Adeleke,” He held on to his lie.

 

“So you no wan corporate abi?” The light skinned one asked. “Aburo, handcuff him!” He ordered.

 

The dark one quickly brought out his handcuffs and was about to hold Tunji but he was jabbed in one swift movement and Tunji took off in a flash.

 

Ayo stared at me with her mouth wide opened. The stare on her face asked the question, “what the hell is happening?”

 

***

 

HENRY

 

This Amaka girl was becoming a huge pain in the ass. Having sent Skinny to deal with her, you will think she might have been properly taken cared of but that was not to be the case.

 

“Make I open the door for the girl ?” Maxwell asked me as he stood right at the from of the door.

 

I considered telling him not to so as to avoid her unnecessary problems that always came with her but curiosity got the better part of me, I needed to know why she was at my place by such ungodly hour.

 

Maxwell opened the door.

 

Something rather unexpected happened next. She stormed into the house, pushing Maxwell out of the way in the process and then walked towards me in a rush as I stood at balcony entrance.

 

“What are you doi…” I wanted to ask but was cut short by a resounding slap which landed  on my left cheek. It immediately went red.

 

Now, I have a no-beating-females rule but at that moment that rule was suspended and in anger I was about to pounce on the girl when Maxwell dived at my front an held me back.

 

“Henry! Calm down! Focus!” He yelled at me as I glared at Amaka through red eyes. If my eyes had bullets, she would have been shot dead on the spot.

 

I was not going to be stopped so easily as I tried to break free from his grip but he was a lot stronger than I had expected and succeeded in keeping at bay. Lord knows that I would have killed Amaka or at the very least broken a few bones if Maxwell had not been there to hold me back.

 

“What was that for?” He asked her as he had noticed I was back to normal and was not trying to break free from his grip. He released me.

 

“You told me I should not worry, that you had everything was under control,” she screamed at me.

 

“What is she talking about?” Maxwell asked as he turned to me.

 

I had an idea of what she was talking about and was pretty sure I did not want Maxwell to know just yet.

 

“Come to the balcony, lets talk,” I said to her as I made way for her to pass.

 

“We have nothing to talk about, I’m not keeping it a secret anymore,” she yelled and turned to Maxwell who was looking extremely perplexed, “Your friend is a heartless murderer! He and his touts killed Agbaya!” She said before I could stop her.

 

I watched as Maxwell face turned white instantly. He looked at me keenly for some seconds which felt like hours. It was as if he was trying to see through me to confirm the accusation.

 

I chuckled feebly, “Don’t mind this stupid girl jhur, can’t you see she’s drunk?” I tried to deny.

 

“Guy don’t bullshit me!” He thundered, “is she saying the truth?” He asked ne in a lower tone.

 

I could have still denied and I really wanted to but I knew I could trust Maxwell so I nodded and lowered my head I response.

 

He was quiet for a short while, staring at me all through and then he exclaimed “What the fuck man!”

 

He walked to the balcony, picked up my half smoked joint and lit it.

 

Both I and Amaka stared at him in silence, not quite sure what to say or do next. Maxwell was always the really calculative one.

 

“So Amaka, how come you know this?” He finally asked, breaking the ear deafening silence in the process.

 

Amaka stared at me as if asking for my permission to spill but I just looked away, I still felt the urge to strangle her and looking af her face only ignited the urge.

 

She walked passed me and joined Maxwell at the balcony then she went on to give him an update of all that had transpired from when Agbaya asked her to come to his office to when she witnessed his murder.

 

I joined them at the balcony, sat down and started rolling another joint quietly.

 

“So what’s all this sudden drama about this night?” He asked when she was done with her story telling.

 

“I was approached by a secret service agent this night,” she said.

 

I flinched as I heard this. “What did he want?” I asked.

 

“He wants me to help identify the murderers.” She said calmly.

 

“I don’t understand, how did he know to look for you?” I asked.

 

“Well, shouldn’t I be asking you that? You said you had taken care of all the witnesses!”

 

“I did!” I confirmed.

 

“What exactly did he say?” Maxwell asked.

 

“Well, he doesn’t have his facts straight yet. All he really knows is Agbaya was hitting on me against my will and I was at the hotel the night he was murdered,” she replied.

 

A brief silence followed as both I and Maxwell thought about what Amaka had just said.

 

“What did you tell him?”

 

“I accepted that the man was hitting on me but denied any knowledge of his murder, but I’m not sure he believed me because he said he would get to the bottom of the case and vowed to make sure I was punished if it turns out I was lying,” she said and kept quiet afterwards.

 

“Madam stop this your half half story and tell us what happened next!” I yelled. She knew we needed to get all the detail and i hated that she kept make us ask for more.

 

“Well, he dropped me at school junction and drove of. I had to board a cab here just to slap you!” She replied. I clenched my fist in an attempt to hold myself back from rushing her on the spot.

 

“Where did he even see you to have such conversation with you?” Maxwell asked.

 

“He picked me up at a lounge just this night and we spoke in his car.”

 

“Mumu! So you decided to go an flex in such public place knowing fully well all was not well?” I asked.

 

“The tout you sent to my place assured me I have nothing to fear,” she replied, “and besides I needed to clear my head.”

 

“You fool! So you could not clear your head else where?” I asked.

 

“Henry, relax,” Maxwell instructed calmly. “Its like you don’t understand the gravity of this situation? You both can go to jail if we don’t play our cards right,” he added maintaining his calm attitude.

 

I was surprised at how calmly he was handling the situation but was really glad.

 

“Please o, I’m not the one that killed Agbaya, when I told Henry about the issue, I did not know he was a cold-blooded killer,” Amaka wailed as she sat on the floor crying. She panicked far too much if you asked me.

 

“Are you sure you’ve told us everything that happened?” Maxwell asked Amaka.

 

“Yes,” she replied in between tears.

 

Maxwell took a long drag from his blunt and leaned back on his chair, “I know what we should do,” he said.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Why I Want To Be Bad 31

 

-31-

FUNMI

 

Nowadays, there is no small child anymore. This Indomie generation are not as naïve as our parents used to be all thanks specifically to the advancements in technology and the great worldwide web. IPads and smartphones have replaced the water and brick games as kids no longer find them interesting.

 

This change, just like most changes is a double edged sword as while the kids now have easy access to good information, they also get to see things on the internet that can damage their under developed minds.

 

As I and Ayo got home to see Greg and his ‘friend’, Susan all alone in the house, this really bothered me because I sure hated to think that my little brother was growing a lot faster than he should.

 

I was a notch relieved when he explained that Susan was our new neighbours who had only moved in when I was in school and my parents had actually been the ones who instructed her to stay with him to look after him and keep him company.

 

On that note I and Ayo went to my room and Ayo was of course ready to tease me.

 

“Hope you are not going to fall for Greg’s cheap lie?” She asked me.

 

“Thunder fire you there,” I fired.

 

She chuckled at my response, “Seriously though, you know that’s his girlfriend shey?”

 

“Na him sabi,” I replied. I was not going to give her the satisfaction of arguing with her.

 

“The Susan chick is probably teaching him how to do nasty things,” she pushed.

 

“Good for both of them,” I replied plainly, “I am going to look for something to eat in the kitchen,” I said as I walked out of her, walking towards the kitchen.

 

She followed me of course.

 

“At this rate, your bro would grow up to be a better player than even Maxwell,” she said again.

 

That struck a nerve not because of what she said really but that she just succeeded in reminding of the last person I wanted on my mind, Maxwell.

 

“That would be nice,” I refused to show any emotion. Its times like this I wish I did not know Ayo or she was still at her school.

 

I got to the kitchen and was going through the freezer, looking for some snack and Ayo was still trying her possible best to frustrate me when the doorbell came alive.

 

I rushed to open the door but Greg got to it at first. My dad and mum strolled casually into the house.

 

It was my mum who saw me first.

 

“Ah, Funmilayo come here!” She screamed in excitement and I ran into her open arms. She gripped me so tight I was scared a bone was going to break. She had clearly missed me and frankly the feeling was mutual.

 

“Good evening mummy and daddy,” I said as I freed myself from my mum’s arm.

 

“Which time did you get home?” My ever serious dad asked.

 

“About two hours ago,” I lied. If I had told him the truth he would have scolded me for coming so late and I did not want the perfect moment to be spoilt.

 

“Hope you have eaten something?” My mum asked.

 

“No ma, but I’m not hungry.”

 

“Me I am hungry o,” Ayo who had been quiet all this while blurted out.

 

“Ah! Ayo, you are here?” My mum asked the obvious and I prayed silently that Ayo don’t try to be funny and give a sarcastic response.

 

“Yes ma, good evening ma,” she said and then turned to my dad, “good evening sir.”

 

It was nice to know that she still had little sense in that porous head of hers.

 

My parents went on to as her for an explanation for why she was not in school and being a good liar, it was not hard for her to give them a cock and bull story.

 

They later retired to their bedroom and we did the same thing as well.

 

Just before we slept that night Ayo called Tunji to inform him that she was around and asked if they could see the next day. He accepted, adding that he had a surprise.

 

Judging from our history with Tunji, I was sure the next day was going to be eventful and I’m always right.

***

 

MARY-ANNE

 

I think I should drink more often. I had been going through so much issues that I had forgotten how to laugh and it took a couple of shots of Vodka for me to remember how to curves my lips into a smile.

 

Amaka assisted me to that effect though. I had not expected her to be so open and real with me so when she told me about her affair with Maxwell, I figured what the hell? I may as well open up as well.

 

I had always envied her. Not the evil kind of envy but the good type. I just wished I had a hot body like hers and behaved the way she did, I was too serious and stiff for my own liking so I felt really good when she complimented me. It would be really nice if we were a closer, I sure could use a best friend like her.

 

I was going to build on the moment by asking her about what had been bothering her so much that she too needed an excuse to stop thinking but the bald cutie who had asked her to dance with her had stopped that from happening.

 

I was not mad or angry at the very least when she left the lounge with the guy some minutes later cause I might have done just the same if I was in her shoes but courtesy demands that she at least waved me goodbye… But hey! I am not complaining, the new bottle of Vodka which the bartender had just brought was not going to drink itself.

 

As I drank all alone at the bar, my attention was drawn to a white guy who was pretty much as drunk as a fish. His dance step could be likened to one dancing to a reggae song but ironically an afro pop song blared from the speakers.

 

Although it was quite interesting to watch him, what really fascinated me were the group of girls that flooded him. They cheered him on as he danced and let him touch them in places and ways that was definitely improper for public viewing. I had been in enough places like this to know that they were prostitutes or what do they call it these days? Runs girls, yeah?

 

The girls probably assumed that since he was a foreigner, he most likely had enough money to pay for whatever services they could render. I however have an inbuilt antenna which alerts me when someone has money or not and I received no alert but who am I to judge?

 

As I drank my beautiful bottle of Vodka and watch the white guy dance with his new fans, I noticed when a random guy slipped into the stool that Amaka had sat on and from his reflection on the window just behind the bar I could see that he was staring keenly at me. He said nothing though but I assumed that he was probably thinking of a good pick up line.

 

“You know a pretty lady like you should not be drinking all alone,” he finally said.

 

That was the most stale pick up line I had heard my whole life, I did not even know that guys still used it. I was so disappointed that I decided to ignore him.

 

“Can I ask you a question?” He pushed. I kept mute but that did not deter him from going on to ask the question. “Why do a beautiful lady like you have such an ugly character?” He asked.

 

That irked me… A nerve was struck. I slowly turned to look at him and was about to spit some venom at him but the sudden surprised expression on his face made me hesitate.

 

“Mary-Anne! So it’s even you that’s doing all this shakara for me,” he said like we were some kind of close friends.

 

“Sorry, do I know you?” I asked as my brain was doing a deep scan of where I knew the guy.

 

“Oh c’mon! We’ve been in the same faculty and had several combined classes together for years and you want to tell me you don’t know this face?” He pointed at his face.

 

I am not sure I know all my course mates to start with and this guy expects me to know him when all we share is a faculty?

 

“Err… I’m sorry, I guess I’ve not been observant as I should be,” I apologised.

 

“I even helped you out in about two examinations in our year one,” he added.

 

I am not dumb so I write all my exams myself but nobody can know everything so from time to time we all copy at exams, or am I wrong? Chances are I just asked him for a couple of answers and he’s letting it get into his head.

 

“Anyway, it’s all good since you’ve apologised. I’m Ebuka by the way,” he said as he noticed I was not going to reply him.

 

“Nice to meet you,” I replied. I wondered how he knew my name.

 

“Do you mind if I drink with you?”

 

“Feel free,” I replied. Drinking alone is never fun.

 

He requested for a cup and poured some vodka in it then emptied it down his throat almost as quick as he had poured it.

 

“So I’m quite surprised to find you here, by such time,” he said.

 

I was interested in this conversation, “why?” I asked.

 

“Well, you seem like a very reserved and quite person who would rather stay at home and watch movies,” he elaborated.

 

I laughed, he had perfectly described me. “Are you sure you are not a psychic?” I asked.

 

He laughed this time, “I’m not o, I’m a serial killer though,” he joked.

 

“What prompts you to kill?” I asked. Serial killers usually killed people in a very strict pattern.

 

“I usually go for pretty girls who drink alone at lounges,” he grinned.

 

I caught myself blushing. This Ebuka guy was not as bad as I thought.

 

“So I should be worried then?” I asked.

 

“It depends, if you are of good behaviour I might let you go.”

 

I smiled, “I’ll do my best.”

 

I took a sip from my glass and watched as he brought out his phone as it seemed he just received a message.

 

“Mary, I’m having such a good time and really hate to leave but something important just came up,” he said looking truthfully sad.

 

I was sad as well, my night was looking much brighter.

 

“It’s okay,” I reluctantly said.

 

“Can I at least have your digits so we could hook up sometime?” He said as he stretched forward his phone for me to input my digits.

 

I took the phone without any hesitation and typed my number.

 

“Thanks, I’ll call you,” he said as he stood up and made to leave the lounge. I just nodded

 

I sat for a few seconds as I watched him leave and for some reasons I was already thinking about the possibility of us becoming good friends as well. When you are drunk, everything is heightened in your head.

 

I thought about the possibility of the ‘something important’ being his girlfriend who was waiting for him outside the lounge. I decided to see if my thoughts were right so I quickly ran after him towards the door.

 

I was however wrong but I saw him enter the front seat of a Range Rover Autobiography with a bald guy who looked kind of like the guy Amaka had left with about two hours ago.

 

I just wiped away that thought. Alcohol was really messing up with my head, I concluded. But maybe I should not have.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Why I Want To Be Bad 30

 

-30-

 

FUNMI

 

I was surprised at how good it tasted. This was actually the first time I had tasted Ayo’s food, that’s of course minus the regular Noodles and Spaghetti I expect everybody knows how to cook and I was impressed… Very much impressed.

 

She had cooked jollof rice and beans and I am sure that even the Ghanaian who always argued about which jollof is superior would have stopped such senseless argument if they had tasted as much as a spoon of Ayo’s miracle jollof.

 

We emptied the entire pot in a rush and I went on to start teasing her over her poor measurement. That was our first meal of the day and she had cooked just enough for us to have just one round each. If the food turned out to be less tasty, I would have teased her for cooking too much though.

 

Once the plates were washed and everything in the kitchen returned back to normal, the electricity distribution company decided to surprise us and supply us power. The scream of ‘up NEPA!’ Was so loud that I was sure even people on Mars must have heard. Less the generator supply, we had not as much as had our light bulbs blink even once for over two months I had been in the school so the ear deafening scream was expected.

 

I looked down at the street from my balcony and saw people dancing all over right there in the middle of the road. The last time I think Nigerians had been so excited was when the news of Sani Abacha’s deaths reached the masses. The funny thing about this whole situation is that the electricity distribution company always bring new bills every month, light or no light, this makes me wonder how they get the details they type on the bill.

 

In matters of seconds almost everybody in the lodge had switched on their home theatres and started jamming up. I could not exactly make out any song anyone was playing as the sounds all got mixed up so I locked my doors and windows to obstruct the noise from penetrating and that worked like magic.

 

I was not exactly left out of the excitement as I quickly ran into the room and slotted the best Korean movie I had in my into the CD player and just when I was about to sit down to watch the movie the worse happened; the power supply was cut off.

 

Thousands of hearts were broken. Even Ayo who I had expected to laugh at me was too heart broken to do that. I pinched my myself for even falling for the electricity distribution company cheap trick.

 

If it’s too good to believe then you are probably right.

 

Down and dejected, we both returned to the balcony to chill and Ayo starts rolling another blunt, I could not understand how the cannabis still remained. Once she was done rolling it, she lit it without second thoughts.

 

I stared at her keenly for a brief moment and was impressed at how delicately she handled the blunt, I even considered taking a drag but my subconscious kicked against such thoughts with immediate effect. My years of good home training was finally paying of.

 

She was so much engrossed in smoking the blunt that she totally ignored my presence so I went to the room and picked up my phone where I had plugged it for it to charge and took it to the balcony. I needed to keep myself company.

 

I went to my music player and started playing a rather slow song before going on to reply my Whatsapp messages and then a text message from my service provider led me to my inbox and that was when I was reminded of the text my dad had sent earlier.

 

“Let’s go to my house,” I suggested to Ayo. I had planned on disobeying my dad so I could have time to spend with Maxwell but I did not want that anymore so what was keeping me in school? I thought. Besides I had not exactly kept my deal of visiting home every weekend as I and dad had initially agreed.

 

“Which house?” She asked.

 

“My family house,” I replied. “The only thing we will end up doing if we stay here is waste money and food stuffs.”

 

She thought about it for a brief second, “If we go today, when would we come back?” She asked.

 

“Monday na… Besides, I hear Tunji is still around o,” I winked at her. Tunji was a guy she had history with, I’ll explain more on that another time.

 

She smiled and looked at her phone to check the time, “don’t you think it’s quite late to be going home now?”

 

“I know a short route that would take less than thirty minutes,” I replied, dad had made sure home was not so far away.

 

“Okay then, let’s do this. But I must finish my joint first, you can go and start packing.”

 

Having convinced her, packing was not so much of a big deal. Since I was going to just be away for a few days and I had more than enough clothes to wear at home all I really needed to pack was my laptop and a couple of handouts I had photocopied just in case I felt like reading.

 

Few minutes later she had finished smoking her blunt and we were out of the house not long after.

 

The road was very free surprisingly and we got to my door steps five minutes than I had anticipated.

 

My junior brother jumped on me immediately he opened the door. I almost fell in the process, the boy was just thirteen years old but had the weight of a thirty years old man. How he grew that fast in just few weeks was something I could not decipher.

 

“Ah! Sister Ayo you are welcome o, do you go to the same school with my sister?” He asked Ayo who I noticed had purposely kept my brother, Greg, at arms length so he wouldn’t be able to jump on her as well.

 

“I don’t Greg, well, not yet though. How are you na?” She replied.

 

“I’m fine, hope you bought something for me?” He asked.

 

“I sure did! But I will only give it to you tomorrow because I want to make sure you are still the good boy I used to know,” She lied. A rather good lie, don’t you think?

 

“Where is daddy and mummy?” I asked.

 

“Daddy is not yet back from work and mummy is still at the shop.”

 

“So you are the only one in the house?”

 

“No o, my friend is in the parlour,” he said excitedly.

 

It was only then I realised we had been standing at the door all this while.

 

I led the way into the house and bolted it. The parlour was of course the first place we walked into and that was when we saw Greg’s friend.

 

“Good evening,”  said the girl who did not look so much like Greg’s age mate, her big boobs was evidence of that, a quick glance at her and I noticed she even had bigger boobs than me.

 

I looked at Greg and then at Ayo, she smiled at me and I figured she was probably thinking what I was thinking.

 

It was almost 7pm and my junior brother of thirteen was all alone with such a busty in the house.

 

He definitely had some serious explanation to do.

 

***

 

MAXWELL

 

Henry never used to be one to talk about girls and issues related to them until he met Tonia. The girl seemed to have brainwashed my guy to the point where almost everything he had to say was about her and this was starting to piss me off because I had my own issues I needed to think about.

 

“But Tonia sabi vex for nothing oh,” he lamented to me.

 

“Dude, you told her to her face that she’s a broke ass, how did you think she would react to that?” I asked looking uninterested as we sat at the back seat of a cab taking us home.

 

“But I been no actually mean am na, na just vex wey I been dey vex.”

 

“Sorry. Next time try to control your tongue when you are vexed,” I advised.

 

“But nawa for the babe o, why she no wan pick my call na?”

 

“Give her a little time, call tomorrow.”

 

“Time to do wetin na?”

 

Somebody should please shoot me already, I thought.

 

“Guy leave this girl gist first. I get small issue wey I know say you go fit help me with,” I said changing the topic.

 

“Wetin be that?”

 

“Some boys been obtain me this afternoon,” I complained.

 

“At your old age dem still dey obtain you? Nawa for you oh, abi you no get mouth to follow dem talk?”

 

“Guy, dem be no even allow me talk anything and dem plenty,” I explained.

 

“Wetin dem collect?”

 

“Na just my phone o,” I replied and then went on to give him a well detailed story of how it all happened including a perfect description of the guy in particular who snatched my phone.

 

When I was done, he was very pissed as it seemed like he knew the exact guy that snatched my phone. He brought out his phone and made a call.

 

“Souja Boy, you get mind collect my last born phone?” I heard him say over the phone. There was a brief silence as he listened to what the person at the other end of the line had to say.

 

“If dem born you well, no bring that phone come my house this night,” he said and hung up.

 

“All this small small boys go just dey  do anyhow,” he said to me referring to Souja Boy, “no worry my guy, the bastard go bring your phone come this night,” he added.

 

“Rugged you,” I said as I anchored him. I was really starting to consider bagging up. Bagging up is a phrase which means joining a frat.

 

The rest of the trip home was less adventurous. We got home about ten minutes later and after settling the bills we walked into the compound.

 

A thought crossed my mind as we climbed to Funmi’s floor. It seemed like a good time to talk to her about what had transpired earlier in the day but after banging at her door for what felt like hours and getting no response, I gathered she was not at home and gave up.

 

By the time I got up stairs Henry was already at the balcony smoking a joint. I was already smoking too much so I didn’t join him but rather went for my remaining bottle of vodka and joined him at the balcony.

 

“This one wey you don come up now now, e be like say the babe no dey?” He asked me.

 

“I guess so.”

 

“What’s up with the two of you sef?  The package don click?” He asked. He was trying to ask if I and Funmi were officially an item.

 

“Nah, far from that actually. She been catch me dey kiss Mary-Anne this afternoon?”

 

“You are back with that bitch?” He asked looking all surprised.

 

“God forbid, e get as the story be, I said.

 

“I been think say na my matter bad pass o,” he said laughing.

 

“I been just dey look you when you dey complain about Tonia matter. You wey never see anything.”

 

“Well, you na baddo na,” he said and I was about to deny his accusation when a bang at the door stopped me.

 

It was about 12am, who could be knocking at the door by this ungodly hour?

 

I went to look through the peep hole and was surprised by who I saw.

 

“It’s Amaka,” I said to Henry.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Why I Want To Be Bad 29

 

-29-

 

AMAKA

 

“You know say you no need fear anything or anybody for this school abi?” Skinny asked. He was sipping directly from a bottle of beer as he spoke.

 

“But what if the workers at the hotel decide to talk?” I asked. That was my major concern, I have heard so many stories about Nigerian prison and that’s not a place someone should look forward to.

 

He laughed one of those sinister laughter evil people laugh when they see their evil plans taking place without a hitch.

 

“No worry about that one babe,” he said coldly.

 

I decided that maybe he was right and I was just over reacting. I stood up to go to the kitchen to get a beer and just as I came back to have my seat Skinny took a glance at his wrist watch and suddenly remembered he had somewhere he had to be.

 

I was so relieved that he was finally about to leave.

 

“Take my number, you go need am,” he suggested before going on the call the eleven digits.

 

Once he had made me dial the number so that he too would have my number he was gone.

 

I walked to the table and dropped the scissors I had placed in my back pocket.

 

Once again I was all alone in my house.

 

It was evening already, I did not even notice when time went by so fast and I noticed the Whatsapp messages had stopped coming so my phone insistent buzzing had stopped. I could not be more thankful.

 

I scanned through the messages quickly and learnt that the police had finally controlled and dispatched the crowd. Two students and one police were fatal victims of the riot. Apparently the riot had turned into a war as students who had guns started shooting back at the police, they had to call for reinforcements and once the reinforcements came hundreds of people got injured in the process but eventually the police had dispersed the crowd.

 

I was sad because of the death of those students and I knew staying at home would only make me think endlessly and maybe make me to start to panic again so I decided to go out and do something fun to get my mind of the issues that burdened it.

 

I wore a jean and a top before I left my house.

 

I almost ran into Mary-Anne as I walked out of my house in a rush, I could barely breath in there.

 

“Are you going out?” Mary-Anne asked.

 

“Kinda. What’s up? Were you coming to see me again?”

 

“Sorta… I’m bored to the teeth and trying not to think about certain things.”

 

“Well, that makes us two. I’m going to look for somewhere to chill as well in an attempt to run away from my thoughts.”

 

She chuckled, “can I tag along?”

 

I thought about it, I could really use some company. “Sure,” I said excitedly.

 

She watched me locked my door and then we both walked out of the compound.

 

At first I was not sure of where we should go to but then I some girls walked pass us looking all flashy and that gave me an idea.

 

I stopped a cab that was about to zoom pass us and directed the guy to take us to a fairly popular lounge around school.

 

As we drove pass school area, the air was still a bit choking probably due to the tear gas that was released in the area and the road looked like somewhere a serious war had happened. This sight saddened me.

 

We got to the lounge few minutes later and I was glad to see that the riot had not stopped people from turning up as we were welcomed by a burst of extremely loud music.

 

The atmosphere was electric as people danced all over the place to a reigning Nigerian pop song.

 

I looked around for somewhere to sit and noticed that all the couches were taken so we had to manage the stools at the bar.

 

“You drink alcohol right?” I asked Mary-Anne. I had to literally scream into her ears before she could hear me, all thanks to the massive speakers.

 

She nodded I response so I went on to order for a bottle of Vodka, a drink Maxwell had thought me to love.

 

I took poured a shot into Mary-Anne’s glass and then poured in mine.

 

“Why don’t you propose a toast?” Mary-Anne asked me.

 

I thought about it and then smiled as I figured out the perfect toast, “we drink to a night where all our problems, whatever they might be are forgotten.”

 

We clinged our glasses before downing the contents in one quick gulp. I filled our glasses once again and downed the contents again but Mary-Anne was probably not as excited as me as she didn’t rush the second glass but that was not my problem, the goal was to get drunk as fast as possible.

 

“So tell me, what’s on your mind that you don’t want to think about it?” I asked after downing my third shot.

 

“I’ll rather not talk about it,” She replied.

 

“Let me guess, boyfriend issues?” I pushed on, I knew that’s the only thing girls like Mary-Anne thought about.

 

“Kinda,” she replied rather reluctantly.

 

“Maxwell or Henry?” I asked. I knew those why the only two guys she had things with. I figured that out when she was at the hospital.

 

“I’m not sure of what exactly you are asking me here,” she replied as she took her second shot.

 

“I know that you are fucking both of them,” I blurted totally forgetting she was not supposed to know I knew about her and Henry.

 

Damn you alcohol!

 

She instantly became pale. She poured some vodka into her cup and drank it all, “how do you know that?” She finally asked.

 

“Because I and Maxwell used to fuck although we stopped a long time ago and won’t mind fucking Henry as well, so tell me, what’s he like in bed?” I replied. The alcohol was clearly taking effect.

 

I had obviously struck a nerve as she became more pale and then went on to take three straight shots of vodka totally emptying the bottle in the process

 

“Bartender bring another bottle,” she instructed then looked at me mutely for a while before replying, “he’s a beast in bed!” She exclaimed.

 

We both bursted out in laughter. That was so unexpected from her.

 

“So what’s the problem?” I asked her when we had collected ourselves.

 

“Maxwell found out about my one night stand with Henry and refuses to forgive me. I love the guy so it’s driving me crazy,” she explained.

 

“How did he find out?”

 

“I don’t know o, I guess he saw something suspicious and then asked me if its true so I told him the truth.”

 

“Babe I must say, I used to think you are some kind of loner but it turns out you are a nasty bitch, we would make really good friends,” I suggested.

 

“It’s not like that jhur, the Henry thing was an accident!” She lamented.

 

“So you just tripped and fell on his dick right?” I laughed.

 

“That’s exactly the question Maxwell asked me when I told him it was a mistake,” she said, “I just mean that I did not exactly plan to do what I did.”

 

Before I could reply, a guy, dark skinned with no single strand of hair on his head walked up to me and asked if I cared to dance with him. He was so handsome and he’s baritone voice made it impossible to turn down the offer.

 

He took my hands and led me to the dance floor. I staggered a bit and nearly fell but his hands were there to save me.

 

“Seems you’ve drank quite a lot?” he rhetorically asked, “You don’t have to bother dancing with me if it would be too much work.”

 

“Nah, I’m fine,” I said as I gained back my stamina. He was too handsome for me to reject the offer to dance with him.

 

“Well, show me what you’ve got,” he said as he spanned me around and came closer to me, o could feel his breath on my neck as he exhaled.

 

His hands started wandering and for some reasons I did not want that just yet so I grabbed both his hands and pushed him to the wall where I went down on him. As my arse caressed his laps, I could feel his rod get erect, just as I had expected.

 

“Do you want to go somewhere more private?” he whispered in my ears.

 

“Sure,” I said. People naturally do not make the best decisions when they are drunk.

 

He took my hands and led me out of the lounge down to the car park where his car, a 2015 Range Rover Autobiography stood out amongst other cars. I had hit the jackpot!

 

I hopped in without taking second thoughts and he drove off without saying a word to me.

 

We drove for a while and I was starting to worry where he was taking me when he suddenly pulled to a halt right in the middle of the road.

 

“Your name is Amaka right?” he asked.

 

I could not remember telling him my name. “How do you know that?” I asked all surprised.

 

“I work for the Nigerian secret service and I think you have some information concerning the murder of one of your school lecturers.”

 

I immediately started regretting my decision to leave my house.

 

TO BE CONTINUED