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Infinite Love 80
Worthless But Priceless

She saw him as soon as he was in sight. She had some people around her and ran to him and the rest followed. They were her family.


“Ókó mì. My husband. Osé gan. Thank you very much. You will not lack. You will be well. You will prosperous in wealth and children. You have saved me and my family and you don’t even know me. You don’t know us. Oh, but God knows you very well. And he will bless you.”

She praised and thanked him until she became overwhelmed with emotion and collapsed against his chest still sobbing and thanking him. She grabbed him a hugged him as tightly with as much energy as her old bones could muster. Some of her children and grandchildren hugged them too until Dayo was at the centre of a big family bear hug. He didn’t know how the applause started. He never saw who clappled first. It was just an echo from behind and then it was in front of him until suddenly it was everywhere in the banking hall. An applause. Almost everyone was clapping. Applauding him. Michael could only watch in awe from above. Even the branch manager came out to find the strange spectacle. He had been working in that branch for more than fifteen years and never was there anything such as this before, a staff member honoured in such a big way by customers. Even fellow staff members hardly gave a standing ovation to another staff member, and this was happening to his most unpopular staff member; Dayo off all people. He thought he was dreaming.

She eventually let him go and put a hand into her bosom to retrieve an envelope. It was obviously cash but Dayo politely refused it, holding up his hand.

“I’m sorry ma, but I cannot accept it.”

She was surprised and then saddened. She thought it might be due to the size of the envelope that he was refusing it. She felt ashamed. She had wanted to bring more money but her grandchildren had told her that four hundred thousand was already too much money to give to a stranger. She hated to think that he was displeased with her offer. He already meant more to her than a son. He had done what none of her sons and grandsons had failed to do and he wasn’t even related to her.

“Please my son, do not think that it is too small. Please accept it. If you want, I could bring more for you later.” she said and Dayo heard Omolara the closest cashier to them open her mouth in shock. But he still couldn’t accept it. She had already honoured him more than he deserved and nothing could ever take away the pride he felt in that moment, nothing. Accepting money would only diminish the sheer joy he felt and probably give his colleagues a reason to hate him more. Probably convict him too. So he still refused it. For a few minutes there was a back and forth between them until he finally said.

“Mama, I can’t accept it because the bank may fire me if I do.”

“Ah, no o!” she said clasping the envelope to her bosom in fear “I don’t want that at all. You must continue to work here so that you can help other people you need you like I did.”

“Yes, ma and that means, I cannot accept your gift.” even as he said it he feel all the eyes of his colleagues upon him. He could feel the envy in their eyes boring into him.

“Oh, I see.” she said hesistantly and looked side to side thinking for a bit until finally she called.

“Moria? Jor mu purse mi wa. Please hand me my purse.”

“Yes, Mama.” and the young girl seeming her granddaughter gave her the purse and she rumaged for a second before bringing out something that looked like an old rusted chain, and at the end of it was a large pendent with more rusts. She held it out for him to see.

“Mama…erm, I er…” he was uncertain what it was.

“This was the last thing of value that my husband owned before he died. It was the only thing he left me. Until, you showed me that he had kept much more for me and my family.”

“Oh, then I definitely cannot take something so valuable.”

"No o. It has no value at all. It used to be gold by it was covered in iron dusts for many years and it became brown. And look!" she clicked a device at the top, it opened up to reveal the it was a pocket watch. It was not functioning though. The minute and the secon hands were motionless against its white watch panel.

"This was given to my late husband by the Oyinbo White Man at their railway company. He said that my husband was the best man he heard ever met. He was more punctual, honest and hardworking than any other person that he had ever worked with both in Nigeria and abroad. But do you know that my husband was the only illiterate amongst his peers? Everything he knew he learnt it through hardwork and diligence and this was one of his rewards from that."

"Oh, Mama, then I definitely cannot accept something so precious to you." he said overwhelmed.

"Please accept it. It would mean more to me if it is with you."

"Ah..."he hesistated "...but why?"

"Because you remind me of my late husband." She said plainly and in that moment nothing could ever keep Dayo from that worthless but priceless pocket watch. So he accepted it. He put the chain around his neck and tucked the watch into his shirt feeling at ease even with the cold metallic heavy object against his skin.

She smiled finally and after many more prayers and praises, she left. He watched her go through the metal detector door and watched her silhouette vanish into a bus along with her family. He stood there awhile until the stairs of his colleagues began to grate upon his skin. Some seemed to admire him, others angry and the rest harboured blank hatred. He cared so little about that and returned to Michael and Johnny upstairs.

Michael was brimming with pride as he entered the room he shared with three other staff members. Johnny came up to him and clapped him on the back.

"Boss man. Wow. You try o! Make I see that chain she give you now. "

And Dayo revealed it to them.

"Wow." Michael said impressed and Johnny looked disappointed.

"Is it worth anything?"

Dayo took it from him. "No, its worthless."

"Yeah but priceless too." Michael added.

"Exactly."

In that moment Mr Bamidele entered the room. He paused for a moment on seeing the three and finally looked at Emeka the only other staff member in the room at the time.

"Yes, Mr Emeka. There's a meeting at headquarters in an hour and I must leave soon can you please get me my bag in my office?"

"Of course, sir." And Emeka left the room which Dayo thought it was odd because Santa Claus never did such things. He never allowed staff members carry his bag or do simple tasks for him that he himself could easily do, no matter how many times they asked. As soon as Emeka was well gone he skipped over to them and whispered;

"YOU HAVE TO GO! YOU HAVE TO GO NOW!"

Startling all three of them.

Infinite Love 81

The Rescue

Mr Bamidele had seen his all manners of people come to work at his branch for more than a decade.

The good hardworking ones, the bad eye-service ones and the ugly backstabbing ones that serve as informants to superiors headquarters in a bid to get his job. But whichever category a staff member fell into; they all meant to suck up to him. He couldn't count how many times a day someone would ask to get the door for him, help him with his bag as if being in a higher position or having money meant that one become decrepit.

So many times in a day we face one manner of ass-kissing or the other. Some would often bring gossip to him hoping he would appreciate their backstabbing. In a country like Nigeria where money and position is worshipped it was expected. They didn't particularly like him. Some did but not all. It was simply their own way of buttering him up for a favour; a promotion, a higher salary, a leave or a loan reduction. They never would be doing all of that if they had nothing to gain in return. That's why he never welcomed any of it. He really couldn't help them most of the time. He answered to other people and took orders too. He wished he could be he couldn't. The last time a robbery happened at the bank a staff member lost his life. He called upon his superiors numerous time to please pay some form of compensation to his family. The sent an official letter and he called them individually, he even went up to them personally to beg for it. All to no avail. The most he could garner was half the following month's salary for him from them for his wife and two children. Their reason for so low a compensation was that the said staff was a contractual staff member and so his contract company was the one obligated to compensate his family. Of which, of course they knew, would not happen. That's what he got for literally dying at his job after seven years working there. That was the main reason he stood up to the general's men when they came to harass his workers. Even if there was low pay and little job security he had to at least protect them.

They all sucked up to him a lot more after that. What else would could they do? There was no job anywhere and for any staff member in the bank there were at least thirty people outside waiting to tak their place. Except of course, Dayo.

Never has there been any staff like him at the bank in all his fifteen years there. He did his work diligently. He just didn't care much for sucking up or socialising. In fact, he had little respect for anyone. He held the record number for most queries by anyone at the bank and everyone from customers to fellow workers even Mr Bamidele's superiors had requested that he be fired but for some reason; he never wanted to do. And after the applause at the bank today, he was right not to.

Ever since politicians began interfering in banking operations sharp practices became rampant. They began using the banks to launder all sorts; from pension money to relooting the already looted Abacha loot. When Dayo finally got around the unfair protocol set in place to get the client her money; he was proud. And as the old lady and her family left, he noticed some suspicious movement by some members of staff and knew that the general would have been informed and he would be sending his men there soon.

So he made his move and went to see him. He found him among some friends of his and Emeka, who shared the office with him. He excused Emeka with an errand before he went up to Dayo and said;

"YOU HAVE TO GO. YOU HAVE TO GO NOW!"

Infinite Love 82

See No Evil

"What...what do you mean?" Michael asked.

"Are the soldiers back?" asked Dayo looking behind his shoulders and down into the hall for any signs of bone breakers in camoflage uniforms.

"No, but I have a feeling that they'll be here soon. The general has some informants in this bank and I think that he may have been informed already." Mr Bamidele said.

"Wait, are you saying that brother Dayo stole money? Because I don't understand this entire thing." said Johnny

"No, technically he didn't steal." Said Micheal.

"Technically, he didn't do anything wrong." said Mr Bamidele "But he still broke the rules and he shouldn't have done it so now he's in trouble."

"I still don't understand this thing." Johnny was shaking his head.

"Listen, there are some monies that some very powerful people are hoping to inherit because the people who kept those money with the bank have died and their families don't know how to claim the money."

"So, what did brother Dayo, do?"

"I showed their families how to claim the money." He said holding his head in his hands.

"And the politicians that know about those monies have been watching it closely and they have even spent out if it because it is a lot of money...and they are very greedy." Mr Bamidele said.

"Like how much is it? Like a hundred thousand or a million?" Asked Johnny

"No, billions."

"WOW!" Johnny gasped

"It is infact a miracle that the money hasn't been finished already. But usually with every new administration brings a new set of politicians that want to spend it but the banks always manage to convince them to instead spend the interests accumulating over the money which is into the millions as well and to leave the money so that the banks can use it as a strong capital base for its operations."

"Oo-kay. I get it now. But how much brother Dayo steal...I mean give out of it?" Johnny asked again

"It was about twenty million i think. Eight million in cash and the rest was in form of assests." Dayo said.

"But what is twenty million to billions? I say we just tell the soldiers that the money issue was a mistake. That the family accidentally found out on their own. They can believe that right? Maybe we should try that, it was just twenty million." Michael said desperate for a safe solution.

"I don't think you understand the kind of people these are. They have been tipped off and with money like this, they would fight tooth and nails to get it back or punish anyone who trespasses on it." Bamidele said.

"Yeah, and also...technically, it's more than twenty mills I erm...sort of gave out." Dayo said nervously.

"What!" said Johnny.

"WHAT! shouted a very shocked Michael and Mr Bamidele.

"I kind of...set up the system to erm...alert beneficiaries and next of kin along with the details of...AHEM HEM" he coughed"...how-to-get-the-money," Dayo said not looking at either one of them.

"Ha ha." Johnny was laughing. "Brother Dayo get liver o!"

"ARE YOU INSANE!?" Michael shouted.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR GOD DAMN MIND?"exclaimed Mr Bamidele "Do you realize what you've done?"

Dayo got up protesting "Wait, wait. To be fair! In my defense. I didn't know about the soldiers at the time."

"Well, now you do so stop the alert." Michael charged.

"I can't, it has already gone out."

"Oh-my-God!" Michael held his face in his hands.

"But hey...it may not even matter because most of those people and their beneficiaries are mostly dead anyways."

"And for the ones that are alive?" Michael asked tentatively.

"Well, I don't know but whoever is alive would probably start coming in by next week or so."

"NEXT WEEK?!" Mr Bamidele lost it. "Do you have any idea the kind of heat my bank will be getting? This entire place will not just be crawling with soldiers but I...will also be interrogated about this by my superiors!"

"I'm sorry." Dayo said weakly "I wasn't really thinking..."

"No, I don't think you were..."

"I just wanted to make sure the right people got what they deserved. That's the right thing to do...right?"

"Well...yes but now you're in deep trouble for it." Michael said worried.

" Yes and now...there's no way around it. I have to throw you under the bus." Mr Bamidele said.

Sigh "Fine." Dayo said his face falling.

"WAIT! What does that mean?" Michael asked.

"It means if I or any other person in this bank gets too much pressure as a result of this. I will simply tell have to blame it all on him!" Said Mr Bamidele.

"But wouldn't that put him in danger?" Michael asked

"Yes, of course it would...disbursing a few millions out of the curfers is forgiveable but when its a few dozen or hundreds of millions? Well, let's just get him out of here before the Khaki boys get here. Let's be fast."

...

There have been many times is Moses Akpobaro the bank's security guard didn't believe his own eyes.

He still doesn't believe that he; primary school dropout from Insit Atai in Akwa Ibom would be so fortunate. As the last born son of his father. The only child of his last wife; he was always ignored and mistreated. He was easy to ignore being the shortest of his siblings. Compared to the rest, he was practically a runt.

His father had once told him that his best chance at success was to work for his elder half brothers and sisters and hope for goodwill from them as all of his properties had already been allocated to them and there was nothing leftfor him. He had resolved to live his life in misery until his secondary school youth corp teacher; Mr Desmond told him that anyone could make it in Lagos if they worked hard enough. And so as soon as he could gather enough money to make the transport; he fled his old home thinking;

"Lagos couldn't possibly be more miserable to me than my family home." and fortunately for him, he was right.

By sheer determination and hardwork in odd jobs he was able to get an apprenticeship with a street welder and after a few years making fancy metal gates and burglary proof window bars. A pleased customer helped him get a job at Dustin Long an Oil & Gas company were he was paid handsomely. When he first collected his salary he nearly collapsed on the road from shock. It was while working at this job that he was able to start building his own home in his hometown and even send back a few to his relatives.

He couldn't believe his eyes too when tall and pretty Ekaite agreed to court him. The shortest of his family. He couldn't believe his ears when she said 'yes' to his marriage proposal.

When his father passed away and he went home for the burial. He couldn't believe the level of affection meted out to him by his stepmothers and step siblings who had hitherto made his life miserable. After paying for the entire burial rituals. He further couldn't believe it when he was ordained a chief with the title of; Wantana Aiyezayo 2, a title his father previously held before he died.

He definitely, couldn't believe his eyes.

When the roller machine at the company gripped his coverall and crushed his left hand he couldn't believe the unbearable pain before passing out. He couldn't believe the lump that was left in the place where five skinny fingers used to be.

He couldn't believe his ears when the doctors told him they had to amputate his fingers and when the company accountant awarded him a compensation of five million naira he couldn't believe that so many zeros could be found on a check.

And after he retired into the security job at the bank. He was surprised by how much most of the bank staff and customers ignored him. They walked past him without so much as a look from most despite his greetings. Only Mr Dayo and Mr Bamidele ever seemed to notice him and were nice to him. When it gets hot Mr Dayo often brought him cool bottled water and take away food packs. The rest not so much. Overtime he realised that it was because to them he was a crippled nobody, who wasn't even worth their attention. He often wondered how they would treat him if they knew that he was a chief in his hometown, or that his wife lived like a queen or that his children went to the best schools there and his family was considered rich as he had single handedly built a clinic there. They constantly begged him to come home but he always said;

"Lagos has been good to me. It gave me everything I have. I will remain here until I die."

But of all the days he couldn't believe his eyes today was even more incredible. First there was an applause at the bank, which there never was before. And then shortly after, soldiers burst in as if the bank was their war front. He was lucky to have gotten out of their way on time. And then the two young men that came looking for Mr Dayo snuck past them and when outside rushed into a taxi. Then someone from the bank came out shouting;

"He's with them! He's in that taxi. Stop it!"

and all the soldiers rushed out again into their vans with sirens blowing after the taxi cab that had sped off. And afterwards everything was quiet again. Moses was pondering over this events when he saw the cleaner in full uniform and a face cap come out through the back door carrying a full water dispenser bottle on his shoulder hiding his face as he left the bank.

That entire scene, Moses couldn't believe it, as cleaners never take out water dispenser bottles out to refill. Especially, not when the bottle was full. The water dispenser company were the only ones that did that. He meant to stop the cleaner but when he noticed his shoes. White sneakers with the Nike logo. Only one person ever wore those at the bank and instinctively, Moses let him go.

He couldn't believe his eyes throughout that day.

Infinite Love 83

Dangerous Liasons

Being friends with Dayo had always been hazardous to Michael health since back in secondary school.

He was hated by the girls who called him "foul mouth" because everything he ever said to girls in school was usually foul. And he was usually one step away from a fight or getting beat up by the guys because of his disagreable attitude and Michael and Onos usually suffered for it too. They became avoided mostly because they were friends with Dayo. It affected Onos mostly because he really liked girls but everytime Onos tried to get the courage to talk to a girl, ruined it. Once Onos got up the courage to go say 'hello' to a girl with a weave on. Unfortunately, Dayo was there. As soon as Onos said;

"Er...er hello, Ronke"

"Oh, hi Onos." she said twirling her artificial hair in her hands. "How are you?"

At this point Onos starts to stutter and he looked towards Dayo his wing man to help with smart conversation but Dayo unfortunately said:

"You know, that is probably a horses hair. Like, horse tail hair. Why are you covering your head with something a horse uses to clean away shit and chase away flies?"

"Hmph! Nonsense!" she hissed and walked away never speaking to either one of them ever again and Onos stared at his friend.

"What?" he asked indifferently "Doesn't she look like a horse's rear end walking away to you?"

On another occassion; the head prefect; Hector came over to Michael, Onos and Dayo proudly showing them his face in the local newspaper.

"Wow!" Michael said.

"This is really cool!" Onos said.

But after standing in front of Dayo for a long waiting for accolades Dayo only said:

"I don't get it, what's the big deal?" and Hector's face looked shocked.

"Your face is in the papers and so what? Why are you showing me this? Why should I care? What has that go to do with me?" he added.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Hector said exploding in outrage. Michael and Onos who couldn't help themselves were laughing and Hector turned to them as well.

"AND YOU GUYS ARE LAUGHING??" he bellowed.

"Erm...no o!" Onos said.

"We were just thinking about...The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." Michael chipped in.

"Oh you two think it is funny abi?"

"NO O!" they said "Not at all!" Hector was strangely muscular and he was a notorious bully, so Michael and Onos were right to be afraid but Dayo only added.

"And wait a minute; wasn't this taken after last week's match? Didn't we lose that match? Shouldn't you be ashamed of yourself instead of showing everyone in school this?"

That was one of the days that all three of them got their butts whooped because of Dayo's foul mouth.

"Why am we friends with you? Do you want to get us killed?" Onos used to ask.

Fast forward twenty years later. Being friends with Dayo was still a pain but now it was downright dangerous. Michael had changed into Dayo's clothes and left the bank with his brother Johnny hoping to distract the soldiers and giving Dayo a way to escape. It worked and as soon as they left the military pick truck chased after their taxi stopping them about a quarter mile down the road.

It was the scariest thing to ever have happened to him. To have a military truck cross their cab and watch about six heavily armed soldiers disembark and charge at them. They ordered them all out of the cab and after a few minutes of double checking their, especially Michael's face, it was established that he was not Dayo but just another bank's customer and they were free to go.

Soon after they left the taxi and waited for him at their rendezvous point. It was one of the longest sixty minutes of Michael's life. He was constantly tortured with thoughts of Dayo being captured and tortured by brutal soldiers. But when they saw him coming from afar in a cleaner's uniform Michael ran up to him and hugged him.

"What are you doing...get off?" Dayo said shrugging him off awkwardly.

"Unbelievable!" Michael said incredulously.

"I think I should crash at your place for a bit. I don't think my place is going to be safe."

"Wait. Is that all you're going to say? Because of you brother and I nearly got roughed up by soldiers and that's all you're going to say to us?" Johnny asked.

"Oh..." he thought for a bit and said "...yeah, sorry about that."

"Never mind Johnny, let's go. After all this is over, I'm going to see a shrink and find out why I'm friends with him"

Infinite Love 84

Never Too Young To Die

You have really outdone yourself this time, dee. It used to be just high school bullies but now you've graduated to pissing off military generals.

Tell me something, do you plan on living to the age of fifty?" Michael asked him, as a taxi dropped him, Dayo and his brother Johnny together in Michael's neighbourhood.

"Honestly? If I make it to the age of forty five years old, I would be very surprised." Dayo said.

"I'm just glad the two of you were at the bank today to help me. Thanks."

"Nah, that's no problem. You can be a big pain in the butt but of course we'd help."

"O-kay...hey why were you two at the bank anyway?"

"I came to talk to you about Zaria. I'm leaving." Michael said seriously his steps slowing down.

"Zaria? Wow! Are you...are you sure, Michael?"

"Yeah...it's time."

"Wow. So much has happened and so much time has gone by, I actually thought that you'd have given up on Zaria?"

"You know what? I thought so too. I almost did too if not for..." he paused.

"If not for what?" Dayo asked and Michael couldn't bring himself to say it. He didn't know how to say or even if Dayo who was usually emotionally unavailble would understand. He wanted to tell him though. To tell him that he had almost given up on his dream. It was his father's dream that he infected him with. He gave up on it when his father died and his mom fell ill, badly and they lost their home and Michael had to make sacrifices for his family. His father was the heart of the family, he was also their visionary, without him they had lost their way. Michael lost his way. He couldn't dream anymore, because life was life and a dream was a dream. But then, she came back into his life. She was his one and only dream, since secondary school, and she had achieve all of her dreams, thereby inspiring him to dream again. So he was finally ready to take a chance and build his father's dream for himself, for all of their sakes and for her, for Angela.

He wanted to tell his best friend all of this but instead all he said was;
"It's time...and I'll be leaving next week."

"PHEW!" he whistled "Next week!? Are you sure? Do you have everything ready?"

"Well...not exactly."

"Not exactly? Do you even have the money?"

"No...not yet."

"Not yet? What nonsense are you saying? How are you going to get the money? Not from me at least because...well I think I was just fired."

"But all those money that you were giving to those people, didn't you keep some for yourself?" Johnny asked finally speaking.

"What? No!"

"Eh hen? Why not?"

"...because it wasn't my money. So I couldn't take it for myself."

"Na wa for you o! All that money and you just left it for other people to spend."Johnny said incredulously.

"I only touched that money so that I could help people with it. The right people who owned it."

"Are you not a Nigerian? A good Nigerian helps the people and then helps himself. What you did doesn't make sense at all."

"Hey!" he gasped "Michael, when did Johnny become so... terrible?"

"I wish I knew. Okay that's enough Johnny, go on ahead while I talk to Dayo."

"Okay brother. I will leave you and your good Samaritan with no money."

"GERROUT!" he snapped and Johnny ran up ahead of them.

"So what are you going to do? How are you going to get the money?"

"Well...um we will get it from Onos." Michael said as plainly as he could but even saying his name he could see Dayo's eyes narrow with anger.

"What do you mean... From Onos? We haven't seen or heard from that traitor in years. Right?"

"Um...well...I um...sort of hear from him from time to time." Michael said still keeping his cool. He knew that this was going to need to be done delicately. Onos, their third best friend disappeared and remained incommunicado from both Dayo and Michael for many years. Dayo never admitted it, not once but it affected him that Onos would do that. They were the best of friends, more like brothers. Cutting them off in such a manner hurt him more than he cared to admit but Michael knew that it did. For the first few years they actually thought that something might have happened to Onos, some sort of accident because all through their school years neither of them could remain without the other for more than three days. But Onos hadn't replied their letters and mails for months. They actually thought that he might have died. Dayo many times planned to go to Delta State himself to go look for him because Michael couldn't leave his family after his father's passing at the time. He had packed his luggage and armed with the only address he knew that Onos had in Delta state he was about to leave if not for an old classmate of theirs; Sunday that he met by chance the day before his departure. According to Monday, Onos was alive and well, infact he was doing fine. He had gotten admission into Delsu (Delta State University) and was taking a course in Political Science. When Dayo came to Michael's house to inform of the news Michael suspected that he had been crying. But he knew better than to ask that as Dayo raised insults upon insults on Onos and his big nose.

"That dummy. Mumu, can you believe it? He is alive and well. That monkey! Oh I prefer it if he was dead."

"Come on, now!"

"He is alive and well and we have been worried sick about him for months! How could he do this to us? That stupid, stammering monkey!"

Michael tried to calm him down back then but he was hysterical.

"We were the ones that were there for him all those years. We helped him, we protected him, we showed him Lagos and helped him with school and first chance he gets, he bails on us?"

"Calm down!"

"TO HELL WITH HIM! I NEVER WANT TO SEE HIM AGAIN. EVER AGAIN!"

"Will you shut up and listen?"

"As a matter of fact when did you start talking to him again?"

Michael stuttered "Er...erm, he erm...contacted me a few times about erm...say a few years ago."

"WHAT?! And you didn' tell me? Traitor!"

"What? Hey! Everytime I try to bring him up you get all...weird and hysterical."

"No. That's not an excuse, you could have told me. Why didn't you tell me?"

"He erm...Onos didn't want me too, sorry."

"Oh, I see. Okay, well. He doesn't want to talk to me then I also never want to see him too, ever again."

"Don't be dramatic. It's not like that."

"I don't care, I don't want to see him." he said stomping up ahead.

"So, what then, you're not going to help me get to Zaria?" Michael asked and he stopped in his tracks.

"No! Of course not. We just don't need him. We can do it all on our own."

"No, we can't and yes we do need him. Onos is not like before he has resources and connections now. He is my only chance at this."

"What...? Onos...how?" Dayo asked completely stomped.

"Let's go home. I'll explain everything there." but as he lead Dayo towards his house he saw Johnny running back towards them again.

"Johnny what's wrong? Why are you running?"

"Brother, soldiers! There are a few soldiers in the neighbourhood looking for you!"

"What? They're here?" Dayo said suddenly afraid.

"Yes, they must suspect that your friend is here."

"Oh my God. No no no. That's not good. I have to get out of here." Dayo said panicking.

"Wait. Calm down. We still have time. Our neighbours never talk to policemen or soldiers."

"No, brother. There's another problem." Johnny saidnl still panting from his run.

" What?"

"Martins is with them, Officer Martins."

"What...start panicking!"

Infinite Love 85

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

"Oga sorry, so sorry I won't do that again sir." Michael pleaded on his knees begging for his friend and his brother who were both lying on the floor bleeding from their limbs that had been broken.

"Are you begging me?" Inspector Martins bellowed "Why are you begging me? I thought you were supporting your friend and your brother when both of them were insulting me, saying that I owed you money in front of everybody and even my DPO."

"Oh, no sir."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No o, no sir. Not at all sir. It was all a misunderstanding sir. You don't owe me money."

"Really? So I didn't get my clothes drycleaned without paying you?"

"Yes sir, I mean, no sir. You always pay me sir. Always, infact I am the one that owes you money."

"Oh?"

"Yes sir. Your change. I haven't given you your change." And he ruffled his pockets and brought out all his squeezed naira notes, his earnings for the day, and with shaky hands he painfully handed all of them to Officer Martins pleading;

"Please sir. Have mercy on my brother and my friend, they are in pains. Please sir. I beg of you, for the love of God."

Martins took the notes and squeezed them deep into his pockets and smiled viciously.

"You know something Michael? If only you had treated me with such respect in the past, I would taken care of you. I may have even taken your business to the very top of the polic force and introduced you to big men. But since you decided to humiliate me in front of your shop and at my station, I will make you suffer as well as the rest of your filthy friend and brother. NOW WATCH AS I BEAT THEM TO NEAR DEATH BEFORE DESCENDING UPON YOU!"

And he began to club the two nearly lifeless boys on the floor as Michael begs and pleads.

"AH NO PLEASE! OFFICER! OFFICER! OFFICER MARTINS!"

"OFFICER MARTINS ARE YOU DEAF??"

He was startled as he got up from the desk, where he had been dozing for the past forty five minutes. He briefly looked at his hand the club he had been holding just a few seconds ago had dissappeared and the bodies of Michael and his wretched accomplices had disappeared. It was all a dream. He looked to the entrance of the station and saw the image of DPO Duala standing there looking menacingly as he usually did when he was annoying with him, which was always.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE STILL SLEEPING AFTER WARNING YOU ABOUT THIS TWO DAYS AGO." he shrieked

He got up and saluted "Shun sir! Sorry sir! It won't happen again sir!"

The DPO watched him for a few moments about to launch into a tirade of insults but briefly decided against it. He had a ton of paperwork to do and Martins was a lost cause. He is not worth the effort. And so he simply marched upstairs towards his officer without another word.

"Sir wait, let me help you with your briefcase sir." he said feigning care but the DPO didn't fall for it and refused to slow down until he was inside his office.

"MTCHEW!" he hissed "Useless mallam." he spat under his breath and sat back down on his seat behind the counter at the station's front desk.

Ever since Michael and his brother were at the station and embarrassed him before the DPO he had been forced to work at the station and removed from his beloved traffic duty. Traffic duty where he would make in a day what other civil servants make in a month. Traffic duty where he was the master and commander of the road and every motorist in Lagos lived in fear of him. So much respect. So much money. All gone. All because of that Michael and his brother, and his friend. How the DPO managed to believe a couple of lowlifes over him was still a mystery. Even after he had explained that they were only lying against, the man didn't believe him. He decided to try again. He went upstairs and opened the door after knocking briefly.

"Yes, come in." he said not looking over his the documents he was working on but when Martins said;

"Erm, excuse me sir?" he finally looked up in revolsion through his moon glasses.

"Oh God! What do you want?"

"Well, sir. It's about my stationing here at the station."

"Big surprised!" he mocked rolling his eyes and Martins blood boiled knowing already that his request would be denied.

"Well, I was thinking that my traffic experience is being wasted here since all i do is just sit behind the counter all day. I could be doing some serious police work out there on the roads..."

"I'll bet you can." he sneered folding his hands over his chest.

"...yes sir. There are some serious criminals and criminal minded people out there. You don't know them but I do and I monitor them everyday, to keep the peace. Without me, I fear chaos and anarchy could be reigning out there on the streets sir." he said finally.

Mr Duala relaxed against the back rest of his swivel chair and gazed upon the disgrace that was Inspector Martins for a few moments regarding him with well earned disgust.

"So,.." he began "...you think the roads are in chaos with you? Abi?"

"Yes sir." he nodded earnestly. "And if I was allowed to go..."

"Please be quiet and let me finish. I allowed you to talk, didn't I?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"You should be sorry. If only you knew just how sorry you should be." he said and Martins' brow furrowed a bit trying to get his head around that statement.

"But fortunately for me and the rest of us, they are not. You see, I use them same roads and I didn't see any chaos or any sort of anarchy. Also, Officer Richard and the rest of the boys that I put on traffic duty are doind a good job and there has not been any reports of disturbances thus far. So, unfortunately for you. There is no trouble at all and hence no reason whatsoever to put you back on traffic duty."

He hated to hear about Richard and the others. He showed them the ways of the job and now that he was benched by the boss, they all sidelined him when they could have at least be giving him a percentage of their cut. He called one of them the other time and the animal told him blatantly that they were not running any side gigs, just doing their regular policework; LIES! Rubbish! No policeman in Nigeria just does his job. What, with the poor pay and nonsense benefits? No way. Every policeman uses his gun to run gigs to keep poverty at bay. He knew they were making a ton. It was getting to the festive period with a high level of road users. They must be making a ton and they weren't slipping him any cuts; traitors, fake friends! He had to get back to traffic since non of them would slip him a few.

"Sir, please. You have to send me back to traffic. Sitting behind a desk all day is not proper police work. It is so boring."

"I don't have to do...anything! You're staying here. Right here, to do your job. Do you understand me? I don't care if its boring. You will sit right there and wait for people to bring their problems and attend to them, like a good policeman. I will NEVER again send you back to traffic. Do you take me for a fool? Don't you think I know why you want to go back so badly? I no about all the money you want to get back to. But you see. Ever since I put you back to desk duty we have received zero complaints about the police in this area and I want to keep it that way. Now get out and get back to work."

"Yes...sir." and with that he turned around to leave when he asked.

"By the way, that woman who complaint that you owe her money, the food vendor, have you paid her yet?"

"Erm, yes sir."

Duala regarded him for a second then added "If I find out that you are lying, it is suspension for you."

He grumbled all the way downstairs. He couldn't believe the kind of nemesis he was having in a boss. The old one was a sharp who allowed sharp practices and took his cut regularly but this mallam was being a total pain. He forced unto him desk duty which was nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment and now he spends his days with nothing better to do than daydreaming of ways to torture Michael and the others.

He had just sat upon his chair when they came in; soldiers. Initially, he was alarmed. The last time soldiers were at the station was not a very good memory. Martins and his boys had mistakenly harassed a senior military officer during one of the roadside gigs. The military officer who was in civilian clothing got so pissed that he went into the nearest army barracks and got some boys to come to the police barracks. The camoflag boys beat the hell out of the policeman at the station and even Martins had to jump the station fencing in order to escape the brutal thrashing. So, it was understandable that he would be on the edge on siting army officers at the police station.

But there was no need to fear because these boys were not the ones that came over last time, he noticed quickly.

"Hey, please we need assistance finding someone in this area."

"Um, okay. What is the person's name?"

"Osu, Michael."

"Michael the drycleaner?"

"We don't know his occupation. We just know that he is friends with someone we are looking for."

Martins could not believe his hears. He had been dreaming of ways to make Michael pay for his situation and now he got soldiers looking for him too. And apparently, they are looking for his friend also. This was too much.

"Oh, I know him. I know him well. His friend may be with him right now. Why don't I take you to him?"

"Thank you." and he got into their van and led them towards Michael's neighbour. He knew Duala would be pissed at him for leaving but he didn't care. Christmas was coming early and he just had to make sure that Michael and his family and friends got exactly what they deserved. He asked justina to take over front desk and went with the search for Michael.

Thank you so much for this lovely piece. I enjoy reading it.

What an update. Thanks

Thank you for thanking me and for enjoying it.

You are most welcome!

Infinite Love 86

The Fast and The Furious

Inspector Martins and the soldiers found out the hard way that slum dwellers dont like strangers.

Especially, strangers who carry guns trying to arrest one of them.

Since they didnt know exactly where Michael lived they had to ask the locals and their responses were nothing when it was even understandable.

They asked and asked and most just ignore them others outright lied.

They asked one woman selling food;

"Please I am not Michael and i dont know any Michael." and she went back to sellingher wares as she it was not soldiers that she just dissed. The camouflaged boys had never seen such fearless if not mad indifference at their presence when most people would cower in awe or fear of them.

They asked an elderly man;

"Michael? I have said it! I knew it! Michael is not a good person! Anybody named Michael is never a good person!" the old man exclaimed and the uniformed men were happy to have found someone who didnt support Michael to help them.

"Good! Thank you very much sir. Now please, where is he?"

"Who?" the old man asked them puzzled.

"Michael sir."

"Michael?" he asked again puzzled.

"Yes sir. WHere is Michael, WHere does he live?"

And the old man glared at them fiercely before blurting out;

"HE IS DEAD! Michael died in 1897." and the men looked at eachother quizzically.

"Yes, Michael is dead. And may his soul not rest in perfect peace. In fact, may his soul not rest at! Do you know what he did? After I saw her, my one and only Chioma, I told Michael that is the girl that i am going to marry. Please go and talk to her for me. Do you know what he did? He went to talk to her and came back to tell me that both of them were getting married in ten days. HE STOLE HER FROM ME!!"

The soldiers tried to call the old mans attention to the present.

"No sir, that is not the man that we are..."

"NO! HES THE ONE! HES THE ONE! He is a bad person, a thief! A crook a criminal he should be arrested. I will take you to his grave..."

Eventually they had to give up on the old man who was still rambling on and ask some other people who were directing them back and forth until they came across some guys that were smoking on a bench.

"Michael? Wait here let me call him for you." one of them said and whistled. Only for a dog to come running towards them.

"This is Michael. Anything you want to ask him, ask him now." and the rest guys on the bench burst into laughter as the men became furious. One of them cocked his gun and shouted.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? Don't you know who you are talking to?"

"Bros take it easy, wetin happen? Wetin e do? YOu want Michael and e give you Michael, why you dey vex now?"

"We are not looking for a dog. We are looking for a man." Officer Martins said.

"Ehn you know talk that one before now. Na dog Michael dey here."

"YOU MUST BE MAD!" one of the soldiers blurted out.

"Hey hey take it easy dont shout here. Wetin happen?" the guys shouted right back at the soldiers and Martins became exhausted. He knew why the soldiers were not feared in the environment. There was heavy mafia presence in the area and there has been a lot of clashes before between cultists, gangs and mafia bosses making the locals used to gunfire and death.

"Hey hey, if you no go shoot your gun, put am down because na bullet we dey take paint house for here, we no dey fear bullets." any of the guys was still shouting.

Martins didnt want to provoke an ultercation. He didnt care about the boys, he cared about Michael and his friends and decided to move the soldiers along if they were ever going to catch Michael and report back to his superior on time.

"Lets go please, leave them lets go."
Michael, Dayo and Johnny were still packing a few things when one of the neighbourhood guys came to whistle something into Johnnys ear.

"WE HAVE TO HURRY!" he shrieked.

"huh?"
"what?"

"The soldiers are here. They must be looking for Dayo
Michael said "But not to worry, they dont actually know that you are here and they will leave empty handed once we hid you."

"Thats not going to work, brother." Johnny said.

"Why not?"

"BECAUSE INSPECTOR MARTINS IS LEADING THEM!" Johnny shrieked.

Michael take a second to process this before panicking.

"OH MY GOD! WHERE ARE THEY! ARE THEY OUTSIDE?"

"Not yet. I heard that one of our neighbours directed them away from here."

....

"Michael? Michael is at that bear parlour on the next street. He is always there. Go there. He never leaves there." another fat woman was telling the soldiers who once again looked at eachother puzzled.

...

"But we have to leave here right now." Johnny said frantically through all of his brothers remaing clothes into a Ghana-Must-Go bag without checking if it was complete or not.

Michael tried to take one of the bags from his brother to help him with it but he refused.

"No, dont worry brother." he said and threw the two bags out of the room to someone downstairs to the surprise of the others.

"There will be a car waiting for us by the gate but we need to get you two out of here fast without raising suspicion and he darted out to get different clothes for his brother and Dayo. Leaving Michael to wonder where his little was going to get all these resources from.

Officer Martins was waiting by the gate. He knew he was already in big trouble. His DPO had specifically warned not to leave his desk under any circumstances but he just couldnt pass up the opportunity to catch Michael and the rest and besides that desk was suffocating him. He wasnt going to last behind it for much longer. But he had hoped to change his boss's mind about his appointment by catching Micheal and now from the looks of things he was going to get back empty handed and face the wrath of his DPO.

He was pondering all these when something strange caught his eye. Two beggers were walking together. One was leading the other who was blind and walking with a cane. They somehow didnt look like the regular Hausa beggers in Lagos but still they were dressed in their usual ragged clothes consisting of their long Arabian Jalamia and head and face covering turbans. Martins was about to dismiss them when they both did something strange. They got into a car that seemed parked right outside the gate for them. Even the blind one got into the car easily as if he wasnt even blind in the first place.

Then the blind one got out a mobile phone and said something into it. Next minute, he saw him running swiftly from a corner and he got into the drivers seat. Martins was alarmed by the whole scenario but he still didnt get what it meant. But when the two beggars took off their turbans; he became very alarmed.

"MICHAEL!"

"MICHAEL!" he yelled and Michael suddenly turned around in the car to see him. And so did the rest thats when it dawned on Martins that Micheal and DAyo had both pretended to be beggers to elude himself and the soldiers but luckily he, Martins had separated himself from the rest to think up a different approach when they stumbled upon him. But before he could do more that stand up he heard.

"GO! GO! GO! ITS MAD MAN MARTINS!" Dayo said and Johnny jammed his foot on to the gas pedal and the car sped off with Martins in pursuit on foot.

Infinite Love 87

The Engagement Party

Angela had been checking her watch for the past hour hoping that he would come. He was the only one that she really wanted to have with her. The only one that mattered.

All this wouldnt have happened without him and she had invited him. But he wasnt in a good head space at the time and she went back to their house to see him but missed him again. She hoped against hope that he would show. She had been trying his number but that hadnt been connecting for weeks, she tried it nonetheless. Still switched off.
Still she stood outside and pretended to be welcoming the new guests to their party.

"Adanna, what are you doing out here?

“Adanna, what are you doing out here? Most of the guests
have already arrive. Why don’t you go inside and keep them company?” her mother
implored.

“Oh…it’s alright, Mama. I’m merely welcoming… some guests.”

“But surely some other can do that? This party is for you.
For the past few months you have been filming this show and it is finally over,
please come inside and celebrate.”.

Her mother watched her for a bit, thinking.

“Are you waiting for that Micheal boy? Ehn Adanna.”

“Mama…please just go and wait for me inside, I’ll be in
soon.”

Mrs Nwolisa stood there a moment before her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mummy. It’s me, Princewill. Is everything ready?”

“Oh, my dear. Yes everything is almost ready. Angela is
just standing and she refuses to come in with me?”

“What…why, Mummy?”

“My son. I really don’t know.”

“Oh that’s okay. Just make sure that she doesn’t leave
the party before I get there please.”

“Of course. I have everything ready. She won’t even
suspect anything.”

“Okay, mummy. I will get there soon. I just have to
finish up here.”

“Alright, my son. See you soon.” And with that she
hung up the phone and continued staring at her daughter. She wondered if Angela
would in a wrong head state as Princewill, charming and rich Princewill was
coming for her and she was out here waiting for some useless boy. She promised
herself that everything would go according to plan by all means necessary
whether Angela likes it or not and that was final before she head back inside
for the end of shoot party.

…

“So, Michael what’s the plan?” Dayo asked from the back seat
as he was shuffling through the second rucksack that Johnny had hastily packed
for the two of them.

“It’s pretty simple really, first we meet up with Onos and
then we come up with a plan for Zaria.” Michael said it tentatively, carefully
watching his best friend’s reaction from the corner of his left eye.

“WHAT!!!”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean; meet Onos? We haven’t heard from him in
years…right?”

“Er…actually…I may have heard from him once or twice.”

“You did what?”

“He called me a few times in the past, always with a
different number and asked that I not mention it to anyone.”

“Really?”

“Erm…yeah.”

“Johnny. Stop the car RIGHT NOW! I am NOT going anywhere
with you!”

Johnny looked at him from the rear view mirror. “Are you
sure about that bros?”

“Yes, stop the GODDAMMED CAR!”

“Have you forgotten who was chasing you. If I stop this car
and they catch you, your next bus stop is Kirikiri Prison.”

That seemed to calm his down a bit “Fine but I am not going to
speak to that guy or even you for keeping this from me, for that matter.”

“Come on, Dayo. It’s not like that. I really wanted to tell
you but he asked me not to.” Michael pleaded.

“I don’t want to hear it. Just check the other bag to see if
your brother packed a decent tea shirt that I can change into. My clothes are
sweaty.”

“Dayo, come on now…” Michael pleaded.

“I don’t want to hear it!” he shouted “Just get me a
t-shirt.”

Michael sighed and began checking the bag. He recalled
packing some t-shirts before his brother came over and yanked the bag out of
his hands to threw it out the door. His hands touched some paper materials and
then he brought it out. It was the newspaper and magazine cut-outs of Angela
that he had kept all these years. He had instinctively packed them even without
thinking about it. His brain knew that he needed her to be close to him in
whatever way or form. Just like he had kept her all these years. She was always
with him in some form. Even when she was away. And now he was leaving without
saying goodbye and she was going to be away from him physically and he would
only have her magazine pictures just as before.

“Are you going to hand the t-shirt or what…? Are those
Angela’s photos?” Dayo asked bringing back his mind to the present.

“Er…yeah…”

“Brother, have you told her you’re leaving yet?” Johnny
asked and Michael couldn’t bring himself to answer.

“Oh God, Michael. Are you ever going to tell her?”

“Yes, brother she deserves to know you’re leaving.”

“That’s not what I meant Johnny.” DAyo corrected “Are you
going to tell her how you feel? Are you ever going to do that?”

Johnny glanced towards Michael and then Dayo before facing
the road and back to Michael again. “You mean you never TOLD her? After…after
all these time?”

“I was going…” his words were interrupted by some noise from
beside the car. Someone was riding on an Okada and simultaneously hitting the
car, trying to get it to stop.

“STOP THE CAR!”

The three men looked incredulously at the body of Officer
Martins at the back of an Okada waving his hands and shouting at them like a
madman.

“STOP THE BLOODY CAR!”

“Brother…what should I do now?

“This policeman is insane! Martins has finally lost his
mind.” Dayo said a little frightened.

“STOP OR I’LL SHOOT!” Martins said pointing at Johnny who
was finally slowing down the car a little. “STOP THE CAR RIGHT NOW OR THE
SOLDIERS AT THE BACK WILL OPEN FIRE!” he
threatened again and the two other guys in the car cowed in fear. That’s when
Michael did the unthinkable. He rolled down the car door window beside him and
shoved the rucksack throw it and into the face of the Okadaman driving Officer
Martins forcing the man to shake, lose control and crash into the grass.

“YEEEH!!!”

“BROTHER!”

“MICHAEL!”

“They’re fine! Don’t worry. I just made sure that they won’t
follow us for a while.” He said.

“But…what about the soldiers?” Dayo asked

“There aren’t any behind us yet. He was lying. But they may
be coming soon.”

“Wow, brother. That was a wicked move. But thank God you did
it. Now we can escape faster.”

“NO! WE HAVE TO GO SEE ANGELA!”

“WHAT?!”

“BROTHER!? WE DON’T HAVE TIME!”

“We’ll make time. I can’t live without telling her how I
feel.”

“Oh my God! Twenty years. Twenty freaking you had to tell
her and you choose to tell her now?! When when we have a psycho-policeman and
soldiers on our tail?”

“I won’t live without telling her, Dayo!” he said matter-of-factly.

…

“Director Dele, please help me with this girl she’s not
listening to me again o.”

“Angela, what’s this I hear your mom saying that you’re out
here refusing to come inside?” she turned around after checking her watch for
the umpteenth time to see her mother bring along her director towards her.

“Oh, its nothing really sir. I just needed to get some air
and clear my head.”

“But this party is about you and Will and the amazing job
you too have done. Come on, let’s go inside everyone is waiting for you.”

“But sir I…”

“You have cleared your head enough! And now it’s time to
come inside.” He insisted slightly pulling her and her mom practically dragging
her in. She entered the lavishly lit auditorium and surveyed everything in its
splendour and everyone at their most glamorous and didn’t get any satisfaction
from it, because he wasn’t there.

“MICHAEL!” she yelled seeing him as he walked in and
practically ran towards him escaping from her mom and gave him a big hug. He
embraced her right back. She disengaged after a minute to survey his looks.

“Are you alright? You look… different.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry…I had to dress this way erm…because I’m
leaving today…as in, right now. But I needed to see you first.”

Her face fell “Oh! But…why? Why all of a sudden, is
everything alright?”

“Yeah. Fine, but I just…I have to tell you something.” And
he showed her the photo clippings of her had collected all these years. “Ever
since, back in school even before we became good friends. I have always like
you.”

And in that moment Dayo and Johnny walked in and kept behind
them so as not to ruin their moment. Dayo squeezed Johnny on the shoulder.

“He’s telling her! I can’t believe he’s finally telling her!
Oh, how I wish Onos could see this!”

“Hey, I thought you were angry with Onos…?”

“Shush! Let’s listen to what he’s saying.”

“I like you too, Michael.”

“Thank you.” He said “But it’s more than that. Ever since I
started hanging out together back then I realised how tough you were, how much
you were willing to get back up after everything that you were going through
back then. I was amazed and in awe of you. Initially, I thought it was just
that; respect but then I would go home and think about you, only you. From the
uniform you were that day to the very pen that you used. What you said and how
you laughed to our jokes. It would all play again and again and again in my
head until I fell asleep and then it would all playback again; in my dreams.”

Angela’s heart was racing; she couldn’t believe her ears.
Michael was saying everything she had felt all these years and he was saying it
to her. It was her dream come true. He continued.

“I remember hoping for Mondays to come and end the weekend
so that we could hang out again. Initially, I thought all this was just
admiration for a friend but over time. Even when we went our separate ways,
thoughts never stopped swirling round my head and I would daydream about how
magical it would be when we met again and how amazing our future would be,
because all this time apart has shown me one thing. One thing that I have
always wanted, more than anything else in the whole world, and that is y…”

“ANGELA. THERE YOU ARE!” Princewill came in with arms wide
open for an embrace as he approached them but initially only acknowledged her.
They were both a little shocked they were in their own world until Princewill
came in and hugged her dislodging her from her.

“You must be kidding me.” Dayo said shocked

“Umm…Prince you remember my friend Michael?” she said
awkwardly removing herself from him.

“Erm…yes Michael of course. How are you?” he asked shaking
his hand.

“Good evening.”

“Good evening. Now Angela, come with me.” He began pulling
her away but Dayo stepped in. “Excuse me?” Princewill regarded him for a second
and his dressing before handing over his car keys to Dayo.

“Yes, my good man. Those are the keys, you can park my car
at the back but be careful. It’s a classic.”

“What..?” Dayo stuttered stupefied at being mistaken for a
servant. “Hey?” he tried to say but Johnny stopped him and pulled him back.
Johnny, Dayo and Michael looked on in grave disappointment at the distraction
from the perfect moment but to their horror it was going to get worse because
Princewill got everyone’s attention as he and Angela climbed the stage with her
mother in tow.

“Good evening, everyone. May I have your attention please?
As you all know, for the past few years Angela and I have been working together
closely very closely to bring to the world one of the most watched daytime soap
opera in television history. But what you all didn’t know is that, we were not
just acting like lovers; we have been infact; in love for a long time.”

Angela, became shocked at the revelation and she quickly
searched for Princewill’s eyes for any trace of a practical joke but his
smiling was all seriousness. She then turned to face her mother and saw her
smiling heartily and agreeing with Princewill and it all made her feel
terrible. She glanced at last to Michael and saw his blank emotionless face and
felt even worse. But the worst was yet to come.

“So, without further ado.” And with that, in front of
everyone, Princewill got down on one knee, brought out a ring and said; “Angela
Nwolisa, would you do me the honour of marrying me?” her mother gushed.

“Oh, dear Lord.”

Angela was horrified and stuttered “Umm… Prince I…”

Her mother behind her sensing danger, taking advantage of
the noise, jumped forward and shrieked “SHE SAID YES!!!"

Princewill quickly slipped the ring on her finger and the
room erupted into a big applause and Angela’s mom hugged her daughter and
everyone else came for forward to hug and shake hands and congratulate the newly
engaged couple.

Michael’s felt his whole world crash in that moment. Johnny
nudged him and Dayo tried to pull him away.

“Micheal, we have to go now.”

He wouldn’t move.

“Brother, it’s time. We have to go before Martins and the
rest find us.” But instead of following them, he pulled away and moved towards
her. When he got to her, she was pleading with her eyes for his understanding
at her difficult circumstance.

“Congratulations, Angel. I wish you all the very best.” He
said and she shook her head.

“No, Mike please don’t say that. It’s not like that. I…I
wasn’t expecting this, this isn’t what…”

But he wasn’t even listening, and he shoved it roughly into
her hands, all the photos of her he had collected and kept for years. Every
single time her name was mentioned, or her face was in a poster or her picture
at a movie premiere or even movie clip came up in. He had diligently saved it
all and pasted them in an immaculate copy of the Ebony magazine. She flipped
through the pages and noticed events, occasions and movies that even she had
forgotten that she was in. Meagre productions that she was involved in even
before she was popular, he had saved them all. Her shattered into fragments and
she looked up and searched for him but he was gone.

…

The three of them headed out the door and Dayo was still
trying to talk sense to Michael.

“Hey, Mike come on! It’s not over yet. You can’t just give.
You have to try again. You have to tell her. If you tell her how you feel, I’m
sure she will definitely think twice before marrying that guy. Right, Mike?
Mike? Are you even listening to me?”

“Get back! Get back!” Johnny said shoving them back towards
the door.

“What’s the matter?” Michael asked.

“That policeman is here with the others.” And they all
peeked outside from behind a door to see Officer Martins now with bruises and a
plaster on his face and dirty uniform standing amongst the soldiers around
where their car was.

“What do we do now? We can’t get to the car, they’ll see
us.” Dayo said.

“I have an idea.” Johnny said “Hey, do you still have that
guys car keys?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, I’ll distract them while you two get to other car and
drive off through the back exit okay?”

“Hey, you’ll get caught!” Michael said alarmed.

“No, I won’t. Trust me, I won’t.” and he followed them to
Princewill’s car and took on some of his clothes and when the other two were
settled in the car he said. “When you see them running towards the party drive
off fast and don’t look back.”

Michael grabbed his brother’s hand “Be careful, alright?”

“Brother, trust me. I’ll be fine.”

Johnny quietly left them and went towards the entrance of
the party hall. He quickly put on Princewill’s jacket and came out to shout to
the officers.

“Hey! I’m getting married today and you people can’t stop
me!”

“That’s one of them.” Cried Martins and they all darted
towards the party as Johnny ran inside it. Once inside he quickly took off
Princewill’s jacket and hid in one of the hall’s toilets. As Dayo and Michael
saw the coast clear up, Dayo kick started the car and they drove off. Meanwhile,
inside the soldiers were roughing up Princewill.

“Let me go! Let me go! Yes, I got engaged today but let me
go I haven’t done anything wrong.” But nobody was listening as the soldiers
were on a rampage disrupting the event and ruining the party as the carted away
Princewill into their truck while Johnny quietly escaped through one of the
toilets windows and when the officers had left he drove his car back home,
happy that his brother was safe.

Nice update. Johnny is just too smart for his age. Pls more update.

Thanks for the update

Thanks

It’s getting more interesting keep the updates coming...such an intriguing story.

So glad you like it.

I just hope I finish it this month. I have been writing this story since last year, I'm tired.

Even my school project didn't take this long.

Great story...hope you go upload for your blog today

Honestly.

Yes, I plan to.

Okay boss... i dey on board like dis ...no waste time

Infinite Love 88

A Prince's Life

"YOU DISOBEYED A DIRECT ORDER?!" the DPO screamed.

"After I specifically ordered behind the desk, you disobeyed me and started running around with soldiers, SOLDIERS! On your own personal vendetta?!"

"Sir, I..."

"SILENCE!!!" he screamed again and the windows shook "And to top it up! As if all that wasn't bad enough, you arrested a celebrity, AT HIS ENGAGEMENT PARTY!"

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Your stupidity is equal only to you incompetency. By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish you'd never put on the uniform. But first, release that man at once!"

"Adanna, wow. My beautiful daughter, let me see the ring again." her mother was fussing again and she held out her hand for a look see for the umpteeth time.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed and Angela rolled her eyes "That Prince must REALLY LOVE you in order to buy you such an expensive engagement ring."

Angela sighed.

"And the romantic way he presented it?" she held her chest and swoon back and forth "Oh wow! I swear could feel the love pouring out from that man."

"Then maybe, you should be the one to marry him." she said exasperatedly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she said defiantly.

"Mama, he asked me to marry him and before I could answer, you announced to everyone that I said YES!"

"Ehn? And so? What about it? I was merely doing you a favour in your moment of weakness."

"What...?"

"Yes! You were begining to think about it. If you had thought anymore, you might have said 'No' to that dashing young man."

"Oh my God, Mama. It was my choice to make you had no right to speak for me."

"I am your mother, I have all the right in the world to do what is best for you.!"

Angela was already tired of the conversation but decided to give it one last go.

"Mama, It was a marriage proposal for God's sake, not a job offer. I am going to have to live with the guy, don't you think I should have given it some thought? What if living the rest of my life with Princewill is not what I want?"

"WHUSSAI!" her mother exclaimed suddenly covering her eyes and dusting her daughter's hair as if waving off some spirit of madness that had settled therein.

"PERISH THE THOUGHT! ANGELA CHIMAKA NWOLISA! PERISH IT!!! You don't want to marry who? Listen to me, that man Princewill is the best thing and the very best man for you. In the World. Don't let any evil thoughts creep into your head, telling you otherwise again." and she continued to heavily dust off the imaginary spirit off her head again until she was forced to protest from the unending blows from her mother.

"Okay, OKAY! Mama, I have heard you. Thank you very much. That is enough."

"Oh, okay. Adanma, I want what is best for you, my dear, do you hear me?"

"Alright."

"Good, now let me see the ring once again."

"Oh, Mama, please that is enough now."

"Okay, okay. I need to go check the calender for the right wedding day. It needs to be perfect in terms of the physical weather and spiritual climate as well."

And as she left Angela watched her go, wondering what a bad spiritual climate was. Until, she caught herself in the mirror and got up from the bed to walk up to it. She held up the ring a twin spiral of gold stems that met at the centre gripping a red ruby. It was supposed to be a beautiful ring, it was supposed to make her gush with delight but instead it made her feel trapped. It seemingly resembled two snakes about to devour an apple like in the Nokia phone game; Snake Xenzia. Her mother and Prince were suddenly about to trap her; an apple and she couldn't get out of it. She understood her mother very well. She was only fighting to secure her future, albeit misguidedly. But Princewill, she couldn't understand. Were was this sudden proposal coming from? They had only dated once or twice at the begining of their work relationship to build chemisty on screen but she thought that they mutually didn't feel anything special past the physical attraction needed to nail a convincing performance on screen. They were just too different people. And once the onscreen chemistry was strong enough, the dating just fizzled naturally by their mutual consent. Princewill, never really showed a deep longing for her past the passing fancy of someone who wanted to get a quick score and whenever she rejected him, he always had a host of girls to get that from. It wasn't until Michael showing up that he seemed to pay attention to her again, deeply this time. But she had attributed that to his male ego rising up to the presence of another male despite their non-existence relationship. But she never imagined in a million years that jealousy would drive him to propose. This is insane!

She held up the ring to her chest and regarded herself in the mirror with it.

"Good afternoon. My name is Mrs Princewill Okeke." hearing her possible new name and seeing ring made her nauseous. She felt sick to her stomach.

"How could even think of marrying a guy like Princewill?"

Then she began panicking.

"How could she think marrying anyone except...Michael?"

She took off the ring and went to her side drawer. She brought out the pin. The aviator wings pin that Michael had given her when they first separated after highschool. She went to the mirror and held it up between her fingers.

"Good afternoon, I am Mrs Michael Osu." and she smiled despite herself. The knot that had tightened in her stomach loosened and she added.

"Nice to meet you. My husband and I are so glad that you could come. Thank you so much." She went to same drawer and brought out the Ebony magazine with her photo cutouts. As she flipped through photos of herself. She knew in heart whose ring she wanted on her finger and whose lastname she wanted added to hers. She needed to fix this She needed to get out of her wedding fix and she took her bag and headed out. She was almost at the door when her mom saw her.

"Adanma, where are you going right now?"

"I'm going to see Michael, Mama."

"WHAT! WHY? BUT BUT...PRINCEWILL!"

"Mama, you only like Princewill because he's rich!"

"SO?!"

"See you later, Mama. I'll be back soon."

"But...but Angela?"

"Bye Mama." and she dashed out the door before her mother could bolt it.

Princewill was under a lot of pressure for once in his life. But he had been handling it very well. Everything was going according to plan until those stupid people came to arrest him and now Uncle Hector was here at the station.

"WHERE IS MY PHONE?" he barked at the policewoman behind the desk.

"Oga, please calm down. Let me look for it for you." he took and went over to his uncle. His family's designated chaperone.

"Uncle Hector, my dear old uncle. My favorite Hector in the world. Why did you come you didn't have to?"

"Why won't I come? Were you expecting someone else? Who else had been bailing you out of all your nonsense spots all these years?"

"But, darling Uncle Hector this time it wasn't like that at all. I did absolutely nothing wrong. I swear it. I would swear it on our late grandmother if it would convince you of my innocence."

"I'd rather you didn't desecrate the memory of my dear mother over possible one of your drug induced arrests. You had been warned Will. Anymore messes or legal troubles and the family would cut you off financially, permanently."

"NO, NO PLEASE! I swear it! I had done nothing wrong. I was at my engagement party when police came to arrest me, you can ask my new fiance and everyone else there."

"Okay, so you're telling me that you got ENGAGED! FOR NO REASON! Did you and your fiance fight eachother to mark your engagement as well?"

"No, the soldiers beat me up!"

"Oh, so it was soldiers now? I thought it was policeman."

"No, it was soldiers and policemen!"

"Really?"

"Yes, Uncle Hector."

"And you've done nothing wrong?"

"Nothing, at all! I was only having a good time at a party and..."

"Many times in the past you have been arrested for 'having a good time' because your good times have involved illegal activities."

"No...I mean...I had just got engaged to my costar Angela Nwolisa."

"Really?"

"Yes sir."

"So let me get this straight; you were arrested by both policemen and soldiers for absolutely nothing and the fiance you got engaged to is not here to bail you out. Is that all you're telling me or did I miss anything else?"

"No...that's about it."

"That's an incredible story Will. Even better than the other incredible stories that you used to tell me back in the day."

"But I'm different uncle. This is not like back in the day. I've changed honestly. If the family would let me back in the family business, I could prove it to them, to all of you."

"The last time you were in the family business you nearly killed yourself, literally and our reputation..."

"This is not..."

"SHUT UP AND LET ME SPEAK BOY!" Uncle Hector flared and Princewill cowered.

"Sorry, uncle."

"I'm getting too old for this. Listen to me, Will. The family has given you only two conditions; prove yourself competent and that you have developed restraints and you will be let back in on the deals. We have already invested a lot of money in your acting career and if you can't make it in this, you won't be let back in.

"But uncle, I have been very successful. People love me and my show has been very successful too."

"Yes about that. We have spoken to your producer and to your director both of whom we have significantly bribed to give you this opportunity and they both had few good things to say about you."

"What...?"

"Yes, your director said you have been difficult to work with and that most actors prefer not to work with you."

"WHAT!"

"The producer, said that aside looks your acting adds nothing to the show."

"RUBBISH! THAT'S A LIE!"

"Actually, that's quite true. I have watched the show and you are a terrible actor."

"What...Uncle Hector, you too?" Princewill gasped becoming emotional.

"Willy, I'm on your side. Listen to me. I know you have been working hard, you just need to work a little bit harder. It's only a matter of time now. If you indeed have this girl engaged then that's really good. She's very popular and that will really go down well with the family, it means you're becoming a family man and who could refuse helping a family man? GET THE GIRL. YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT!"

"Yes uncle."

"Where's your car?"

"Erm...I was told someone stole it last night."

"Wonderful!"

"It wasn't my...."

"I know, it wasn't your fault." and his uncle handd him and envelope

"Find your car and clean yourself up for God's sakes."

"Yes, Uncle. Thank you for coming."

"Yeah well, don't forget what I said. Get the girl. Your future with the family depends on it. Goodbye."

"Yes, Uncle. Goodbye."

As his uncle left, Princewill thought of his rise and fall in his life. He belonged to the Okeke family., an Eastern family known to be wealthy miners. Of which at one point he was a prominent member profiting heavily from their family business.

He was in the first year at the university when his father called him to tell him that Chinese people had found Antimony a sought for heavy metal in their family's land.

Antimony was like lead but preferred in use of bullet and other arms manufacturing. A family of crayfish farmers became rich overnight.

By the time he graduated his family land in the village had a host of foreigners including Chinese mining on their land as well as local Nigerian businesses. His grandfather's decision not to sell their land finally paid off big time. They were all big timers now. They organized themselves and secured every available means to protect their weath. They had the eldest sons in high positions in mining companies and the got allowances for every prominent family member and their families on a regular basis. When Princewill graduated and was put in a prominent position in the family business as the most educated grandson at the time, boy did he let loose.

The Okeke's were mostly a conservative family protecting their money, keeping a low profile and spending it quietly, but Princewill was a sharp guy. He wasn't doing none of that.

When he saw the car and the house that came with job his mind was blown. And when he found himself dining with State Governors, meeting with oil moguls and partying with international celebrities, he lost his sanity. He took control of all their mines and began awarding licences to whomever would bribe him. He began changing girls like underwears and drank expensive wine in place of water. He threw parties for his friends and chartered private jets for his guests. After five months on the job. All the locals in PortHarcourt were fully aware that the Okeke's were in money. A secret that they had been keeping for years until Princewill's lavish lifestyle blew everything out of proportion. Additionally, all the prominent Okeke sons, previously crayfish sellers that had retired to enjoy their family money became alarmed because Princewill had spent all their money as well. And suddenly, other unrelated families suddenly came up with different cases against them, claiming the rich Okeke land was actually theirs, that the Okeke's had used illegal means to wrest control of it from them. After, only seven months on the job, he had created turmoil and chaos within the family and he was summoned numerous times but he didn't care nor attennded.

He was already on drugs and sleeping around. It wasn't until he had overdosed on drugs with alcohol and collapsed on top of a hooker in an hotel that his senses began to come back. By the time he woke up from his coma, the family had initiated a hospital arrest and took the time to seize back control of their assets and properties. Humility was when he was realised from the hospital only to be denied access to his house and cars and had nothing to his name but the clothes on his back after being Enugu town's number one big boy. The family had ostracized him and replaced him with cousins he never knew he ever had. Cousins home and abroad who were more educated and far more loyal to the family than he had ever been. The family was now super cautious about whom they left in charge and the amount of power that person had. If not for still having the Okeke surname, he would have been abandoned but they gave him condition after condition to meet before being allowed back into their fold. And their last condition was Angela, get her in his life and he was back. She was his lifeline now.

See what time I dey do update. I really like you guys o!

You try brah.... waiting for more

Thanks for the update.

Thanks for the update. Now I believed Princewill will do everything to get Angela to be his.

You're welcome boss.

And yes, of course he will.

But you really should head on to my blog for the latest update

Infinite Love 89

Loss

"What are you saying, John?"

"Mama, please let me sleep. I have had a very stressful night."

"You have been sleeping since last night, get up and explain what you meant about Michael and Angela. Are you saying they are engaged?" Michael's mom was asking for details but Johnny was still too sleepy from his big escape from the police and soldiers that were chasing them the night before.

"Mama, if you know what I went through, you will let me sleep till next week." he said flatly and turned on his other side to continue sleeping.

"YOUNG MAN WILL YOU GET UP?!" his grandmother slapped his back and his sprang back to attention.

"CHINEKE!" he said springing up.

"SPEAK UP!" she demanded.

"Chei! Okay, alright. But please stop beating me."

"Shut up and tell us what happened!"

He thought for a second "Do I shut up or do I tell you what happened? I'm confused."

"Don't be smart. Tell us exactly what happened with Michael and Angela last night."

He was still very sleepy and doubted he would be able to tell much of a good account which is why he wanted to get a good sleep before telling them anything. But his mother and his grandmother had been pestering him ever since he got back about why the house was in array, where Michael was and what happened with Angela.

"Me, brother Michael and his friend brother Dayo came home and realised that we had to leave quickly..."

"Why? What made you and Michael realise that you hd to leave so suddenly without telling us?"

Johnny only remembered one thing specifically and that was because Michael warned him about it several times and it was to never mention anything about the mafia, police or the soldiers to their mom and grandma, under any circumstances.

"Erm...it was just a nice weather to travel in." he said plainly and his mother and grandmother exchanged looks.

"Ehn?" grandma asked "Nice weather? So a nice weather made my own Michael leave me without saying goodbye abi? Me? No worries. He will come back and meet me here. My God will spare my life till i have the chance to draw his ears over his head again."

Their grandmother was vexxing terribly but their mother was watching Johnny closely.

"That's it!? Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" she asked disbelieving him.

"Wrong kwanu? Hello, Johnny is anything wrong? Tell us o!"

"No, nothing's wrong. I have told you, it was just a nice weather and a good day to travel."

"So, why is the house all messy?"

"We were in a hurry and didn't have time to clean up?"

His mom was deep in thought for a bit before saying "The weather must have been extra special for Michael to leave us like that."

"It was...twas very special." Johnny said grogily.

"Anyway," she said slapping him awake again "...tell us what happened with Angela. What did you mean they are engaged?"

"I never that they were engaged. I said that Michael went over to tell her how he felt about her. We all know he is mad about that aunty..." he yawned "and she got engaged to some guy. I don't know his name at their party." he said falling full flat on his tummy asleep again.

"CHEI!!!" grandma shouted "YOU SEE! YOU SEE! I KNEW IT!"

"Johnny, will wake up and tell us what happened properly?" his mom was shaking him but he was already in a comatise sleep.

"BRIDGET! DIDN'T I TELL YOU? I SAID IT!"

"Mama, please calm down."

"I WON'T COME DOWN I WILL REMAIN UP AND I WILL STAY UP BECAUSE I SAID IT! That girl is a witch! In fact, she is worse than a witch. She is absolutely terrible. How can she do that to Michael? My own Michael, Bridget answer me, how could she do that?" grandma was crying hysterically at this moment "Michael, who should be chased by all the girls in this neighbourhood, she rejected him after leading him on after all this years and got married to someone else."

"Not married, Nna. Johnny said she got engaged and we don't..."

"BRIDGET, DON'T CORRECT ME! ANSWER ME WHY SHE DID THAT TO MY GRANDSON! I thought they were dating? I thought they knew each other as far back as their secondary school days, so why is it now that she decides to go for another man? HEY O! My poor Michael! He must be heartbroken."

"Nna, please stop crying. It may not even be what we think. As soon as Johnny wakes up he will tell us exactly how it happened. Let us try to calm down until then please, Nna."

"Hello, good afternoon. Good afternoon, ma." as soon as she knocked on the door and called out she knew something was definitely wrong. She would come to later realise that it was the very worst of timing on her part.

"Ehn? Am I seeing things Bridget? Isn't that the girl we were just talking about?" grandmother asked Mama.

"Er, yes Nna, that is Angela...but please let's keep calm right now." Michael's mom tried to control the situation but it was already too late.

"WOOOO WOOOO WOOOO WITCH O! WITCH O!" grandmother blasted Angela "GET OUT OF HERE! GET AWAY FROM HERE, ONYOSHI!"

Angela was stupified.
"What? Excuse me? No...I'm Angela. Michael's friend from school. I'm here to see Michael."

The women exchanged looks "Yes, we know who you are. We are not senile old women that we will not recognize a witch when we see her."

"Ah ah, Nna. Please stop calling her that now."

"What? I should stop what? I WON'T! WOOO WOOOO WITCH!"

Angela was totally taken aback. She was already greatly embarrassed but she felt somehow this was some kind of misunderstanding surely the old woman shouting and cursing at her was mistaking her for someone else and so she tried to save the situation.

"Please, I'm only here to see Michael. I haven't done anything wrong and I am not a witch."

"Really?" this only infuriated the old woman the more and she got up from the chair and came to her face squarely. "Did you not date my son for years?"

She wasn't quite sure how to answer this because her and Michael had spent a lot of time together and it seemed that they were heading in that direction but they hadn't put their relationship in those terms yet, so she answered truthfully.

"We went out many times ma, yes but we are friends."

"Friends who go out are called lovers, my friend. YOu children of nowadays call it boyfriend and girlfriend and now answer me. Is it not true that after my son, my grandson Michael confessed his love for you, you dismissed him and got engaged to someone else?" she spat in her face.

"What...? No...I..."

"Did you or did you not get engaged?"

"I...did."

"Really?" Michael's mom asked disappointed and sad for her son.

"Um...yes ma. It's kind of complicated. Is Michael home? I really need to speak to him."

"Can you imagine? Are you not even ashamed of yourself? You are engaged to another man and now you are here to continue stringing my grandson along as you have been doing all these years!"

"Oh, no, ma. Not at...!"

"WOOOO! GET OUT! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! DO NOT BEWITCH ME! LEAVE THIS PLACE." and she began to throw things in her direction plates, can, spoons everything. Michael's mom had to get between her and Angela in order to stop the onslaught and usher her away.

"Please, my dear. It's best you go. I think my mother is right. It's better you don't come here ever again as you have a fiance now. Please, for the sake of my son's peace of mind. Please don't come here again."

Angela tried to beg to plead, to make them understand that she wasn't engaged by choice but rather by her own mother's unrelenting schemes. She didn't want to marry Princewill, Michael was the one she wanted and she needed to see him and made him see things clearly.

"But, Mama...I..."

"Is she still here? WITCH O! GET OUT! LEAVE HERE NOW. THIS MINUTE!" and she began to throw water towards Angela and Michael's mom now had to push her away and out of the line of fire, I mean water.

"Go my dear, please go now."

And she did leave, in tears. Sad not because of her embarrassment but because she was afraid that Michael also felt the same way as his family about her. She feared that she might have broken his heart and he now hated her.

You're one in a million. Thanks for the update.

Thanks boss

Boss man no update 4 blog

Update dey. I updated last night boss.