Story: Campus Life. Girls. Ghetto. Garri. Glory – Season 1 Episode 1

A story written by Kingsley

(08165723785, chikerelance@ gmail.com)

You are very stupid o. I asked for assorted continental fried rice,spiced wings of an elephant, flavoured liver of a lion but see what you are giving me’ I ranted at the Hotel manager.

‘We are very sorry sir,this is all we can offer’ The Manager replied with his head bowed in respect.

‘What nonsense!’ I Continued. ‘Let me see that Menu again’ I ordered while the Hotel manager with his head fully bowed stretched forth his hands and handed me the menu.

‘And I thought this was a 5-Star Hotel’ I continued babbling. ‘Let me just manage this,and this,and that,no, this and that’ I croaked, pointing to various items on the food menu while the Manager continued nodding his head like an agama lizard.

‘I’ll be back shortly Sir’ He announced and took his leave.

I felt bossily hearing the old man ascribe Sir to me. But the state of hunger i was in didnt let it get fully into my brain.

Ooo ooh. Where on earth is this man and my food. With the type of hunger ‘hungrying’ me now,i can swallow ten ohrobo’s and still feel not satisfied.

‘Here we are Sir, Fried rice,Chicken and Hennessy’ the waiter said as he served the food to me while the manager stood afar.

‘What took you guys so long,you nearly killed a brother here’ I hissed.

In no time i had gulped down seven plates of fried rice,five full spiced chickens and three bottles of hennessy but still wanted more. I have the money!

‘Waiter, More please’ I shouted from my seat.

Bang! Bang! A knock at the door.
‘Fried Chicken. No. Yes. Roasted Thighs of a turkey’
Bang! Bang! Bang! Intense knocking at the door continues.
I was instantly woken up from my trance.
Oh no. Not that dream of me eating in luxury again. Whoever was behind the door temporaryly became my enemy for waking me up from eating the best ‘Dreams can offer’. I quickly turned to the sleeping Emma besides me. Glad i didnt eat his head this time.
Bang! Bang! Bang.
‘Na who me that?’ I yawned,standing up from the bed as i stretched my hands in reckless abandon.
‘Na me’
‘You no get name?’
‘Open this door jare before hunger kill me for here’.
Only one person could knock at my door so early in the morning.
I guessed right as i opened the door to meet my neighbour, Theophilus.
‘Guy abeg una get chinkini garri for here wey person fit take hold belle?’ Theophilus ignorantly asked immediately he stepped into the room.
Theophilus was my neighbour. Handsome, Full of life and fun to be with. He was always referred to as a brainbox. While you’re busy thinking and straining your brain in level 1, Theo as i fondly call him is already in level 200.
‘You dey craze abi? Or one nut for your head loose this morning?’ I sarcastically him.
‘You don start abi? Na hunger go kill una’ He said,pointing to me and the sleeping Emma.
I was begining to wonder if what he said behind the door some minutes ago was actually true.
‘Simple question wey i ask you,you come begin dey insult me,common garri you no get,make i go eat my fried rice and chicken for my room jare’ He Added as he made to leave.

And where exactly are we headed?’ I curiously asked Theo after we had circled the entire neighborhood.
‘Guy whatsup na? Where exactly we dey go? I no get any strenght to waka again o’ Emma also mumbled at Theo.
Am pretty sure one could hear the echoing of our rumbling stomachs ten kilometeres away. It sure seemed like world war III was fought inside my belle as the worms inside me could be heard shouting and wailing. Whatever ideas Theo had,he should better put them to good use now unless they want to start posting obituary pics of a son of man.
‘Guys look over there,see that man besides the Hummer jeep?’ Theo said pointing to his decribed direction. ‘It seems his car is broken down, he looks well to do,lets go help him out and am pretty certain he would give us some ‘Doo”.
I and Emma unanimously agreed to Theo’s decision as we immediately headed towards the man’s direction.
‘Wait!’ Theo said,’ Valentine na you go talk to the man o’
‘Which kind nonsense be that na,no be you bring up the idea of meeting the man?’ I countered him.
‘No be you get mouth pass all of us for here’ Emma and Theo simultaenously fired back. ‘If you no go talk to the man,make we begin dey go back now o’ Theo added in more of a carefree tone.
‘Oya jor make we dey go’ I announced as we made to where the man was.
‘Good Morning sir’ I greeted him. ‘Do you need anyhelp on your car sir’.
‘Good Morning my child’ The man responded. ‘Not quite,it just needs a little pushing,thats all’.

Scared to our bones,we turned around to meet two Police men pointing those outdated and washed out pistols at us,while the food seller stood behind them.
‘Its them Officer’ The woman said,pointing to us.
‘So you three have been the ones disturbing,harrassing and terrorising this neighborhood?’ The first Officer ignorantly asked as he drew closer, removing a handcuff from his side pocket while the other Officer stood still, focused on us with his aim at us.
I turned to look at Theo who had a grin on his face. I looked behind me to Emma who gazed back.
I felt my legs warming up like that of an F1 racing car.
We were just waiting for the perfect opportunity to take off when we heard another series of gunshots nearby.
‘Pow! pow! pow! pow! pow!’
The sound was deafening. No doubts it came from an Ak-47. Probably robbers at large.
I turned around only to meet thin air. The two officers, The food seller, Theo and Emma were nowhere to be found. I didn’t need a rethink as i took to my heels. I ran faster than the wind. Not even Usain Bolt dared to compete with me at such speed.
‘Pow pow!’ The shots continued closeby followed by a thick bass voice.
‘Hey you,stop there! Or i blow your brains’ the voice ordered.
I didn’t know they were this close as i heard approaching footsteps chasing me. I immediately turned left,taking a narrow path. Shops, houses were all at lockdown. Nowhere to hide. I ran.
Pow! Pow! This time,the shots almost ripped off my eardrums. I felt the wind of the passing bullet just above my head. It missed me by that much.

‘What the hell were you doing outside by this time’ She arrogantly asked.
I kept mute; My brain had’nt fully recovered from the ‘Sightseeing’.
‘Hey Mr. Are you deaf, I said what were you doing outside by this time’ She asked rudely again like she was angry.
‘I.. I.. I.. Wa..’ I stammered chronically. ‘ooooffff…courrrse. Why wont I be outside,its a monday morning for crying out loud’ I countered.
She seemed to be taken aback by my response as she smiled unconvincingly. She turned around,making to go peep at the door while i fed my eyes on her body. When she was done,she came back.
‘Hey Mr. They’re probably gone. Better start leaving!’ She ordered.
Her arrogance and rudeness could be compared to her beauty. She was fair in complexion that made her look like a halfcast,slighty taller than average, glowing red sumptous lips, killer hips, melon sized trafficators and well loaded barcelona.
Osanobuaaa!!
This girl was just perfect. I stood up from the floor. Was’nt hard to note that,God himself created her.
My normal glances at her had turned to a stare. She had noticed my eyes on her but she didnt seem to care as she went and sat on one of the couches in the living room. I was suprised that my ‘Junior’ didnt put up a show. I took a seat on the couch opposite her while she looked at me with suprise but didnt say a word as she picked up her Blackberry phone and started pressing it carefree.
‘Are’nt you supposed to be on your way out?’ She asked.

Me Valentine Mbano. Son of Chief Davies Mbano. The boy with killer swags, The boy who every girl desired to be with, The boy who had girl(s) at my beck and call, barely escapade the claws of death. Choi!!!! I don suffer. Anyway sha.
I am Me. I am Valentine Mbano. A tall dark dude with a good body physique, nicely shaved goatee and an amazing hair which made people mistake me for being an arab. I made it an added advantage coupled with my ‘Fine boy no pimples’ handsomeness as it became my signature move whenever i was ‘Runzing’ the female foe.
I was in my two-hundred level as at now, seen things and knew my left from right.
My roommate Emma on the other hand was my bestfriend, we had known each other right from our secondary school days. After facing up and downs, trubulent times, our friendship grew stronger and stronger that after our final exams, we applied into the same university and here we are today.
I can vividly remember the kind of person Emma was, back in those days. He had this innocent face that people misinterpreted,and treated him like he was a ‘better person’, but deep inside i knew the kind of person he was. He was a sheep in wolf’s clothing, the typical bad boy.
He had started having s*x at an early age as he never failed to gist me of his escapades. He was really exposed as he was the first person to show me my first internet site.
I wouldnt fail to remember the first time we fought in secondary school. Ofcourse it was because of a girl.
I was in SS2B while he was in SS2D, quite distant from each other but that didnt deter our friendship as we always walked home together. I was later suprised when he told me he could walk home alone that i should leave him.

I can remember that day like it was yesterday. Ugonna had come into my class after school hours requesting I take her to a treat before escorting her home which I declined due to the fact that I had taken her out earlier on, and I was completely broke.
She instantly became angry, threatening to report me to Emma which I made jest of, saying that she didnt have anything on me and it was her Emma would be angry with.
Like play like play, She left my class and the next thing I knew was Emma busting into my class with fury and rage, screaming on top of his voice that I wasnt a good friend at all, that I had the guts to make advances to his girlfriend. I didnt know what Ugonna told him but he wasnt the Emma I knew. He was transformed to a roaring lion.
I told him we could talk things out, that Ugonna was lieing on me but he wouldnt listen. Since he couldnt hear me out, I picked up my bag intending to leave the class but I was suprised when he drew my arm back, decking me with a facial punch.
I stood there speechless and motionless because I didnt see a reason which would warrant such attitude from Emma. Before I could say ‘Jack Bauer’; Emma released a couple of punches on me but I chose not to retaliate.
Seeing that I wasnt going to fight back, it angered him the more as he continued, making me a punching bag. Other students who had been watching saw that it was too much so they came to seperate us. By now, my face was disfigured but I didnt fight back. I hung my bag on my shoulders as I left the school premises.
Emma and I lived in the same neighborhood then. I was suprised when I heard knocks on my door later that evening as I sister notified me that Emma was outside waiting for me. I went outside with one mind which was to give him a fair fight if he tried putting up another show, but I was suprised when he said he came to apologize for his wrong doings earlier.

During my ss2 days, I held the position of the Labour prefect, so I was mandated to roll out punishments to wanting students either those who behaved recklessly, came late to school or was serving punishments from teachers.
I carried out my duties without fear or favor, that was why I was feared by all.
Months later, Time came for Us (the prefects) to handover our responsiblities to junior students as we were preparing for our final examination in the ss3 class.
I was walking along the ss2 corridor one faithful afternoon. The place was a bit deserted due to the fact that a football match was being played in the school field that day, but I chose not to go watch because football was’nt my thing.
Two junior students were sitted on a class window discussing inaudibly. I was suprised when the first student looked towards my direction and began pointing at me, I ignored them as I continued walking when the second student hurriedly came out from the class and began calling me, beckoning on me to come.
‘What nonsense’, I said to myself, A junior student for that matter. I ignored him again as I continued walking, when he saw I wasnt forthcoming, he gave me a chase catching up with me before I left that block.
‘So na you be the Labour prefect wey been dey punish my brother abi?’ He said while I laughed his night school english. He was huge with a deep bass voice, charcoal-like teeth and burnt lips which signified he was a die hard smoker.
‘Which business I get with you?’ I replied him in pidgin while he began laughing.

I thought the dude saw me coming but I was wrong, his gaze was focused on a beautiful girl coming upfront. She probably was his girlfriend. I stopped, looked at him again and noticed he still had’nt seen me. His girlfriend had reached where he was and they where already all lovey dovey.
I smiled, reached for my phone in my shorts and called Ifeoma. Ifeoma was a close friend of mine, she was tall and fair in complexion, average height and robust body. She was from a high class family which made her spend money like her father owned central bank. She has been begging me to make her my girlfriend but I refused, all because she has this tomboy character. I knew what I had in mind, so Ifeoma was just the right person to implement it.
She soon appeared in the field and met me where I was hiding, but all she had in mind was thinking I called her for what she had in mind.
‘Val darling, am so happy you called me today, oya lets go to MrBiggs lets talk’ She said, dragging my arm but I stood still, She then saw I wasn’t looking alright, so she asked what the problem was and I told her everything; She instantly became angry and vexed, just what I planned in mind.
‘Val show me who do you this kind thing now, make I bury the person six feet down!’ Ifeoma started ‘halla’ing’.
‘Babe calm down, just calm down….’ She interjected me before I even finished my statement.
‘No just tell me to calm down, how person go beat my future husband expect make I calm down? Na dying levels the person dey now I swear’ Ifeoma cursed, while I kept mute but continued looking at the direction of the dude who beat me up; She must have traced my eyesight as she angrily asked

To be continued in episode 2