Wahala Articles : D author.....Checkmate

Chapter Two
Shola sat in his self contain apartment,
thinking to himself, the last few days
had been eventful. He had been
involved for the first time in the acting
of a play. Other times he had either done costuming or something of that
nature. The rehearsals had been
excellent - for him at least - the other
boy who auditioned for the role with
him had vanished beneath his superb
performances. Everyone loved his act, his carriage, his authority, his command
of speech and presence on stage. He
was something special, like "God sent"
the director had quipped.
He smiled to himself "i've won the role"
he thought. He was snatched away from his self-appraisal by loud knocking
on the door. That must be Ola, he said
to himself, he got up hastily, belting up
and running his hands through his hair
as if to comb it "i'm coming" he said. He
rushed to the door, pulled the curtain aside and was somewhat not
disppointed. It was not Ola!. "guy abeg
you get sugar? I need soak garri now
abeg!" it was his boisterous and
irritating neighbour Nath. Shola smiled
suprising even himself by his reaction. "yes, sure" he said turning to get the
sugar. He heard the net door which was
made to keep out mosquitoes close
behind him and the sound of two feet
following him. Cant this dude just wait
outside he thought to himself shaking his head. "men, your room gallant o!"
Nath said looking round " e bee like say
the long vac favor you wella" he added
offering himself a seat and picking up
the remote control to the sound
system. "ah!. Your maga dey pay well". He said expecting a response from
Shola. Shola offered no more than a
short hearty laugh. He was not in the
mood for loud talking and the only way
he could escape that now was by
avoiding to engage in this conversation. If he replied, Nath would have more to
say and soon he'd ask for garri, a plate,
spoon, water. He'll make himself
comfortable, eat and talk on top of his
voice not to mention he would never
leave, not even after Ola would long be gone. Yes, Ola, he thought, she should
be here now, but she wasnt. Normally,
he'd have been worried, but it startled
him how calm he was, he didnt care less.
It was not neccessary.
"here you go man" he said handing six cubes of sugar to Nath who recieved
them with appreciative hands. "omo
guy you too much. You gallant, i dey
believe you. Based on who you be, abeg
you fit make am 10 cubes?" he said
smiling and raising his eyebrows to shola. Shaking his head, shola smiled
and said "ok". He walked across the room
to his three tier storage tray, picked
the whole packet of sugar and handed
it to Nath. "I'm in a giving mood. Take
and dont ask me questins just go or I fit change my mind" Shola said giving Nath
a wry smile and winking, his motive to
get rid of Nath who quickly snatched
the box, got up quiclky and without
uttering a word exited the apartment
for fear of losing the "miracle". Now, where were we? Shola thought to
himself, just then, his phone rang
breaking his thoughts again. He walked
to the bed, raised the pillow and picked
up the phone. Text message, opening it,
he smiled. "He's back" he said aloud as if talking to some imaginary mutual
friend. "who is?" Ola's voice came from
the door, a sound which no longer
excited him. Shola turned and looked at
her, the woman he loved, she wasnt
much of a woman to him anymore. Smiling and pointing to a photo on the
wall, he said "you know who. Him!".