YOLA

There I was rummaging through the dustbin as usual looking for scraps of metal to sell to Baba Ajah, probably I would get enough money today to buy a little morsel for me and mama to eat.
Mama would have done it but she is now too old and she cannot see anymore. I can do anything for Mama she took me in when everyone turned their backs when my parents died. At a tender age of ten, I have had experiences worth a lifetime.
Mama and I lived in an old dilapidated house in a crowded area, she used to farm and sell to pay for my school fees until a cobra spat into her eyes in the farm and no family member came to help we were on our own. 
The farm was sold to pay for Mama's treatment and what does a child know about selling lands, I sold it for peanuts because I didn't want my Mama to die.
We managed for years and Mama always told me one thing " Ope don't ever steal " she made me promise her and I tried to live by it. I became a destitute searching for scraps in the trash and selling it, I saved hoping to buy a wheelbarrow so I could make some money from transporting goods in the market, presently I had saved four hundred naira.
Sometimes the hunger was so real, I would want to steal, I would see heaps of swollen cakes and would dream of sinking my teeth into the dough satisfying my hunger. I would hear a voice telling me to grab one and run, but Mama's instructions were clear in my head like a jingling bell in a graveyard so I complied with her.

I had this friend Yola, he was from Niger , we would move together searching for scraps and sell it, the difference between Yola and I was he saw nothing wrong in stealing, he was poor,homeless and he was like the Robinhood of street children, stealing from the women selling snacks and food and sharing it with other homeless kids, they adored him. He was our leader and big brother, his works were admirable but wrong I always tried to tell him but he would wave it off, a street kid has got to eat he would tell me.

One horrible day, a day I would never forget. I woke up that day with the usual rumble in my tummy, I went to greet mama and after a meal of soaked garri, I left the house to hustle.
I met Yola at the usual spot where we picked up scraps, we chatted away as we rummaged as usual through the rumble.
Two men approached us, we made to run but the men assured us that they were friends not foes and we believed. They offered us a job, very simple job. They would offer us five thousand naira each if we broke into a store, before we could object they claimed it was their store that they wanted to know if the store was burglary proof.
It was too good to be true , I immediately refused but Yola believed them, he said he would do it, I pulled him aside and told him not to, It didn't seem right , but Yola was adamant , " Do you know how much bread and garri we can buy for the street kids, we would have something better to eat for once " He said with his hazel coloured eyes bright with hope.
Yola wouldn't see reason so I left him, I wish I didn't.
The next day, I was up bright and early, I went to the market hoping to make little money from carrying the loads of market women to their shops. Two hours later the cries of thief thief filled the air, I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me to the direction of the cries. The thief was sprawling on the muddy ground with different men throwing blows at him.
I asked a bystander what had happened, she told me a young boy was caught breaking into a shop, stole thousands of naira from the shop of a goldsmiths and has refused to say where he had hidden the money.
Then I heard his voice,  it was laboured and filled with pain " I didn't do it " i didn't want to believe without seeing it with my own eyes, I crawled through the crowd and just as I feared the supposed thief was Yola and amongst the men lynching him were the two men who offered us a job. Confess they shouted at him where is the money you stole they hit him with sticks and my friend, Yola, was a bleeding messy pulp, he had been beaten morose he could barely speak anymore.
The owner of the goldsmiths shop arrived and was told by the two men that, Yola had broken in and stolen money and had refused to say were he had hidden the money. The man tried to talk to Yola but he wasn't responsive, He started shouting at the two men asking why they had beaten him so badly, they claimed they were trying to torture the truth from him. The man, Mr Sunday was a really nice man and tried to get Yola to a hospital despite chants from the crowd to burn him. Yola didn't make it to the hospital, he died on the dirty, muddy market floor in the pool of his own blood.
When they realized he was dead all the bystanders one after the other walked away.
We,  the children of the streets we came out of our hiding places and we carried our friend to our hide out there we cleaned his broken body and wore him the best clothes we could find,  it took us a long time but finally we were able to dig a grave deep enough for our friend,  we didn't have a coffin so we wrapped him with a clothe Mama gave to me.
For days the cries of the children of the street were heard , we had lost a brother, a friend and a hero........

TEEN BLUES......

BF in the library

Greg has this expression on his face, the cat that ate the canary expression. He beckoned me to a corner and asked me to come see something. I wondered what he was up to but I knew I would find out if I walked to him.
" Leki look at  what I found online " He was smiling from ear to ear urging me to look at his phone . First and foremost, we were in our third year in secondary school and our school law was very strict about the use of cell phones in school, if a senior even caught us with phone we may never see it again. But then again Greg was a sly fox, he could sell ice to an Eskimo.
I looked at what Greg was so excited about and I wish I didn't look , Immediately I took my eyes away from the phone screen and squeezed them shut.
Greg was laughing at me
" What eee haven't you seen BF before, jew man "
" Where did you get this"  I said trying my best not to look at the videos.
" Jew man, Internet now, it's so easy to find , Look eeee no form joor "
I looked at the video one more time and I was hooked. Greg handed me the phone and I had a glimpse of the first twenty seconds of the video , I was feeling so many things at once. The footsteps of "Cobra" the nastiest teacher was heard and Greg grabbed the phone, shoved it in his trousers and started shouting
" Leki my eye ooh, something entered my eyes, blow it blow it "
I was confused but I complied, Cobra passed us and didn't even question was we were doing in the corner.

I couldn't sleep that night flashes of the movie kept sleep at bay, the lady walks in the room half naked and the white guy completely naked reaches for her, bends her over a table and.......... Cobra interrupts , I needed to watch more of the video .
The next day after assembly, I asked Greg for his phone, he told me he would answer me during break time.
Classes were a blur I wasn't concentrating one bit, I was fantasising about the video, I even had to place a bag on my laps because I felt my guy growing a bit and the feeling was overwhelming.

Break time came and Greg took me to the library. It was empty at that point in time, students barely used it anyway. He instructed me to be careful and discrete, he handed me an earpiece and asked me if I wanted vaseline. I asked what I would use vaseline for , he laughed and told me to enjoy myself.
Alone at last , I chose a very secluded part of the library, It smelt of old books and dust but it was a bit private. The librarian was a snoozing old man so I knew I won't be disturbed. I brought out the phone and tried to connect the earpiece but I had a premonition of Mr Ghost our physical health education teacher creeping up on me, it was nearly impossible to hear his footsteps, he could sit by you for ten minutes and you won't realise until his cane touches your skin.
So I put Greg's phone on mute and started to watch the video. It felt sinfully good, But I felt I would enjoy it more with the sounds, she opened her mouth a lot and I wanted to know the sounds she made. I connected the earpiece, increased the volume to the highest and click on play. The cool and calm atmosphere of the library was distorted by the cries and moans of " Yes, Yes, Harder, harder " I tried to switch it off but I panicked and  got confused, It continued and I nearly tore the phone apart before the video stopped playing , when the noise stopped, I picked up my books and ran out of the library .
The library wasn't  as empty as I thought it was , apparently a class had a library day and they were watching me run out like a man with his pants on fire.
Immediately I got to class, I returned Greg's phone telling him what had happened in the library. 
" You didn't fix the ear piece well " he cried but the damage was done. We prayed no one paid attention to me.

The rest of break time was uneventful and when it was over , Mrs Johnson our social studies teacher walked in . About ten minutes into the class , a second year student walked in and spoke to the teacher in low tunes , my heart was in my throat and I couldn't breathe .When they had finished speaking. She pointed at me and told me to follow the boy that my attention was needed in the staff room. I nearly wet myself, I looked at Greg and he put the index finger of his left hand to his lips and I didn't need to shout Ehhhhhhnnnnnn to get the message.

As I followed the boy to the staff room my feet felt like tree stumps, I wanted to poo and pee at the same time, I could feel my bowels and bladder fighting with their contents. The fear was so raw I could taste it in my mouth.

When I got to the staff room, Cobra, the snoozing librarian and a teacher we called baby King Kong were there sitting in a semicircle
Cobra told the boy who brought me to leave.
" Epa Odion is this the boy "
" Yes oh, it's him "
Cobra assessed me with bloodshot eyes and brought out his famous eight foot long cane.
I was definitely going to pee my pants.
" What's your name son "
" Leki " I almost choked
" Leki, I have some questions for you, If you answer correctly, I would be merciful , are you ready? "
I nodded, it was the weakest nod in the history of nods
" Did you come to the library today "
I thought carefully then answered
" Yes sir "
" Ok, next question were you watching illicit movies in the library "
I started stammering, the cane landed on my back with full force.
I had to bite my lips to hold back the tears .
He repeated the question and I said no, more lashes landed on me.
They never got to the second question because I kept saying no and the more I said no the more lashes I received.
My parents were called  to school that evening by the Principal. The librarian recollected how he was doing some paper works when he heard a video sound and he even described it to the disgust of my parents, ending with the fact that he saw me running out of the library a few seconds after the video sounds were heard. My Dad was breathing fire and brimstones and my mom as usual burst into tears asking me where she had gone wrong in training me.
When we got home, my father locked the both of us in his study, my mom had to call the neighbours to help break the door so my Father won't kill me that night, good thing they did my thirteen year old body wouldn't have been able to take my father's anger.
I went to school the next day a changed man and it wasn't because I was wearing an inner layer of bruises but my psychology that changed , now I can't look at anything illicit be it bikini models or whatever, Greg tried to show me another video, I almost beat him up reminding him that I almost died trying to cover up his black behind.
I had learnt my lesson, never again will I watch porn ever in my life.

KNOCK! KNOCK!! KNOCK!!!

It's 5:45pm on a cool evening, Muyi is back from work and quickly goes into the kitchen to get dinner ready, he puts some rice in a pot and sets it to parboil then he goes into his sitting room and puts on the tv, his favourite show was on and he sat to watch for a few minutes, then goes to check the rice and then about ten minutes dinner is ready, he takes a shower and then settles down to eat.
His phone rang at 7:00pm, it was an unknown number so he ignored it, but his phone didn't stop ringing, after about seven calls he decided to pick up.
"Hello"
" No matter what do not open the door" the voice at the other end of the line was sharp and clear.

" who is this? " Muyi asked

The line went dead, he tried making other calls but the network was gone, a chill ran down his spine.

He wanted to leave the house but the voice was in his head, so he stayed back and continued watching TV.

By 9pm he went to bed .

The sound of a knock woke him up, he looked at the time it was 2am, who could be knocking at this time he wondered, he was about to stand up from his bed when he remembered the warning so he sat back. The knocking continued for some minutes before it stopped. Muyi heaved a sigh of relief and went back to sleep. Another knock woke him up again, the time was 3am and this time the knock was sharper than the last , it went on for a while before it stop, Muyi was shivering in the heat of the night, he didn't move from his bed. He reached for his phone and tried to make a call but there was no network.
The knocking continued at 4am and this time the power went out, Muyi was alone in the dark with something knocking violently on his door, he crawled under his bed and started to pray like he has never before.
The knocking went on from minutes to hours, it got sharper and sharper, Muyi almost wet himself in fright he was too scared to move he just  coiled into a ball and endured the urge to end the torture whoever was knocking was putting him through.
The knocks soon sounded like thunder claps ricocheting through out the entire three bedroom flat.
I can't take this knocking anymore Muyi thought, so slowly he stood to open the door but he had to take a weapon first, he went to his utility room, grabbed a crowbar and  wrench, he walked slowly towards the door, his shirt soaked with sweat, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would explode in his chest.
When Muyi got to the living room each knock felt like a blow to his head, he wished he could walk faster but he just shuffled like an old man.
When he was in front of his door the knocking stopped, it was 6:30am, the sun was starting to rise.
Muyi went to his sofa and sank into it, what a night he thought, the network in his phone had come back and the lights returned.
Muyi waited an hour before going out of his house, he wanted to go and ask his neighbours if they heard the Knocking, but the sight that greeted him at the gate was so grotesque he almost fainted.
In a messy pile of human parts were his neighbours all three of them, Nene the Nurse, Timi the pastor and Isaiah the landlord, they were sliced and butchered like meat.
Muyi was still in a state of shock when his phone started ringing it was the same private number with shaky hands he picked and same voice from before said
" Aren't you glad you didn't open the door when I knocked "

ANNABELLE PART 9

Annabelle woke up later, all drowsy and hungover. She threw up severely and I tried to keep a straight face anytime she looked in the mirror, she looked disgusting, I looked disgusting.
She swallowed some pills, microwaved some leftover chicken and chips and she settled on the couch to watch E! News, we didn't say anything to each other for hours.
I was restless, it was almost noon and Deji had not arrived. What if he left me to my fate, after about twenty what ifs ,I had to stop thinking what if Annabelle hears my thoughts .

It was almost evening when the door bell went off, Annabelle let out a curse and went to answer the door.
There at the door looking finely cut and clean was my Deji, I don't think Annabelle recognised him immediately because if she did she didn't show it.
" Can I help you? " she said
Deji looked shocked then he called my name OMOYE
That was when Annabelle recognised him, she was about to shut the door in his face, when I took over
" Deji it's me help me " I said struggling with the door
" shut up bitch " Annabelle took over and tried to shut the door
"Deji don't go help me "
Deji was so confused, he couldn't believe his eyes , he just stood there staring at me display two different personalities
Annabelle and I forgot for control, It was so painful, I felt like I was going to be ripped in two.
" I am not going back to your boring ass life "
" You have had my body for too long now, I am getting my life back "
" I would rather we both die than for you to have control again "
With that Annabelle took control and ran back into the house , she entered a kitchen and grabbed a knife, She was going to slash my wrist, I took control again and dropped the knife, she took control and picked it again.
I forgot hard, Annabelle won't take my life form me the body is mine.
" You are an ingrate chicken neck, you imagined me after you saw your father commit suicide, I took you through it and was there for you, I was your friend, your only friend but what did you do you told your mother and had me cast out "
"Annabelle you made me do terrible things as a child, you almost made me poison my classmate "
" she deserved it,  I made you have fun idiot, it took me years to crawl back into your life and I am not going back, I made sure of it "
Then it dawned on me
" Annabelle you killed my mother "
" I would do anything to keep this body, I deserved to own this body I deserve to be in control"
" You would control me no more Annabelle "
She laughed
" I am serious, get out and never come back "
She wasn't laughing anymore
I closed my eyes and kept saying " Get out and never come back"
" I am not leaving " Annabelle said her voice was stressed but I kept my eyes closed and kept wishing her away.
I heard her scream in my head but I wasn't screaming, she was leaving, I kept saying the words until Annabelle's voice faded from my head.
Then I opened my eyes, Deji was staring at me with his mouth ajar, I ran to the mirror in the kitchen and for the first time in six years , I saw my own reflection.

ANNABELLE 8

Deji "
There was a pause
" Omoye, Jesus Christ, Omoye is it really you "
" Deji yes it's me" I was surprised he still remembered my voice
" I don't have time to explain"
" I looked everywhere for you, you just disappeared "
" I am so sorry "
" Wow I waited five years to hear sorry, you abandoned your mother and siblings , you abandoned me I have asked myself every day what I did wrong "
" you didn't do anything wrong please Deji there is a reasonable explanation, someone held me without my will please come and help me "
" I don't understand"
" some has held me all these years, I just managed to get to the phone, if am caught she would lock up me forever"
Deji was silent for a few seconds
" Where are you ?" his voice was calm too calm
I gave him the address of Annabelle's place
" I will come get you tomorrow "
" Please bring my mother tell her Annabelle took me "
The line was quiet
" Hello Deji "
" Omoye your mother is dead, she was killed by a hit and run driver five years ago "
My heart sank my mother was dead and I didn't even have the chance to tell her good bye, I didn't get the chance to go to her burial.
what am I going to do now, how will I find that Pastor that banished Annabelle before , I felt my tears run down my face before I even knew I was crying ,
" Deji, someone else is controlling me, her name is Annabelle she would soon take over me again please help me "
" Don't worry I will come get you tomorrow, just be alert "
" And one more thing don't call this number when you are coming it's Annabelle's "
" Ditto "
He was taking the news too well am sure he thought I was crazy, he would probably tell me what I wanted to hear and then he would dump me as soon as the call ends.
" Deji please you are my only hope, I know I sound crazy and the you I know would end the call and laugh at me, but please if you are not going to save me say so, so I would know where I stand "
He was silent again
" Send the address again, I would come tomorrow morning trust me "
" Ok, I am waiting for you "
The line went dead, I quickly deleted the number and I went back to my chains.

Annabelle woke up hours later in the club and managed to stagger home, she was so hungover she passed out again on her bed immediately we got home ,I didn't budge I waited patiently for Deji .

ANNABELLE PART 7

" Hey Annabelle dear " I said trying not to let my voice shake
She didn't respond she kept applying her lipstick and smacking her lips.
" Annie you can't ignore me forever you win ok, I was wrong you deserve my body, you obviously rock it better than me "
She smiled but still didn't say a word
" You turned a boring chicken neck into a super model that's a serious accomplishment, like see what I have I won't have been able to get it even if I used my womb for rituals"
She laughed hard and long then staring at me for the first time in five years she said
" Finally, you have come around, it took you long enough "
Then she looked serious again
" I hope you don't think sweet talking me would make me break the chains"
" Naaaaaaah,I just want to be your friend, I have spent enough time in chains to know how to be devoted to you "
She smiled and didn't say anything at first the she looked at me and said. 
" ok chicken neck let me humour you"
For months  I would talk to Annabelle and tell her things she wants to hear.
I would tell her what modelling contract would benefit her the most, what country she should travel to , what guy she should date and what dress made her look more sexy.
She started to be more free with me and the freer she became the more my chains loosened soon enough my wrists could slip through my chains but I stood still in my chains, I had to  execute my plan at the right moment.
" Annabelle let's go clubbing "
" Chicken neck since when are you a party animal? "
" well I have changed, come on let go clubbing and have fun "
She laughed " I love this new chicken neck , she is less boring alright clubbing it is "
She went to get ready  we spent about three hours deciding what to wear and finally decided on a tube black dress with pepper red stilettoes.
The club was repulsive to me but I pretended to like it men kept sniffing around Annabelle like dogs, I urged her to dance, flirt and drink. Annabelle was partying like crazy, twisting and gyrating her body to music, smoking shisha, drinking alcohol I dared her to drink more and smoke more after drinking more shots of tequila than I could count she passed out on the club floor and my chains broke almost immediately  and I was free, I quickly too over my body it had been so long, I felt drowsy and had a banging headache but I needed to move fast. Taking Annabelle's phone and dialled Deji's number praying he hasn't changed it, I had no answers twice, I tried the third time and with a voice heavy with sleep Deji answered.

ANNABELLE PART 6

Annabelle took total control of my body  and she held me down in my own mind with chains , I was literally held in chains I couldn't control anything I was like a figment of an imagination and soon it felt like I was fading from existence , I tried to talk to Annabelle, I begged, cried, negotiated but she ignored me totally, soon I got tired of talking and soon I became totally silent all I did now was sit, watch and feel sorry for myself.
Deji my sweet Deji am sure he has been trying to reach me but he won't be able to,  Annabelle had made sure she had wiped almost everything about me  She had deleted all my social media account , threw my phones away, burnt my clothes, changed my name to Annabelle Philips , the only things she kept where my certificates from school.

I watched helplessly as Annabelle turned my life around, she worked her way into modelling through one of her sugar daddies and boy she was good she brought sass and fire to the runway she started getting bigger and bigger contracts modelling for big agencies secretly I was happy she was modelling somehow she was making herself known and by God's grace my family will find me.

She travelled frequently having vacations and photo shoots in Milan, New York, Tokyo, Dubai. I went for parties with ministers, actors, comedians and the likes, I met new people and made new friends, scratch that Annabelle did all those, she was so popular travelling to have brunch with this and drinks with that, she had stopped her sleeping around with money bags, she now had her own money, she had houses in various locations all over the country and she had about eight boutique also. I saw new places through her eyes or my eyes I don't know again, she was becoming successful, living the fab life being things I would never be even in my imagination.
Then I had an idea , yes the tables have turned Annabelle now controls my body and I am the disembodied voice in her head so I had to act somehow like Annabelle, I have to make her think that I am on her side. She loves fashion, glamour, fame , I need to get comfortable with her so the chains on me will gradually loosen I had to act fast, I have been in chains for five years now, I bet Deji and my family think am dead and the way things are going I would soon be dead.

ANNABELLE PART 5

"Annabelle are you alright my dear" the strange man behind me spoke, *what* he called me Annabelle , oh my God save me, she has killed me Deji won't forgive me.
Mr sugar daddy walked naked towards me still calling my Annabelle  he looked like a dried up prune what was Annabelle thinking , I vomited a little more when I felt a bit better showered , but no amount of bathing could wash away how dirty I felt.
I ignored the naked old thing still asking what was wrong I packed my things and wore the  dress I found as usual it was a skimpy barely-covering-my-parts dress I wanted to die , on my way home in a cab I started to remember all the times my memory had failed  I should have known Annabelle was behind it.

Immediately I got home, I went to the mirror and started yelling like a dog in labour
" Annabelle come out this instance"
No response
" I know you can hear me come out"
No response
" You think you are clever abi, you sat in my body for ten months making me think you were gone but you just still here using my body like a rag, Annabelle come out now or I would called my mother"
The laughter I heard scared me
" Hello Chicken neck long time no talk "
" Stop using my body for trash Annabelle " I was fuming with rage
" I am just trying to have fun, unlike you chicken neck "
" that's it I am calling my mother"
As I tried to move my head hit glass.
I looked up Annabelle was opposite me with a triumphant grin, she walked toward my bed laid on it and was soon snoring softly. I tried to scream but no words left my mouth.

ANNABELLE PART 4

I found my ring at the lost and found, the woman holding it gave me ugly stares, apparently in camp some married women would take off their rings so they can have flings with strange guys they meet in camp and from the way things looked I wasn't  different either.

I didn't see Annabelle for a long time after that day, I called for her but she didn't answer.

I was posted to a coca cola company in Ring Road, Akinyemi, Ibadan. I was to work with the Engineering department .

Four months into my primary assignments I started having serious issues, all this time I haven’t seen Annabelle, I probably bored her away or so I thought.
I started having memory troubles I couldn't account for things,places time and money spent anymore, it was worse on weekends, sometimes I would get calls from work asking me why I hadn't come to work for days, it was weird because the last memory I had was me in work the previous day.

It only got worse!! I started waking up in clubs and hotel rooms, sometimes with clothes I would never wear if I had half a brain, sometimes my purse would be empty and other times it would be filled with wads of cash.
I was getting scared, I would try to call my mom but I kept forgetting.

I would lock myself up in my room and still find myself in a club in the pool of my own vomit and alcohol, wearing pieces of clothes.
The straw that broke the camel's back was the day I woke up in a white room, I was naked and the person next to me who was also naked was old enough to be my grandfather, immediately I stood up ran to the bathroom and threw up.

ANNABELLE PART 3

Life with Annabelle was getting more complex and more exciting, even Deji noticed the change in me but he never asked maybe he guessed it was because I had graduated from school and all that or maybe he just liked the change
Annabelle and I always quarrelled about Deji, she said he was a broke ass Nigga , had no swag, no ride. She said I needed a guy who could spend the dough I hated the way she talked about Deji , sometimes I would be so angry I would threaten to tell my mum about her, she would pout and tell me that she is just joking that  I shouldn't vex , She was just like that friend you know has a bad influence on you, profits you nothing but yet you can't stop being her friend , she was stuck on me like glue.
" Omoye if I had a body I would tell you to shoot me in the head, you are killing with boredom joor" she said pretending to swoon
" Well I like a calm life "
" You mean you like a boring life " she snorted
" Let's go clubbing for once now, I am sick and tired of staying in this room with you and your boring gist, I want to get high " she pleaded
" If you want to go and go by yourself"
" Boring chicken neck "
" you better stop calling me that"
She made an annoying clucking sound with her tongue and backed me , I felt like smashing the mirror.

Months later, Deji got a job as a sous-chef for an oil offshore company, he was to be paid four hundred thousand naira a month, I was so happy  when I told Annabelle the news she just snorted saying some men could give me four hundred thousand naira in a day, I ignored her as usual, she was supposed to help me but I just couldn't see the help she was giving she was just trying to make me wild and I didn't want that but I had promised I won't get rid of her plus sometimes she was entertaining when she wasn't annoying.

Three months after Deji left, I received my call up letter and I was posted to Oyo state, Annabelle made a shoot-me-now-face every day, she kept urging me to pay some money and get posted somewhere more groovy after all Deji now gives me about a eighty thousand a month but I was going to Oyo whether she liked it or not.
A week to the day I was to travel to Oyo, Deji came to visit, we went shopping for things I needed for camp, we also went shopping for clothes and shoes. In a classy restaurant he proposed to me with a really cute ring just the way I wanted it silver and simple, I thought I would go mad with joy, it was the best week of my life.

Nysc camp wasn't so bad, In fact I kinda enjoyed everything about it except the hot sun, Annabelle kept nagging me saying my shorts were not shorts, she kept calling them deeper life shorts or British man pantaloons as usual I ignored her but not for long, I didn't have to look in the mirror to talk to Annabelle anymore, I started to see her in my head like we would be having conversations in my head, she became like a shadow always with me. 
It was weird, I would be walking on the road having a conversation with her and no one can see who am talking to when I get caught talking to Annabelle people would give me weird stares, I had to start walking around with an earpiece so it would look like I was on a call , I had to sometimes it gets really hard to ignore Annabelle.  With time it  got weirder, on the last day of camp there was a huge party I didn't want to go for and Annabelle almost cried on my neck she begged me for days but I told her *NO* I didn't like parties.
I don't remember what happened next I just remember waking  up with a banging headache , it felt like the entire room was spinning,  my mouth tasted like alcohol, my body felt like it was bitten by a thousand fire ants and my corper whites had grass stains and vomit , I tried to move but the headache just got worse,I called for Annabelle but she didn't answer it was as if she was asleep or something , I looked at my phone messages  and a strange number had texted me

*Thanks for last night I had a great time, love Nkechi*

Who the hell was Nkechi ???

Trying to make sense of what had happened, I tried to stand up from my bed and out of habit  I looked at my left hand, my engagement ring was gone , I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach

ANNABELLE PART 2

I don't know how long I was down but when I stood up, I was convinced my mind was playing tricks on me. I stood up and looked at the mirror, my reflection stood straight and tall with her hands akimbo still with a frown
" you have always been a whimp, I swear " She said

I was still staring like a man seeing fire for the first time slowly I regained myself, she was really there in the mirror staring at me.
" Annabelle what the hell, how did you...."
" Come back, fash that one, wetin dey sup, you look horrible "
"I don't look horrible" my own reply shocked me
" You do joor don't tell me it's with that powder and lip gloss, you are going to class "
She said rolling her eyes
" Hello chicken neck stop gawking at me , just look at your untoush sef,  for why, I am so glad I came back, you need help "
" I don't need help " my voice was shaky
I have to go am late for class"
" Ok oh, sha sha make your hair, what kinda hair is that one, better relax it "
I didn't talk, I walked out of the room shaking like a banana leaf  ,why is she back ? why today of all days? when my final exam was this morning  and I was too shaken to take a bus It felt like I had forgotten everything I had studied, Annabelle's return had clouded my mind.

Lucky for me the exam was a breeze somehow seeing the questions opened my brain and I wrote well, I totally even forgot about Annabelle. When the exam was over I couldn't wait to call Deji and my Mum. I took out my phone to call mum but the beautiful yet annoying voice reminded me that I didn't have sufficient credit to make a call. I opened my bag to get my wallet but I probably left it on my bed, I wanted to borrow from the network but I hate paying for debts, so I decided to go home and get my wallet. 

I got home and Annabelle was there in the mirror waiting for me, oh my gosh I totally forgot Annabelle was back
" congrats girl, how will you celebrate? "
I did say anything I just picked my wallet and started to leave the room
" Chicken Neck where are you going to now? She said with a voice so stern I almost peed myself
" I am going to buy credit to call mum and Deji " my voice was still shaky
" Ehen before I forget, Omoye please don't  tell anyone I exist I beg you trust me, Let me be your secret, are you hearing me? "
" I must tell Deji, I tell him everything "
" Don't be a mumu Chicken neck, tell anyone about it and they would lock you up in a psychiatric home, don't tell your mum especially, I am not here to hurt you, I am your friend remember the fun we used to have "
I looked at Annabelle for the first time, she looked just like me only more bold,sassy,boisterous, fiery, sassy and sassy ,there was something hot about her eyes .
I agreed to keep the secret and I didn't know it then but it was the greatest mistake I had made.

ANNABELLE PT 1

ANNABELLE

First time I told my mum about Annabelle, I was five, If I were a white kid my white parents would probably laugh it of and say it's a phase, but I was black, African, Nigeria, Edo and I was esan. My mum didn't waste time she took me that very minute to a firebreathing pastor, crying that I had been possessed and they prayed a lot, I remember having my entire body coated with olive oil (anointing oil) and when it was over, Annabelle was gone, I told myself I would never forgive my mum, she took away the only friend I had.


When I was twenty-four ,I was so frustrated, I was severely always broke, I had lost my dad and I had to manage with what my mum would give me, I was grateful but I just had to struggle, my boyfriend Deji was beautifully made, he was always there for me and everything, he was sweet, romantic, kind and everything I always wanted in a guy, but he was like me broke, he came from a poor background and he had to consistently work to fend for himself and his siblings, but he would still take me out on dates even when I refuse but as an undergraduate ten thousand a month compared to the forty thousand I used to receive was a nightmare.
I was looking at the mirror one day combing my natural hair which was all matted, dry and in need of deep conditioning, my reflection in the mirror had this frown which was weird because although I wasn't smiling, I didn't frown either, I tried making funny faces but my reflection still had a frown, I felt the hair on my neck stand as I stared in horror at my supposed reflection. Then it spoke not in my calm and barely audible voice but in a more sharp and boisterous voice.
" What have you done to our body chicken neck??"
Chicken Neck
The only person who calls me that is *ANNABELLE*. the room began to spin and everywhere turned dark

PARADOX

PARADOX
Eniye knew she should have left the church earlier but Mrs Abode needed an extra pair of hands to take down the decorations on the church altar, immediately she had finished she picked up her things and decided to run home , the new assistant pastor offered to drop her off at about 10pm if she could wait till then but she declined not even giving him a chance to convince her.

It was really dark and the street was just too quiet there were a lot of shortcuts to her home but she decided to take the main road because the shortcuts were usually filled with predators at night, the time was 9:20pm and shops were usually closed by 9pm she kept saying a prayer as she walked, her slippers making a loud tap tap noise on the tarred road.
In front of a tree close to an uncompleted building was Thompson, he was a well know hooligan, agbero extraordinaire , thug and thief, he had come out to smoke some weed when he saw Eniye walk by, she didn't see him. She had been the itch in his loins for years and a major participant in his sexual fantasies , he had tried to talk to her rather toast her on many occasions but she always snobbed him, she was probably coming from church he thought , throwing away the remainder of his joint he decided to follow her, her house was still about ten minutes away, he walked slow and discreetly so she won't know he was following her many thoughts were going through his mind.

About five minutes later, a scream from Eniye pierced through the dark reechoing for about ten seconds, then suddenly, it stopped. A few moment later there was a loud howl from a male voice and it rapidly graduated to screams, then it stopped and the street became quiet once more.

Ten minutes later, Eniye's brother heard a loud knock from the gate, he had stayed awake to close the gate after Eniye comes . She was supposed to have arrived by 8:30pm and as usual she left her phone at home, so he couldn't reach her. Dropping his phone and reaching for his torch, he walked to the gate thinking of ways to scold her, he didn't  see Eniye immediately instead he saw Thompson with Eniye in his arms, she wasn't moving, he quickly opened the gate asking Thompson a million questions at the same time.

Apparently, Thompson had followed at a respectable distance to ensure she got home safely. A man suddenly sprang out of a bush path, one of the shortcuts to Eniye's home. He grabbed her, half dragging her to a nearby uncompleted building, she tried to fight him off and he hit her on the head until she passed out, Thompson  had sprinted to where they were, the man was already yanking at her skirt, he had got there just in time to save her, he gave the man a sound beating, knocking him out with a blow to the head. He scooped her into his arms and immediately carried her home. Eniye was placed on a couch and was attended to by their sister.Thompson and Eniye's brother went after the man and found him still unconscious, Eniye's brother recognised him immediately , he was the assistant pastor.

DINNING HALL STORIES

Memoirs from Boarding School
If you attended a boarding school you would agree with me that when it comes to the Dinning room there are different kinds of people.
NUMBER One.
The Voracious
In my school we call them " Vora " they eat fast and are always unsatisfied, I remember a girl let's call her Vera, Babe could eat anything the kitchen women threw on our table as food. The first day the school served us indomie was one of the worst day in my dinning room life, the indomie was overcooked and bland, obviously the kitchen women have never cooked indomie before and didn't know the litttle packs were the spices. The sight of the indomie was so unpalatable I refused to eat it, But Vera kept downing plates of indomie like it was made by a gourmet chef, I wasn't  surprised Vera was a voracious girl but five plates of that horrible dogfood was she even human, at the end on our way to the assembly ground she started throwing up heavily and we all laughed at her . The vora peeps where annoying sometimes begging for food and scraping scraps when people weren't looking , I personally caught Funke picking leftover moimoi from her seatmate when she thought no one was looking, What a Voracious babe probably you are eating meat and one babe would be like cut for my now, like she didn't eat hers.
NUMBER Two
The Tea drinkers
The group of people love cocoa beverage so much, they can drink two jugs full of tea. Some go as far as trading real food for tea, I won't lie, I love my food,but I didn't beg for food but I used to eat like the devil was on my heels.In our first year in secondary school all new comers  loved tea some more than other, I liked tea  but not to the extent that I would trade my goodies for tea,I remember a js3 student approaching me once and asking me if I would love to exchange my chicken, fishroll and popcorn for tea, the look I gave her would have turned her to a pillar of salt if it had that power, did she think I was dumb or stupid, no way , when some seniors are even begging us to drink their tea and I would now trade all my goodies for what I can get free? But some people were so in love with tea that they actually went through with the bargain , the tea always made us sleepy in class, as we got older in school we gradually started forming for the tea.
NUMBER  Three
The Bargainers
We called trade by barter bargain in my school and it was the process of exchanging one commodity for another for instance, I didn't like biscuits so I would exchange my biscuits for garri with another person, I love my garri oh.
Nedu was like the craziest bargainer I knew, She would almost always have two plates of food and would say she bargained for it when I was in js2, Nedu was my refectory seat mate and she can bargain for Africa, One day our table was selected to serve pots of indomie and as a reward we got a very big pot of extra indomie, which we shared plus the the one we had on our table which made it two plates to each person, Nedu had bargained again and had four plates of indomie to herself, She didn't know what to do with it , Immediately the bell for food over went off and we where told to leave the dinning room, Nedu still had three plates of indomie and she started looking for who to bargain with, nobody agreed and the babe started crying, at the end people eat the indomie she suffered to bargain for , some people were stupid bargainers especially the js1 exchanging the fried rice and chicken for popcorn or chinchin , then there was this babe that loved beans die, she would bargain for beans and be getting plates of beans,one time she got a whole pot of beans.
NUMBER four
The misers
This is the most annoying group , The way they eat food is so annoying you would just want to press their neck. A good example was Rufina, When food has been shared she would pretend to be asleep while we eat ours , then she would wake up slowly pick up her cutlery and start to pick at her food, she would load like ten grains of rice on her fork and chew very slowly, there were no boys in my boarding school, so I didn't know who she was forming for when the bell for food over goes off, she would start rushing the food like what is the point of misering the food  if you would rush it at the end, I won't lie people used to say I eat too fast, I wanted to start eating slowly so I can miser too, It's was really really stupid, you would get tired of the food, so I eat the way I eat, My mouth closed while I chew, and I put a healthy heap in my mouth not ten grains of rice in my mouth or chew and squeeze my face like I hate the food. Rufina would bend her head in one mournful matter and squeeze like she is eating manure instead of food.
Number 5
The always hungry
I think I fell into this group, I was a growing child with growing food needs, I was constantly hungry and the food to me wasn't enough you need to see my plate when am done eating no stress to wash it because I have practically almost licked it clean, some people were hungrier than me though, those ones would be squeezing their face after food, probably only one of their four stomachs is full
NUMBER 6
The Refectorians

The girls who were called to the noble profession of sharing food. They were the envy of school, everyone wanted to be a refectorians or wanted a friend who is a refectorian, I wanted to be a ref too, they get triple sometimes quadruple of what we got, we would be seeing seeing them leave the refectory with drawing books heaped with garri and rolls of milk on their shoulders , the foods in their plates would be high decorated with the biggest pieces of meat or fish. They had their own special table they were living the food life, being a refectorian was even better than being the head girl. 

There are other subgroups of people in the dinning room;

The ones that are always late

The ones always punished for no cup or cutlery

Those that always cheated while sharing the food

The ones that are friends or sisters to Refectorians and always get extra food

The table always punished for fighting because of food
The people that always gave their food to seniors to get favours.
The kitchen women's pet that always got extra food.
What group did you belong?

REINTRODUCTION

Hello guys
Hey guys
It's been over a year since I blogged.

Yes over a year
What happened ??

Well I lost my inspiration, I felt no one would miss me, well no one did actually.

I opened two blogs in 2015, beautifulcoilyhair and thecolourinstories.

Why?

I fell in love with the glamour of natural hair bloggers, I got addicted to surfing natural hair blogs but with time I realised it wasn't for me so I opened a story
blog after all I have been writing stories since I was little ( on and off though )
With my class mates and facebook peeps being my audience I started writing stories and it was alright.
Until I started having issues like emotional issues, my parents told me to stop blogging and focus on my studies, I would have continued though but I lost my inspiration so I stopped writing .

2016 I got myself back but still lost my inspiration so I stayed until I started writing again but I didn't go back to blogging, I would just write a few stories and past it on my class group page and facebook. People  loved it and asked me for my blog , I would say I had no blog.

After months of refusing to go back to blogging , I decided to come back today and I am glad am back.

Let me story telling begin.