The week in hell 3

The loud bang outside seemed to have resounded in my head and resurrected the raging headache plaguing me since the sickness started,the mall vibrated at the impact of the earth-shaking sound,people screamed,calling on to God and all other deities they worship,seeking protection from them,calls were frantically made by the frightened shoppers locked in the mall with us

My brothers even with their macho bodies and larger than life attitude at home shook like jelly fish,I've never seen them so scared for their life like this ever before,It made me laugh but I can't say if any laughter escaped my lips with my entire system being paralysed by fear of the unknown but am pretty sure I felt like I did laugh

Then everywhere went silent,no sounds,no noise,no commotion,the wailing sound of police siren could be heard inside the mall,people clapped and heaved sighs of relief,soon afterwards,loud sounds of knocks on the door jolted everyone and calls for the door to be opened,the head staff of shoprite was quite hesitant,standing by the large door and asking who the people were and if they were indeed policemen,this elicited mixed reaction from the crowd,some saw the funny side of it while others just wanted to be free,claiming to be either asthmatic or claustrophobic



The door was opened and guess what? A middle aged policeman with a big paunch, laughing heartily addressed us

"Why una con fear like that?ehn! No be suicide bomber oo,na rock overlooking the mall wey these construction company dey blast,na him dey sound like that, he he he"

"What the f**k?! Can u believe that?" I said turning to my brothers,not knowing whether to be angry or happy,angry over the way he addressed such a serious issue so light heartedly or be happy it wasn't what we thought it was after all,Karl had a look between fully smiling and relief from a scary moment,Hamz as usual laughed,we tried to get over it, the police officer apologised for the whole incident,but people would have none of it,

"THEY OUGHT TO GIVE PRIOR NOTICE TO THE AUTHORITIES OF THIS MALL BEFORE EMBARKING ON ROCK BLASTING!"

 Someone from the crowd yelled,people were upset and it was only natural they did,

"I HAVE BP! DO YOU PEOPLE WANT TO KILL ME?"

"AM GOING TO SUE THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY,THEY WOULD HEAR FROM MY LAWYERS"

"THEY ARE IDIOTS,BUT DO I BLAME THEM,WHEN THEY HAVE THE BACKING OF THE GOVT...IMPUNITY IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY"

People from different angles voiced their outrage over the incident,my brothers and I just looked on,QT turning back to look at our cart and ensuring all we picked were intact

"OFCOURSE! IMPUNITY IS THE NEW BLACK! AS LONG AS YOU HAVE MONEY AND POWER"

 A lady who obviously is a diva in her own right and still recovering from the shock said,flicking her weave and dusting herself, I smiled "my kind of women" I thought

Babies cried,mothers placated them,men hissed,foreigners hustled out, QT and i dusting ourselves as people murmured in a buzz but one thing was sure,we were all happy it was all over,interestingly enough,everyone went about their lives,shopping,sight-seeing,etc,like nothing happened

We rounded up our shopping,paid at the cashier,pushing our cart of goodies,veggies,beverages,provisions,etc to the park,

"I pray the car is in good condition" I said smiling at Hamz,

"Or we could just lie and tell mom we bumped the headlight in the commotion of what happened here" Hamz opined

"Yea yea! I think that's a good idea"

QT said but I was silent.....

"And that's the cue that says Maj would tell on us to mom"

Karl said, I burst in fits of laughter, "Karl?!" I exclaimed

"But it's true!" He replied...."Very true" Hamz seconded,no smiles on their faces and it made me feel like am not always co-operating with them, sighing,I said fine and that we would tell her that story

Placing the goods in the car boot,we examined the car all around to ensure it's just as we left it, the security men by the gate were engaging in a loud chatter, obviously still discussing the "bomb" scare..entering the car,Karl started the car and zoomed off

Getting home,I off loaded the groceries,Hamz's phone rang, mom called to alert us she got to port-harcourt safely,we felt no need telling her about what transpired at the mall

"What would you be wearing to the club tonight?" Hamz asked sauntering into my room where I was arranging my wardrobe according to fabric,colour and size,whew! Quite the chore if you ask me

"Ehhh! Am really not sure" wiping the dots of sweats forming on my brow with the back of my palm!

Whipping out a muted colour tank top and holding it out for Hamz to see, "am thinking,I wear this,paired with my camel coloured leather jacket to combat the cold,you know am still recovering from malaria and skinny jeans and would borrow your timbs"

mentioning the last part so fast and turning away quickly,lol,I knew Hamz would go mad at hearing that,borrow his precious timberland boots? He treats them like his babies despite timbs being kind of outdated,
"Guys now wear christian loubouton shoes for men,salvatore ferragamo italia and the likes,whoever wears timbs again" I would occasionally tease and he would say

"yeeeeessss,leave my babies alone" while cleaning and brushing them


Now here we are,back to my vomit,requesting to use his the timbs I'd castigated

"You can use them" Hamz said

I turned back to face him in a flash

"Seriously?...you would allow me wear them tonight?" I asked totally astonished

"Yes,you heard right...I know u thought I would say no,wanted to prove to you that my timbs are just waaaaaay above you"

he stressed the waay holding his hand high and high above his height

"a celeb in its own right,your criticisms doesn't stick,yet comes down low to help you when in need"

OH MY EFFING LAWD!!!

Did he just say THAT to me??

"You have no right to talk to me that way" I snapped

"Oh I do have all the rights bro,its my shoes and you can't bad mouth it and now get the same shoes on a platter of gold when you need it, you should be glad I didn't ask you to dance gently in the club lest you ruin them"

My mouth fell agape! I guess I would rather have this than being embarrassed in the club.

I'd always worn my own shoes but I wanted something huge and loud and whose colours match my camel-coloured jacket I'd intended to wear...I swallowed my pride,smiling awkwardly and saying "its fine"


We had dinner of rice with blanched spinach,stew and fish,I didn't eat much because if I eat heavily,it makes me sloppy on the dance floor.

Soon,it was 12am, Hamz cladded in an abs revealing top,poking him on the abs calling it his cleavage,lol,he paired this with my low slung jeans which I handed down to him and and boots, QT went for the casual-glam look,a white top,a black cardigan with plunging neckline on top,geeky transparent glasses and a pair of sneakers while Karl wore fitted white singlet which showed off his muscular body in all its glory ,a military styled jacket over jeans also a pair of cool ankle boots

"OPEN THE GATE" Hamz called out to garuba,the gateman who hurriedly did,my brothers bouncing to the car, its as though we've never gone clubbing before,we hardly do anyway because mom would have none of that,so it meant a lot going without obstruction, "MAAAJ HURRY UP NA" QT called out,I quickly sprayed some perfume all over,placed it in the small shelf in the bathroom and rushed out.


Getting to the club,QT behind the wheels this time, drove slowly towards where to park at the direction of one of the club's security team,this according to him is to give other club goers the moment to take in our arrival and wonder who the occupants were. We alighted and I quickly fish out my phone to call roland to come take us in

"AH! There you are Maj" roland came out,staggering towards me,beer in hand and reeking of cigar smoke,he tried to hug me but I stopped him placing my palm on his chest,

"Jeez roland! Its just half past midnight and you are already inches to getting wasted?I never knew you were such a lightweight"

I said, waving me off dismissively,he greeted my brothers, "chopping knuckles" with them

"Don't mind Maj joh! He's such a killjoy,I feel you man"

Hamz interjected,roland beamed with smiles,
"I hope we are VIP?"

I asked,feeling fly,roland took another look at me,as if just noticing my outfit,smiled and said

"ok,you look cool,I know that's what you want to hear and you know how we roll,VIP all the way"

he said leading the way and gesturing for us to follow

"SURULERE....OLENU...SURU'LAI'YE MI'O...SURUERE..." The familiar lyrics of dr sid's surulere song featuring don jazzy belting out loud from big speakers at corners of the club ushered us in,cool air from the AC mixed with cigar smoke and "shisha" smokes made the air quite dense and hard to breathe except you are high,disco lights flicking around slicing everyone with its rays in the almost dark room save light from led and coloured bulbs,Roland led the way past the ground floor where the regular club revelers were and up a short stairs up to the VIP section


We settled down,nodding our heads to the beat of surulere,my brothers swept the whole section looking for cool gals to boogie down with,but not much single girls in the vip section so Roland went down and upgraded some cute looking chics to the vip section and my brothers quickly took them one by one,the girls obviously elated at their luck thinking they don see beta market ooo,I smiled,waiting for the DJ to play the right song that would bring me to the dance floor,

"Won't you pick one of the gals and get on the dance floor?" Roland shouted in my ears against the loud noise in the club,I nodded,saying not yet

The DJ played my mood song,Davido's tchelete-good life and ahhhhhh! I stood up and started dancing by my seat and slowly,moved to the main dance floor,roland seeing me,his mouth agape and laughing,danced towards me and whispering into my ears

"So your malaria don go ba?"

To which I just laughed and danced even harder to proof am so well and up to the task of "boogie-ing down" till the break of dawn,since I was alone,roland decided to dance with me,the DJ was amazing,moving from one hit to the other,flowing smoothly and this just got people so excited and dancing non-stop,as we danced,roland gulped more beer,got high and dancing me with rather provocatively,as far as I was concerned,its normal,guys dance with each other and could sometimes get rather erotic yet not meaning a thing,nonetheless,I tried to make roland stop but he was so high and incredibly strong and sweaty,Karl who was deep in an embrace with his bootylicious partner and his hands on her big derriere made facial signs at me asking me to pull roland to a seat,I laughed and said it was fine,I was getting tired and figured soon,he would also run out of fuel and would like to sit to catch his breath

About the same moment,a burly,fierce-looking bouncer came and yanked roland's hands off me and pushed me,I staggered,pushing other groovers,I was aghast, "WHAT RUBBISH" I screamed, Roland's uncle owns the club so I'd felt so much at home,the bouncers angry eyes swiveled towards me,if looks could kill,I'd be dead by now as he crouched on his knees,facing me

"Wetin be that una they do"

Roland came towards the bouncer and tried pulling him off me with not much effort

"STOP IT IBRO,HE'S MY GUEST AND WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING"

he defended me,I just lay on the floor,totally shocked,my brothers all quickly rushed towards me,QT felt the bouncer had probably hit me and without thinking gave the bouncer a deadly blow on his cheeks,taking the bouncer unawares and sending him sprawling all over the glassy floor,he quickly stood up,touched his lips to feel if he's bleeding and yes he was, charged towards QT, both of their muscles flexing and stretching to breaking point,Hamz and Karl joined in,the DJ stopped the music,people scampered for safety and avoid being in harm's way in case bottles were thrown or smashed

I ran and hid behind a settee watching the whole drama,more bouncers came and security and managed to separate the guys and we were sent off,it was just past 3am by this time,roland tried to beg his uncle but to let peace reign,we were asked to leave as staying would mean the bouncers and my brothers might still engage in a scuffle

We went and sit in the car while I placate them to be calm,though inside me,I felt so giddy that they came and defended me like soldiers,it made me smile...a smile QT saw,he jerked in an instant and grabbed me by my neck,saying he would kill me and demanding to know why I was smiling

"WHO KNOWS WHAT YOU WERE DOING WITH THE GUY ANYWAY"

He roared

Karl freed me from his grip,chastising QT

"YOU TOO WELL THAT MAJ DOESN'T SWING THAT WAY"

Karl defended me

I was so scared,I've never seen him so deadly and violent towards me,I calmly expressed my apologies and slowly,we calmed down,sitting in our car,parked a little bit away from the club,by 5:30am after drifting in and out of sleep,we went home


Getting to our gate,we met our gate open, saw a taxi man and his cab in our compound and QT quickly drove the car into the compound as if to trap the intruder and hold him down,the door of the owner side of the cab flung open and a smooth,fair leg of a woman stepped out,then the body,before she could turn,I knew it was mom,


"We are done for"

I gasp, holding my hands over my head,she turned around to see us

"Where are you guys coming from?!!!"

Her face tightening into a frown


GOBE

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