Ginger Tea

Who knew I would have to take ginger tea every day for the next few months? Life changes in so many ways within one year. Soo many ways...

Vero - Prologue

“Vero, please attend to table five, remember to tell them we have a variety of exotic wine,”

said Tunji.

“Yes sir,” answered Vero as she picked up the menu from the dark mahogany table placed in

front of the bar. She strutted in her usual demeanor towards the fifth table located in the

center of the room.

The three gentlemen in fancy suits who sat on the table seemed engrossed in their discussion.

They also looked familiar, like faces from her forgotten past.

It's Been A While

Hello there!

It's been a while since we wrote up on anything! That's mainly because life got busy and I, personally, had a few disruptions in my life.

New city, new dreams, new projects. Hmm!

New stories start from today! Have a blast.

The Face of Happiness...

An impressive space illuminated with colorful lights

For sore eyes it was a wonderful sight

Made to dazzle, (and indeed it did)  yet, not nearly as bright

nor beautiful as the Lady in White!

Shimmering splendor she personified

magnificent and gracious, radiant and glorified

many adjectives apt to add... but what had me satisfied...

Her happiness, for all to see, came from deep, from deep inside

I have heard many a tale, 

told by males, the in-betweens and females.

the wonders of love they all regale

that melodious feeling... beside my ears, a nightingale 

My friend was happy, yes She was.

Her smile genuine, extended, Her lips abuzz.

Her eyes alight, She made this obvious;

The legend was true, Love is Glorious!

I raised a glass

a toast to pass.

Eternal happiness, Love and a long life of class

the finest things, twins, fulfillment and pizzazz!

Adventure to look forward to,

A home to build... so much to do

together in unison, forever they do.

Happy married life to both of you!

To Feminy Damify, A lady I call Friend,

Who saw me when there was nothing much to see.

Whom to this day is worth her weight in gold.

Cheers to you

From deep within,

Your credentials are flawless, You deserve the very best.

K.

My First Title

“Vero, please attend to table five, remember to tell them we have a variety of exotic wine,” said Tunji.

“Yes sir,” answered Vero as she picked up the menu from the dark mahogany table placed in front of the bar.

She strutted in her usual demeanor towards the fifth table located in the center of the room.
The three gentlemen in fancy suits who sat on the table seemed engrossed in their discussion. They also looked familiar, like faces from her forgotten past.
“Hello gentlemen, good evening. My name is Vero. Please what will you like to…?”
“Anita?” asked Obinna.

Her face turned red. She could not believe it. A million questions flashed through her head- Obinna was supposed to be in the US, his mother said he would never come back, he said he would never hurt her again…What was he doing here?

“Pardon? My name is Veronica, not Anita sir” she retorted.

With that he pulled her left-hand and turned it side-up. The scar was there. The scar from the 12th of October, 1986, when she struggled for the knife in his hands just before he brutally murdered her lover.

------------------------

"Love Me!" Came A Second Too Late.

Hmmm….so this is the Tasha babe everyone keeps telling me about, well she’s quite good looking, I thought to myself. Anyways, I will get to know her more within this 2 weeks program. For now, I better concentrate and prepare for the rigorous course work ahead.

O boy! This same S.U babe back in university is the real definition of beauty & brains o. I mean, this is basically all I have always wanted in my woman, very intelligent, ambitious, enterprising, engaging, playful, godly, caring, motherly, charismatic, beautiful, hot & sexy and above all, a charming smile that causes me to smile from the abyss of my heart.

Gosh! I can’t believe I’ve finally met my dream girl and I’m excited to be so in love. Friends, colleagues and even my boss who is very critical, gave me a nod to pursue.

But can I endure the rigors of a long distance relationship? date a colleague, who is also from a different tribe??? In reality, these are questions I never asked myself. Eventually, upon further considerations, the answer to these questions was YES!!!

For far too long, I held it tight (forming hard to get) but like a canister lid I blew it all open to start the New Year. But sadly, it came very late. Regrettably, my dream girl just got into another relationship 14 days (just 336 hrs) earlier.

Why do bad things happen to good people, I asked myself. I am left to reminisce those golden moments - the gist, the laughter, the pictures, and the sand of the beach. Sometimes, it gets hard but with the memories I shared with her, I’m happy I truly loved and as such loneliness disappeared.

In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were too afraid to have and
the decisions we waited too long to make.

To be there for you always, to be true, to radiate love, and with a chance for two to make meaning of
their lives. I AM JOHN (the lastma) AND THIS IS FOR TASHA.

Morale: Life is too short. Time is irredeemable and never perfect. Fall in love and shout it from the rooftops, never leave it late. Just do it!


Post by Nues.

Sneak Peek

Slowly, slowly.

Soft breeze, brown eyes.

Dark lips, smothering cigar.

Broad chest, healing wounds.

Hold me, hold me.

You bad, I want.

Too bad. You sure?

You know. I know.

Red flag! Red flag!!

Not so bad. I'm in love.

Ride or die. Die you will. (lol)

Bumpy! Bumpy!

Braapp! Braapp!

Rain drops. Eye wet.

Not from rain. From heart.

Broken teeth. Purple face.

Glitter! Glitter!!

Maybe gold. Maybe not.

Sneak peek. Won't kill.

Check! Check!!

Real Eyes Realize Real Lies

I was telling a friend the other day, that I prefer those who openly show their weaknesses and are not afraid to be sincere about who they are. I've met the Buddhist, the Atheist and the Agnostic , I think they are truer than you, my brother.

They won't stab you in the front with a broken cross. They won't change their mind one day and tell you "God changed His".

I prefer those who tell you they can't and so they don't than those who promise "For better, for worse, my love will remain" while asking another for her room number. I prefer those who puff their cigarette openly to those who sin in the privacy of their walls only to judge the former in open.

When they say "I love you", please run away. They come with their bag of trouble! Run for dear life.

I segregate not based on beliefs. Life segregates based on what settles after the stirring. They look you in the eye and lie to you, and tell you you were imagining things, meanwhile, even whistling Bingo knew you had just been fooled.

It's a confusing world where grey means black and white, literally. What a tragic joke nature has played on mankind! 

When they say "Look into my eyes baby, trust me!", tell them "I rather trust the "pet me" sign on a python than trust what your eyes tell me!"
Rants of a betrayed chic,
Anonymous

Yanga Dey Sleep...

Temi is a young lady who just graduated from the university. Sleeping and keeping tabs with all the social media platforms whilst she awaits her nysc call up letter is her newly found way of life.

One afternoon, in the usual business of keeping tabs on social media, a friend request on facebook popped up. It was the same dude Temi had met and had a crush on 2years ago at a cousin's naming ceremony. His name is Femi, he is a very smart and hardworking guy. Femi works with one of the biggest audit firms in the country. In fact,  Gist even had it that he had gotten a double promotion at work. *Why won't Temi trip*

Femi and Temi started chatting via facebook and soon they exchanged phone numbers and BBM pins. And just like that, Femi and Temi have become lovebirds. They stay up late chatting and catching up on how their days went. Temi is a member of Daystar Christian Center whilst Femi is a Jehova's witness. One would think this would be a stumbling block but both of them were soooo in love they really just wanted to enjoy the being in love.

The feelings for eacho ther grew as seconds, minutes, hours, days, months passed by. They cultivated the habit of chilling in the lobbies of nice 5star hotels in lagos every sunday afternoon. The love between this two lovebirds waxed stronger until... *drumrolls*

Femi's 30th birthday is here, he needs to start thinking of  settling down, its time to be real, its time to lay the facts on the table, its time to take that critical decision. They have different beliefs, is it possible to reach a compromise? if they go ahead with marriage which of the beliefs will they teach their kids? Could this be the end of the love they both share?  Could this be what they mean when they say "Don't bother smelling what you know you won't eat"?

Sent in by Anonymous.

Unedited.

Christmas in Lagos

So Amaka decided to spend her holiday in Lagos with a plan to turn up at every opportunity she had. She hurriedly packed her bags the night before and arrived the local airport at the nick of time for her flight.

 She heaved a sigh of relief when the plane landed. Yea, she was still scared of a plane crash. 

"Aunty, you no say traffic dey for road plenty. Abeg, na 7000 naira to Ikoyi. Emabinu" explained the cab driver who accosted her at the exit from luggage claim.

After haggling her way through various drivers, she finally got a suitable price. True to the fact, the route to the island was blocked by trailers who had parked on the major road.

"Hey gurrll...its your birthday...say hiii...Rhythm Unplugged happens this evening...." echoed the quacky radio from the less than decent cab.

She knew she wouldn't be able to make the show. She was too tired.

----------

"Yay! Yes let's go to Elegushi!"

She drove down to Lekki and spent 2 hours in traffic from the Toll gate to the 3rd roundabout. The distance which is usually a 2-minute drive. 

She arrived around 8:00 pm but for the dark skies, she would have bet it was 2pm because of the crowd at the beach.

Families set up their blankets on the floor with kids running around and barely no space to sit down.

"Is this life?" she thought to herself. She bought some suya, sat on the bare sand and tried not scream each time someone threw a "banger" close to her.

Yea she was still scared of knockouts!

-----

She didn't attend any more shows. She spent time with family and loved ones. She could have gone for the "Wakaà" stage play but you know how these things go. 

She doesn't plan to spend the next Christmas in Lagos. Maybe New York, like I mean New York in Abraka, Delta State. Ain't no difference mehn. Lagos gra-gra is just too much.

Talk to Me

The dark sky told no story: no stars, no moon. He climbed up the stairs to his apartment on the 2nd floor as though he didn't just get a sack letter at work.

He would not return to the office the following morning. He would not get a chance to tell the company secretary, Ronke, how much he loved her and wished she wasn't involved with the senior bosses. He wouldn't see her because she was fired too.

------

The flight of staircases seemed longer than usual, the fluorescent lights didn't seem to work, even though they had recently been replaced.

As he turned the door knob, his mind flashed back to ten years before when he opened the doors to tell his father that he had failed JAMB for the 4th time. The look on his father's face  had torn him apart. The pang he felt in his heart reminded him of the fact that he hadn't stitched the wounds of time past. He still wouldn't.

This weekend, he would turn up at QUILOX using his last savings. He would dance till dawn. After which, he would head to the Third Mainland Bridge and kiss the waters.

You would read on LIB that some fishermen found a dead body in the waters on the past Sunday. You would wonder why. And then you would look in the mirror of your family and friends. I hope that when you do, you lend out a hand. 

The Place II

I smiled knowingly. It was a terrible pick-up line, one I hated so much. 

"Why can't he just go ahead and ask for my number?"

We talked briefly and he offered to drop me off at my hotel.

Seven weeks passed and I didn't hear from him. 

I walked past him in Shoprite the other day, wondering if I still looked familiar and if he would ask for my number, if he would apologise for breaking my heart and if perhaps someday, I would want to marry him.

Friday Evening

Friday evening.

Everybody loved Fridays, but hardly as much as students did. Friday evenings in Uniport were used mainly for social agenda, though a few geeks turned theirs into suicidal attempts to literally read words out of books and into heads. Businesses recorded peak moments too, clubs, pharmacists, boutiques, beer parlors and transporters.

Taxi drivers were the major secret keepers of the night; they knew the girls who were off to their homes, and those that were off to the homes of men. They always preferred female passengers too, boys always under-priced and were usually in annoying overcrowded groups, all wanting to squeeze into the poor taxi. No way! They’d stick with the babes!

In Pritaso Villa, room F40, sprawled in different positions were Eze, Jonathan and Bayo. They were pretty much doing nothing, save for Jonathan’s occasional punching of phone keys.

“This is so boring! You guys just know how to have the perfect Friday!” Jonathan said to no one in particular.

Silence greeted his comment. He grunted.

“Omo! This is dulling sha! Today na Friday o! Choi! Konfam, we be dulling men!” Bayo finally said. “I sure say Eze dey sleep! Trypanosomiasis pikin!”

Jonathan chuckled. “Sleeping beauty! This young man has slept away the better part of his youth…”

“Fools! I’ve been awake jor! Bayo, you just wan show say your papa na vet abi? He specializes in dirty pigs right? And this Jo, Mr. Blogger! Blogging or tweeting rubbish every time! E no worse pass sleeping? 30,000 tweets, only 50 followers! Ode!” Eze hissed, still in his lying position.

“Why you dey dey lie down like rug na? Make we find parole.” Bayo offered. He got up and headed towards the rack at the far wall of the room.

“FYI, just so you know, I’ve got more followers than that, even celebrities follow me…” Jonathan tried to defend himself.

“Hehehe! Celebrities ko! Dare only followed you because he thought you were someone else, as for Blackface, he’s not a celebrity o, no dull yourself.” Eze lashed again.

Bayo laughed. “He’s right Jo. I even doubt that the real Blackface owns that handle. He might not know how to tweet.”

Jonathan smiled. “Ehhn! I hear. All these don’t faze me.” He said, twisting his head as if singing.

Eze hissed. “Fag!”

Bayo had been searching for something but seemed to still miss it.

“Who has seen the 1000 naira I left here?” he asked.

Eze sat up on the bed. “Em..er..was it yours?”

Jonathan giggled. “Frostbite got your tongue?”

Eze looked at Jonathan with something like disgust on his face. “Dude, like seriously? Frostbite? Tongue? Is it not for toes only?”

“Nope! It is as correct as good driving. And I’ve got poetic license anyway. Don’t be hating now…”

“Because you blog?” Bayo laughed hard. “Does Senator Patrick have a license too? Dame? Let me guess, issued by the same poetry office? Or the Queen? Ha and ha! Please! Abeg Eze jare where the money dey?”

“I’m really sorry man. I had just heard that there was this urgent book we were to pay for, about 5 marks at stake. I just had to use it. I’ll get it back for you tomorrow!” Eze looked sorry.

“Damn! You don forget say I dey your department too? So make I dash you foolish virgin my own 5 marks abi? E no make sense na. How you go just carry my bar go drop for kini without consulting me or anything? Bayo was quite angry.

“Calm down na! It happened so fast I swear. I usually won’t do that you know. Those department people are just thieves. I’m just as angry as you are!”

“I’m a thousand naira angrier actually!”

Jonathan giggled, causing Eze to giggle too. Eventually Bayo’s anger softened and he smiled.

Eze tried to repair damage. “Sorry bro, I’ll get it back for you tomorrow.”

“Hope you realize tomorrow is Saturday?” Bayo said.

“Er..Em..Erm…Nope! But hey, it’s not like I’m moving out…” Eze laughed.

“Enough of the i-love-you-too! Fags! What are we doing here? It’s Friday evening!” Jonathan cut in.

There was the sound of footsteps approaching from outside. Chris walked in, with a shinning looking girl behind him. Maybe the evening was going to be interesting after all.

The Place I

I really did not want to go out to eat, the mood was foul because Rotimi had just broken the camel's back. I can't narrate what happened to anyone, but if you look into my eyes, you would see. You would see not just what happened, but tales of a thousand nights.

Back to my story! I walked quietly through the very long distance to famed restaurant. I wanted to eat efo and amala. That was because I had barely had any of that while away at school. The queue was long, undeterred I was. I paid for the overpriced food whilst regretting my decision not to drive to "white house" on the mainland. Oh well, man must chop.

I sat down quietly, trying to figure out why I had fixed my nails whilst judging the man sitting on the next table who had ordered a mountain of rice, spaghetti, fish, asun,snails and salad.

Quietly I sat when a fine-bobo with no pimple came to say "I think I've seen you before".

------------------------------

One Year Baby!

It  started off as my rebound. Blogging, I mean. Lol. I didn't think I would ever become a blogger, again. *enough of my mushy mushy over-practiced Oscar-award-winning-thank-you-speech*

Ok, so in 20 days, it will be one year since my first post. I wanna say thank you to everyone who has clicked the "ournairastory" link and smiled. Thank you, thank you!

But wait though, I have heard a thousand stories I could have replicated as some sort of fiction, but I did not because people's lives are "people's lives"! However public, they definitely need some privacy. Long and short, what I'm trying to say is that it's not easy to think of entirely fictional stories without adding some "real" flavors, *phew*, but I guess I tried.

If you by chance see your reflection in the mirror of my stories, I sincerely apologize and hope the inconvenience is not repeated in future.

So so, dear visitor, I am grateful for your following and I hope we enjoy many more years to come.

Thank you once again, and remember, "It's not the critic who counts..."

Long Walk To Freedom

Starry nights, dark skies

Black and white, mist

Soft music, stranger,

Strange land, strange you.

Steps towards the road,

To oblivion you take,

Wondering over if you would,

By choice or fate return.

Turn left, turn right,

Go straight, halt.

Halt if not clear on direction,

Take no step in the dark.

For the walk to freedom,

Is a marathon,

A race,

And a war.

School Runs

Dust. The dust in the school premises often made Kora wonder why the authorities made it compulsory for students to have shiny shoes. "Did they expect them to carry "kiwi" polish everywhere they went?", she mused.

On this Tuesday morning, she decided not to take her polish to class, she was tired of being a good student.

On her way out of the hostel, she said hi to a group of girls standing just outside the dormitory, waiting for someone. She said hello to them and noticed that their leader, Eniola was smiling awkwardly at her.

"What's wrong with that one?" she asked herself. True to it, the dust settled comfortably on her "cortina" shoes, turning it's color brown, dirty brown.

As she filed behind the one of the much taller girls on the assembly ground, she got a pull from her Form Prefect,

" I don't know why short people like staying at the back. Would you move forward!" said Senior Shade,

"I'm not short, is it my fault that someone in SS1 is as tall as an iroko tree? And after everything they would say we are mates, taa!" muttered Kora as she grudgingly marched to the front of the line.

" Hey junior girl, what did you just say?"
"Nothing o Senior, I was only ..."
"You are lucky!"

Kora managed to fight her way to be the 7th person on the line just in front of Eniola, she wasn't that short she argued while putting her shoulder side by side the other girls.

She had a long dark hair and light brown eyes. Her pointed nose and dark skin often got people calling her ebony or black gold.

The bell ringer rang the bell and soon the Reverend Father came to say the opening prayers. Eniola pinched an otherwise focused Kora.

"Leave me! Can't you be holy for some minutes?" said Kora as she shrugged Eniola off.
"Big head, better look up o. See as Senior Ifeanyi is staring at you" Eni whispered.

Kora felt her stomach knot.

"I don't know what you are talking about! Better leave me before I tell that our bitter form prefect that you are being a complete idiot!" Kora whispered back.

Throughout the assembly, she focused on the boring proceedings.

Senior Ifeanyi was the Labour Prefect, labor prefects were wicked and she couldn't imagine someone wicked liking her. Besides he was too tall for her liking. She also didn't want any one making her clean her shoes, in fact she wasn't interested, she assured herself.

On her way to the dining hall during break time, he stopped her in front of SS2 block.

"Kora kedu?" he said

"Good afternoon Senior, we have been asked not to speak vernacular. So I'm very well, thank you. Besides, not all of us are igbo for God's sake!"

"You know it's this your stubbornness eh.." he smiled as held her hands.

She blushed.

"See you know I can't be seen talking with a Senior na, you know the rules"

"Yea I know," he said as he handed her a letter.

----------------------

She went  to the back of the hostel bathroom to read the letter that evening.

While she was still taking in the big big grammar he had used to express his love, Eniola sprang on her.

"Ije love eeee" she screamed, attracting other members of the dormitory to what was happening.

Kora quickly chewed the paper and spat it out.

She knew no prefect could punish her without evidence. She also knew she and Eniola would never be friends.

---------------------------------
Kora was almost late to the assembly on Wednesday morning. This was so because she took extra care in ironing her uniform, oiling her hair and convincing her bunkmate to lend her an extra kiwi polish, though it made no sense.

She had to look perfect for her new heartthrob.

Blind Trust

My eyes ache from insomnia,
Though sleep sits just beside me,
And when the week hits its first cycle,
I remember you with my eyes shut, close.

When I open my eyes, reality hits.
My rent needs to be paid,
My family needs my love,
My existence needs my living.

So you are hereby forgiven,
Acquitted and set free.
The blind see no colors,
For all is fair in love and war.

Aint Nobody Got Time For That.

The aso-ebi fabric was splufik! Everything was set for the wedding, except that the gown was too tight and she didn't know how to tie her gele.

She sucked in her tummy and did the best she could in tying her scarf.

"11:30 am?!" Zaaappp! She hurried downstairs to catch the first taxi she saw. As she walked into the church, one of the groomsmen caught her attention. 

" Chai, see fine boy!" She thought to herself, "Market must sell today sha, bad as e bad at least one customer."

She saw her girlfriends from work and said "hi" from a distance.

"Nonso, wassup now? Come lets take selfies"

"Na trouble? Me no do single ladies with una oo!! Abeg, life na per head, leave me" she hissed

With that, she grudgingly walked to them and smiled for the camera.

She joined the only chic with a car to the reception venue, alongside three others. 

They watched with amazement how Nonso abandoned them and went to sit close to the groomsmen/bridal train table.

"Ahan! Nawa o, why are you acting so weird? Any issue?" pinged Adaora

"Abeg make una no vex. I just saw some old friends on this table that's why" replied Nonso

I saw her today at the office as she was narrating how one bobo who she met at the wedding, asked her for a date, I could see the excitement in her eyes...

"See eh, I've told dem Joy sorry o, haa, I didn't want them to spoil my market na. We are friends, yea, but when it comes to marriage mata, mehn, aint nobadi gat tym for that!"

Laugh almost choked me.

That Instant

Have you ever met someone and in one instant, you knew that they would like you? That in the split second it took to generate that thought, you knew that there was a connection that, was like electricity and both parties felt it and even though it’s invisible and no words have been exchanged, mutual thoughts were being exchanged and you were both on the same frequency?

So there I was this Monday evening, I was trying to get home after a day of work onsite with my Dad on Ikorodu road in the usual traffic snarl that is Lagos. 

I looked over to my left and there she was. She was astonishing. She’s the kind of beauty my best friend and I would spend no time arguing where’d she fit in the scale. She broke the scale. 

Possibilities. If not for the close to seven and a half tons of steel between us and hundreds of other road users. The three and a half seconds we spent in that state seemed like an eternity.  She waved her left hand to ask if she could join my lane (left hand: quick, inspect: No ring, she fair skinned and has no light band on her left hand-never wore a ring; meaning not married, never been engaged). Hey, I’m normally courteous, but I actually went outta my way to grant her wish.She couldn't have asked any nicely. She could have asked with an AK47 and it would still be nice. I yielded. She could take the road. While she was at it, she could take my heart, money and my destiny.

There is this warm feeling I get whenever I’ve done something nice. That’s usually motivation to do stuff. In this case, however, I was a bit selfish. I know that we’ll meet again and when we do she’ll be constrained to at least like me. In her subliminal subconsciousness that is actually her superconscience she’ll remember our little event. If you’re confused, don’t worry I’m confused too. I’m sure I don't know what I'm saying, but the thought feels good. 

"The road has freed up; Lets go" It was for only a moment. I work too hard, and daydream even harder. 

Now, I had to get home.