(Episode 1)
Christmas in November
Jane opened the door. It was Felix, he was drunk again,
Jane: “Baby, you’re drunk again?”
He staggered almost lurching to the ground but she held him and they were supported by the hand of the chair,
Felix: “My friend would you let go of me. I want to lie on my water bed,” pointed to the chair, she held him with all her might as he struggles to be freed.
Jane: “Let’s go to the room, please!” Felix kept up with the tussle. It was eleven thirty at night. Jake dragged his feet to the sitting room where the noise came from.
Jake: “Mum, what’s happening?”
Jane looked at his direction,
Jane: “Nothing, Jake!” Felix pushed and pushed but she didn’t let go
Jake: “Is he drunk again?”
Jane: “Go in, son! It’s late go in and sleep!”
Jake: “Is he going to beat you again?”
Jane: “No, Jake, daddy doesn’t beat me!” she struggled to keep him on the chair to attend to her inquisitive son.
Jake was five years old but he knew too much for his age; he quizzed one like an elder.
She went closer to him, panting from the struggle,
Jane: “Look at me,boy, your dad doesn’t beat me.”
Jake: “Mum, you’re lying!” he said in a sober tone.
Jane: “Jake!”
Jake: “I’m sorry mum.”
Jane: “What are you supposed to say?”
Jake: “You aren’t telling the truth,mum.”
Jane: “Good,” she knelt holding his teary face in her hands, “daddy is just having some hard time right? He’s going to be fine,” he nodded.
Jake: “But the other day. I heard him yelling at you and he left you with bruised faces. I heard you telling Auntie Eunice that he tripped and fell but that was a li… sorry not the truth!”
“Damn!” Jane said unconsciously.
Jake: “Mum you’re swearing!”
Jane: “Sorry,son. It’s a mistake!”
Felix was scattered on the chair snoring like an old engine that was gathering momentum to start. How she going to discharge Jake? And the ideas he had of his dad being a batterer, how was she going to get them off that little head!”
Jake looking towards the direction of Felix,
Jake: “Mum is dad a monster?”
She was bemused,
Jane: “Jake! Who taught you that?”
Jake: “By Religious teacher!”
Jane: “He called your dad a monster!” Jake shook and nodded the head at the same time. She was vexed, what are they teaching kids in school nowadays? she thought.
Jake: “Not really! He said God hates men who beat their wives and he called the monsters!”
Jane sighed,
Jane: “Jake, that’s true,well, “ she sighed again, “Somehow it is but your dad isn’t a monster. Yes it is true that he beat me once but it was a mistake and humans make mistakes. And God doesn’t hate anybody,” Jake nodded, “Fine!”
……
It was eleven forty-one that night and Jerry had his parents’ house crowded with friends. There was a wild party going on,
Jerry: “Let’s parry tonight! Woah!”
The crowd went wild into wild dances as the DJ played both African and Western party mix. The very big compound was so filled with people that bodies had to shove one another before passing,
Jerry: “C’mon, baby!” Jerry drew a girl close and kissed her as others clung on him.
A guy with Mohawk climbed the stairs where the DJ had mounted her equipments, he was one of Jerry’s closest buddies, Ugo was his name but was called Jigga,
Jigga: “Hol’ up ! Hol’ up everyone!” he said in stupor, “ information got to me the realest Jigga that we should all move to the swimming pool area. It’s now time for the pool parry! Hope y’ll brought ya bikinis! Let’s go have fun!”
Kingsley, who was Jerry and some group of girls, yelled,
Kingsley: “Mad fun!!”
The crowd cheered, “Yaay!!” they ran out of the living room to the pool side as they changed to bikinis and shorts. It was rush. Some things were damaged in the process; expensive flower vessels and other expensive things.
Jerry wasn’t bothered. His parents were too rich to fix whatever was broken. Jerry was a spoilt brat.
Hon. Audu was his father, one of the richest man in the country, Ronke, was his mother popularly known as Iya Loja, she has being the president of market women in Lagos state for as long as ten years. Audu Garba was his full name; he was from Kaduna state but had grown up in Lagos with his uncle. He was more of a Lagosian than an Aboki as the westerners would refer to the northerners. Iya Loja was Audu’s childhood sweetheart and had married her after his varsity degree in spite of the fact that she hadn’t completed her secondary school education. He loved her all the same. How they met was hilarious! Audu Uncle’s wife had a shop close to Iya Loja’s mother. The first time Audu met her he had just gotten admission into secondary school. She was very beautiful; her beauty was one that could steal words from lips.
They had travelled for a relative’s wedding to be back in a few days time.
In no time the party had been moved to the pool side, crazy dances went on. Bottles of Brandy and all sorts of alcoholic drinks were spluttered everywhere. It was a crazy sight.
Jerry was standing with arms around two girls holding glasses of wine as Kingsley came from behind and pushed them into the pool. It evoked a roar.
Jerry who was laughing yelled,
Jerry: “F**k you, man”
A car approached the house.
…..
Comfort flipped open her Bible, about to sleep and needed to do her night prayers. She had opened to Psalm 91 and she recited,
Comfort: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress,my God, in whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night,nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked If you say, The Lord is my refuge,and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” She covered the Bible and prayed in whispers.
Her phone had been ringing while she was praying. It was on silent so it wouldn’t be a distraction. It was her boyfriend, Israel. There came a knock on her door and the call came again! It was eleven forty one at night. Hesitated but picked the call,
Israel: “I’m at your door,baby!” with the speed of Bolt she opened the door,
Comfort: “Woah! What happened?”
He dragged his bags in, she helped me. Exhaustion was written all over his body. Israel was a movie director; always travelling around and out of the country. He was one of the youngest but best directors, who made sensational Nollywood movies,
Israel: “We are trying our best to flush out all those heads that have made the industry look like a childish venture. We need to change our image in the global world. Nollywood should be known for producing good and fascinating movies!” he’d always say whenever he was on the phone talking to a client or me.
Sometimes it was boring having a filmmaker as a boyfriend and other times very interesting.
Israel: “I lost the keys to my house again and the spare is inside!”
He had just returned from Maiduguri they had gone to shoot a movie there. It was a film about the abducted Chibok girls.
……
Jane had put Jake to sleep by the time she came back to where Felix was he had messed up the sitting room. He was till vomiting,
Jane: “Oh my God!” disgust had held her. Where was she going to start from? It was,sure, going to be a long night.
Felix looked up licking his lips,
Felix: “My friend would you stop mopping at me and come and clean this mess!” he dashed to out of the room walking on the vomit; he muddled the whole place as the sneakers were immersed in the vomit. With each step it splashed on the expensive tiles.
Jane: “Baby, you’re making a mess of this place!” she said as he belched. He was heading to the bedroom, she ran after him, “Baby, wait and get cleaned so you wouldn’t..” the next thing she felt was blood dripping from the side of her eyes.
…….
Iya Loja: “ Skief,what’s that I ‘eard in close to our compound?”
They are both seated at the back as the driver entered the bend that led to the house,
Audu: “The music?”
Iya Loja: “Ehen?”
Audu: “That can be from the house. No not my house.”
Jerry was used to pulling stunts; he was thirty but wasn’t taking life serious. All he knew how to do was bring trouble to his parents. He still behaved like a teenager. He had been expelled from five private universities in Nigeria and abroad. Audu had promised his wife who was always pampering him that the next stunt he pulled. He would be stripped off of all his entitlements as the only son. He had a younger sister, who was schooling abroad.
Iya Loja sat shaking in the car, “Hope this Jerry isn’t doing anything silly, “she thought. For as they got closer to the house, the noise became louder, Audu was restless too.
At the gate it was obvious that it was their house. The party was at the house.
Iya Loja got out of the car after the driver honked the horn for forty minutes but no reply. Audu was too angry to get down.
Iya Loja: “Ah,mogbe! Dis Jerry iyaff wantu kill me ooo!” she hit the gate but no one answered.
Audu joined by the driver banged the gate and some young drunk men opened and identified themselves as bouncers before Jerry’s parents could say a word, one of them said, “this bash ain’t for oldies.” They banged the gate at them. They were dead drunk.
Audu entered the car and instructed the driver to take him to his gate house down town, almost leaving Iya Loja who was still trying to fight her way in.
Audu: “I’ve had it up to here!”
……
Comfort: “I’m sorry,baby!”
Israel had turned away. They were on the bed. She tried touching him but he snapped at her,
Israel: “Let me be,please!”
She was still a virgin and he had been pleading with her to let him have it but she kept insisting,
Comfort: “Let it be on our wedding nights!” but that was an excuse and she knew it.
He had pleaded they get married but she was always bringing up excuses of not been ready. The truth was, whenever she was touched by a man, it irritated her. She hated foreplay and that was one of the reasons she didn’t have a boyfriend. Having s*x or foreplay? She couldn’t imagine herself doing that.
Israel noticed that at some point he suspected that she was into women that was the case on campus some accused her of being a lesbian but she wasn’t; although, she had a romance with a friend, Vivian, in secondary school. It felt good but coming across the book of Romans from chapter one to the end she realized it was a sin. For a week she embarked on fasting and prayers and after then it never happened again.
Israel moved when she kept apologizing,
Israel: “Please!”
She sighed and said,
Comfort: “Maybe you should go get another girlfriend,” she sulked.
Israel jumped out of the bed and yelled,
Israel: “Fine!” he bolted out of the room.
She wanted to beg him but something held her words back.
