One Night In Ibeshe – Episode 1

One Night in Ibeshe – Episode 1

By

Kayode Odusanya

There were four vehicles parked haphazardly in the large compound; two black Toyota Camrys, one grey wrangler jeep, and a white Toyota bus. The mansion would have been a sight to be hold in the 90s, but now had worn out lemon green paint, peeling off its walls and patches of grass here and there. Paul and his nineteen friends were wearing white tops, hanging around in small gatherings, all over the compound, waiting for the last person before they would head out to the resort centre at Ibeshe. Paul had put everything together. That was his speciality, along with making mouth watering chicken barbecue.

Everyone was getting impatient, and the displeasure was evident on their faces when Paul’s mom called everyone together for a prayer. Thank God it didn’t last more than five minutes, and there was a thunderous amen at the end when she said they should make sure to have fun.

Paul, a big and black guy shaped like a giant teddy checked his watch with a frown on his face, and then gave the order for everyone to get in their cars and move out. “We don wait enough jare.” He said when Frank went to meet him and asked why they were no longer waiting for Anthony. Frank wasn’t happy with the new development, but he too had to admit to himself that Anthony had delayed the crew for far too long. They were meant to have left about half an hour ago if they weren’t waiting for Anthony.

Janet was in the front seat of her boyfriend’s Camry, waiting for him to come in when his phone beeped. She wanted to ignore it, but it beeped two more times and when she looked she saw the message, ‘When are you getting back? I’m really Hot.’ She took a deep breath, looked back to make sure he wasn’t approaching. He was still talking to Paul as she quickly picked up his black Android phone, unlocked it, and checked the message. All she needed was the girl’s name. When she got that, she put the phone back on the Camry’s centre console.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with Anthony sef. We asked him to come in from Ibadan yesterday.” Frank said in a grumbling manner as he got into the car and started it up. Frank was about 5 ft 5, and 55kg in weight. He had the stature of a junior secondary school student even though he was in his mid twenties. He never let his size dictate the kind of girls he went for; in fact, like Janet and his past girlfriends, he liked them tall and thick.

“So are we leaving him behind?” Janet asked, showing no sign of anger from what she had just seen on his phone.

“I don’t even know. I guess we will wait for him at the bus stop.” Frank said as he put the car in drive and drove towards the gate.

The grey wrangler jeep went out first, then the white Camry. The bus was about to drive out when it stopped, the door swung open, and lanky Benjamin shouted out, “Anthony in the building!!!” Anthony had finally arrived. He was a quiet looking guy who looked like the black version of Ron Perlman; the actor that played Hellboy in the Hellboy movie. He was tall, buff, had strong facial futures, and ugly. Janet could feel the excitement in Frank’s voice when he poked his head out of the car and shouted out, “Anthony baba!” The guy smiled and waved at Frank before getting into the bus. Frank had told her a lot about him, but this was the first time Janet was seeing the recluse who never liked to leave his home.

Although there were twenty-one people in total embarking on the trip, the original friends were just four; Paul, Frank, Anthony, and Benjamin. Every one else was a friend, or a friend of a friend.

The vehicles formed a single file outside Paul’s house and began the journey to the jetty.

……….

The drive down to the jetty at Satellite Town was a hectic one. Lagos was known for traffic, but the side of Lagos they were heading to was traffic haven. At several points, they lost each other, and had to make calls to form the convoy again.

At the time they finally got out of traffic, Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Starting Something came on in Frank’s car, and he started dancing in his seat while cutting through the expressway enthusiastically. It pissed Janet off that he was cheating on her and was so cool with it. At a point, he started repeating the words from the song, ‘ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa’ over and over again. It got on her nerves and she blurted out, “Who’s Annabel?” He looked at her but didn’t respond. She turned down the volume of the sound system and repeated herself, “Who is Annabel?” He turned to look at her like he didn’t know what she was talking about and kept his eyes back on the road.

After a prolonged silence, he said, “Why did you go through my phone? Why?”

“How long have you been seeing her?”

“Janet, not now. Not now. Please don’t ruin this…”

“Frank!” She screamed. The black Benz in front of them had stopped all over a sudden, and Frank quickly applied the breaks. The car came to a screeching halt, but not before giving the Mercedes a little bump.

“Shitt.” Frank cursed under his breath before unfastening his seatbelt and getting out of the car. He walked to the front of the car to check for damages; there wasn’t much, just a scratch. “I’m sorry.” He said, when the driver of the Benz came out. He was a mean looking man in his thirties, dressed like he was still in his late teens with the way he had his pants sagging and the tight fitting black tee he had on.

The man lowered the dark shades he had on and examined the car for a while without saying anything. By this time, Janet had gotten out of the car as people were gathering. “Young man, what are we going to do now?” He said with a sinister grin on his face.

“Sir, the damage is not that bad. I’m sorry. Let’s just…”

“Just what?” The man’s disposition quickly changed. “You bash my car because you dey talk to your Olosho, and you are…”

“Who is Olosho? Are you crazy?” Janet cut in. She was instantly angry, and had to hold herself back from attacking the man physically. “You must be mad this man.”

“Guy, hold your girl o.” The man said to Frank.

“Bro, you no suppose talk to my woman like that nah.” Frank said.

“See this pikin o.” The man removed his glasses and put them on his Benz’s boot. “Or what? What will you do?” Frank didn’t say any more words, he just lipped forward, throwing a punch that the man swerved back from, and a scuffle begun.

The man was a lot bigger than Frank, and in no time, he had overpowered him. He pinned him down by the rear end of the Benz and started pounding him with punches. Frank had his hands up, covering his face, and the man went on to punch him continuously in the abdomen.

Janet stood there, watching her boyfriend being humiliated. Wanting to get into the fight, but hoping her man would overpower the man himself and have his ego in tact. The moment she felt the beating was too much and was about to get into the fight, someone ran past her and grabbed the man off Frank in one swift move. And, wham, the man was on the floor, getting his a$$ beat up.

She froze, looking at Anthony, her boyfriend’s best friend who she had never met before, beating the man that had just beat up her boyfriend, and for some strange reason, she was turned on. He was like a loyal beast that had come to his master’s rescue.

The other guys were around now, and they had to pull Anthony off the guy, as the beating was getting too graphic. It took two guys to do that; his white polo top had patches of blood stain here and there.

To be continued

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