A Run through the Night (9)

"Man Nosike! Where you dey since?" He asked his friend.

Nosike extricated himself from the surging mass of humanity to position himself close to Tega and Abigail. Cheers erupted from the crowd as Legs of Steel won the one hundred metres race for Blue House.

"Oh boy, tori dey," Nosike said to Tega beaming with smiles."You know dat maata for Olodi Apapa, she don gba my own. I go gist you after." The crowd cheered again as the female one hundred metres athletes were called to the make shift starting blocks. "So na who dey win?" Nosike inquired.

"Bo man, me I no know. See, we have a party later on. Funmi's boyfriend has something to celebrate and Abigail has asked that we - you and I - come along. You interested?" "Do I like sunshine? Of course I am! Who else is going?" "Just you and I; and the rest of the girls. Abigail's circle." "Oh yeah? I guess the boys in our class are not popular in Abigail's book," Nosike quipped, not looking at Abigail, knowing she would not leave his remarks unanswered.

Abigail, known for her quick tongue, did not disappoint him.

"No mumu in that class will go out with my friends and I. You only made it because you are kind of nice, and because you are Tega's paddy." Abigail was known to be sharp with her tongue, always ready to reduce anyone to smattering foolishness with her tongue, but she was not without a sense of humour.

"I'm sure I am nice," Nosike replied, "What I don't know is why you won't be my girl. It has to be an older guy and definitely not a school boy." It was well known that Nosike had always wanted Abigail. She, on her part, did not show interest. The problem was school romance or popcorn love as Abigail termed it, was out of the question for her.

At Nosike's words, she turned swiftly to Tega. "Tiger, e bi like say dis you paddy no wan go dis party! Just tell am make e no embarrass me for there o." Tega laughed lightly, "Don't worry he would behave. Abi you no know as Nosike yab?" The games were moving to the climax. The atmosphere became tense. The invitation relay was called. This was the event for men. Thick muscled men filed out to the starting blocks. Tega steered his friends out of the crowd. They broke from the teeming crowd and moved to the southern end of the field, to sit among the grass, some few metres from the canal. Tega knew from experience that inter-house sports got rough soon after the invitational relay. He had always been edgy around this period; he either moved away from the centre of activities or left the pitch altogether. He was not a coward but bravery does not imply walking into trouble with your eyes open.

Funmi, Helen, Nike, Tawa, Deborah and Uche joined them. And that was how Biola and his friend found them. Funmi saw them first and broke from her schoolmates. She hugged Biola self-consciously and dragged him by the hand to meet her friends.

"Guys," she said to them, by way of introduction, "this here is Biola, my...my boyfriend, and this is his friend Biodun." She turned to Biola and Biodun.

"You've met all the girls, so I won't bother you with their boring names. The boys are Tega - we him call Tiger - and Nosike." Tega got up and shook hands with Biola and Biodun. Biodun's hand was warm and friendly. Biola's was firm, very firm.

"My pleasure meeting you," Tega said. "I've heard very interesting things about you" "Me too," Biola replied.

"I'm sure you have not heard anything of me," Nosike said, stretching his hand towards Biodun, then Biola.

"You see, it's not everybody that's popular as Tiger. The girls prefer to ignore my existence, but I do exist or don't you think so?" Everyone began to laugh as they usually did when Nosike had the floor.

"Like she told you, I mean Funmi," Nosike continued, "my name is Nosike, but, let me properly introduce myself...." "Oh, don't start now, Nosike," Helen cut in.

"Let him get it out of his system," Tega offered.

"Like I was going to say before that power failure," Nosike ploughed on, eliciting another round of laughter. "My name is Nosike Chidi Obudulu; my middle name is the interesting one. It is Chidi, just Chidi, no addition, no subtraction. The name varies in meaning. At one level, it means there's time and that is the one my grandmother prefers. At another level, it means the unequivocal affirmation of the existence of God, and that's the one I prefer. Some people, however, say that ‘chi' means a personal god or angel. Therefore, Chidi means to them that there are angels, but since my grandfather who gave the name knew no angels, he couldn't have been talking about angels. So it is Chidi, not Chidiebere or Chidimma. That, gentlemen, is my name and I'm sure glad to know you." There were sighs of relief amidst chuckles when he finished his treatise.

"So, Funmi, Abigail, are we set?" Biola asked. Funmi turned to her friends. "Guys," she said, gesturing elaborately, sweeping the air with her hands.

They all got up and started heading out of the sports centre. The invitation replay was over and people were already drifting from the pitch. The air of expectation was palpable. Tega looked around, his antenna seeking out trouble. He sought the ‘Jaguda' boys that preyed on students. If they were not in the sport ground already, they would be making their appearance soon, and then there would be trouble.

"Hey, school boy!" Someone called out to him. He knew the voice. He would always know that voice. Besides, he knew only too well those who called him "School boy." Tega turned to find Ade lurking in a corner with a smile that looked like a grin on the face of a baby monkey. Ade is a thug, the leader of a group of overage undesirable elements that had elevated the act of terrorizing helpless students into a glorified profession. There were myths about Ade. The myths were so stretched out of proportion that the mere mention of the name Ade sent shivers down the spine of most students.

One of such myths had it that Ade once stormed a classroom while a class was going on, lifted a girl on his shoulder and walked away. The girl was not seen for some days, and when she showed up, no questions were asked. And she did not volunteer any information concerning her ordeal at the hands of her captor. There were other stories of rape and stabbing involving Ade - tales that chilled the bones. Tega had had a few brushes with Ade and his bunch. He had only barely survived with minor injuries. What Tega could not understand was why Ade, who is almost forty years old, with an obvious native intelligence, the son of a senior Police officer could lead such a wasteful life.

"Baba Ade," Tega greeted. He noted that the girls around him were already jittery with the sudden appearance of their nightmare.

"Where una dey go?" Ade queried.

"We just dey escort di people wey come see us," Tega replied.

"I hope so o, because na girls dey make inter-house sweet," Ade sniggered.

"Yeah, I know wetin you mean. We go soon come back," Tega told him.

They walked on, towards the ferry. Soon the sports ground was behind them and they came within the relatively safe sanctuary of the school area, with the ferry just ahead.

"What was that all about?" Biola asked puzzled by the exchange he had just witnessed.

"You don't want to know, my friend, you don't want know." Tega assured him.

At the ferry, they boarded a rickety boat and were paddled across the fetid black canal to Tin Can Island. There were two Peugeot cars waiting for them. They piled into the cars and were driven to Ona-Odo Street, Ojo Town, to the party at Biola's house.

The party It was the age of innocence. And of guilt. When children were good. And bad. When they loved. And raged. It was a good time, a simple time. And it was a bad time, a difficult time. Music was part of life. Music had more than just a spark to ignite the moment. It was in music of the time that great moments were buried in...

The party was in full swing. And the music carried them away. When Biola offered Tega a chilled bottle of Gulder, he could not refuse. Tega did not drink. Neither did he smoke. And that said a great deal about a student from Tolu, where marijuana and drugs like Chinese capsules were easy to come by. His friends had in the past tried to have him sample a few hard stuffs - he remained resolute - no hard stuff. As far as he could discern, there was no intrigue in Biola's offer, especially when others, even the girls, were downing bottle after bottle. It would therefore appear rude and unfriendly if he were to refuse the offer.

He took a sip, no problem. He nodded and took a long pull. The music swept him away. He was floating. Madonna's ‘Whose That Girl'; The Jackson's ‘Body'; Noel's ‘Silent Morning'; Col. Abraham's' ‘Trapped'; New Edition's ‘Cool it Down' and Sunny Ade's ‘Let Them Say.' These were the pearls of the time and they filled the room with vibrancy, emotion, and trapping the moment forever in time. For Tega, wrapped in the soft cocoon of alcoholic embrace, life was a party and he was going to dance...

The girl with strange eyes There was a girl. He could make her out through the haze. A girl with strange eyes. Their eyes met. Time stopped. The music spun on. Biola handed him another bottle. Sade's ‘Sweetest Taboo' took him. He floated to the girl, stretched out his hands to her. She took it and walked back to the dance floor with him. The songs merged into each other but they remained on the dance floor. Sisters' Sledge's ‘Frankie'. They danced. Tega was already floating on the ceiling. Barry White's ‘This Love' and ‘I Want You', Kool and The Gang's ‘Fresh' and ‘Cherish'.

Dave Chukwuji's ‘A Run through the Night' continues next Sunday in The Lagos Review.