ToDaY’s GiSt- The Life of a City Brawler “Episode 2”

Hey folks!, hope you all enjoyed the first episode of this story…. Thanks for the comments and constructive criticism…. Keep them coming….. So, sit back, read and enjoy this episode….

Hell hath no fury! I rushed out of  my room and noticed that the bar right  beside my house had its generator on …I ran into the bar and a man with an indian hemp induced voice…. ” Mr Man! What is wrong with you, sit your drunk ass down, the  National lotto draw is on” 
Lotto? I asked myself, yea, lotto! That’s sure why I am here…. I sat down quietly, my heart racing a million times over… “has the winning number been announced?..” I asked the man sitting next to me” not completely, he replied….I glanced at the big Tv screen and noticed that
a commercial was running…. I eased down a bit , sweat trickling down the brows of my eyes and all over… Then I let my mind wander….
N100 million, I whispered silently…….. That kind of money would change my life …what would I do with it…??? Thoughts of different shapes and brands of cars raced through my mind…Range Rover sport, a Mercedes Benz , maybe a BmW?? But hey! I can’t drive that kind of car and still live in a slum such as this… A nice apartment on Victoria Island wouldn’t be a bad idea either… In my mind, I had spent and invested the N100million already…. Wheew!, ” waiter, please serve me a cold bottle of Farouyz” I called out…. The lady walked sluggishly and  handed over the bottle nonchalantly , I watched  with disgust…. ” do not worry, let me win this money first , then I’ll show you!” I thought to myself…
 My attention was drawn back to the TV screen, when the commercials were over, the presenter repeated” the winning  number  for this week’s draw is  8-9-2-1-3-7-0-0-1-4 …
  …. What! I choked immediately on the soft drink…. I coughed wickedly and managed to glance at the screen again, I couldn’t believe my eyes as I matched the numbers on the screen with the numbers on my ticket….. I jumped up, grabbed the bottle of Fayrouz and smashed it on the floor! Their Father! I screamed out loudly, I don win oooo! I screamed repeatedly …words could not explain how I felt… Me, TJ, a millionaire, I was in the clouds …. 
In an instant, I became conscious of where I was…. I turned and looked around… about 20 men with fierce looks on their faces were staring at me…. 
Then the devil among them spoke,” wetin una dey wait for , grab this man and let’s get that ticket!” ticket? What ticket, without thinking, I found myself in motion, my brain must have subconsciously communicated with my legs, because before they could realise anything, I was running as fast as Usain Bolt, and as I was doing this, I heard people shouting  ” ole! ole! ole! ( thief! thief! Thief!) …in an instant the whole community was after me… But I just wouldn’t  stop, with the ticket firmly clutched in my hand, I kept running for my dear Life…. Just as I thought I had gotten away, I saw a huge man right in front of me, then the last thing I heard and saw was a large whack of wood which hit me across my face…. And almost immediately, I blanked out……
I woke up to find myself in the BRT, choked  with the the putrid smell of someone’s warring belly…. Damn! It was just a dream… A bad! bad dream! The woman next to me turned and looked at me, ” are you alright?,she asked” Alright? Huh? Did she just asked if I was alright? I asked myself…Mssssscheeeew!…. I turned and noticed  the bus had gotten to my stop… I looked at the woman menacingly,
ignored her and quietly got off…. What in God’s name just happened.. A dream! That looked too real to be a dream, ” I said to myself.. I quickly, dipped my hand into my pocket and brought out the lotto ticket…. I glanced at the number , sighed and spat….
As I got home…. my wife was waiting arms akimbo…. She was ready to pounce…and pounce she did, she grabbed me by my shirt and started shouting as loud as she could…” you this yeye man, you left this house without dropping a dime… You won’t get into this house today if you don’t give me money” she said, I looked at her dangerously, brushed her aside and attempted to go in….and as her hands came out of my chest pocket, she brought out the ticket, ” so this is what you spend all your money on, Gambling abi?” I ignored her tantrums and switched on the tv , I increased the volume so it could probably drown hers… 
” you won’t say anything abi?” she
said” she tore the tickets , hissed then hurled more insults….
 I sank into the couch, ” life is so so hard I thought to myself… Why me? Whilst deep in thoughts….  The sound from the TV got my attention….and a familiar voice came on…
 A voice I had heard somewhere….
” the winning numbers for today’s grand national lottery is….. 8-9-2-1-3-7-0-0-1-4….
Daylight turned into nightmare, those numbers sounded and sure did look familiar….. I leapt from my seat and glanced at the torn pieces of my lottery ticket,I managed to piece them together and then the numbers couldn’t have been clearer
8-9-2-1-3-7-0-0-1-4 in pieces!
 

Guess what came to my mind?

For more updates on ToDaY’s PhOtO and ToDaY’s GiSt follow @sniper_ajix and check out my photo blog too http://sniperajix.shutterchance.com 😉

ToDaY’s GiSt- The Life of a City Brawler

Hope y’all enjoyed Ajoke’s “Whose Juice Got bad’? ahhh, that story ehn O bad gaan…Kudos to my mentor Ajoke… Well… my name is Bode.. and errmmm not the Bode in Ajoke’s story ooooo (before una lynch me…lmao)… I just got inspired by omopuparodorodo’s skill and I decided to drop this one for una make una enjoy…make una no just read ooo…abeg make una drop comment sef ..Hope y’all enjoy this one too…
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It was a sunny day, but the worst was yet to come, as I strolled tirelessly down the road to join a queue of eager BRT passengers, my mind strolled back to the events of the day… My name is Temitope Johnson, TJ as my friends and colleague fondly call me…I am 35 years old and  married with 2 kids….
At 6ft3 inches with a tough, tired look you could  not help but see through my pains… a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife… Life hasn’t been fair on me at all… currently employed  as an assistant supervisor in a construction firm owned by Indians, Poor pay and harsh working conditions were the order of the day….
“Oga wey your money?” I was jolted back to reality by the BRT official who produced a ticket, I brought out my wallet and paid…after some few Minutes, I finally boarded the Bus and sat down close to the widow side ……finally seated, I was quick again to drift back into thoughts and yes …….I had a lot to think about…
Trouble was waiting for me at home, The kids school fees were long overdue…and unpaid, I sneaked out early this Morning to avoid being embarrassed by my wife…,”God! How long can I continue to live like this?, “I thought silently… I was drenched in sweat, the habitual Lagos traffic was taking its toll on me… I turned, then noticed the passenger sitting next to me, a fairly big sized woman, with an extra ordinary dimple….My wife has a dimple too, it looked nice on her always, at least when we are not at each other’s throat.. the smile on my face turned to that of concerned when the woman sitting next to me, brought out 4 eggs, she politely offered me some and I politlely refused with a smile.. she gobbled the eggs quickly to my amazement and produced a bunch of bananas immediately…
“Bananas! Eggs! what next? I wondered,” this “orobo woman” go finish me here today” I silently thought to myself…. I wouldn’t have to wait for too long….
The smell was horrible, the whole bus became instantly choky………… this woman don mess!!!!!!!!!!!!! the smell was very putrid, as if a rat had died in her stomach……
” Who do this kain thing?”, someone managed to murmur from the rear …The woman stared at me dangerously as the other passengers continued to rain curses on the culprit… I could not talk even if I wanted to.. I couldn’t risk lifting off the handkerchief I used in covering my nose and mouth
I could not offer enough prayers when I got off the bus, the hot wind slapped across my face….
I walked home , braced myself and prepared for the worst…. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment in the slums of Ajegunle. I was greeted by my daughters who hurriedly opened the door to welcome me…fortunately my wife wasn’t in when I got back home… where could she have gone to? I asked myself?” Well, at least i got a breather… I slipped onto the couch, do not be deceived, the couch was a “passdown” from my dad and by my calculations the couch is a decade old already, “Life is good” peple would say…hell No! that side of Life hasn’t been available to me for a while… as I turned on the TV, the announcement for the national Lottery winner for the week was about to come on…. a friend of mine had convinced me to buy a day earlier,” You should try your Luck, he said…who knows you might win”
With less than no Hope, I took out my ticket  and listened to the announcer on the TV;
” the winning number for this week’s 100 Million naira grand national lottery is 8-9-2-1-3-7,” I checked my ticket and all of a sudden my eyes lit up My ticket number was ….. 8-9-2-1-3-7-0-0-1-4, I listened attentively,for the announcer to read out the remainder of the numbers………. then NEPA struck!

*To be continued*

For more updates on ToDaY’s PhOtO and ToDaY’s GiSt follow @sniper_ajix and check out my photo blog too http://sniperajix.shutterchance.com 😉

MagPagne, Street, Akilo, Ogba, Lagos, Sniper Ajix Photography, Graphics: Debola for AMP 2013.