LUNCH BREAK!

An eight or Nine year old girl walked up to me on the street and asked me if I had seen her parents. I was a little taken by this; 1.  I didn't know her and 2.  she was wearing a funny looking Barney suit with weird colours smeared on the front. She looked like she'd escaped from  a childrens' lets-see-how-much-paint-we-can-get-on-our-costumes birthday party. It was the middle of the day and the Port Harcourt sun was in a bad mood. The Barney costume must've been like a  sauna in there; but the girl wasn't sweating. I wiped my hand across my dmpp skin, there goes my brown powder!

BLACKMAIL!

The air was a weird orgy of delicious food aromas, designer perfumes and scented candles.The restaurant was full, but as always relatively calm. Chatter levels were barely above whispers. On most tables were couples on their first, second and  tenth dates. Mariam's eyes followed a beautiful slender waitress  gliding between pristine tables draped in fine  purple cloths. The slender girl carried a tray, on it was a steaming bowl of what she assumed was soup. The music wasn't bad. Jazz, always jazz. It was supposed to be soothing. But She was too pissed off to give a crap.




" You've lost your appetite?" Richard asked softly.


She stared at the untouched plate of noodles in front of her.


"Your powers of perception are outstanding" she shrugged.


Richard sighed and  dropped his fork. It clattered unceremoniously into his plate. The music switched to soft rock.  She didn't bother looking up. She knew   he was staring at her with those steady eyes of his.


"I've always been honest with you" he said.
"Is that some supposed to be an apology?" She said sipping  from her glass. The wine was delicious, but it seemed her taste buds were on a time-out.


"We both knew this day would come" he said.
"Now you sound like shitty script for a movie."


Long pause.


"What's wrong with you?" Any other person hearing his voice would've said it sounded calm and steady, but she knew Richard was getting worked up. Her eyes strayed towards his hands. She considered well-manicured nails sexy. It was one of the things that turned her on about him. Then her eyes fell on his wedding band. The 22.Carat gold ring BLINGED mockingly at her it seemed.


"My mind hasn't fully processed everything"  she said  looking away.




"There's nothing to process" he shrugged. "It is what it is"




"Really?" She stared at him. "You want to pull the tough guy act on me?"




"Don't make this any more difficu...."


"Oh please!" She raised her hands in the air.


"Enough with the cliches. I've been replaced by a younger model and that's that"


"Please Don't say that"


"Then tell me," She finally stared at him. "What exactly should I be saying, that you're NOT leaving me for someone else?"


"Its really not like that and you know it"


"So....you HAVEN'T found another mistress?" She arched an eyebrow.


"Don't call her that"


"I don't know what else to call a woman you're fucking behind your wife's back....but then again, I'm old fashioned." Her smile was without humour.




"Leave Elizabeth out of this!"




"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your wife part of our weird little  foursome?"




"This really doesn't concern her"




"Just because she doesn't know her husband's a dog, doesn't mean it's not her business"




Long pause.




The music had switched again. Classical Music wasn't really her thing. To her it sounded like something  they played in Mafia movies, during gun-fight scenes.




Richard leaned into the chair.




"Stop trying to make me the bad guy" He  was back to his Tough-Guy voice again.




"Ever notice how it's always the bad guys who always say that?" She grinned.




Richard suddenly lunged across the table and grabbed her hand.




"I don't want this relationship anymore. How else do you want me to say it?" He had an intense look in his eyes. It almost turned her on, if not for the fact that he was hurting her hand. He looked like he was about to hit her.




Long pause.




Several people looked up from their plates at them.




Time held its breath.




Enduring the pain, she slowly turned her head towards the table to their left. It was a subtle way of telling him not to make a scene. He slowly looked around, as if realizing where he was. Then he composed himself and let go of her hand. He settled back into his seat and sighed.


Another long pause.


"Do you love her?" Mariam said, nursing her hand.


"Don't be ridiculous" He scoffed and looked away.


"Ridiculous is a married man whom leaves his mistress for a younger one" She poured some wine into her glass. "Ridiculous is that married man denying it"
Richard didn't meet her gaze.

"Should I repeat the question?"


"Yes!" his  eyes finally met hers. "I love her. Infact I love her so much I want to---- I want to leave Elizabeth for her!"


"Are you being sarcastic?"


"No, I'm  being serious"


Mariam felt a shudder run through her. She wished she hadn't asked him, she wished she hadn't heard him say those words.


"You're an idiot" she heard herself say. "You're such an idiot"


She watched him compose himself . It was almost comical to see.


"I'm going to leave you some money in your account." He began. "You'll be well....."
The sound of her laughter cut him off.


He stared at her incredulously as she laughed on.


Several heads turned in their direction again.


"Wait...wait.." She said between giggles .


"You're going to...pay me off?....Should I do you an invoice?"


She giggled some more.

KOLLUPIA S02 E10

"Fuck this!" Broholo hissed. "


The sounds of approaching  vehicles.


"Cool it, Broholo." Zikah cautioned. " Just stay exactly where you are. Don't try anything....."


But Broholo was already running towards her.


"Stop, you'll step on....."


"Shut your trap old man!" Broholo  cut Micheal off. He crouched by Zihka's feet.


"What are you doing?" She hushed. There was a tinge of panic in her voice. "Get out of here, now!"




"Every landmine works the same way" Broholo said hurriedly as he flicked out a small knife. 


"If I can just replace the pressure....."


"We're shit outta luck if you get it wrong!"


"Just fucking Shut up and, let me focus Zikha"


The sounds of the vehicles were louder.


Micheal  counted at least four distinct vechicle -engines.  The soldiers would see them for sure. Even without their present predicament, a  gunfight  would be suicide. He doubted these hair-triggered militia wouldn't t open fire once they'd been spotted.  Understandably, he didn't couldnt care less about Broholo and Zikah. He had to save his son.


A blinding light exploded in his face. He q


"HALT!" Came a male voice that from the trees. "IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!"


Sounds of automatic weapons being cocked.


"Fuck!" Broholo exclaimed. His hands  working fervently under Zikha's foot.


"Don't shoot!" Micheal threw his hands in the air. A quick mental calculation told him there were at least ten different automatic rifles pointed at the three of them. Even If they somehow made a run for it, there were the landmines to contend with.


"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!!"


"Now, move your foot....slowly" Broholo was saying.


"..just leave me you idiot!" Zikah said under her breath.


"YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COMPLY!"


Micheal could hear the men behind the glare moving into position.


"Don't be stupid, Broholo"


"I'll leave you hear, Zikah. Now move your Fucking foot!"


"They're going to open fire if we don't drop our weapons" Micheal said, dropping his rifle.


"FIVE!"


"This is a bad idea!"


"Just fucking trust me, Zikha"


"If I die, Lucious dies. Now do as they say"


Micheal was losing his patience. Something in the Soldier's voice told him he wasn't bluffing.


"FOUR!"


Zikha took a deep breath, and gently lifted her foot off the ground. Broholo's blade was  inside the soil, its tip still pressed against the mine.


"THREE!"


"Move away from me, Zikha." Broholo panted .


 He moved his hand gently across the ground. Her nocturnal vision could see the fear in his eyes. In that cold moment, She realized what he was really trying to do.  A  sharp volt of panic shot through her.


"No....Bro...."


"Fucking go, Zikha!"


Micheal heard movement just beyond the light. Someone was trying to get a better angle.


"TWO!"


Zikha slowly backed away from Broholo.


"STAY EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE!" There was agitation in the voice now.


"I'm trying to disable the fucking mine!" Broholo barked.


"ONE!"


Zikha lunged at impossible speed. Her body crashed into Micheal's just as bullets tore the air. Hot lead ripped into Broholo's chest, arms and face. The dagger flew from his grasp.


Then the Mine exploded.


It's metal casing  ruptured into fragments upon the detonation. The steel  ball bearings inside the device  turned into lethal projectiles that shredded Broholo's upper torso, tearing sections of his body into the air.


Zikha screamed as the heat from the blast burned through the fabric on her back.  Dirt, blood and body parts  rained on her as she pressed against Micheal.


Then the dust slowly settled.


There was a searing pain in Micheal's head. It's intensity blocked out everything else. He couldn't feel Zikha's weight on him. He couldn't hear the soldiers around them. Only the pain existed. With each passing moment, it rose like a merciless Tsunami wave, until all he could do was scream.


"SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!"


It was the same voice from behind the light. 


Zikha felt a kick to her ribs. A lesser human would've groaned in pain, but Zihka was irritated. Not only had they killed her brother-in-arms, but they had the audacity to kick her too. She had half a mind,..okay maybe a little bit more than half, to crush the kicker's windpipe with her hands once she was on her feet. But the number of heart beats around her warned her to be cautious.


"Show me your hands!"


She slowly got off Micheal.....and why was he screaming so much?


"What's wrong with him?" A tall slender soldier  staring at Micheal. There was no emotion behind his voice. It was like listening to  of a Computer generated voice....cold.


"I...I don't know" Zikha replied staring at Micheal's writhing form on the ground. His screams tore through the cold night air like a madman's.


"He's too noisey" The Slender soldier pointed his rifle at Micheal. Zikha jumped into his line of fire.


" We're from the General's camp!" She blurted out staring into the rifle's nuzzle.


"Tell me something I don't know" he said simply. His finger began to squeeze the trigger.


Micheal was still screaming.


"He knows the location of something of great value to the General!" She exclaimed, speaking as fast as she could.


Long silence.


The barrel was steady. At this range, the first two rounds would split my head in two,she thought.


Micheal's screams were louder.


"So...he's crucial to your mission?"  The soldier said. His expression was like granite.


"We both are!" She said quickly, eyeing the other soldiers around her. They weren't especially well trained, but their numbers were enough to make a difference.


Micheal's screams had become loud groans.
"Are you lying to me?"


"You've just killed a member of my team" She replied quickly. "Why would I lie?"


Long pause.


More groaning from Micheal.


"Bring them" he ordered the men. "We're taking them back....and shut him up"


A soldier smashed a rifle butt into Micheal's head.


Silence.


"Let's move out!"










"Interesting turn of events" Sokha said, watching them take Micheal and Zikha away.


"Should we engage them?" One of the soldiers said.


They were standing on a ridge, approximately Fifty metres away from Micheal and Zikha's position.


The soldier was staring through a pair of Night-vision Binoculars. Of course, Sokha didn't need those to see what was going on.

"Sokha is not interested in gun-fight" he smiled. "Besides, those soldiers are part of larger force bearing down on us as Sokha speaks"

"DON'T MOVE!" Came a loud voice from behind them. The Soldiers froze.

Sokha slowly dropped the rifle in his grasp.

"You knew they were here?" The soldier's flabbergasted expression was comical under the moonlight.

"Sokha can hear Rat's fart Twenty metres away. Of course Sokha di

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" Another voice said.


The soldiers were all around them.

"You led us into an ambush?" The Soldier was looking around. The rest of the men were in the same state of panic. They looked around wide-eyed, fidgeting with their weapons. It was clear they were trapped.










"Wake up"
He felt a hard kick to his ribs. He had no memory of falling asleep. He remembered talking with Baba, he remembered being scared, then nothing. He fell into a dark dream in which he was being chased by shadows, "Blood! Blood! Blood!" They were chanting. He was running through a forest of black leaves.


Phantom voices over lapping one and another in the air. And so he ran. One of the shadows reached out with an arm twice, No...thrice as Long as a man. Its fingers were almost on his skin, when he woke up.

He more or less jumped awake. Baba and the boys stared at him, poised. It was as if they expected him to attack them.

Long pause.

The sunlight was trickling in through the trees.


The grass glistened with fresh dew drops. If Lucious hadn't been preoccupied with being trapped with these killers and the conundrum of saving his family, he would've heard the beautiful songs the birds were singing.

But he wasn't listening.

Baba's hand rested on the butt of his pistol. He had to admit it, the boy was dangerous. Was it wise to leave him alive? He wondered. The speed and strength he'd demonstrated earlier was frightening. The boy was clearly possessed by a demon. Whatever that meant for the war was unknown. But no doubt Overlord would know what to do with the boy- If they could get him back to their camp without incident.

The boy stared at him in silence. Maybe the kick was a bad idea.

"It is morning," Baba said softly. "A chopper will take us to The New Pride City"

"I want to see my father" Lucious whispered.

"Your father, your father," Baba rolling his eyes.


 "None of us have fathers!" He grabbed one of the boys by the arm and raised it into the air.The
boy either didn't notice or didn't care. The last three fingers on the boy's hand had been crudely hacked off.

"Where was his father when his fingers were cut?" Baba snarled. "Overlord was the only father who cared for him, protected him"

He dropped the boy's hand and leaned into Lucious' face. He suddenly seemed like a blackened skull come to life.

"The spirits have brought you to us...Overlord is your father".

Long pause.

"No!"

"No?" Baba wasn't certain he'd heard right.


"You would refuse?"

Lucious was about to say something when he heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.

Every boy seemed to tighten his grip on his weapon.

"It's Skull!"  a particularly thin boy called out.


He looked like if he'd screamed any louder, he'd faint out of exhaustion.

The tension in the air went down a notch.

"Our ride is here" Baba smiled.

There was a  flurry of movement just beyond the trees. The boys and Baba seemed pleased some how as if they were meeting very old friends.

Apparently, two trucks had arrived. One of the truck drivers seemed to be quite popular.

"Skull!" The boys cheered.

A large muscular man came through the trees.

"Always a pleasure to see you, my friend!" He shook Baba's hand.

"I trust your trip was without incident?"   Skull said. To be fair, the man's head actually looked like a very large skull.

The boys were still cheering behind them. They were like children running around a favorite parent. Lucious remembered running around his Dad when he was younger. Funny how it seemed like a life time ago.

"Where's Scatta?" The big man asked. His large eyes scanned the faces of the boys . A weird silence descended. It seemed a thick cloud had suddenly darkened the morning.

"Where's my brother?" The big man's smiling face had vanished. In its place was a fierce expression of rage. He turned  towards Baba.

"We had a small problem,..." Baba began, picking his words carefully.

Skull's eyes followed him the way a lion's would follow a Hyena in the forest.

"He didn't survive the test" Baba said finally meeting Skull's gaze.

"How?" Skull asked without blinking.

Long silence.

"The--boy we found in the forest---"
"How did my brother die?" Skull advanced towards Baba. He easily towered over him. He was like an armored tank standing next to Baba. The boys seemed to hold their breaths.

"---the boy," Baba pointed at Lucious. "he may be of use to----"

Skull moved faster than anyone could see. In a less than two seconds, he grabbed Baba's head with both hands and twisted his head anti-clockwise. A loud sound that was like the breaking of a branch echoed across the clearing. Baba stood there for a few seconds with his face grotesquely twisted at an impossible angle. He seemed to hover for a few seconds before his body fell to the ground.

No one moved.

The boys stared at their fallen leader with fear in their eyes. Lucious noticed a small dark patch form on the trousers of one of them.

Lucious felt a thunder in his chest. His legs suddenly felt flaccid underneath him.

"How did my brother die?" Skull said stepping over the fresh corpse towards Lucious. " Tell me the truth,or  I'll break you two"
Lucious stared at Baba's lifeless form. The other teenagers withdrew as far as they could from him. Up close, Skull was like a mountain.


His shoulders were easily four times bigger than Dad's. There was no doubt that this man could squash him as an after thought.

"don't --- know what happened," Lucious began. "I blacked out---when I came to---"
"HOW DID MY BROTHER DIE?" The air from his mouth smelled of rot. His eyes were like peep holes into hell.

"Baba--- told me,----that I broke his arm---as if it were a twig," Lucious gulped.

In a flash, Skull's hand was at his throat. He felt the fingers squeeze into his flesh as the ground seemed to give way under his feet.

"How is that possible?" Skull's breath was in his face. "How could a twat like you kill my brother?"

Lucious was making choking sounds, the pressure on his neck was excruciating.

"Scatta was a warrior" Skull continued. "I trained him myself,"

The pressure on Lucious' throat was intense.


The rest of Skull's arm was like an Oak branch.


He was losing consciousness.

"---how could you kill Scatta?"

"He's one of them!" One of the teenagers blurted out.

The pressure around his throat loosened.

"Them?" Skull grinding his teeth.

Through his hazy vision of pain, Lucious saw one of the boys fearfully  forward. He was the teen with the mutilated hand.

"--Yes" the boy said. The other teens drew away from him as if he were a hand-grenade about to go off. "He's--- one of the Strange Ones"

"Don't play games with me, Seven" Skull snarled. The fingers around Lucious' neck tightened again.

"---Its true" another boy said. "Baba----wanted to bring him to Overlord" 

Skull turned his head to stare at the smallish boy.

Long pause.

"Let him go, Skull" said a man walking out of the trees. "We're here to drive the trucks. You can kill him when Overlord's done with him.

"And why not now?"  Skull growled. The black spots at the edges of Lucious' vision were spreading.

"You really want to piss Over Lord by killing one of them?"

"No one would know"

"We would," the man shrugged. "And you can't kill all of us"

He stared at the man for a few seconds. Skull's contempt for the man was glaring.

Long silence.

Lucious dropped to the ground, clutching his throat, and gasping for air.

"Make no mistake, you piece of shit" Skull hissed. "You're mine once the boss is done with you."


LIFE IS A CHOICE, MY FRIEND
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID.

KOLLUPIA S02 E09

Crude.
Very crude. Sokha thought. The boy's head was nearly cut in half by what could only have been a machete. He hated crude kills. Death was a gift that should be given cleanly, he thought.
He crouched next to the body and stared at it for a long time. The blood was still dripping from the teenage corpse. What piqued his curiosity was the boy's broken arm. The splintered bone still jutting out of torn flesh. Judging by the angle, he surmised that it had been the result of a single blow. He recognised it because he'd inflicted a similar injury on a soldier only weeks ago.
He touched the boy's skin. It was still warm. The area indicated that it had been previously occupied by twenty to thirty people.

FAMILY MAN

 The lights went off and I shut my laptop down in anger. I had wasted a lot of time typing out reports trying to meet a deadline and just when I needed to submit them, the laptop ran out of power and the mifi didn't have network. So I was justifiably angry wasn't I? I sat up, looking around my office as the heat descended.

ANONYMOUS

Today is another Saturday, a lot of marriages were celebrated today, but there is a problem, a lot of marriages don't survive the first year. So what is the solution? Where has our generation gone wrong?

MR AND MRS

Do I look like I am joking with you? Peter asked in that icy cold tone. Hilda didn't bat a lash. She rolled her eyes and flicked her hair. In the first few years of their marriage, the tone had been enough to shut her up, not anymore. His famous Kryptonite Rock weapon had become as flaccid as soft "Fu-Fu".