The Triangle

The Triangle

Ten

When love comes into your heart the peace and experience of satisfaction you experience can only be compared to the feeling of maximum fulfillment. It is once in a lifetime feeling. Enjoy it whenever it comes your way…  – Anonymous…

Adeolu hit the sofa in his sitting room, where he had been since he finished eating. He looked at his unpacked plate of beans, which he had eaten and his clothes strewn all over the chairs and shook his head. They would definitely remain there till the following morning.

“There is nothing as enjoyable as the life of a bachelor,” Adeolu said as he drifted into a deep sleep with a smile dancing around his lips.

The night went so fast and before Adeolu could say Jack Robinson. He slept on the sofa and it was a nudge in his chest that woke him up at 7:30am. It was Sunday, the day his house cleaner would come.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and was still wondering what happened when he remembered that he had a date in church on that day. He needed to call Lola to know the time of the service but before then he needed to pack his clothes and the used plates out of the sitting room. He stood up from the sofa he was sitting on and packed the clothes and plates to where they should be – the kitchen and his room.

After convincing himself that the sitting room was a bit presentable to any August visitor on a Sunday morning, he began the search for his phones. It didn’t take him too long to find them – one was hiding in the sofa while the second one was on the floor under the centre table.

“Adeolu, oorun ti ba e je! (You are a careless sleeper),” he chided himself.

Adeolu really has a bad attitude when it concerns sleeping especially when he sleeps alone. He would sleep with his legs together and his hands folded under his head at night but he would wake up most times having scattered the bed sheets and throwing the duvet on the floor. His legs would be apart with one in the North and the other in the South. But when he sleeps beside people, the habit barely surfaced thus he preferred sleeping alone because he feels more refreshed and agile after waking from such sleeps as he had on that day.

He picked the phones and checked them one after the other for missed calls. He had none. His eyes caught the time on it, it was 7:55am. He still hadn’t called Lola. He said down on the nearest sofa and dialed Lola’s number.

“Hello Ade,” she said after picking on the first ring.

“Hello Omolola Awelewa, good morning. How was your night dear,” Ade began.

“Good morning Ade. My night was splendid and lovely. I slept like a baby immediately after your call last night. Thanks for yesterday. You really made my day. How was yours too?”

“It was nothing rather I should be the one thanking you for not thinking of me as a pest all through yesterday. I enjoyed every bit of the time spent with you and I pray it will remain thus. My night was awesome and lonely. I slept in my usual way but really I enjoyed it more than the others.”

“Hmmm. How is your usual way of sleeping o? I seem to be interested in it.”

“That is a secret you have to find out on your own but sha your interest is good. Let’s leave that. You sound as if you have been out of bed for long.”

“Yes dear. My Sundays begin at 6:30am when I go for exercise and do some road jogging. That takes an hour and from there I come back home to have my bath and a light breakfast then prepare for church.”

“That is why I called. When is church starting?”

“Church service has started since 7:00am. But there is a second service at 10:00am and another at 1:00pm. Then there is the evening service. The first service is for those who would travel later in the day but I prefer the second service because it is usually when the church is filled to capacity.”

“The second service it is! I was afraid you would have settled for the third service,” he intoned feigning seriousness.

“Third service!” she exclaimed.

“You need to see how tried I was looking when I tried attending one of such a couple of Sundays ago. I had overslept after my exercises that Sunday when all I intended was a nap. I got up around past 11 and I had to settle for the third service. It was interesting but really I sleet all through it. Probably because of the heat that Sunday or because I had to face a hell of a traffic before getting to church that day.”

Adeolu laughed and laughed. He was not the type for such boring services and situations when some people would have been returning from church only for him to say he is just going to church to attend his own service.

His eyes glanced at the gigantic clock gracing his wall and exclaimed. It was 8:20am. They had been talking for close to 30 minutes. He couldn’t believe it. He knew he would be ready and looking dap in 15 minutes but he needed to look dapper, so he needed 25 minutes for that. He also knew that for the service to be met at that 10 o’clock, he must release Lola at that time because women usually take longer time to get ready.

“Why did you shout like that? Hope nothing?” Lola asked.

“It’s the time o. I can’t believe that weve been on this for close to 30 minutes. We should get preparing now if we are to meet the service for that 10 and I know you will need at least one hour to get ready,” Adeolu replied smiling cheekily.

“I am not like every woman you know o. in the next 20 minutes I will be ready,” she said drawing another round of laughter from Adeolu.

“Okay. I will be picking you up in approximately one hour from now. Kindly send your address and let me do you the honour of driving us to church today.”

“Alright,” she said giving him the description.

“So my dearest, by 9:30am, I will be in your house by His grace and I am sure you will be waiting for me at your gate.”

“Yes dear. I will even call you before then,” she said ending the call.

Adeolu made another fast call to his housekeeper, who will be coming at 11:00am. He told her where the key to the house will be kept.

He also made a quick call to Layi intimating him of his movement. Layi was surprised and could bet a million dollars that his friend had found love.

“Adeolu, you are going to church? God is great. I think love is getting involved in all this finally.”

“Na lie. E go soon end and you go know say love no dey my dictionary. I don go sha. We will surely see today because she wants to meet you and I also want to meet her friend. After church sha, how everything go be, you go know as e dey go,” he said rounding off the call.

Layi was also heading to church. He looked into the sky and thanked God for the life of his friend. He prayed he should experience the sweetness of love.

The Triangle

The Triangle

Nine

When life sends you  on a journey, it stays at home too but gives you an accompaniment – love. Love is the sweetest thing in life and its handmaid. You only need to trust life and free your heart to fall in love. Lest you begin a war you can never end… – Anonymous…

Adeolu briefed Layi of how his day went and gave him the information he needed to know about Lola’s arrival thereafter, he ended the call and dialed Lola’s number.

Lola’s Blackberry Porsche phone vibrated and belted out her favourite King Sunny Ade track which she uses as her ringtone. She had been expecting the call for the past one hour but when it didn’t come, she had run to the bathroom to have her bath. She hoped it was the call she was actually expecting.

“E su biri biri k’e bo mi o, iwaju l’oloke yii n wa mi lo, eyin ko l’oloko yii n wa mi lo, mo ti mo o…” the phone belted out for the second time as the expectant Lola rushed through her nightly beauty ritual. Her friend was already out of her room else she would have told her who was calling her phone so repeatedly. Lola was now convinced that it was the call she had been waiting for.

The phone sang again for the fourth time by which time Lola was already through. She looked at the screen and smiled. A reflection of satisfaction and contentment. She was very happy inside.

As Adeolu dialed Lola’s number, a lot of thoughts were going through his mind. He checked the time on his phone, it was past 10 o’clock. It rang the first time and she didn’t pick it. He began forming a series of excuses for her not picking. The call to Layi had taken less than fifteen minutes. They didn’t say much – not that there wasn’t much to say but he wanted to make this important call. His food was what took most of his time. Adeolu was eating slowly and didn’t know when the time rushed by – to him he was fast – he was thinking high of himself having caught Lola in his hook. But he forgot that even a living fish on the hook could still escape with minimal injury. All the fish needed was to be put in fresh water and with a little struggle, it would be free.

He wasn’t a man who broke his promises – he would rather not make any than let his words go by without coming to fruition. His mind did a lot of questioning and answering sessions on its own. Was she already asleep? Was she angry he didn’t call immediately he got home? Was his call disturbing to her ears? Has she changed her mind about him? But women hardly changed their minds after a first date. But was their outing that day really a date? Women are really unpredictable beings, she may have changed her mind after waiting for a while. But she could have waited a little more now. But ‘Deolu, why do you want to kill yourself over a woman? Try her number five times and if she didn’t pick then go to bed jo. This stress over a lady you just met and you think you are not falling in love with her. God forbid! Fall in love ko, fall in thrash ni.

“I will call you before I sleep tonight Lola,” he remembered he had said emphatically as the damsel got into the cab which took her home. She had also smiled as she waved him goodbye from the moving old model Toyota Corolla, which showed she would be expecting his call.

The phone connected for the third time and began ringing. On a lighter side, Lola’s caller tunes have made Adeolu to decide that he would be calling her very often. He loved the three songs she used for the service. It was those times when the caller tunes service was just getting popular among the country’s GSM network service operators and subscribers. Adeolu himself used two of the classic songs he loved. He had Victor Olaiya’s Baby Jowo and Ebenezer Obey’s Baba Elesin. Lola’s first caller tune was Fatai Rolling Dollar’s Won kere si number wa, which coincidentally was one of Adeolu’s favourites. On a second dial, her callers were entertained to Rooftop MCs’ Silence  and now Adeolu was listening happily to Shina Peters’ Afro Juju as the call connected to Lola’s phone. Still she had yet to pick the call.

Adeolu heeded the advice of one of the voices in his head and decided to try two more times before calling it a day besides, he wanted to hear those songs again in their short polyphonic forms on the phone. He dialed for the fourth time and again Rolling Dollar sang in his ears.

“Won kere si number wa, won kere si number wa, won kere si number wa awon omode yii kere si…”

The song had yet to finish when the sonorous voice he had become used to over the last four hours or more sounded more beautifully over the phone. Adeolu’s Blackberry Torch had a way of amplifying the voice and giving it a melodious texture which makes even the worst of voices sound nice and the most beautiful of voices sound more beautiful. He was really happy that his wait had paid off.

“Eyin onisuuru ni Olorun wa looto (Truly, God resides with the patient ones),” he told himself.

“Hello,” Lola’s voice sounded at the other end.

“Hello dearie. You really can dash a man a small dose of hypertension,” Adeolu said sounding relieved.

“I am sorry Ade for keeping you in suspense for that long. I am not one to joke with phone calls o – except when I am sleeping and the phone is on silence. Even at that, I will return all the calls when I wake up and see the calls I have missed. I am sorry dear.”

“Hmmm! That means you were already asleep abi? I am sorry for robbing you of and disrupting your beauty sleep. Kindly go to bed your ladyship. We can converse over the through these means and instruments tomorrow plus it would come at your conveniently decided time,” he said with his tongue in his cheeks.

“Oyinbo man, I wasn’t sleeping o and I had really been waiting for your call for the past one hour plus. I knew you should have got home by nine with the address you gave me. So I didn’t know what could have kept you for that long. I only stepped into the bath to freshen up for bed and call you myself before you started making me rush my bath with your calls. So I also demand an apology for that sir.”

“I am sorry your revered highness,” he said with a pleading and apologetic tone carrying all his false emotions. He really knew how to look and sound sorry without meaning it.

“I never meant to keep you waiting. Truly, I got home a little before nine o’clock but I was hungry ni o. the kind of hunger that can cause a war between Modakeke and Ife was what I was experiencing then. So I had to worship that deity before venturing into anything else. Or would you have loved it that I fainted while talking to you on the phone?”  

By then, Lola was laughing very hard on her bed where she sat yoga style with her white towel tied on her chest and another tied turban-style on her head. She had yet to change into her night gown. This Ade is a real character, she thought to herself.

As she continued with her laughter, Adeolu continued his apology story, “After I finished eating, I had to tell my brother and friend about you first before I forgot him. Look at that. I never remembered him for a second while I was with you, such is the power you wield, Lola mi. By the time I was through with that, time was far-spent and one hour was already past. I am sorry for calling you this late, although I can’t promise there won’t be a repeat or even calls at times later than this but for this first, I am sorry your highness.”

Lola loved his plain simplicity. He didn’t promise not to do such, but he rather apologised for this and she believes if there was a repeat of it, he would surely apologise again. She just loved gentlemen and this Ade guy is one. She can’t wait to tell her friend about him.

“Apology accepted Prince Ade. So how was your day today? And what are you doing tomorrow?” she said.

“Thanks Lola. Your head must have been swelling for me calling you your highness. You must have been really high on those praises o. Don’t you know that your highness is used for those who get high on cheap and expensive drugs?” Adeolu said feigning seriousness.

“Me? Get head-swollen on your flattery? I am not o. I knew all along you would want to use it against me. Do you really mean that the greeting your highness is for the drug abusers?” Lola said getting interested.

“See her, I caught her again. She is so off guard. It was a joke and actually a slang coined out of the normal greeting for royal fathers. Please don’t go about using it for guys you aren’t familiar with who you see getting high on their own o. You might not like to tell the other part of the story o.”

They both laughed at his joke with Lola reeling on her bed. She has never regretted this meeting and hopes it will end well as it had begun so well.

“I will be going nowhere tomorrow except going to see my friend, Layi. I am not much of a church-goer. I believe that my church is in my heart and so, I have no permanent church although I was born into an Anglican family. Do you have an idea of how best I can spend it?” Adeolu finally answered her question.

“Hmmm! I am not too better than you but I don’t miss church every Sunday because of the preaching and the sightseeing that goes on there. I pick a lot from going to church apart from which I believe my most sacred church is any corner in my room. If you don’t mind, I will like you to go with me to church tomorrow. I was born a Methodist but I attend Daystar at Oregun. After church, we can hangout at your friend’s place. I think I want to meet him.”

“That’s not problem. Since you have said that, I am in. Layi attends church better than I do so I’ll inform him we will be coming together or we may even head to your place after all has been said and done. I think I want to meet your friend too.”

With that agreed, they called it a day for the night. Lola changed into her green transparent and short night gown and went straight to bed smiling to herself about the day’s activities, which memories have been nothing but sweet.

Ade hit the sofa in his sitting room, where he had been since he finished eating. He looked at his unpacked plate of beans, which he had eaten and his clothes strewn all over the chairs and shook his head. They would definitely remain there till the following morning.

“There is nothing as enjoyable as the life of a bachelor,” Adeolu said as he drifted into a deep sleep with a smile dancing around his lips.

The Triangle

The Triangle

Eight

Love is war, war is love. When you fall in love, many obstacles, nay, enemies, rise against you and your beloved but your patience, confidence and steadfastness make you win the war … – Anonymous…

Adeolu accompanied her to the waiting cab, which was parked just outside the gates of the Mall. As she waved him goodbye, Ade could not but laugh at the big fish his playing hook had caught. It was time to go home and tell Layi over the phone what the day had offered him.

He hummed to the tune of his favourite Fatai Rolling Dollars song, Won Kere Si Number Wa as he twirled the keys to his car. He unlocked it, checked if nothing was missing and zoomed off to his beloved home after paying for the parking ticket.

Adeolu is what could be best described as a self-made man but he hates to be called or tagged as such. The story of his life tells one of the many struggles that he seriously hides under the canopy of his present-day success.

At 30 years, Adeolu lives in his own house – a five-bedroom duplex in the Shangisha area of Lagos State and has a three-bedroom flat in the Isolo area of the state, which he had put up for rent. He had to pack into the house to save him the cost of exorbitant rent which he was paying in Magodo Phase Two for a four-bedroom duplex. He bought the houses for a cheap price and with his entire savings because he believed it would rise and he would get back his savings since he wouldn’t be paying rent again. He loved houses which had ample space because ever since he earned his first thousand, he had been dreaming of raising his family in an environment free of noise and which offers the best physical and health benefits for his children especially.

“I will give my children the best things money can afford but they will never be spoilt in the least. I learnt prudence and financial independence from my parents despite the hard life we witnessed then. My children must be religiously and morally upright while getting their rights from me. They must know that life is not a bed of roses and nothing they get comes easy. They have to earn what they use because many are out there who are better than them but haven't got their kind of opportunity,” he always tells Layi, who seriously agrees with his line of reasoning.

His parents, for their help towards his success, and his other siblings, live in a six-bedroom flat built for him in their home town, which is not too far from Lagos. Another two-bedroom flat, which was also built for them by Adeolu, brings in monthly income for them. They have a 200 model Toyota Camry for their running-around. Their prayers have kept him going.

Despite his seeming wealthy status, Adeolu lives a prudent lifestyle and hates noise-making. He owns two cars – a Toyota RAV 4, which he drives around town, and a Honda CRV, which only goes out once in a while. His cars were black in colour.

“I fought and slept and romanced sufferness for years. Poverty was my wife for many part of my growing up and the success I have achieved today is nothing but the grace of God and the persistent struggles of my parents,” Adeolu always tells his listeners when occasion calls for it.

“My mother will take the most credit for my success because she was the one who encouraged me in those years when I have thought it would end. My father also deserves kudos for telling me that he cared not where I ended but still finding means to provide the school fees for my primary to university education.”

He was the first child in a family of eight. His father, who was a civil servant and small-scale businessman, had two wives. His mother was the first and had three of the five children – Adeolu and his brother – Olalekan. After Lekan’s birth, his mother couldn’t give birth to another child and Adeolu’s father wanted female children, hence the marriage between him and Adeolu’s step mother was born. Madam Tinuke gave birth to three children – two females, Adeola and Aderayo, and a male, who was the last child of the family, Aderoju.

The children were very gifted in intelligence and everything about each one of the five was fast. At the age of six, they were already in Primary One. Their father’s business was quite booming and prosperous till he was suddenly retrenched from work for some unknown offences when Adeolu was just about eight years. Thus began the struggle to keep the children in school and maintain the family’s feeding need. Mr. Adelaja cherished education and would do all within his power to see his children stay in school, including changing them from private schools to the public ones.

It later became so tough that Madam Tinuke left her children for their father and her senior wife. Adeolu could remember well the incident because he was already in secondary school – he was in JSS three. The eldest then, Adeola, was just six years old while the last, Aderoju was two.

“Iyaale mi (my senior) I can’t continue with this suffering, I have to go. It seems you are attuned to this kind of life. I can’t let my beauty become washed off with sufferings of this kind. You have the children, I will go and sort myself. Thank God they already know I am their mother, so when they grow up, I will explain to them and if they like they can forgive me. For now, I need to get out of this house,” Tinuke had said when Adeolu’s mother was pleading with her to change her decision about quitting the marriage.

When the going was good, their father had built a four-roomed house on the piece of land he had inherited, which still stood beside their present home in Adeolu’s hometown. That eased the burden of the family. Adeolu’s mother took the children as hers and raised them as she would hers. Adelaja later came up with the sharing formula of paying only school fees for the five children while Adeolu’s mother took care of the domestic needs. It did little to help because she only had a little shop where she sold variety of daily needs. That was how they were raised till Adeolu got out of higher institution – the University of Ibadan – where he studied Banking and Finance.

Adeolu’s friend, Layi, who he had met in secondary school, was from a better family than theirs and their friendship had stood the test of time. Layi contributed most to what

His income comes from a variety of sources. He learnt quickly that he had to stand on his feet after his NYSC and as such he had began the work of project writing and consulting before he left UI. People from every field brought their Degree and Masters projects to him to help write and he charged them reasonable fees, which went sky high after he left school. He had also added project management to his portfolio after he did a course in it during his Service in Rivers State.

Along with Layi, he also had a supermarket with three branches in Lagos. They sold in wholesale price and there was hardly no product they failed to have. Adeolu along with Layi also invested heavily in the delivery of petroleum products to homes and offices. They have a supplier who gets the product for them to deliver to the end users. The supplier provides the tanker for movement of the products and sells to them at a reasonable price while Adeolu and Layi add their profit for getting the customers.

He also dealt in the stock market and foreign exchange market. He was always monitoring prices on either his laptop or i-Pad. He sells and buys even when he is eating. At that age, Adeolu had two Masters in Accounting and Insurance. He was an agent for a few insurance companies. When new products come, he is always working with his sweet mouth to convince people to take up policies for him to get his commission.

“When poverty teaches the way it taught me, you will have your fingers in many pies as I have them,” he tells Layi, who believes the Supermarkets were enough an avenue to earn money for them.

His business card tells the story better. ‘Jack of all trades, master of all’, read one of the appellations on the card.

He got home, dropped the keys and his tablet on the table and whisked out his phones from his pockets – a blackberry and an android phone. The time was a few minutes to nine. He hadn’t speed as he was driving home. The light traffic on the road also eased his journey. He needed to gist Layi about the day’s catch. Summary would be enough for Layi tonight while he would explain the details when they meet. They would surely check what was going on at the Supermarket the following day, so he would have time to explain to his ‘brother’.

He also needed to call Lola because that was another task he could not afford to miss. But before those, he needed to fix something for dinner. He lived practically alone apart from his security, who opens the gate for him. He cooks his food and cleans the house himself despite having paid helps, who come once in two weeks. Although the house was hardly dirty, he does the cleaning everyday.

He looked into his kitchen white chest freezer and brought out the leftover beans ha had there. The microwave oven was soon humming while getting the food hot. He left the kitchen to remove his clothes and he dialed Layi’s number. He picked on the first ring.

“You no dey allow person enjoy this your caller tune before you pick. See your head like P,” he said as he wriggled out of his trousers in the passage leading to his room. His shoes were downstairs.

“Go get your own or make you take the song do your ring tone. Olodo,” Layi replied.

“Na you I been wan call to know if you don reach house. Abi you still dey on top your wakawaka,” he continued.

“I don reach jare. Thanks bro. I even wanted to gist you that’s why I called you now but I will tell you the summary and I will disclose the details later plus I will also hear your day’s tale too,” Adeolu quipped.

“Oya shoot. I know that your day must have been fun for you not to call or flash until I did around eight o’clock. It was unusual.”

Adeolu briefed him of how his day went and gave him the information he needed to know about Lola’s arrival thereafter, he ended the call and dialed Lola’s number.

The Triangle

The Triangle

Seven

Falling in love is like being newly born. It begins innocently and grows into what you can either nurture or that which you cannot handle. It is never an option in your life but a cross you have to carry at a point in your life… – Anonymous…

Adeolu knew he had met his match but really he was unflinching and was more than convinced that this journey with Lola would be one smooth ride. Love was still out of it for him.

After the introductions and the jokes, the duo continued their conversation as the day wore on giving way to the ultimate darkness of the night.

“Having known you now, I am really relaxed and I think the time to go home is coming near and my stay here with you is nearing its end. But before then, I forgot to tell you that the most important man in my life after all the men and women in my family, is called Olayiwola. He is more than a friend and partner-out-of-crime to me. You will get to meet him later sha,”  Adeolu said.

“Really, that is no problem because I think we have known enough for this one night. I also have an important lady who is also coming along with my family. You will meet her and know her name later probably today,” Lola enthused.

The conversation was never dull for a moment as they continued rambling and laughing gingerly over the no-melted ice creams. They surely have had enough and have filled their bellies for the night. Lola especially was more than filled. She laughed the most as Adeolu cracked her up with his stories and tales of his adventures and misadventures during his childhood days.

“Really, children of nowadays are really MIA. They have nothing except computer games and toys to keep them company,” Adeolu began.

“Growing up in the South-Western part of this country was real fun. We really had a smashing childhood with all the games we had and the activities we indulged in. Since you are less than 26, you should know the correlation between a pencil and an audio cassette. Don’t you?” he asked Lola.

The damsel, who has been endlessly revealing her god-given gift of a perfect white set of teeth, continued her laugh. She was really enjoying her evening.

When she finally got herself together, she said, “Why won’t I know the relationship between them? Although I may be young but really it was fun inserting the pencil into one of the holes of the cassette and we start spinning it. It is the fastest forward and rewind I could ever think of. In seconds, the tape is ready to be played.”

“Hmmm! I am really sorry that you knew that. You may either not be in that range of age you claimed or you really had a very sharp and intelligent brain from birth. Really, some of my friends, who were brought up in the ‘super rich’ homes and environments of our generation really don’t know the correlation between them. You are one heck of a lady. I would have blamed my existence if I hadn’t met you before I died.”

“This esa (flattery) is what I really have known that you are gifted in Ade, continue o. my own head is swelling too o.”

“If you get that one, what is the relationship between wet sand and the feet?”

“That is quite simple sir. The wet sand is heaped on the top of the foot and the foot gradually removed to create a home for grasshoppers. The house is always as large as the builder is willing to go and as long as the land allows. The grasshoppers usually don’t stay in the houses and hop out of it as soon as they touch the ground so to keep them in their ‘houses’, the hind limbs, which enables them to hop, are usually removed and they are left with their remaining legs to walk around the house and its usually big compound, which would have been supplied with a generous amount of grasses and leaves.”

“Omo odo agba! (the one who had learnt from the elders). That is really great coming from a butterfish-looking lady like you. One would think you were from this present generation and had a faster development. Really, you will surely remember that those houses and their occupants don’t see the light of the next day. They are either washed away by the rains, or they are crushed by the feet of the passing adults, who never saw the sense in what we were doing then.”

“Surely they don’t but life was simple then and devoid of the present complexities we are faced with daily down here now,” Lola said as she focused her eyes on those of Adeolu. They were travelling several years back from the spot they sat and they were immensely enjoying the time travel.

“But really what I loved most them were the games. The family role-play game, the Suwe game with its different variants, the ten-ten game, the tinko-tinko game , and many others I can’t remember now. The best fun then was the bath in the rain after which we would become ‘white’ and be shivering from the resultant cold.”

Adeolu smiled as he said, “You definitely have forgotten the first Play Station, which was called Table Soccer. I will never forget the way I thrashed my friends and brothers then. There was fun too in the daily bath we had then in our agboole (extended family house). Our mothers would bath us outside with us holding the pail of water as they scrubbed our feet with the local sponge and soap. I really loved Ose Dudu (local black soap). You know there was fun in making earrings with the gummy seeds inside the cherry seeds which makes us look like girls.”

“We can go on and on about those days and really it won’t be boring at all. You know Ade, I remember a song we used to sing in school then when we are about to be flogged. Seriously looking at it now, it was foolish as the song didn’t work rather it made us earn more strokes of the cane,” Lola reminisced.

“What song?” Adeolu asked but he quickly intoned, “Hope it is not the one about fainting after being caned?”

“Yes na,” Lola replied starting her laugh all over again.

With her sonorous and angelic voice, which would make Adele jealous, Lola began to sing,

“Teacher mo de o mo wa j’egba t’emi

Na mi l’owo o

Ma se na mi n’itan

T’itan mi ba be o

Ma lo p’obi mi wa

T’obi mi ba de o

A wa d’ijakadi

O ti ya…

Ijakadi….

(Dear teacher, I have come for my own share of the flogging. Kindly beat me on my palms and not on my thighs because if I suffer a torn thigh, I will call my parents and it will result in the mother of all quarrels).”

Adeolu joined in the laughter as he remembered that he had sang the song many times.

“You know Lola, there was a twist to ours. As we sing the song, we would have banana leaves under our arm pits so that we could really faint. Guess what? It never worked. Till date I still wonder who invented those fables about the leaves and fainting when flogged.”

“I think most of those fables came from the experience of those who were lucky enough to have ‘Ogbanjes’ or other kind of ‘special pupils’ in their classes back then. For example, our class always escaped punishment because we had a girl who was a sickle-cell patient and would always cause trouble in the class. Teachers won’t touch her because of her yellow eyes, pale skin and swollen stomach. She is always either fainting, at the school clinic or absent from school. So when the class is in trouble, we all shout her name and she proudly and slowly walks out to be beaten after accepting she was truly guilty. Hence we escaped many punishment. The girl later died and didn’t finish with us.”

As the two went on and on about their childhood, they never knew that time was far spent. A ring on Adeolu’s phone brought them to the reality that they were better off being at home. The call was from Layi, who had wondered why his friend had been quiet all day. It was after the call that they knew the time was well past eight o’clock.

“Omolola mi, hope you don’t mind that? I think it is time we called it a day, we shall surely continue this over the phone and surely at some other time. Thanks for being my friend at such a short notice and thanks for a day well spent.”

The smiling beauty replied, “Really Ade, I never knew that the time had gone. You really over-made my day. You turned a day which started boringly to one which is ending on a highly-spirited and charged one. Thanks for the Special Cup and thanks for the memories. And really thanks for the Shakespeare lines.”

“You are really welcome Lola. Which way are you headed to?” he asked what he surely knew would come last – her residence. With no reason to hide it anymore, Lola let out her residential address trusting to hear Adeolu’s in return.

“I live very close by – along Allen Avenue precisely. What of you Ade?”

“I stay closer by just like you do. I live around Shangisha. Do you drive Lola?”

“Yes, I do. But I came in a cab. You?”

“Hmmm! That means you are a really big girl. I just learnt how to drive some few days ago o – precisely some 60 months ago. I came with my small car and I hope you won’t mind if I drop you at home before heading my own way.”

“Five years is a few days ago to you? No problem o. I actually wouldn’t mind you dropping me off but my cabman is already outside waiting for me. I use him frequently and we have an agreement spanning the whole of today so it would be penny wise, pound foolish to let the bill run without using it. Thanks for the offer anyways.”

With that, Adeolu accompanied her to the waiting cab, which was parked just outside the gates of the Mall. As she waved him goodbye, Ade could not but laugh at the big fish his playing hook had caught. It was time to go home and tell Layi over the phone what the day had offered him.

He hummed to the tune of his favourite Fatai Rolling Dollars song, Won Kere Si Number Wa as he twirled the keys to his car. He unlocked it, checked if nothing was missing and zoomed off to his beloved home after paying for the parking ticket.

The Triangle

The Triangle
Six

Falling in love is never an option in your life. You were born for love, with love and in love. You have no option  but to fall in love at a point in your life… – Anonymous…

Lola looked up and smiled. It was time to meet this guy who is really sparing no cost to make her have a great day.
“No Ade, in fact I am not an inch bored.”

“Rather you have made my day and I am really grateful for that,” she said.
Adeolu was excited with Lola’s response. He was not at any point doubting himself but he had asked the question to be very sure he was working correctly. With a woman, you can never be 100 per cent sure, experience had taught him. One minute they are all over you smiling and showing signs and the next they are all shut up and giving you attitudes. He was happy this was going well.
“Hmmm! Hmmmm!!,” he cleared his throat. He needed to test the waters to be sure she was ready to receive the next phase of the conversation.
“I had to ask that because I have kept you here for more than thirty minutes and I was hoping it won’t be boring to be in the company of a stranger for that such a long time,” he said.
Lola got the message but she remained unruffled by it. She rather took it as a joke from the guy sitting opposite her.
“Ade! You are full of surprises. So you are trying to use my own lines on me? Okay o, you aren’t no stranger to me again brother.”
“Good!” Adeolu exclaimed in his head.
“It wasn’t meant to be a sarcasm but you know you ladies can really make or mar a man’s day. With all we’ve been saying here since the past thirty minutes plus, you may still end up saying you aren’t interested in being friends with me,” he said to Lola, who smiled after he finished talking.

That was his indirect way of seeking to know if he was accepted or would be rejected. Many a lady had told him point blank that they weren’t friends rather they just whiled away their times with him over meals and drinks tables. He was expecting nothing but a positive response but he was still prepared for the worst.

Adeolu believed that the first step in asking a lady or woman out was to first be friends with her. He needed to earn her confidence and make her know that he has good intentions. Although, love was out of the equation, Adeolu never failed to receive such statements from his past girlfriends. Never also, I  his life has he ever told a lady that he loved them. He just showered affections and time on them and when he is fed up with them, he moves on leaving the lady to wonder what she did wrong or where she went bad. Lola’s case won’t be too different from the past ones.
“Seriously Ade, I wasn’t even thinking you were being sarcastic with that statement. I thought you were just being jovial with it as I have noticed in your nature. As for being friends with you, we are already friends and that is the reason I have been so relaxed with you here. You aren’t anymore the stranger who walked up to me in the Hall a few hours ago, seeking my attention. I rather feel as if we have known each other for ages. Talking of which, I want to know my friend more, if you will oblige me.”
“Omolola baby, thanks for making my troubled heart rest knowing I have won the complement of a ravishing beauty as a friend today. If you haven't known, you are the biggest achievement I have made today. Yes! You are. Getting to be your friend doesn’t come easy as I have learnt, so it is a big pleasure that I have been found worthy of being called your friend.”
“That is what you men are good at – flattery. E ma maa tan obinrin pelu awon oro didun to wa l’enu yin. To ba ya e tun wa so pe Ade o gun mo (You men have really sugar-coated mouths and you deceive women with it, then you later say you are no more interested.) My ears have become full with your flattery – though strangely, I like them – I won’t be surprised by whatever you say next because you are full of surprises.”
“Shakespeare says ‘Priests pray for enemies, but princes kill.’ That wise great writer also said ‘Appetite, an universal wolf… must make perforce a universal prey and last eat up himself.’ Lola, sure men abound but men abound too. Really I won’t negate what you have said, but the words of that famous write I quoted above should have enlightened you in a way or the other. I won’t tell you I am different but the journey of our friendship will really tell you a lot as we go on it.”
“So you have even gone poetic on me. That is another good one. I am getting to know you more and more and so far, I am impressed. Time, they say, reveals that which the heart hides. Oju lo pe si. (Time will tell.)”
“When I said I am dealing with a genius, you said it was flattery. For you to have know those lines you used, that means you read a lot. ‘All orators are dumb when beauty pleadeth.’ Said Shakespeare in another place. You combine both beauty and brains. How blessed am I to have you as a friend!”
“Ade, not only you read Shakespeare, I can bet I read him more than you do. ‘My beauty, though but mean, needs not the painted flourish of your praise.’ That is from Love’s Labour’s Lost. Please keep some more of those oratory for another time dearest friend.”
Lola was really living up to Adeolu’s impression of her. She was well-read and well-versed – probably the brainiest of the ladies Adeolu had met till then. Not that the previous ones weren’t intelligent, but Lola’s was a notch higher than theirs. He was only impressed and he admired her for that, he never felt an iota of love, he was still himself – prep, hit, turn and run.
“So to my Shakespearean lady, in sooth, I know not why I am so excited to have met you, but let’s keep that aside. My name is Adeoluwa, the first son and child of Mr. and Mrs. Adelaja. I am a man as you would have seen. I love watching movies – both in my house and in cinemas – and love Idris Elba to  fault – though not the gay-ish kind of love, I believe gays are guys who haven't been shown the sweetness of a woman – I also like good movies and historical ones too. Action movies get me any day. Nigerian movies too are a good watch when I see them – the good ones I mean. I have a weakness for good books too, Shakespeare, John Grisham and Sydney Sheldon, not forgetting James Hadley Chase, are my major weak points. Offend me, just get me a good book from any of these – God catch you sha, I have read all their works till date – and viola! You are forgiven. I have loads of female friends and companions – a major thing I should tell you from the start. I am single to stupor and hope to settle down soon. I am above 25 in age but less than 35. I am easily turned off people by lying- As to my means of livelihood, I think you will get to know that as we proceed on our friendship,” Adeolu finally did the major introduction.

Lola was more than impressed.
“Hmmm! What an intimidating profile packed by you alone!,” she said.
“I can see you are a man and I can see already that we share some qualities.  I hate lies and I cherished that you had been open and honest enough in your introduction. My name is Omolola. My parents are called Mr. and Mrs. Olawale. I am a woman and from one of the Yoruba states in South-West Nigeria. I love movies to a fault just like you and I prefer Nigerian ones to foreign ones because Ile l’ati n k’eso r’ode (Charity begins at home). My mum said that is why I am proficient in the Yoruba language but I believe it was because of the upbringing we have. Pardon me, I am the only daughter, the first also, of the family. I am above 20 and less than 26. For foreign movies, I love Angelina Jolie and I can marry her if she agrees – that is an overstatement though, because I think lesbians will change when they meet the correct guy with the right skills to please a woman. I have loads of female friends but one best friend, you will get to meet her as days go by. I don’t have much male friends because I am very choosy but I think I have found one I can stay with for a long time. Though I expect anything anytime from him. I read Shakespeare and anything literary – for the records, I hope to write a book or a memoir someday. I am a graduate – need I say that? But you will get to know my work and other things as time goes on. Lastly, I live alone, though with friends coming off and on a few times.”
“Pa pa pa pa,” Adeolu clapped. “Excellent description of a gargantuan and enigmatic woman. Welcome to my world Lola as I am happy I am welcome to yours.”

Adeolu knew he had met his match but really he was unflinching and was more than convinced that this journey with Lola would be one smooth ride. Love was still out of it for him.

The Triangle

The Triangle
Five
You never know the true value of true love until a mosquito lands on your cheek. Ask your loved ones to kill it for you, their reactions tell you how much they love you … – Anonymous…

“The secret must be well kept or else if I should grab it, I will make millions out of it – that is if I don’t eat all the ice cream I made myself. Thanks for this cup.”
Ade knew the conversation will flow. Give a woman her favourite toy, and the best kept secret in her life will spring forth before she can close her mouth.

The eating of the ice cream was the leverage Adeolu needed to start the conversation.
“So now that the ‘Special’ is really specialising our throats and taste buds, may I know what else will have to go or accompany ‘Special’ on its journey? Or will it journey down as an orphan – all alone?” he asked Lola, who was still rolling a spoonful of the cold delicacy in her mouth.
“Gbun!!!” Lola’s throat sounded as she swallowed the ice cream in her mouth to answer Adeolu’s question. She knew it was unladylike and she did it intentionally but she couldn’t help feeling naughty when eating that favourite ice cream of hers. Besides, she was feeling already at home with Adeolu.
“Ade, if you wouldn’t mind, I will say we get another cup of Special to accompany Special on its special journey.”
Ade knew it would come to that. It was time to play a little with her mind. He picked up his favourite line and it has never disappointed him. The pickup line has a track record of 99 per cent accuracy.
“What a lovely suggestion you brought! I knew from that moment I saw you sitting in that corner of the dark cinema hall that you would be a brainiac. You just confirmed what my heart told me about your creation but God.”
“And what is that Mr. Flatterer?”
“That you were and are truly made and frequently repaired by God on a Sunday and every Sunday.”
“What is special about being made on a Sunday and how are Sunday creations being repaired on Sundays?”
“Don’t you know that God had lots of time on His hands when he created some people on Sundays? They will be endowed with every good thing that God has. Beauty, intelligence, bravery, wisdom, many other good things you can think of. They are repaired every Sunday when they sleep because God wants to make sure they have little or no flaw. They are the most near-perfect beings.”
“Hmmmm! Ade The Philosopher! See explanation and thinking. But I am sorry to disappoint you, I wasn’t born on a Sunday.”
“Being created on a Sunday doesn’t mean you would be born on a Sunday. Just forget it you were created on a Sunday.”
“Mr. Sunday creator, this cup of Special is almost out of ice and cream, can we have another one sir?”
“As your ladyship pleases.”
He knew the efficacy of the line he had used. He knew that at the end of the conversation the pickup line would generate, Lola would have become more calmer and she would felt more at home and freer than when ‘Special’ first opened the door. Her guards would have been completely let down and his arrows of schemes would really have a field day.

He stood up and within minutes, two bigger cups of ‘Special’ were waiting to be devoured. He had wanted to ride his luck and bought a single large bowl but he decided against it at the last moment. His experience with ladies had taught him not to do so. A woman who was laughing with you a minute ago, could turn out to become a venom in the next second if she senses any sign of foul play from you.
“Hide your cards when playing with a woman, cos no woman is a fool. She would strike when she gets a whim of your cards; weaknesses,” he remembered the words of his great teacher, who taught him the rudiments of being a ‘wise man in the game.”

Special on the table, it was time to get to know who the lady in front of him was. He sat and counted the hands of the clock on the wall of the eatery opposite where he was sitting. He called it the ten-minute silence. He used it when he wants to start what looks like a serious conversation.
Basically, it entails keeping quiet and nursing his food or drink slowly for ten minutes till the lady talks or after ten minutes when he starts the conversation himself. If the lady starts it, it was good for his plans. He would have learnt something from her but if he starts it, he would also have learnt a lot from watching the girl, who obviously would not suspect anything and would be tackling her food or drink. But in some cases, the lady too would be nursing the food or drink and not eat as normally as she would. She would seemingly be waiting for who to break the ice.
Lola was one of such ladies who would tackle her food with gusto, especially the ones she loved. She would sit and eat and then face the guy who took her out for a date. She hates to talk when she is enjoying a meal – a good meal – or ice cream – such a special—hence she was grateful when after Adeolu brought the second cup of Special and he didn’t talk. She faced the business at hand and in five minute, she was ready to hear what he would say.
She hadn’t finished the ice cream but she was sure she wouldn’t be pained if she had to storm out of the sitting or if there would be a need to abandon the rest of the ice cream. With a corner of her eyes, she watched Adeolu as he slowly and deliberately ate his ice cream and pretended not to watch her. She knew he was watching and she took her time to eat her cream. She was not one to eat in a rush except she doesn’t like the man and wants to put him off from the start.
“Ade seems like a good man,” she thought to herself and took her time to carefully but calculatedly eat her ice cream. She wouldn’t want him to think she was acting and she wouldn’t want him to think of her as a glutton. Her normal way of eating was what she put up, so when the five minutes was complete, she knew she was satisfied and then began nursing the rest of the ice cream while looking up and avoiding eye contact with Adeolu, who was also doing the same.
Adeolu was watching as she swallowed spoon after spoon of the cold mixture and he was more than impressed with her way of eating. He noticed that after five minutes of eating the ice cream, her expressions changed and it was evident that she doesn’t mind anything happening to the ice cream. But he would wait till the ten minutes was over.
“She is really a go-getter. She doesn’t care about people’s opinions of her and she will gladly not sacrifice her self esteem for anything on earth. The way she handled the spoon shows that she would also be an analytic lady. She will also be a problem solver,” Adeolu thought to himself. He was using one of the things he had learnt from a book – 100 things your woman’s actions say about her – whose author he had forgotten. There was a chapter dedicated to the analysis of a woman’s eating habits and styles. All these he had made him get attracted to Lola the more.
By the time he would look up to the wall, it was already seven minutes into the ten minutes of silence, he needed to eat much out of this large cream before him in three minutes and get to know Lola.
“I must know her today. I won’t make it over the phone. But lemme not waste this before it passes a wrong signal to her,” he said as the spoons of ice cream followed themselves into his stomach creating a cold trail from his mouth to his rectum.
By the time the ten minutes would have wound down, he had also done much damage to the ice cream and the wafers he had in it. It was time to break the ice.
“Omolola, I hope I haven't bored you to death today?”
Lola looked up and smiled. It was time to meet this guy who is really sparing no cost to make her have a great day.
“No Ade, in fact I am not an inch bored.”

The Triangle

The Triangle

Four

Falling in love is like dying. You never know when the time to die is ripe. The feeling and moment just sweeps in on you and vroom… you are gone – Anonymous…

 “Alright, you win Mr. Adeolu. I will have a drink with you on two conditions; we won’t be staying long and two I don’t sit in bars. Lest I forget, I am not Pretty, my name is Omolola. Friends and acquaintances call me the shorter Lola. Can we leave here please?”

“Another bravo for me! Thumbs up for me!” Adeolu said to himself.

“Lola, please can you step ahead and lead the way downstairs? After all they say a gentleman puts ladies first in all things.”

She smiled.

“Ladies come first but that is after men. Why do you want me to go first.”

“Just as I said before, I am a gentleman or at least I am learning to be one. You just obliged me your name after a while of preliminaries. It will really be ungentlemanly to jump in front of you and say ‘come after me’. Rather its better I watch from behind you and guide your steps. Being at your back protects you better than staying in front of you. That is the main reason gentlemen stay behind their ladies.”

Really Lola was just too stunned to believe her ears, this guy here will surely know how to treat his women right. He has swept her of her feet in just a few minutes of agreeing to have a drink with him. But she is not one to give in to her inner feelings easily. If he will get her eventually, he has to sweat some more for it. For now, let the drinks come first.

“Mr. Adeolu the gentleman, I shall lead this time cos you seem to have won but I should think it shouldn’t be for long. My legs are beginning to complain and I believe I can make do with some sitting to rest them.”

Lola led the way and Adeolu followed suit. They got to the head of the elevator and Adeolu took his time to take in the black beauty in front of him as the machine slowly but surely grinded and rolled taking them to the foot of itself.

She was of slim lady of average height, couldn’t be more than five feet. She was dressed in a pink dress which was a little above the knees with a pair of black sandals which felt as if they were glued to her feet. Her hair was not plaited but beautifully combed, parted and bound with a shiny oink ribbon which matched the dress. How elegant she looked in that outfit!

Her skin was brown – chocolate brown – her hair was really black – jet black. He loved dark-skinned ladies. Although he had no specific taste in colour, but a dark-skinned lady would make him spend his last saving before he could do same for a light-skinned one.

Lola was one of such ladies. He remembered how her face looked like in those minutes they were talking. Her not-too-large brown coloured eye balls with white background were set in an oval-shaped face which was free of blemish and pimples. Her slightly-pointed nose like a small bridge over a river sat well on the face with nostrils which were free of dirt. Her chin – slightly point-tipped – sat below naturally coloured pink lips, which covered a set of sparkling white teeth. The not-too-large teeth sat beautifully on dark gums and the upper set of front teeth had a slight gap which would make a fasting man break his fast on the eve of the holy month.

She was endowed in the right places – the front had the right volume of flesh and the back agreed with it. The two endowments also agreed with her shape and complexion. Her jet-black hair, by Adeolu’s estimate, would be shoulder-length when unbounded and combed. She had long hair. Her legs were straight – as straight as a ruler – they are so thin and mean that Adeolu wondered if they would break. She had flesh in the right places but not such that would be called fat or big, she was just perfect in mould.

“Ori mi ti pe ju. (I am intelligent). I get the right and beautiful ladies all the time. I have good eyes and eyes for good things. But I am also not bad myself, so why won’t I get good things,” he praised himself.

By the time he would complete his assessment of Lola from head to toe, they were almost at one of the eateries lining the passages of the Mall. He walked closer to her and asked where she would like to sit.

“Mr. Adeolu, you are the one making the choice, I will go with whatever choice you make today.”

“Lola, cam we drop the formality please. Call me Adeolu and not Mr. Adeolu. You would have noticed I had done away with the Miss immediately I got to know your name. kindly be free as I am free with you.”

“Okay Adeolu, you choose where we sit.”

“No! Not at all. The ladies come first and their choices must be respected says the first rule in the first page of the book of being a gentleman. Kindly name your choice. Eateries abound here and we also have ice cream parlours. Take your choice.”

She knew she could not keep up with him in this argument and in fact she was getting tired of standing and a prolonged argument won’t help her cause. It seems he doesn’t even feel the pain of standing and talking for such a long time. It was also getting dark and she hates staying out too late at night.

The best place she could think of was Cold Stone. How she loved their ice creams! She had been dying to have one these past months if not for the yeye cold that has refused to leave her all these while. Whether the cold likes it or not, she will indulge herself in a Cold Stone Special today.

“Okay let’s get two cups of ice cream at Cold Stone and talk over that.”

“Your wish is my command. And to the best specialised ice cream shop we head,” Adeolu joked.

She smiled revealing those killing white gapped front teeth and dark gums.

They got there and Adeolu located a free table which had two chairs. He pulled one out for her, brought out his handkerchief and cleaned it for her. She was really grateful for that.

“Mi Lady, here, have your seat,” Adeolu said as he curtsied. Lola smiled and Adeolu concluded that she must be a free-spirited person because she smiles very often.

She sat down wondering for the umpteenth time what kind of man Adeolu was he was too funny. She was expecting him to sit down opposite her but he didn’t rather he came beside her curtsied again and bent to an acute angle. She was wondering what that was for when he spoke.

“Lola, sorry if I am too close for comfort. But I wouldn’t like anyone to hear what I had to say. That is the reason for this.”

“What is so secretive that you are keeping from public glare and ears that you came this close.”

“I just want to ask for your choice of ice cream and I know it will be a top kept secret that you would mind if I asked so openly that everyone had access to it.”

She made a small hiss and smiled. “What is a secret in my favourite ice cream that he would make such a scene. This guy will be full of dramas,” she thought in her head.

“I have no favourite ice cream but there is this mixture that Cold Stone does. They say it is their Special That is what I take each time I come for ice creams.”

“And Special it is!”

His favourite ice cream has always been plain vanilla but today he would take what she took. He ordered for two Cold Stone Specials and in less than 15 minutes, the mixture of a variety of flavours and M&M was ready. He paid and took the two large cups to the table. As he placed hers in front of her, he noticed the excited look she had, which told him she really loved what she saw in the cup. He settled himself into a chair and watched for thirty seconds as she took a mouthful of the cold substance in front her, savouring the taste it gave to her buds. He took a spoonful and felt the taste. It was really Special!

“I can see why this mixture is called Special,” he said.

“It is really special Ade – can I call you that?”

He nodded in the affirmative as the ice cream was doing well in his mouth.

“The secret must be well kept or else if I should grab it, I will make millions out of it – that is if I don’t eat all the ice cream I made myself. Thanks for this cup.”

Ade knew the conversation will flow. Give a woman her favourite toy, and the best kept secret in her life will spring forth before she can close her mouth.

The Triangle

The Triangle
Three

Love is life and life in love. For life to live, it needs love and for love to be alive, it must possess life  – Anonymous…

It was a big sigh of relief that Adeolu heaved when the cast of the movie began scrolling by. The film had ended. Time for the next stage of the plan. The lights came on and the beauty of the hall, which he had earlier taken in, came alive again. This is not the time to check out the hall for a second time, a more beautiful work was waiting to be done.

“Pretty, sorry I am calling you that. I can’t but say that because that is what you are,” Adeolu said as the other occupants of the hall begin to find their way out.
The lady looked at the disturbance beside her and thought of the best way to get rid of it – sorry him.
“What exactly do you want with me, please?” she said.

Adeolu knew how to deal with such women. They fall so easily after all. He had dealt with many of her kind – proving difficult to get but having interest in him – they believe their seeming hard outward appearances and actions will put an interested man off but they are often mistaken. Only lily-livered men back out after a façade of difficulty from a woman. He knew what to do – the soft treatment!

They were almost outside the waiting area of the Cinema and he stole a glance at the cashier, who was an indirect instrument of fate in the business at hand. He had no time to say goodbye or give a feedback of the movie he had seen. That can be done another day.

He knows he needed to get her to a seat for anything he has to say to have any effect. The lady was slowed down by the way he walked and both of them were reduced to three steps per ten seconds as they talked and walked. Adeolu needed to get her to agree to a seat before they descend from the elevator but; first of all, introduction.

“I am sorry Pretty, I do not mean to be a pest but one could hardly help oneself if one sees a quite attractive and well mannered lady – given that such are scarce in our present-day society. I don’t want much from you – rather I’d say I want a lot from you but only time and you will reveal it.
“Never mind my manners. The name of the trouble that has been pestering you in the last one hour – more or less – is Adeolu. I will only request for one thing from you. To seat over a drink. Would you oblige me that please?”

The lady wondered what was in Adeolu’s head but she could not place it. She thought she knew where he was heading to but she seemed to have lost it herself.

“All men are the same, they get what they want and leave you dry without getting home,” she thought to herself.
“He is looking for a wife and you are one of the targets. Better use your brain girl.”

As the thoughts battle in her mind, she decided to give a listening ear to whatever he has to say. At least one more friend today, will do her no harm. More so, she needed friends.

“What would we be doing over a drink, Mr. Adeolu?” she asked an obvious question with a very serious look on her face. By then their movement had come to a complete stop. They were standing just outside the entrance to the Cinema’s reception.
“Nothing Pretty. Nothing at all. We will just sit there and have the drinks to cool off from the effects of the movie we just saw.”

His face showed no expression. He was striking a cord. A wrong or right one, only time would tell. She paused to look at him and wondered if he meant what he had just said. They would just sit and drink doing nothing. But he had been talking without drinks. Could he be serious? She wished he had said something else. There was no way she would waste her time over drinks doing nothing.

“I am sorry. I don’t cool off over drinks with strangers. I would rather cool off at home and alone,” she said with a smirk on her face.
Adeolu was excited. He had gotten the response he wanted. She is more brilliant than he had thought. She was playing along and really trying to be tough.
“But really, why would a pretty Pretty sit on a seat alone in her house and cool off? Cooling off with strangers would do you no harm, rather it makes strangers become known.
“And if I checked well, I don’t seem to strike you as a stranger. You know my name and have met me for more than an hour. I think I am not qualified for the post of a stranger to you. You seem to be the stranger here Pretty.”

The lady still wondered what he wanted to gain from all these he was putting her through. He seemed to be right. She had made friends from strangers and no one would believe they weren’t friends from the way he had stood close to her. She is the stranger there truly – she knew his name and yet she had yet to give him hers. There was no harm in listening to him over a drink because she knew intuitively that there would definitely be talks. What an intelligent guy! He wanted her to figure out things herself rather than feeding her with words and details.

“Alright, you win Mr. Adeolu. I will have a drink with you on two conditions; we won’t be staying long and two I don’t sit in bars. Lest I forget, I am not Pretty, my name is Omolola. Friends and acquaintances call me the shorter Lola. Can we leave here please?”
“Another bravo for me! Thumbs up for me!” Adeolu said to himself.

The Triangle

The Triangle
Two
When God wants to punish a soul, He removes the love of Himself from his heart – Anonymous…

The next customer, who had been patient enough to watch the drama between Adeolu and the cashier was fed up with the lady, who had become absentminded at work.
She said, “Will you kindly attend to me please?”
“I am sorry ma. What movie would you like to watch?” the embarrassed cashier blurted out.

Adeolu walked into the lighted movie hall. He surveyed the rows of seat arranged in beautiful rows, taking in their beauty. He didn’t know movie halls could be beautiful. He always entered the hall when it was two minutes into the movies he wanted to watch, so he had missed the sight he was just seeing for many years.
He carefully selected a spot in the back rows. He loved sitting away quite far from the viewing screen. He dropped the newspaper he was holding in the cup holder of the seat and went outside again to get his popcorn and drink.
The queue for popcorn and drinks were very long but Adeolu was not one to queue for a long time. He hated standing for a long time in queues.
“I can’t punish myself when I want to pay my money for a service you want to render for me,” he once said to Layi.
“That is the problem of Nigerians. You can’t stay for long in queues and that is a very bad thing because you are not doing the person a favour rather you are ensuring orderliness in things and getting things done in a quick manner.”
“Whatever you want to say, I can’t stay forever in a queue for as long as I can get my way around it. I have been doing it for a while now and I haven't regretted it. For short queues, I can wait. But for long ones, my friend, there is always a way to beat around it.”
That was exactly what he did on that bright Saturday. He jumped queue!
“Excuse me please, I have been on the queue for a while. I only stepped out to secure a place in the
hall,” Adeolu said as he squeezed his way to the front.
The murmur from those on the queue was loud despite the noise in the lounge – trust Nigerians, they hate to be cheated.
“How on earth did you get to the front?” one angry man said from the queue.
“It is not a thing that can be heard at all. You want to come from nowhere and claim a front seat in this queue. I won’t allow that if the others allow o,” another woman said right in front of where he Adeolu had squeezed himself.
He was used to such reactions but he was prepared for them.
“Gentlemen and ladies, will you calm down,” he said.
By then he was just three places away from the guy giving the popcorn and drink.
“All of you should check my ticket and see that it has been torn in halves. If I haven't entered the movie hall, how would I be having two halves? I am a man of honour here please and I hate to cheat people as I hate to be cheated too. Please we will all get out of here and meet somewhere we don’t know yet. So please, let’s have some peace in here.”
That said, the people on the queue seemed placated. He laughed deep inside of himself. He had gone through this once again. A success!
“Thumbs up to you Ade!” he exclaimed in himself.
He got the items and headed back into the hall after he had tipped one of the guards at the entrance of the hall, who seemed to like him. By then, the movie was ready to begin. The adverts, which preceded movies in cinemas, were rolling. He walked gingerly towards the seat he had reserved. His hunting skills at their best. He must get a lady or girl out of that movie hall today.
As his eyes adjusted to the dark hall, he observed that there were not much people in the hall – a maximum of fifteen people by his rough estimate. That seemed to be a perfect number for him! He observed that the hall had fewer couples in it. There were more of single ladies and guys scattered around the hall. The couples sat together as is normally seen in cinemas. They gave no chance for the ‘devil’ to make use of any one of them. Thereby ‘protecting’ their unions.
The movie began and Adeolu at first was watching with rapt attention. He had fallen in love with the interpretation of the Mandela role by Idris Elba.
“This man is just too good,” he said to himself. “ He took the role as if he was the one the story is about. How I wish there would be a vote to decide if he could be the next James Bond. I just can’t stop imagining him in the role of Bond. With all the instruments and the women; the near-deaths and the close shaves. Elba will kill the role of a Bond.”
There was no one beside him as he talked to himself. He didn’t care if he was talking aloud or if any other person was hearing his outpouring of admiration for the movie’s main act. The movie rolled on and on and Adeolu rode along into it. One hour, thirty minutes into the movie was when he remembered what brought him to  the cinema. He hadn’t searched for any lady at all!
His bright predator eyes began searching in the darkness of the hall for a lady, who would be the prey of the day and will also end up being one of the victims of his playing escapades. He searched but he could only catch couples sniggling close to each other in the coldness of the hall. His eyes caught one of them as the guy was trying to clean the tears of the lady with his lips. He was virtually licking the tears off her face as she cried. She had been moved to tears by the sufferings faced by Mandela in the movie. Adeolu tarried a little more. He wanted to know what would end the licking act and he wasn’t disappointed. The licking became kissing and more followed. He took off his eyes and continued his search.
The eyes searched for ten more minutes before they finally settled on an angle where he had gloated over a couple of times. He had lost hope that he wouldn’t get a lady to talk to in the hall and was about to turn his attention back to the movie when he did a last turn at the furthest corner of the rows which were three seats away from his front. He saw that a lady was sitting all alone there nursing the straw in her bottle of drink. She was feeling the cold and had a jacket over her arms. Adeolu could see that she was focused fully on the movie and had been touched by the challenges faced by Mandela.
The search is over. Work begins. He got up from his seat and walked gently towards the rows where the lonely lady sat. There was no one closest to her on the row so he knew she came alone. As he approached the lady, his brain began to fear the worst – rejection.
He got close to the lady, who was dressed in a pink gown. Adeolu did a close survey of her but could see little from her sitting position, all he could say was that she was pretty. He did a quick brain scan of how to begin a conversation. Under thirty seconds, the plot was formed. All he needed was just to sit down beside her.
“Hello Pretty lady,” Adeolu took the first step. He was squatting to avoid blocking those behind him – even though a few people in the hall were watching the movie. Couples were doing what they knew how to do best in halls with little people while the single ones were focused on getting hooked like Adeolu.
The lady looked down at him and wondered who it was that had taken her attention away from the movie screen. She appeared to be engrossed in the film and doesn’t want to be disturbed.
“Hello stranger, what can I do for you?”
“I only seek to be in your company for the remainder of the movie. I could see that you were touched by the storyline and I foolishly thought you would need company. If you wouldn’t mind, may I be seated beside you? Or should I go back to my boring world at the back?”
The lady doesn’t want to be disturbed so she agreed – although reluctantly.
“You may be seated but please I will like to focus on the movie.”
“Thank you Your Eminence! I am most honoured to sit with you. Thanks.”
Yes! Adeolu enthused. The first step has been done and any rejection thereafter won’t hurt as much as it would have been if she had not allowed his first request. But he would give himself the best shot possible and avoid failure on this mission.
He took up himself from his squatting position and sat himself on the seat beside her. He pretended to watch the movie showing on the screen – the truth is that he had lost track of the movie but he was not one to take to failure in the presence of a woman. The movie was the last thing on his mind now. His face was on the screen but his mind was on the beautiful lady sitting beside him. He couldn’t wait for the movie to end. With the corners of his eyes, he looked at the lady who seemed to care less that he was there.
It was a big sigh of relief that Adeolu heaved when the cast of the movie began scrolling by. The film had ended. Time for the next stage of the plan. The lights came on and the beauty of the hall, which he had earlier taken in, came alive again. This is not the time to check out the hall for a second time, a more beautiful work was waiting to be done.
“Pretty, sorry I am calling you that. I can’t but say that because that is what you are,” Adeolu said as the other occupants of the hall begin to find their way out.

The Triangle

One
When you fall in love, things become relatively easy in your sight. It also goes a long way to show the feelings a man has for a woman, life becomes as easy as it ought to be – Anonymous…

Adeolu was a young man who never believed in love, he has spent the whole of his life as player – breaking hearts, minds and souls. He has never believed in the power of love for he believed only fools fall in love.
“How do you know that you are in love with something or someone?” he once asked his friend, Layi.
“I don’t think love is a thing that can happen to me. Maybe it is because of my view of the world and the people in it. My world outlook has let me know a lot and has let me experience a lot but I doubt if I can experience what love is.”
Layi looked at him and shook his head – more out of pity than surprise.
He then said, “Love is a beautiful thing. It is a thing that changes lives and makes lives straight. It reforms and shapes destinies and makes life interesting to live.”
Adeolu replied him, “Ola-yi-wo-inu-ola, the son of Ola-di-pupo-ni-ile-wa, I can’t believe that you are still with this school of thought that love makes life go round after we all know that the earth revolves around the sun with the motions that occurs among the planetary bodies. How is that related or concerned by love?
“Brother, you better wise up and delete the word ‘love’ from your dictionary. Paddy mi, ife n se were (Love is crazy). One of my favourite men of letters, Francis Bacon, once said ‘It is impossible to love and be wise’. So brother, love is for fools and idiots.”
Layi smiled and looked at his friend. He would never change. Adeolu has always been the hard-to-convince bigot and on this matter of love, he would find it extra hard to get him to change his mind except Adeolu experienced it and is convinced it is a reality.
But he still chose to give him another piece of his mind for the records.
“Ade-oluwa-ni-mo-de-s’ori the first son of Mr and Mrs Ade-la-ija-laarin-ebi-wa, the same wise Francis Bacon said, ‘Nuptial love maketh mankind; friendly love perfecteth it; but wanton love corrupteth and embaseth it’. Didn’t you come across that when you were studying his works? Bacon himself was recorded to have gotten married and he didn’t marry without loving his spouse. That quote is self-explanatory.
“But my brother you intentionally chose not to understand it. You will experience love at your own time and will still settle down in marriage. By then, you will know the real meaning of love. US Poet, Edwin Arlington Robinson, also said ‘Love that's wise will not say all it means’. I leave you to digest that.”
But the words of Layi to Adeolu seem as one who left a bunch of fresh leaves outside in the dew and tied a goat close to it.
“Love ko, love ni.”
“I pity you my brother. Igbeyin lo ma n dun oloku ada. At the end of the day, you will fall in love and become so into it that you will regret ever using your mouth to say it doesn’t exist. What you need to understand is that love is beautiful and life is easy and nice when you have your loved ones around you.
“Your loved ones are not only limited to your family and friends but the woman who surround you and garnish your life with undying affection and care that makes you achieve dreams.”

Lola was one of the first set of culprits of Adeolu’s games as he searched for the reality of love. He was out of his house on a boring Saturday afternoon when his made up his mind to the drive to the Ikeja axis of Lagos after three hours of driving aimlessly around town. Layi had travelled – Adeolu hardly spend weekends alone except with Layi or one of his numerous girlfriends – and he was bored with the present hordes of girlfriends. He needed a new one to experiment if this love thing will really work for him and Layi being around would not have made that a possibility. This is his chance!
He drove past the Ikeja Mall, which houses a cinema, kiddies zones and many shops, where he could dazzle a woman with his spending prowess to bamboozle her into believing him and ultimately luring her into his bed. An idea struck him, he should see a movie. Yes! He needed to see a movie ASAP! Those movie halls which are not always fully filled. He needed to see a movie but not a popular and a blockbuster one.
By then he was almost at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa. He drove ahead to the next traffic light at Barracks and did a U-turn and sped towards the Mall after making sure none of the Policemen was watching. He drove into the parking lots and locked his doors with his keys – since he had watched a video on TV of robbers unlocking any car locked with the car’s remote control, he had always locked his car doors manually. Although the Mall boasts a good record in terms of security, he never took chances.
“I have never been robbed – not when I bustle and bust public buses in or outside Lagos – and I don’t tend to work towards being robbed now that I have my own four legs,” he told himself anytime he is parking his car or driving alone.
Adeolu walked towards the Entrance 2 of the Mall and the automatic sliding doors screeched apart a few metres away from him, granting him access into the inner recesses of the Mall. He was soon at the elevator, which slowly but steadily rolled him towards his destination – The Cinema.
“What movies do you have on for today please?”
“We have a variety of them sir. Some are already showing and some have been shown but we have other still coming up later in the day sir,” one of the attendants said to him.
Adeolu got into the queue of customers waiting to buy movie tickets. He unintentionally chose the queue in front of a lovely, smiling lady. He had forgotten what the lady, who sat on a tall stool behind the front counter, called her name but he remembered that she was beautifully made by the Creator – fair, plump, pint-sized and with an oval face, which complemented well with the beautiful arrangement of dentition in her mouth. He wanted to settle for her and not see a movie after all but he found himself changing his mind and sticking to the initial idea which brought him there. She is at work and he wouldn’t want to be a source of someone’s loss of job.
“I want a good one that is not a blockbuster, where the hall will have people but not full to the brim.”
“We have good movies you can choose from sir. Please go through our movie schedule for the week and see which one of them catches your fancy.”
He wasn’t ready for all the stress of deciding a movie to watch and there was no way he was going to plead with her to know which of the halls was less booked. He decided to use a little flattery to get his job done.
“I don’t want to be doing that pretty lady. I want to use your sense of expertise to guide me to the movie I’ll be seeing today. Can you do that for me please?”
It worked! He knew it wouldn’t fail him, especially with his charms turned on to their fullest and sending the strongest of signals. The attendant blushed and smiled. It was a privilege for her to be the Alpha and Omega for this handsome guy who stood in front of her. She would make sure to impress her this time to bring him back again.
“The action films we have surely draws a large crowd and they are booked for now. Do you like action movies?”
“Yes. I am a fan of James Bond and Idris Elba. You know I’ll like to see Elba as the next Bond – the first black Bond.”
“Seems we are on the same page sir. But I like a little more of romance and comedy films than action ones. I share your sentiments about Elba too. Then I will recommend Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom or 12 Years a Slave. The two are very good movies and they don’t draw a lot of people despite the publicity which greeted their arrivals and the promos we give to people. But they are almost two weeks old now, maybe that’s why the viewership has reduced.”
“I’ll settle for Mandela. I’ve heard much about the movie and Nelson Mandela  is my hero. I want to see what they can say about the most important man in South Africa.”
“I bet you will enjoy it and you will come back to tell me your testimony. Here is your ticket sir. It will only set your pocket back by N1,500 sir. It also comes with a box of popcorn and a bottle of your favourite drink sir.”
“Thanks gorgeous. You are indeed an angel and I will surely give you a feedback in the next two hours. Lest I forget, you are really beautiful. Thanks once again.”
That said, he blew her a kiss as he turned from her to go into the cinema hall as the time for the movie was just a few minutes away. He knew the effect his words and action would have on her and he intentionally refused to look back but he felt her eyes piercing his back.
For the cashier, she was really taken to him and she blushed as he said his last statement. She was wondering what manner of guy he was. She had done her job as professionally as possible but this guy was just too good to reject. She wouldn’t have turned him down if he had made a move.
The next customer, who had been patient enough to watch the drama between Adeolu and the cashier was fed up with the lady, who had become absentminded at work.
He said, “Will you kindly attend to me please?”
“I am sorry ma. What movie would you like to watch?” the embarrassed cashier blurted out.

A sports city for athletes, fun-seekers, prostitutes

Amidst rusty facilities inside the National Stadium, Lagos, athletes, business-oriented people and fun-seekers have kept the Sports City going, reports Idris Adesina

It is no longer news that the National Stadium, Lagos, is in a state of disrepair and suffers from lack of maintenance but the stadium amazingly still serves the interests of many.

Recently, the place witnessed some positive changes. For instance, the abandoned swimming pool complex, is wearing a new look and is close to completion while the completed Brai Ayonote Boxing Hostel, now serves as a camp for the country’s boxers ahead of major events.

The hostel was refurbished in 2015 after several years in ruins and serving as home to hoodlums.

Read more here...