@Oge_writes : Hunter’s Game: Season 2 (Teaser)

TGIF everyone! Let me introduce you to a very captivating series. It is called “Hunter’s Game” by Ogechi Nwobia. Did you follow the Season One? No? Kindly do so here (https://yougeecash.wordpress.com/category/fiction/hunters-game/ ) before proceeding to the teaser for Season Two below. Season Two will begin tomorrow, October 1st, 2016, and it will be published every Saturday on Oge’s blog at www.yougeecash.wordpress.com .  Make it a date with her every Saturday. Follow her blog so as not to miss any episode.

hg

The sun had long since completed its return home by the time she took her evening run. Her trail was different tonight as she ran through the city for the first time. It had always been through the beach or some other trail close to home but this night, she took a different, longer trail, just for the fun of it. Her ears were plugged into her iPod, Eminem’s rap filling her ears and fueling her heart rate as she maintained a steady pace of 3:38.

After completing 6km, she commenced her return home, her pace dropping slightly to 3:50. In 30 minutes, she was back to her small cottage overlooking the Jibacoa beach. She peeled her soaked tank top and tights off her body and went into the bathroom for a cold shower just as she turned on the television in her room.

When she came out of the shower, she sat in front of the television, drying her short hair. She needed to cut it again. The hair grew way too fast. She suddenly noticed an item on the news bar:

Breaking News. Passenger plane crashes in Nigeria, killing all 120 passengers aboard.”

“Holy shit!!” Ijeoma exclaimed.

She turned up the volume of the news and listened as the reporter provided updates of a plane crash that had taken place hours ago. It was 3am in Nigeria but quite clearly, no one was asleep. The airplane was one in the fleet of Miranda airlines owned by Chief Victor Ubong. At that time, the passenger manifest was being read. The journalist reported that 3 of Chief Ubong’s children had been on the flight, one them was the pilot, the other a flight attendant and the third one apparently hitching a ride. The black box had been found and investigations had commenced.

Ijeoma buried her face in her palms. This was completely shocking. Chief Ubong was well known to her. He had actually arranged the private jet that had taken her off to Cuba six months ago. How could such a thing happen to him? She briefly contemplated reaching out to him but changed her mind. They were not exactly tight buddies. He owed her a favour and had repaid it by ensuring her safe passage out of Nigeria. No need to get emotional over his loss.

She turned off the television and changed into something light for the night, then walked into her small kitchen and fixed herself a cocktail. There was so much madness going on in the world, she would rather remain oblivious to it all.

She took her drink back to her room then turned on her Netflix and relaxed in her bed.

Against the backdrop of the movie dialogue, Ijeoma heard a ping that signified a notification for her email. She paused the movie, picked her iPad and checked. The mail had come into a Gmail account she had not used in months.

Check the news. There was a crash. Someone just murdered my kids. Come home. I need your help.

The sender was V. Ubong. Ijeoma stared at the screen for a long time before taking another sip of her cocktail. She slowly typed out a response;

My condolences chief. But I’m retired. Never returning to Nigeria.

She sent the email and shut down the iPad before returning her attention to the big screen in front of her.

 

Story Wars 1

story-wars-main-flyer

Seun Odukoya and The Underline Academy presents Story Wars 1. I know you have heard this phrase so many times that it may sound like a cliché: “Move your writing to the next level”  – but that’s the reason behind these classes being organised by The Underline Academy – to help you move your writing to the next level!

The precursory writing mashups came as a result of a need to help writers/creatives be more than their ‘situation’. You’re only as successful as your options and this is designed to give you more options by improving and diversifying your skill set.

What more could you need?

For details/registration visit: https://theunderlineacademy.wordpress.com/story-wars/

 

Diary of a Jumoke: Episode 3

Hi, everyone.  This is the third episode of the new feature series, Diary of a Jumoke by Abdulwahab Olajumoke. Look out for Episode 4 next week Tuesday. Do give this a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

b9565334-2a5d-4d71-9f13-c7c36d94dd7e

Rukky was touching up her make up when I got inside. The makeup and accessories didn’t help her situation; she was still looking like a starved person.

Does this girl eat at all? I asked myself as I approached her.

“Jumoke, which levels nah?”

“What’s all this? You were supposed to be here an hour ago!” she said, not giving me a chance to defend myself.

“I am really sorry. Something came up.” I replied.

“No qualms.”

“Let’s go to the dressing room, you need to change your clothes.” She added as she packed her makeup and headed upstairs toward the dressing room.

I was lost for a millisecond. What on earth was wrong with what I was wearing?

The micro mini gown I wore could buy half of her clothes. But as it is, she was the boss at the moment so I had to agree to every idea that came out of her twisted mind.

Few minutes later, we are in the VIP lounge with some top business men in the country. The man I am supposed to hang out with is a multi billionaire who owned the largest telecommunication company in the whole of West Africa.

Rukky had told me about him some weeks back; that he flew into the country about three weeks back and he would be needing a classy girl to keep him company while he was in the country.

Since he was not yet around, I decided to pick a seat in a corner of the lounge. I sat down cocktail in hand while I watched one of the strippers do a pole dance in the middle of the room.

I was still sitting there when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found this potbellied man smiling at me with an awkward gap tooth. I felt my stomach turned. I silently prayed that was not the person I had been there waiting for.

How was I supposed to endure his clumsy face for two good weeks?

“Omalicha, I am Chief Ogbonna Ike.

“I have been watching you from afar off for quite long.”

“Why are you here sitting all by yourself?” he said with the thickest Igbo accent I have ever heard in my entire life.

My jaws almost dropped. Like we are in the 24th century; do people still talk with Igbo accents?

I heaved a sigh of relieve when I discovered he was not the one I had been waiting for. I gave him a forced smile and decided to string him and see what he could offer. There was no crime in killing two birds with a stone after all.

“My name is Jumoke.” I said extending my hand for a handshake.

But instead of shaking me, he took my hand and gave me a rather unnecessary kiss. I was seriously praying for him not to dribble on my hand.

The width of his gap tooth was really too much to take in. I shifted uneasily in my chair while I fought the urge of snatching my hand from him.

Finally he let go of my hand and sat on the chair next to me.

“This man will crack this chair today!I thought as the little chair creaked under his weight.

“Adaobi, has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are? he said.

His thick accent was all I could hear. It was like he was speaking in a strange tongue. And it took me some minutes before I could decipher his sentence.

When I finally did, I gave him a genuine smile.

By now I was feeling uneasy. Where the heck was this man I was supposed to meet? Or was Rukky playing games with me?

I really hope that was not the case because I was going to show her madness in 4D if I find out that she had been wasting my time.

And this Chief Ike, or whatever his name was, will not stop engaging me in all kinds of stupid talks.

I mean what was my business with the fact that his eldest son was gay, and he had been trying to fix him up with a woman.

Why was he telling me this?

It was not as if it would put food on my table or add to the money in my account… or even buy me a car.

My mind did a quick flash back to the fact that I had abandoned my Range Rover.

“I really needed a new car ASAP.” I thought.

The man invited me over to his house the next weekend and I agreed in a bid to get rid of him. But he just won’t stop. The good news was that he was super rich. I had not wasted my time after all. His money would do for a while.

My phone vibrated, someone pinged me.

I was super glad that the message was from Rukky.

“Meet me in the parking lot.” her message read.

I was finally going to escape from this talkative of a man. My eardrums would be left at peace for a while.

I told him I was leaving and I promised to honor his invitation as I hurried out of the VIP lounge.

Rukky was standing with a man when I got there. Judging by his looks, he should be in his mid-fifties. He had a mustache that looked as if it was going fall off anytime soon.

His face displayed wealth and a bit of elegance.

“And this is what I’m talking about.” I said to myself.         

“Dr Bassey, this is Jumoke.” Rukky said as I walked towards them.

Once again my Beyonce inspired smile rose from the dead and my accent came out with full force.

“Hi Doctor.” I mouthed.

He smiled revealing a set of white teeth.

“I’ll see you later Rukky.” he said, indirectly telling her that her presence was no longer needed.

 “Now let’s get things started, shall we?” he added.

He extended his hand and gestured for me to move closer.

***

Abdulwahab Olajumoke is a Mathematics and Statistics student from The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro who just concluded her National Diploma Program. Her interest lies in reading articles and novels of all kinds which has in turn prompted her to keep pursuing her career in writing.

 

Diary of a Jumoke: Episode 2

Hi, everyone.  This is the second episode of the new feature series, Diary of a Jumoke by Abdulwahab Olajumoke. Look out for Episode 3 next week Tuesday. Do give this a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

b9565334-2a5d-4d71-9f13-c7c36d94dd7e

 

Three Months Earlier

I met Freddy at a beach party organized by my flat mate’s friend. Actually I hated the girl somehow. She always acted superior, like she owned the entire universe. She was not even as pretty as I am.

Shade my flat mate had convinced me that the party was going to be fun. Besides I could meet a lot of rich guys there. Meeting rich guys was what got me to agree to come. I won’t be so stupid to pass a chance of swimming in a pool full of wealthy fishes because of one stupid girl who had bleached every part of her body, including her brain.

We were half way into the party when he arrived. He was tall and muscular and I would have mistaken him for Vin Diesel if not for his dark skin tone.

I had been watching his every move since he arrived and I noticed the way the muscle in his back moved elegantly when he walked.

“His name is Freddy. He is Tega’s cousin.” Shade whispered to my ear when she saw how I was gawking at him.

Tega was the name of her friend who was having the beach party; the one that I disliked.

Not that I was a fan of muscular guys but then this Freddy guy was Tega’s cousin. That meant only one thing; he was definitely going to be rich.

Without wasting time, I stood up from where I was sitting and walked towards him flaunting my killer bikini body as I walked. Many eyes were on me, or should I say many eyes were on my booty.

Yes, I was aware that any guy would drop dead to touch my booty but this time I was not in for any kind of stupid hookups not when I had a candidate in mind.

“Can I have a seat?” I asked with a perfected British accent.

Anybody would have thought I was born and bred outside the country.

As Shade would put it, my packaging game was hyper tight.

He looked up from his phone and I could swear his eyes were squarely on my cleavage.

The sharp girl that I was, I tilted my body to an angle closer to his face giving him a full view of my assets. Instantly, he gestured to an empty sit beside him.

“Have a sit babe.” he mouthed as his eyes surveyed my drop dead physique.

He seemed to be pleased with what he saw.

I could see the loathing look Tega gave me when she saw that I was with her cousin. I cared less though. I was going all the way down with this one.

We talked for quite a while and all through I had worn my Victoria secret model look.

During our conversation, I learned that he was an only child and the sole heir to his father’s fortune. That piece of information inspired me more to stay in the quest.

After a while, he told me he wanted to be on his way home.

Seriously?

I was not going to allow him leave without giving him a delicacy from the honey pot. He was too valuable not to have a taste.

I stood up and pulled on his hand seductively, pressing my booty against him intentionally. I told him I wanted to see his car and he seemed to have gotten the message.

Five minutes later, we were inside his car tearing at each other like angry birds.

Damnnnn!!!

The dude was a perfectionist. He knew how to do his thing and I was impressed.

The fact was that he had gotten deep into the honey pot and he was sure going to come back for more. So we became a regular. He was a bit older than i was but not old enough to be called a sugar daddy.

On my last birthday, he had gifted me with a Range Rover. I was slightly annoyed though. I had actually thought he would buy me a new car instead of him giving me the one he had been using before.

But as the saying goes half bread is better than none. I had accepted the car in good faith.

Freddy on the other hand is a hard core womanizer. He kept women of all shapes and sizes. I won’t blame him, he’s just too handsome not to womanize and besides, as far as I am concern, all guys are womanizers. Every single one of them.

I was in for the money though so he could sleep with every girl on the planet for all I care. As long as the money keeps rolling in, I’ll continue to be the best sugar baby he had ever met.

 

Present.

The cherry fragrance that greeted me as I entered the car made me remember my Mum’s room back home and I missed her for a split second.

It was his deep voice that jerked me back to reality.

“You seem to be in a hurry.”

“Where are you heading to?” he asked.

“Club 44,” I replied.

“Hope you don’t mind dropping me there?” I added.

This guy should just shut up and drive joor.

I didn’t have time for small talks. As it was, I had numerous missed calls on my phone already. Rukky had called me like a million times and then there was Freddy. The idiot had been calling me nonstop for the past five minutes. His womanizing sense should tell him to follow the directions I sent to him and pick his car.

His calls are just annoying me. I had planned to bounce back on him later but first I need to get to Club 44 as soon as possible.

The guy was saying something about the traffic but I was not listening. I was oblivious of my environment that I even forgot to finish my survey on him to determine if he was worthy of hanging on to.

I was relieved when he finally pulled over in front of the famous Club 44. I rushed through a thank you speech that I was barely conscious of.

My mind was elsewhere.

I alighted from the car and was about going when he stopped me and gave me his complimentary card.

The name I saw on the card squeezed the oxygen out of my lungs. My eyes instantly did a 360 in their sockets.

Dapo Badejo, the owner of Swanky Cloth line, had given me a lift but I was too occupied to even notice.

What on earth was I thinking?

Before I could get over my shock, he had zoomed off and I just stood there staring like a scarecrow.

I had caught a big fish without any effort.

Rukky’s call came in again making me sweep what had just happened to the back of my mind.

“First things first,” I thought.

I have business to handle and Dapo Badejo could wait a while.

 

*****

Lexicon:

*joor – a Yoruba word that indicates please

***

Abdulwahab Olajumoke is a Mathematics and Statistics student from The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro who just concluded her National Diploma Program. Her interest lies in reading articles and novels of all kinds which has in turn prompted her to keep pursuing her career in writing.

Diary of a Jumoke: Episode 1

Hi, everyone. I am sorry this took longer to post than I thought. This is the first episode of the new feature series, Diary of a Jumoke by Abdulwahab Olajumoke. Look out for Episode 2 next week Tuesday. Happy holidays.

 

***

b9565334-2a5d-4d71-9f13-c7c36d94dd7e

I dialled his number and it rang for the second time in a row. Where the hell is Freddy and why was the mumu not picking my calls? I had been standing by the roadside for almost an hour. My Range Rover had broken down and I had no idea what had happened to the silly car. It had been working perfectly earlier today.

Gosh!!!

My leg had started to hurt due to the fact that I had been pacing up and down in my 5’’ tall Zanotti heels. Dialing Freddy’s number again, I opened the car, got inside and waited for the idiot to pick up. I was so going to give him a piece of my mind. I just hope he was not busy banging any cheap punani.

The call connected…

“Hello babe,” he said in a shaky voice, like he had been running a marathon. I was actually right; the idiot must have been banging a chick while I was here suffering.

“What on earth is wrong with you? I thundered. “You abandoned me here with this second hand car. You refused to pick my calls. Are you mad already?”

I was really boiling inside and when I’m angry I tend to over react. Freddy mouthed a quick reply into my ears and before I could say jack he ended the call with a “Babe I have to go. Send me your location and I’ll come pick you up.”

 What the hell just happened? Did that broke ass dude just ignore me?

 I was still thinking of a way to get out of the mess I got into when my eyes fell on my nails. What I saw fueled my anger. One of my neatly manicured nails had fallen off! This could not be happening! I spent two hours fixing those nails. I paid fifteen thousand naira for them. And in a bid to open the car’s bonnet when it broke down, one of my nails fell off. This is not happening.

I checked the time and it was past noon. I was really running late and I was sure Rukky would have my head if I did not get my ass down to Club 44 very soon. She was giving me an offer of a life time. I must not mess things up but again I was still stuck with this godforsaken car.

As if controlled by a higher power, I picked up my Gucci bag, my phones, dropped the car keys on one of the chairs, got out and banged the door after me. I would not let any car wreck my plans. The idiot would come and carry the yeye car himself. I was going to get someone to buy me a new one later.

Not minding the scorching sun, I elegantly stood like a queen beside the road, waiting for a “Mr Charming” who appreciates beauty to stop and pick me up.

Yes, I was beautiful! I knew it. I had everything a guy wanted in a lady – long legs, a contoured face, a banging booty… What else could a guy ask for?

I had everything I wanted at my beck and call. Money was not a problem; I changed cars like clothes. I flew in and out of the country whenever I wanted. I did not really have a fixed income or job. I had been “self-employed” ever since I graduated from the university two years ago.

As the saying went, I was using what I had to get what I wanted. I was a proud sugar baby. People talk but arrghhh! Money must be made and I had the perfect tools to use – my body actually. My area sister Rukky, would be connecting me with some real sugar daddies later in the day and I was not going to mess it up for anything.

Just when I thought my legs were finally going to crack, a Land Rover parked in front of me and I did a super Shoki inside me.

The driver rolled down his window.

“Can I help you sweetheart?” he asked in a baritone voice.

I did a quick survey of his face; dude looked cute and rich.

He looked like a potential “investor”.

“Yes please, I need a lift,” I answered flashing him a Rihanna-inspired smile.

***

LEXICON:

*mumu – A Nigerian slang used to describe a person who acts daft.

*punani – Jamaican slang for vagina.

*yeye – useless

*Shoki – a type of West African dance

***

Abdulwahab Olajumoke is a Mathematics and Statistics student from The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro who just concluded her National Diploma Program. Her interest lies in reading articles and novels of all kinds which has in turn prompted her to keep pursuing her career in writing.

 

The Other Me (Short Film) by @tomi_adesina

A young man with Autism, Olamide,  decides to take the love of his life, Sharon, on a date. What is meant to be the best day of his life turns out to be his biggest nightmare.

The Other Me is a short film produced by BlueHouse Films in association with Phalanx Pictures. It was written and directed by Tomi Adesina, a Screenwriter and Fiction Series Blogger. It stars Taiwo Adeboboye and Adebukola Oladipupo among others.

To watch, Click here: https://youtu.be/J6OseXJTwb8

Don’t forget to share. Thank you!

Free Flow

Sometimes life plays a trick on us just when we think we have it figured out whereas it was life that had us figured out a very long time ago and we were only just playing the script written by life without knowing it until it hits us and by that time it would have been too late to reverse our numerous decisions which would have made us into who we are not or who we are not supposed to be and this realization would hurt so bad because we would have taken decisions which would not have only affected us but would have affected people around us especially people who care about us and have made consequential choices based on our own actions or decisions and the ripple effect of their consequential choices usually spread like wildfire to the extent that they come around to haunt us in ways we could not have imagined when we first made our earlier decisions to outsmart life
***

As you may have noticed,  I wrote the above short piece without a punctuation mark. Have you ever tried writing that way? Did it make sense? If you have,  I’d like to read it. If you haven’t, can you give it a try in the comments section below?  Let’s see who’s more creative! 

Winner of “Guardians of the Seal” Giveaway announced

So, two days ago, I published this post (https://haroldwrites.com/2016/08/31/grillandread-report-card/comment-page-1/#comment-523 )and promised to giveaway @tundeleye ‘s new book, Guardians of the Seal, today. A couple of people entered for the giveaway. After keenly scrutinising the entries, two people really convinced me to give them the book. The two people who convinced me were Kodili and Seyi Adeoye. However, and like I said in the post, only one person can win it. In view of the foregoing, I have been constrained to pick one person, and that person is Kodili. Congratulations. I’ll contact you through the email you dropped. Thanks to everyone who participated and those who retweeted the link on Twitter. Thanks also to those who liked the Facebook Ad on the giveaway. To those who did not win, better luck next time.

If you like my Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/haroldwrites ), you may as well follow me on Twitter. I do fun stuff there which I don’t do here. It is https://twitter.com/haroldwrites .

The two entries that really piqued my interest are shown below. Kodili won because she promised to do a review of the book.

1

 

 

2

Have a fabulous weekend ahead.