Young gods

Abimbola

He saw Mofe at her usual table at lunch. She was surrounded by her usual clique. To her left sat Suliyat, hands busy with her phone. Seated on the other side of Mofe was Titi who was engaging her in some sort of gossip;he could tell by the way their lips moved.

Clearing his throat he made his way towards them;everything suddenly became quiet but the rhythmic thud that grew louder inside his chest the closer he got to them. At the sight of him -and to his amazement- Mofe blushed lightly.

Suliyat and Titi stood up and briskly walked away, they had a smile of approval on their faces. Standing up Mofe confidently stretched out her hand. Surprised, he hesitantly handed it to her. What the hell is going on? She drew him closer and started leading him down the hallway.

"wh—where are we going?" he asked, she looked at him with a look on her face that said just shut up and follow. He obeyed still bewildered.

When they got to the science lab, she led him in, locking the door behind her with a soft click. She pranced over to one of the large tables in the room, and seductively gestured for him to come. He could feel his legs wobble beneath him as he made his way towards her.

"Mofe, what's..."

"shhh" she placed her finger on his lips silencing him , while her other hand grabbed the already hard bulge that had formed in his pants. He was beginning to like where this was going.

"no woman, no cry" she said drawing him closer to her. She buried his face in her chest, filling his nostrils with the sweet smell of some expensive perfume.

"what?" he asked confused

"No woman no cry! " Bob Marley sang, it was the sound of his phone's alarm.

"ugh" he groaned, slowly sitting up and angrily looking down at his boner. His eyes struggled, trying to adjust to the dark room. The room was dimly lit, a blue hue. Hints of the morning sky seeped in through the spaces the curtain failed to cover.

What a dream he thought. Laying back down, he shut his eyes and buried his face in his pillow. come on take me back! I want to go back! 

He sat up again, giving up. She's only yours when you dream idiot

He was uncomfortably hot, he cracked his aching neck causing a jolt of pain to shoot up his back. His ceiling fan laid motionless above him and his undershirt clung to his sweaty back.

Another power outage.

It was one of the biggest disadvantages of living in Nigeria and although it was the norm of the day, one could never quite get used to it.

He reluctantly got up, shuffling his way to the bathroom, minding not to trip over the clutters of trash that filled his room. Notebooks, textbooks, test papers,the opened box of biscuit he ate last night, water bottles, he was usually a neat person but the stress of both work and school was draining the life out of him.

Ever since he started his SSS3 (senior year) he had been overloaded with excess homework and projects, coupled with the pressure of  studying for his upcoming examinations and working at the local grocery store to make ends meet. His parents could barely handle the cost of raising them, hence whenever he wanted to buy something he couldn't bring himself to ask them, he would much rather buy it with his own money than feel like a burden.

He started brushing his teeth and went back to sit down on his bed, picking up his phone. Apparently he had fallen asleep while going through Mofe's Instagram profile, something which had become a habit of his.

The approaching and distinctive sound of slippers on the concrete floor sent his heart jolting.

"Abimbola! What are you doing?!  shey ko ye ti ma mura school?" roared his mom as she pushed his door open.

"I am, Ma" he replied immediately. Lucky for him he was able to slide his phone under the blanket, safely away from the sight of his mother's almost supernatural vision.

Almost everyone -his teachers included- called him Bimbo, a short variation of his full name "Abimbola" ,which only his parents called him.

"good morning, Ma" he added instinctively, saving himself from a long talk on culture, respect and tradition he would have received later on, for failing to greet her.

Her suspicious eyes scanned the room and finally rested on him, "do and get ready so you can eat, there is bread and tea, be fast, it's almost eight o'clock; and this your room needs cleaning." she said.

She closed the door and the sound of her receding footsteps eased a sigh of relief out of him, his mom's presence always had a way of unnerving him.

He quickly had his bath, got dressed and in a flash was downstairs making his breakfast. He greeted his father and got a grunt as a reply. He was seated in his favourite chair in the living room, his head buried in a newspaper, a daily routine of his.

Father scarcely talked, except when he got angry, something everyone tried to avoid by being on their best behavior whenever he was around.

"...on the headlines: The United States government has shown interest in supplying the people of Nigeria with an unlimited power supply says the minister of energy..." The radio crackled from the corner of the room. A smile played across his lips, Maybe there's still hope for this country.

Stuffing the last slice of bread in his mouth he checked his watch and made his way to the door. He stepped outside into the busy city of Lagos.

Its just 7:45am,if I take a taxi I'll be able to make it before the assembly starts.

He signaled at the first taxi he spotted and was on his way to school.