Life Of Ekene Episode 2
By Ahmed Abdulkabir
Ekene ran into the room faster than the Jamaican speed maestro. He was looking like a mad man. His friends , Abu and Kunle kept staring at him. Their curious eyes followed him every where he went. "Guys what now? Can you stop staring at me like that? It makes me uncomfortable." Ekene said.
"Bro, are you sure you are alright? Like, are you sane? Why are you unclad? What's chasing you?" Abu asked. "I'll rather not talk about it" Ekene said, irritated by the series of questions Abu was throwing at him. He slammed the bathroom door and the room became quiet, the only sound in the room was the way Ekene was pouring water on himself aggressively. Pouring out his anger on the poor bathing bowl.
After he took a warm bath, he narrated his ordeal to his friends who laughed at him. They talked about Ekene's 'ugly incident' for months before the issue died down. Ekene just graduated from the University of Lagos with a second class upper in Banking and Finance and he has been roaming the streets of Lagos in search of a job. His friend Kunle is the owner of the room he is squatting. Kunle is a civil servant. He works like an elephant and earns a meagre salary.
Abu is the son of a wealthy business man. He is late now though and I know you will be thinking what he is doing squatting with Kunle in a one bedroom apartment. His uncle seized control of all his father's assets when he was in Ss2. His late father named his brother as his next of kin and when his father passed away, the selfish brother took over his business, his home, and everything he owned. And left nothing for Abu and his mother.
It was a quiet morning and as usual, Ekene was out job hunting. He was dressed in a smart suit, the one he used for his project defense. He has been using that suit in all his job interviews. Still, no luck in securing a job. Kunle once teased him "You sure say no be this your suit dey give you bad luck? It's like it has a special endorsement from your village witches".
Ekene was whistling and singing an old church song with his baritone voice. He would have made a good choir master or at least a member, if only he took church activities seriously. He goes to church every three months. He saw a sign post with " Vacancy! Vacancy!! #50,000 job available!" inscribed on it. No job description was given and since he was desperate and job hunting was basically his only job in Lagos, he decided to try his luck.
The receptionist was looking like a rejected sacrifice from a tribal deity. She was thin and chewing gums indiscriminately. " You want to deposit a corpse? ". The question struck Ekene like a blow dealt by a heavyweight boxer. "You said what?" Ekene asked. "Oga, this is a new mortuary or didn't you see the fresh sign post outside?" The receptionist said, pointing at a newly painted sign post. "How did I not see this?" Ekene thought to himself.
The owner of the morgue came out. He was looking like a ritualist. He was putting on all red but it was obvious from the quality of everything he was putting on, that he was wealthy and influential. He asked "Young man, what are you doing here, dressed like this?" Ekene told him about the vacancy he saw outside earlier. The morgue owner told him that he was in dire need of a morgue attendant to look after corpse on a short term basis. Till his relatives from the village can come and take over from the person fully.
He offered to pay one hundred thousand naira daily. The job was definitely scary, but the pay wasn't. It was a juicy pay. Any civil servant would give up anything for such an offer. Some actually. Back to the story. Ekene didn't waste time in accepting the offer. He was asked to resume immediately, so he didn't have time to tell his friends the good and bad news.
The morgue owner gave him a uniform which made him look like the assisant to a village chief priest. While he was there, he discovered that the corpses deposited in the morgue were all ladies in their mid thirties. "That's strange", he thought to himself. This is a morgue after all, what else do you expect to see if not everything 'strange'.The place was scary but Ekene wasn't scared of being around dead bodies. At least that was what he thought at first. " I followed my grandma's corpse in an ambulance from Uyo to Enugu. This job will be like a walk in the park" he tried convincing himself.
He was asked to look after four corpse. And he was planning on resigning the next day after collecting his hundred thousand naira. His thoughts were cut short when an evil wind started blowing, the mortuary doors started opening and closing...
To be Continued
Copyright
Ahmed Abdulkabir
For Starflash Ent.
By Ahmed Abdulkabir
Ekene ran into the room faster than the Jamaican speed maestro. He was looking like a mad man. His friends , Abu and Kunle kept staring at him. Their curious eyes followed him every where he went. "Guys what now? Can you stop staring at me like that? It makes me uncomfortable." Ekene said.
"Bro, are you sure you are alright? Like, are you sane? Why are you unclad? What's chasing you?" Abu asked. "I'll rather not talk about it" Ekene said, irritated by the series of questions Abu was throwing at him. He slammed the bathroom door and the room became quiet, the only sound in the room was the way Ekene was pouring water on himself aggressively. Pouring out his anger on the poor bathing bowl.
After he took a warm bath, he narrated his ordeal to his friends who laughed at him. They talked about Ekene's 'ugly incident' for months before the issue died down. Ekene just graduated from the University of Lagos with a second class upper in Banking and Finance and he has been roaming the streets of Lagos in search of a job. His friend Kunle is the owner of the room he is squatting. Kunle is a civil servant. He works like an elephant and earns a meagre salary.
Abu is the son of a wealthy business man. He is late now though and I know you will be thinking what he is doing squatting with Kunle in a one bedroom apartment. His uncle seized control of all his father's assets when he was in Ss2. His late father named his brother as his next of kin and when his father passed away, the selfish brother took over his business, his home, and everything he owned. And left nothing for Abu and his mother.
It was a quiet morning and as usual, Ekene was out job hunting. He was dressed in a smart suit, the one he used for his project defense. He has been using that suit in all his job interviews. Still, no luck in securing a job. Kunle once teased him "You sure say no be this your suit dey give you bad luck? It's like it has a special endorsement from your village witches".
Ekene was whistling and singing an old church song with his baritone voice. He would have made a good choir master or at least a member, if only he took church activities seriously. He goes to church every three months. He saw a sign post with " Vacancy! Vacancy!! #50,000 job available!" inscribed on it. No job description was given and since he was desperate and job hunting was basically his only job in Lagos, he decided to try his luck.
The receptionist was looking like a rejected sacrifice from a tribal deity. She was thin and chewing gums indiscriminately. " You want to deposit a corpse? ". The question struck Ekene like a blow dealt by a heavyweight boxer. "You said what?" Ekene asked. "Oga, this is a new mortuary or didn't you see the fresh sign post outside?" The receptionist said, pointing at a newly painted sign post. "How did I not see this?" Ekene thought to himself.
The owner of the morgue came out. He was looking like a ritualist. He was putting on all red but it was obvious from the quality of everything he was putting on, that he was wealthy and influential. He asked "Young man, what are you doing here, dressed like this?" Ekene told him about the vacancy he saw outside earlier. The morgue owner told him that he was in dire need of a morgue attendant to look after corpse on a short term basis. Till his relatives from the village can come and take over from the person fully.
He offered to pay one hundred thousand naira daily. The job was definitely scary, but the pay wasn't. It was a juicy pay. Any civil servant would give up anything for such an offer. Some actually. Back to the story. Ekene didn't waste time in accepting the offer. He was asked to resume immediately, so he didn't have time to tell his friends the good and bad news.
The morgue owner gave him a uniform which made him look like the assisant to a village chief priest. While he was there, he discovered that the corpses deposited in the morgue were all ladies in their mid thirties. "That's strange", he thought to himself. This is a morgue after all, what else do you expect to see if not everything 'strange'.The place was scary but Ekene wasn't scared of being around dead bodies. At least that was what he thought at first. " I followed my grandma's corpse in an ambulance from Uyo to Enugu. This job will be like a walk in the park" he tried convincing himself.
He was asked to look after four corpse. And he was planning on resigning the next day after collecting his hundred thousand naira. His thoughts were cut short when an evil wind started blowing, the mortuary doors started opening and closing...
To be Continued
Copyright
Ahmed Abdulkabir
For Starflash Ent.
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