Must Read: The Player

6 years ago

Must Read: The Player

It’s was a year after dad died.

I had written my Jamb exams as most of my colleagues had. What was left was WAEC exams. My lovely sister had written her J.S.S.C. exams. She had about 6 months before she was to resume. She was easily the most brilliant person in her class. Sometimes I doubted if I was even brainier than she was. Ugo was planning to go straight to the police college after school, Tope and I planned to be students of Lagos state University.

I was getting addicted to Oge; we even planned to have S£x after I was done with my exams. I also planned to tell Ugo that I was dating his sister and that I have been doing so for the past 3 yrs. I had a girl in school, her name was Ene. She was easy on the eye too, but I saw her as a temp. She also wanted me to screw her, as a testament of the relationship. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to, but I wanted Oge to be my first. After Oge, then I could come for her. Oge was like an angel to me, especially with the way she took care of Hanatu.
I remember the first time Hanatu saw her period.
We were both confused. Hana locked up herself in the bathroom, I ran to Oge to explain that my sister was ‘on’ but we didn’t know what to do. Oge had insisted I remained in her house while she went to mine to see Hanatu. When I got back much later, Hanatu was smiling again, albeit with a new pattern of walking. Oge also sneaked out food from her house to mine. Even the new bros that had packed into a flat in our block was not a threat to me. His specialty was straffing secondary girls after having lured them with goodies.

Oge was a virgin, deflowering her belonged to me.

Three weeks before the exams, Hanatu got very ill.
She had to be admitted in the hospital. I didn’t have money and was tempted to rent out the vacant room in the flat, to raise the cash.

The hospital bill was #12,500. All I had was #4000, half a bag of garri, three dericas of rice and a bottle of oil. Even the kerosene in my stove was drying up. I couldn’t contact any of our relatives because apparently, I didn’t know their location.
My dad’s father had disowned him when he impregnated my mum and ended up moving living with her. He was supposed to be a good Muslim man, but he wasn’t.

The reason why I didn’t want a tenant was so that I can protect my sister from external influences. I didn’t want any harm to befall her.

The WAEC exams dropped down my priority list as I hustled to raise the money for her treatment. When I got back from school, I would go to G.R.A to do menial work for the middle class. I Fetched water for them, washing dirty rugs and every other thing that could bring fast cash. Ugo gave me some money too, Tope was as dry as a pissed LovePeddler. By the end of the week I had 10k, that night as the doctor made her round, I explained my predicament.

“Oh, you are such a cute boy,” she said after I had explained to her that my parents had travelled to the village.

She was a young doctor, probably a student doctor.

“It’s against hospital policy but I will give you #2000 to balance up,” she brought out the leaves of cash, “you will be a great guy in future.”

I thought I was already a guy. Didn’t she notice my baggy jeans?

I paid the bill and also kept working so I could make the house more comfortable for Hanatu when she got back. I bought a second hand Television from Alaba International, I couldn’t afford a DVD player so I got a VCD player. I got all the Disney cartoons she always went to watch in Ugo’s house. I also noticed she fancied Indian movies, so I got them.

The way her eyes shone when she walked into her room to see those things was priceless.
I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

“You are the best brother in the whole world,” she said.

Oge had prepared her favorite dish of garden egg sauce and yam as a welcome home gift. Life was beautiful whenever my little sister was happy.

I was not doing well in my exams though, except in mathematics which I had a thing for. My mind was in being done with the papers so I can be at home, hang out with my friends and take care of my sister.

Things looked that they would go on smoothly until Oge broke my heart.