Jimi arrived home from school to find his father In a foul temper.
'good morning, papa,' Jimi said, but he got no answer.
mrs solade whispered to him, lookt harassed. 'Daddy's traveling later these afternoon and we're looking for his case.
what do you want to eat? Jimi had felt very hungry but now his was gone. 'anything,' he said and walked to his room. he lay on his bed staring at the faded Tupac poster. wole wasn't home, but it seemed his father was always looking for an excuse to fly into one of his rages.
'my briefcase,' he heard his father snap. 'where is it? not too difficult to guess since we have a thief back here. only two weeks!'
A little while later when he heard his mother call, 'here it is. this is it, isn't it? Jimi came out of his room.
his father took the case and peered at it closely. 'it would seem so.'
'see,' she smiled. 'all it needed was a little more careful searching.'
'please,' he barked, 'it's all the Same! the boy would have taken it if he had seen it. or maybe he did and you're covering up for him.'
'dont talk to her like that!' Jimi couldn't believe he has just said that.
Mr solade stared at him. 'what did you say?' he asked, and raised his hand to swipe at him. Mrs solade grabbed his hand.
'kola please, he's only a child,' she said.
for a few moments his parents glared at each other, breathing hard.
'you see, all of them...bad!' Mr solade said, and he took his bag and stomped out.
'bye-bye,' Jimi muttered under his breath and went back to his room.
A few moments later, Jimi stared outside through the window. he saw his parents talking earnestly in front of the house. as his father entered the car, his mother gently touched his cheek. Jimi wondered why.
later that afternoon, wole came into the room.
'the old lion has travelled,' wole said. 'hip-hip-hooray!'
in spite of himself Jimi laughed, but sobered up quickly.
'don't let mum hear you.'
'little bro, you're too serious nowadays. I know you are a genius but you need to lighten up sometimes. anything bothering you, talk to your big bro. is it the girls at school?
let an old pro give you advice.'
Jimi laughed again. then he said thoughtfully, 'there's this new girl at school: she's really pretty and, you know....'
'Ha! trust my bro,' wole laughed. and Jimi thought he looked more like his old self-before the bad times. He watched as wole changed his shirt.
'where are you going?' Jimi asked.
'nowhere.jims, can I get some cash?'
'not until you tell me where you are going.'
wole hesitated, 'okay. you can come with me, but just keep your mouth shut and don't ask any questions.'
it sounded rather ominous, but this was rare opportunity to spend time with his older brother, especially while he seemed to be in such a good mood..
they set off that evening and eventually arrived at a dead end street with several uncompleted buildings.
presently, a man came out of one of the buildings, making furtive gestures with his hands.
'wait here,' wole said. he strolled nonchalantly towards the man. the man and wole spoke for a little while in whispers. there seemed to be a quick exchange-so quick no one would have noticed it- between the man's rapidly moving hands and wole's. the man gave wole a thumbs-up and disappeared back into the building. then wole walked back to Jimi, stuffing a small nylon bag into his pocket.
'what was that?' Jimi asked.
'forget it. let's go and have some fun.'
they went to a bar. it was on the ground floor of the block if cramped, evil-smelling apartments. the place was dark and crowded and Nigerian pop music was blasting from the speakers.
wole greeted a group of young men sitting at a table.
they were surrounded by bottles of Star and Gilder beer, and Squadron gin.
'hey yo!' said wole, giving slapping handshakes all around.
'who's this?' a rat-faced young man snapped, glaring at Jimi.
'relax, he's my brother.'
Jimi gave them all slapping handshakes too, trying to hide his nervousness. one of them, a man with a street-worn face and short, spiky dreadlocks studied Jimi a moment before declaring, 'hey---a brother of wole's is a brother of mine. Drinks!'
Jimi wanted to say he didn't drink, then he thought of his father and how angry he would be if he could see him now. he sat down beside a man with bloodshot eyes who was staring vacantly into space and accepted the beer.
'smoke?' said rat-face, thrusting out a pack of cigarettes.
'i don't...'jimi began.
rat-face laughed loudly and Jimi ft embarrassed. wole half-frowned at him, so he took a cigarette and joined in several rounds of drinks.
'look at your bro, wole,' said one of the men. 'he's the man!
just like his brother!'
As they drank, Jimi looked around the room and noticed something odd. half-hidden in the dark corners of the bar, there were women standing with one leg thrust out, as if waiting for someone. Jimi assumed they were waitresses, until one woman saw him staring and fixed him with a sly gaze. he quickly averted his eyes, suddenly realising who they were. the alcohol, the stale smell of cigarette smoke, the strange coded conversation, the dim lighting and the continuous harsh beat of the loud music were starting of full Jimi's brain. wole was talking earnestly with the dreadlocked guy, when rat-face😂 jumped up and left the table. when he returned, he brought out a small wrap of rolled paper and lit it. a sharp smell pierced the air. Jimi recognise it. it was a common smell among street boys in bus stops and bust areas in the late evenings.
Indian hemp!
suddenly, he felt sick. what was he doing here anyway? he got to his feet a little unsteadily.
'wole, I'm going out,' Jimi said, but wole barely noticed him. he was outside when he saw a black mini van pull up in front of the bar and uniformed figures began jumping out. his heart started to thump.
'who's there?' A torch flashed his way. 'stop!'
Jimi didn't wait; he ran. he saw other figures running as well. his heart was beating loudly as he jumped onto the lone rickety bus still plying the road at this late hour and rode it until he got to the stop nearest his home.
he was still trembling when he got home. then he thought about wole and felt ashamed for running away the leaving his brother like that.
wole came back after midnight.
'wole!' Jimi jumped on his brother with relief.
'relax, they found noting on me. all they wanted was money.' he then went to where Jimi's jeans hung and pulled out a packet.
'what's that?' Jimi asked sharply. 'what's that doing in my pocket?'
'noting you need to know about.'
Jimi suddenly realised. 'you put that stuff in my jeans! what if the police had caught me?'
'you weren't caught.'
Jimi wanted to jump on his brother and smash him to pieces.
'you-you snake!'
'cool it,' wole laughed. 'not unless you want your mama to hear. I'll make it up to you. I promise.' and he walked out.
Jimi's head was pounding and he wanted to throw up.