16th June 2016
8.35pm
Patrick arrived at his teacher's quarters.
PATRICK:- (he opened his apartment door, removed his shoes, and relaxed on the couch. Ten minutes later, Victor entered the apartment.) Welcome! How far with the job search?
VICTOR:- (looking tired and sweating) Still no luck. Everywhere I go, staff are full... But I managed to submit my CV at a bank today.
PATRICK:- You know, you can save yourself a lot of stress if only you agree to work as a non-academic staff in my department.
VICTOR:- So that I'll work under you? With all my qualifications? For how much?
PATRICK:- (he looked stunned) Ah!! So is that why you haven't accepted my offer? (Victor was silent.) At least it is better than you living with me in my quarters, jobless!
VICTOR:- So you want me to leave, is that what you're saying?
PATRICK:- Well, for starters, you don't help me do anything in the house. I'm the only one cleaning and bringing food to the table, and on top of that, things are very hard in the country right now. I have been helping Samuel with some money so that he can manage to pay workers on his farmland.
VICTOR:- If you don't want me to stay, just say it directly instead of going around the corners.
PATRICK:- I will not live with someone who is lazy! It's either you find something to do or go back home and farm food with Samuel!
VICTOR:- Me?! Lazy?!!!
PATRICK:- Yes, you! (Victor hissed at him and walked to his room. Five minutes later, Victor came out with his luggage.) Where are you going? (Victor ignored him as he dragged his bags.) Victor?! (Victor carried his things, opened the door, and left.)
The next day after Victor left, Patrick found Victor staying at his old university coursemate's place, a three-bedroom luxurious apartment. Victor, wearing a suit and holding a file case, enters the kitchen after a tiring day of job hunting. Bekolo is organizing the kitchen filled with groceries and foodstuff.
VICTOR:- (looking amazed) Wow, Bekolo! You've stocked up quite a feast here.
BEKOLO:- (smiling) Yeah, well, you know, na God oo.
VICTOR:- Come on, what do you do for a living? How do you afford all this?
BEKOLO:- (hesitates) Omo, na hustle oo.
VICTOR:- (raising an eyebrow) Hustle? This is no small hustle oo. Small hustle cannot pay for this kind of apartment.
BEKOLO:- (sighs) You will not understand. Anyway, how did your job hunting go?
VICTOR:- Well, as usual, no luck. It's as if all the banks are filled with employees, but I won't give up. I will continue tomorrow.
BEKOLO:- Wait, weren't you working at NNPC?
VICTOR:- Yes, I was, but it was only part-time. I tried getting a permanent position in their payout section, but anytime there was an available spot, it seemed as if they always had someone else for the position. So instead of wasting my time there, I quit. I tried going back, but there wasn't even space for an internship. Now I'm stuck looking for jobs up and down to the point where I was behind on my rent, which forced me to stay with my brother.
BEKOLO:- Well, that's sad. But you know you are wasting your time; you won't find any job even with all your qualifications. It's either you have connections or you are related to the company's CEO, that's the only chance you will have. Believe me, after we graduated, I searched all corners but still found no luck.
VICTOR:- Then how do you make so much money to afford all these?
BEKOLO:- (smiles) Since we have been friends for all this while, I will tell you, only if you swear not to tell anyone.
VICTOR:- I swear with my life I won't tell anyone.
BEKOLO:- I make money online, through... unconventional means.
VICTOR:- (confused) You mean fraud?
BEKOLO:- Hey! Call it whatever you want, but it pays ten times better than any job.
VICTOR:- (nervously taken aback by the revelation) Isn't it risky?
BEKOLO:- Not at all. As far as you can get rid of all the evidence that traces back to you, you're good to go making easy money. (He noticed how on edge Victor was.) Look, you're obviously desperately looking for a job, and I can use someone with your expertise, so think about it. (Victor nodded as his phone rang. It was Patrick calling, so Victor picked up the call.)
PATRICK:- (voice on the phone) Victor, please come back home. I can get you a job as the departmental secretary at the university. It doesn't pay much, but it's a great start, and you can stay with me rent-free.
VICTOR:- (to Patrick, on the phone) I'll think about it.
PATRICK:- (voice on the phone) Think about it?! What do you mean "think about it"?! And where are you...(Victor hung up the phone.)
BEKOLO:- Was that Patrick?
VICTOR:- Yes.
BEKOLO:- How is he now?
VICTOR:- (sighs) He is okay and now a professor at our university.
BEKOLO:- (his eyes opened in shock) Professor? How? Is it not the same degree we all read? How did he become a professor overnight?
VICTOR:- Well, after we graduated, he stayed behind working as a teacher's assistant and at the same time doing his Master's at the university. From there, he gradually made his way to professorship.
BEKOLO:- Well, is that so... Anyway, it's not by name, but by how much he makes.
VICTOR:- (he rubs his chin) This your fraud... sorry, I mean work. How much are we talking about?
BEKOLO:- Well, it depends on your client. Sometimes I make 3 to 5 million naira a week.
VICTOR:- Eh?!!! You don't mean it...
BEKOLO:- That is just the minimum amount you could make.
VICTOR:- (his eyes were wide open) It's a lie.
BEKOLO:- Look around. Which normal monthly salary can afford all these? So think about it. (Victor's phone rang again, and it was Patrick calling. Victor didn't pick up the phone call until the phone stopped ringing. When the phone stopped ringing, he smiled at Bekolo as he brought a bottle of Hennessy from the fridge, and both of them drank from it.)
15th July, 1988
YOUNG VICTOR:- (on top of an orange tree, plucking oranges and dropping them on the ground) Patrick! Patrick! Hope you are picking them?
YOUNG PATRICK:- (picking the oranges on the ground and putting them inside an iron bucket) Yes, I'm picking them. Hurry up and pluck more before the neighbors catch us.
YOUNG VICTOR:- I am the one hurrying up. You are picking them slowly. Here is another one. Catch it!
YOUNG PATRICK:- (he catches the falling orange and puts it inside the iron bucket) Victor, hurry up and come down. I think someone is coming.
YOUNG VICTOR:- Okay, okay, I'm coming down. (He quickly got down from the tree and helped Patrick pick the remaining oranges on the floor.) Run! (At the sight of someone coming, they both ran out of their neighbor's compound at full speed with the bucket of oranges until they reached their rusted iron gate.) They almost...(he took a deep breath)...caught us.
YOUNG PATRICK:- (breathing heavily) We would have gotten more oranges if only you plucked faster.
YOUNG VICTOR:- Abeg! It's not as if you picked all of them either.
YOUNG PATRICK:- I had to select the ripe ones because you keep plucking unripe oranges.
YOUNG VICTOR:- (he hissed) Let's go inside. (He opened the gate as they both walked inside. Patrick dropped the iron bucket next to a blue Jerrycan under a big mango tree in the middle of a big sandy compound.) Patrick, look! Is that not JoJo's school box?
YOUNG PATRICK:- (a big smile appeared on his face) Yes! Jojo is back. (They happily walked closer to the house. The closer they got to the house, the louder they heard their mother screaming. They entered the parlor to see Martina standing beside them at the entrance crying.) Martina, why are you crying?
YOUNG VICTOR:- (he tapped Patrick's shoulder) Patrick, look (he points at the ground where their mother was shaking Joshua's body.)
MAMA:- Jojo, wake up!!! (She turned and faced her husband.) Kotin, what did you do to him?!!! (She stood up, carried the Bible on the table, and threw it at her husband.) Kotin, what did you do?!!!!!! (Her husband had no expression on his face and remained silent.) Papa Jojo, answer me!! (Her husband still remained silent as she went down on her knees and continued shaking Joshua's body.) MY SON!!!! JOSHUA!!
"OUR CHILDREN" Written By Isa Hafsat Hamtin...
[Deleted scene]
August 6, 2016
11:00 am
Senator Oba Emeka Usman's Mansion.
Patrick is in a formal suit, standing at the entrance of the luxurious mansion as he rings the doorbell. A bodyguard opens the door as he walks inside the house to see Senator Oba Emeka Usman sitting on a couch as his belly expands in his Versace bathrobe, holding a remote while watching TV.
PATRICK:- (politely) Good afternoon, Senator, I appreciate you taking the time to see me.
SENATOR:- Ahh, no problem, Professor. After all, I was curious about why you wanted to see me.
PATRICK:- Pardon?
SENATOR:- Why do you want to see me?
PATRICK:- For the funds for our university, of course.
SENATOR:- (smirking) Funds? What makes you think I have any to spare for your university?
PATRICK:- (frustrated) Sir, the government gave us information on the budget for the increment of our salary, and your name is under Kogi State University's distribution.
SENATOR:- (feigning innocence) Oh, I see. Well, you see, the government hasn't given me a dime for your university.
PATRICK:- But the list of the budget is updated, which means the money has been distributed. (He brought out a piece of envelope, removing a paper from it and showing it to the senator.) Here, look at it.
SENATOR:- (he laughed a little) Professor, you're quite persistent, aren't you? Guards! (Bodyguards appear, standing ready.) Show our guest the way out. (The bodyguards approach Patrick, who becomes visibly agitated.)
PATRICK:- (defiant) You can't just dismiss us like this, Senator! (The tension escalates, and the bodyguards forcibly escort Patrick out of the mansion, closing the door behind him.)