Sunday, 16th February, 2019.

"10 million..."

"Hmm..."

"Think about it, 3 months, if we're successful, 10 million. Not to talk of allowances, shelter, and transport. You have-"

"I got shelter and transport, thank you." He felt the need to assure as he jerked his back off from the swivel chair just to place a clasped hand on his coffee table. Holding unto his slowly building-up anger, he snapped. "You don't tempt me with stuff I already have..."

He raised a finger that shook like a club, eyes narrowed at the coffee table. "My dad did this right?"

Feigning innocence, the man's lip lifted in fake surprise. "What are you talking about, Sudais?"

Sudais threw his head and scoffed. "Come on, don't play dumb with me. He did this. The Lamido(king) did this ko?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The man shook his head as he palmed his knee.

Sudais swayed his head, pursing his lips and drawing his brows in. "Great. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then, move this project to Lagos and I'll let you guys take off 30% of what you're offering."

The man sighed, dropping his head as he muttered. "You're one stubborn man."

Sudais heard grumbles, not words, he protested, mockingly. "Huh? What was that?"

The man rose his head. "I said, it's teamwork. We can't move the project here to Lagos just because one member wants it that way. We compro-"

"Not just one, one very important member. Which I personally don't think you can pull this thing off without." Sudais corrected.

The man's mouth hung agape before he shook his head, his eyes coming close as he took a deep breath, careful not to tell the prince what was on his mind. Insults, lots of them. In a much calmer voice than his inner turmoil, he pointed out. "You let your arrogance get ahead of you, you never know what could happen."

A sick smile lifted the sides of the tanned-hulky man's lips. "What i do know is that you guys have a 50% more chance at doing this right with me. And, 50% more chance at messing this up without me."

Talking to Sudais was useless, the man concluded as he stood up with his briefcase, but not before dropping a blue bound contract paper. "If you change your mind, the door is always open."

Sudais hummed, placing his chin on his palm and resting his fingers on the sides of his face as he watched the man's gait. "Feel free to shut it."

"When we find someone better, we will."

Knowing there were people way better than him out there, he still gambled with his opportunity. "Good luck with that!" He yelled just before the door closed.

He let out a loud sigh as he slumped into the chair.

Damn you, Baba Alhaji. Sorry, but damn you.

To hell with, You don't tempt me with stuff I already have.

He had enough but he certainly didn't have 10 million just laying around.

He was sitting, 3 weeks after marriage in his flat, staring at the table with an empty tea cup, bread, and his phone on his coffee table, being miserable.

Dressed in grey sweatpants with a khaki tee, he sighed at his memory from last week with the man for the umpteenth time as he thought of his awaiting journey.

He was supposed to get on the jet in an hour to go see some black, smooth dark skin woman, with hypnotizing eye-sclera dots, smoky voice, heavy buns, and shitty personality that doesn't show on her stupidly bewitching face, but here he was, stalling.

He had talked to her once on the phone since he had left, and although they had a breathing competition longer than the number of words they said to each other, he was fine with it.

It wasn't a love marriage anyway, right? He was feeding her-ishh. She feeds right? There was food in the house, right? He had her transport covered-a driver to drive her. So, why in the demonic world of excuses was his father trying to set him up on a 3-month contract in Abuja?

The answer was simple. The old man had intel. Everywhere and nowhere.

Obviously, someone-although Sudais didn't deny it too- had told him that his son had left his wife 3 weeks back in the big city of Abuja where extra-marital affairs were the most common profession to another city; Lagos, which was the headquarters for fornication and was in fact, worse.

In fear of what had brought the marriage issue in the first place to commence, the old man was trying to drag his son to the city his wife was since they couldn't move her to Lagos when she was in her 500level. And, he was doing a good job at it by tempting his son with what would hit his nerves; a contract. A really big and good one.

Sudais didn't work, ish.

It was hard to explain.

He hated commitments, but no, do not, repeating, do not, call him an ashewo.

He just didn't like it, and neither entertained the idea of going to work from 9 am to 4 pm every weekday all year long. Nah. That was too much. Besides, whether he went to work or not, he'd always be a commissioned officer with a good monthly salary.

What he had majored in, which was a lot, and the fact that he was a prince, who came from prestigious-both maternal and paternal family- with equal connections, he need not engage in that.

Instead, he did contracts. With companies.

He'd sign weeks-sometimes a few months contracts or projects usually involving developing technologies with allowances, and a guaranteed and fat paycheck at the end of the successful project.

You see, with privileges, easy peasy.

He also didn't believe in; you have to suffer to earn everything.

Yen yen yen!

Suffering wasn't an achievement.

Surviving was.

Whoever brought up the idea of suffering before earning was stupid. And, if they lunged for Sudais, he'd list the 13 years he used, suffering his ass as he majored in different courses just so he could use his privileges to do good in life.

Privilege wasn't a bad thing. Many don't have it and would die for it.

So, why waste it?

With a few strings here and there, he was living a good life, until well, a month back. He still was living a good life, just, not a peaceful one.

He had spent less than 10 days with his so-called wife and although she did bring him some sort of unexplainable jolt with her smart mouth and the SZA vibes and body she gave off, she was literally a chaotic woman. Used every opportunity to fight him, defy him-which drives him to the cliff all the time- and dismiss his fine ass as if he was no one.

Who the hell did she think she was? Coming up and dismissing his ass that was obsessed with her-physically. Only, physically.- and acting as if she was all that?

Okay, She was, but did she have to know and act like it?

It was frustrating.

And the most frustrating fact was he had duties and responsibilities now. Which also included seeing the witch every now and then. Even if it wasn't to see her-he was dying to see her and also throw in his little 'i-don't-like-you' bullshit- but just to please and get his old man off his back.

Now, imagine his surprise when the first thing this witch did was open the door to a booming-bakhoor scented lobby, mixed with her scent with a large smile on her face as she welcomed him.

He flinched-not cause he was scared, but because the woman reached out to TOUCH HIM! She let out a small laugh as she slid the strap of his laptop bag off his shoulder to slant it on hers and stepped aside.

Eyes narrowed as he unconsciously chewed the meat in his cheeks, he motioned for her to go on. She did and well, did he tell you? No? Ok. Guess not. He was shameless.

He watched her waltz in front of him as he checked her out. Clad in a brown and purple kaftan-lace boubou that did great in still showing off her gait, she tied her head with the Ankara into a turban with strands of her hair sticking down her neck to her shoulders as she lead them to his room-her room. Well, the room they fought for.

Why was she doing this?

Turning around, he noticed her face was devoid of her glasses and that was why her eyes were popping out-although there was help from kohl. She smiled again, her dimples popping out as she motioned. "You should take a shower, i made your food. Your favorite." His favorite? When did she know his favorite? And why was she being so...nice? Not that he didn't like it, but nahh. Where was the violent woman that he barely even knew?

She dropped the laptop bag on the lounge bench along with her eyes from him before announcing, "Okay then. I'll finish dragging your bag in and arranging the food while you...freshen up." She gave herself a pep talk under her breath before hitting her fisted hand in the air, a fake, nervous laugh brimming off her. "Okay." Then, she walked out.

Except, she didn't, with a rigid figure, he caught her upper arm. Voice gravelly and eyes drilling holes into her head, he cautioned. "You're being nice. You're not nice. Why are you being nice?"

Laila resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she couldn't have that. Instead, she rose her head, smiling widely, her aligned teeth gracing him. "I can't be nice to my husband?"

"The husband you don't like and the husband who doesn't like you back."

She shrugged. "Well, people change."

He nodded, letting go of her arm but still having a hard time wiping his suspicion. "Damn right they do."

And then, she was out, closing the door almost angrily, before slowing just before it clicked close.

Well, then. Something wasn't right.

Now changed into casuals, he stood a few steps down the diner from the living room as he stared at Laila who had a hand on her hip and the other was holding the phone she was engrossed in.

"Did the person that told you my favorite tell you that I don't eat in the dining?"

Startled, her phone almost fell but she thankfully caught it, bringing it to her chest and squeezing. Her act faltered and she glared at him.

Aht. There it was. That was what he was searching for.

Laila realized what happened and quickly composed herself, placing a hand on one of the chairs to lean towards it. "Oh, you don't?"

He tilted his head, nodding. "If it's not necessary."

"Where do you want to it?"

Instead of answering, he asked. "What type of poison did you use? Is it the one that'll kill me slow...painful?" Clasping his hands behind his back, he took calculated steps towards her, "Or is it the one that won't even kick in until when I expect it the least?" He stopped when he reached the last of the stair up, a few feet from her.

Her hand took off to cross in front of her, her defenses high. Although her face showed the opposite, smiling. "No...you got it wrong," challengingly, although she was ready to throw fists if he tried shit, she took a step forward, "The poison is not in the food. But since you asked," she moved to raise a finger, "First, I'll glove up, then stick an auto-injector filled with tetanus toxoid which is a neuromuscular blocking agent into the back of your ear where forensics will most likely not check. If they check, they're going to think you came in contact with a tetanus infection from soil or dust haka. Then...after I've paralyzed you, I'm going to do the most painful thing you could do to a man..." she went silent, letting him anticipate before she continued, dimples not faltering, "I will force your head down and make you watch as i cut your balls off and shove them into your mouth."

Sudais visibly winced at that, his hand unconsciously coming to grab his crotch to confirm whether it was still there.

Damn. The girl was evil.

The sides of her mouth rose higher as she clapped her hands and vibrated with laughter. "Okay...and then, I'll inject a high dose of insulin into your tongue. You'll die...die of a heart attack. By the time they come, the potassium level in your body won't be recordable, so they can't trace it." Her index shook as she stared at his creamy bare-foot, attention somewhere else. "Keep in mind, murder cases do not get solved in Nigeria."

Excluding the part the wicked woman mentioned to cut his sack of balls, he found everything else amusing, arousing. She was amusing sometimes and arousing most of the time.

She could be something. If only she'd realize he wasn't the enemy.

"Sorry. You lost me at," he dramatically rolled his eyes as he mimicked in a girly and pathetic voice, "'I'll cut your balls off'"

The sick smile still didn't flutter from her face and he was on a mission, "But before you do that. I'd like to shoot my kids from the same balls inside you, so I don't die without leaving a legacy."

Now now now, he was successful. The smile dropped and she gritted. "The only legacy you'll leave behind is a picture of your dead body with your balls in your mouth in the dead-end police investigation case."

He nodded, smirking as he slowly sucked his lower lip into his mouth before releasing it, eyes roaming her, slowly. "Well, let's at least try."

Laila glared at him-glared at the space beside his head as she couldn't keep eye contact without feeling her legs turn into jelly before taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes as she brought a hand up to briefly massage her forehead.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

"Okay," she lifted her head, placing a smile as she remembered the reason why she was doing this. "Let's not kill each other, for today. Sit down, and I'll bring over the food."

The edges of his lips stretched out, indicating a suspicious frown before he shrugged and turned around. "Thank you."

She wouldn't poison him, right?

Well, even if she did, there was no way he was going to let the white rice, deep-fried plantain, and red stew go to waste. He had always known food would be the end of him and he'd accepted his fate with open arms.

Sitting Indian style on the rug, Laila's palm rested on the floor with her upper body slanted forward and the other hand to serve the man.

He stared at the served plate and then at her. "The person who told you my favorite didn't tell you i don't eat beef?"

"Must you complain about everything?"

"Next time, use palm oil for the stew." He added as he picked a spoon and placed it for her. She raised a brow, slanting her head to the side. "I don't like eating alone."

Laila's eyes squinted as she crinkled her nose, then glanced to him to protest.

He beat her to it, eyes softening in a plea. "Please."

She shrugged before pushing the tray of food to sit opposite him and grabbing the spoon. "I didn't poison you, Biggi. But yeah, let's eat and pretend you're not scared of me."

"Biggi? I am not big."

"You're tall and fat."

"I am tall and broad."

She let out a laugh, "Ok, Biggi."

Far into the meal, Laila realized he wasn't kidding about the no beef stuff. He hadn't touched a single one on the plate and she took the honor of doing that for him.

"You made this?"

She hummed. "Yeah."

"You're a good cook. This is good." The compliment wasn't faked, the food was good.

"Thank you...and," she rose her eyes to align with his anatomy. "I need to talk to you."

The spoon in his hand slipped off his fingers and landed with a clank on the ceramic plate as he hastily reached for the water bottle. "I knew it. You weren't being nice for no reason-although you were terrible at it too. What is it?"

Placing a careful hand on his that had the bottle trapped and choking as he tried to forcefully open it, she cautioned. "You have to promise you will listen completely before you talk. And...you will control yourself after i am done. And you won't make rash decisions."

"I don't want to build our 'talks' based on lies, i have a problem with controlling my rage, so I don't promise."

Well, there goes the little hope she had. Nonetheless, it didn't stop her from narrating.

When she was done, the man had pink eyes, popped out veins with the ones in his neck throbbing, as he breathed heavily and tried to calm down by settling the tips of his fingers in front of his face.

Voice strained, he grumbled. "Call her,"

"You won't do-"

"Call her, Sadiya."

Laila stood at that and instead of heading for the room, she threw a veil he hadn't noticed over herself and headed for the front door. He was too engrossed in holding himself back that he lost track until he heard a familiar voice.

At that, he forced himself to stop vibrating and look up at the dark talk man with a small smile on his face as he walked toward him, his wife waltzing away.

Although he did try to hide it, his eyes. "Tahir? What are you doing here?"

"She first called me before we decided to tell Laila ."

He hummed, shaking his buddy's hand before Tahir sat on the adjacent side of the sectional set of couches.

And well, if he didn't know well, he would think this was a simple set prank. But as he sat and ignored the greetings of the girl he was about to strangle, mouth still agape in disbelief at her composed figure, he was compelled to swallow the truth.

The first thing he quizzed was;

"Are you doing drugs?"

Instantly, the room went up in Tahir and Laila's protest.

"Haba Shugaba! Drugs?"

"Why would you ask your sister that?"

He didn't pull back, he yelled, hands flying in the air. "Don't haba me. Yanzu Tahir, they tell you your 17-year-old sister drained almost 4 million of her school fees when she doesn't-"

"Hamma, I didn't drain all of it."

"Ni sa'an uwar ubanki ne? Sena hada kanki da jikin gini ina magana kina magana." He cautioned, standing up and Tahir did the same, afraid the man would do what the sick monsters in his head were telling him to. Index shaking at her, he continued to state facts, "She doesn't pay rent, she doesn't transport herself or fuel her transport, she doesn't feed herself, she doesn't cloth herself, batada responsibility."

The man's anger was justified, as such, Tahir nodded, agreeing with what he said as he stalled them until he had Sudais sitting on the couch.

Sudais slowly massaged his temples before looking at the girl again. "How much did you drain?"

"1.5 million." She answered, eyes avoiding him.

He shook his head frantically, gripping one edge of the couch to keep himself from well... getting physical. "Ngandume pewata?(why are you lying?)"

At the sight of him standing up, her palms flew up in surrender as she backed away, shaking her head, "No! It's not 1.5. It's 1.8. That's the truth. Wallahi, ana la akdhib! (I swear, I'm not lying!)"

In distrust, he came to a stop at Laila's figure that stood, blocking him from the girl. "Anti la takdhib?(You are not lying?) shikenan." He switched, clicking his tongue, "Ko fe'i, Maryam? (What happened, Maryam?) Talk to me." to let her talk, he sat back on the couch to clasp his hand in front of his face and Laila did the same, the stage being handed to Mima.

Out of breath, the girl stumbled with her words. "So, we-we just...like we invested in this legit thing, right? Had 250k of ours tuning into 600k in a few weeks...it was-it was legit. Then it just-"

"And it didn't occur to you at one point to pull out?" Although Tahir was on her side-the side that included her brother not breaking her bones- he also didn't approve of what she did.

"How-no. I like just-"

He pressured, "Why?"

"Tahir!" Sudais hollered, dropping his hands in frustration as he turned to the man. "Let her tell me, talk to me." He then turned to Mima. "Why didn't you pull out?"

"It was going to be the last time, one last time," her fearful eyes roamed the room as if in search of the money, "But then, seeing the coin's rate was going really high, i put a lot to do it for the last time but then..."

Sudais took a few seconds to detect anything sensible from her words but didn't, instead, he groaned as he slammed his fist on the coffee table and lunged for her. "Wawiya! I will beat sense into you!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!"

"Don't. Please don't hit her."

Tahir and Laila's protest fell on deaf ears over the sound of Mima screaming when his foot kicked her stomach and his palm connected soundly with her face before they were able to catch up.

"Let me go, Tahir. Sadiya, you guys. Wayyo Allah na." They managed to push him back only for him to come lunging back and for Tahir to hold him back. He poked his head to the side, pointing a finger at Mima. "You understand what you just did?"

"Don't deal with it like that!" Laila bawled as she gave up and pushed Sudais back, hard. Then suddenly let out a groan. God damn. The man's body felt like a rock.

"Deal with it then, Sadiya. Please." He threw her tone back as he walked off, only to pace back and forth, occasionally glancing at the tensed-up people frightened by his outburst.

He came to an abrupt stop, "How much do you have on you?"

When the sobbing girl didn't answer, he howled so loud, that the estate should've been able to hear him. "I SAID HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE LEFT MARYAM?"

She didn't want more bruises, so she croaked out. "1.3. I ha-have 1.3."

"1.3." He repeated as he took off pacing again. He halted to raise his fingers on one hand and 2 from the other, staring at them in disbelief. "17 year old? 17? Kai. Inaaaaaa! Maryam, tell me the truth, are you doing drugs?"

She shook her head no and Tahir let out an exasperated sigh.

"Tafida nace maka ka dena kawo mata zaton drugs. She is not doing drugs."

Sudais's hands flew everywhere, his eyes still wide, his face shimmering in pink along with his eyes. "Toh, what do you want me to think? Tahir, how can a 17-year-old just flush 2 million like that? I get she lives in Abuja, but I don't believe she invested all of it," He then turned to Mima, "And if you did. Ke wawiya ce! A nani yam? (Do you hear me?) ke wawiya ce. Kina hauka! Wait, how are you even studying law? Law is not for dumb people. Are you possessed? Mutanen garinsu ubankinnan sun kama ki ko?"

She shook her head at every question and nodded at every insult of his. It was her only way out.

He dropped his head to the side only to bring it back up, "You see? Shegiya wawiya! Wannan shegen son kudin naki will kill you. This greed will kill you. Sena hada ki da ubanki in ya ga dama ya aurar dake ga tsoho, tinda kekam bakida hankali! Kai. Wohoho! Maryam, daccu jiki am. (Maryam, leave my sight.)"

As she walked away, his gaze followed the imbecile until she disappeared into the corridor before he turned, "Tahir wallahi yarinyar nan is not normal." He sat tensed on the couch as he skimmed his memory from the moment she was born to see if he could remember an incident that involved her being dropped or hitting her head.

He didn't believe it, she had to be mentally unstable to do this.

Afterward, he released a sigh and slumped into the couch, eyes on the ceiling as his ragging breathing calmed down while he muttered, "I now understand why Baba Alhaji used to beat me. Teenagers are so frustrating and stupid."

When he seemed approachable enough, Laila asked what she had been dreading. "You're not thinking about telling Baba Alhaji right?"

He closed his eyes at her question, his clasped palms coming to rest behind his head.

He was silent. And silence was an answer. So, she added. "Please don't. We'll raise the money for her."

Sudais' eyes flew open as he rose to stare at the woman. "You think this is about money?" It was disappointing how low she thought of him and it made him shake his head, "It's not the money, Sadiya..."

When he put it like that, she did feel a tug in her cold heart. Voice going lower and lower with each word, he motioned frustratedly with his hands. "It's things her love for money is making her do. Do you know the amount of temptation that comes between the age of 16 to 22? She's not supposed to be studying Law with this. Law tests your iman beyond your imagination. She's my sister but she is greedy. What if she falls for bribe? Corruption? What is she going to become?"

With the same soft voice, Laila swayed her hands out. "Then we pray for her. She won't do that. Look, i watched my best friend repeat a year in college because she was too scared to tell any of us until it was too late. At least Mima admitted before it got out of hand."

"Yeah man, she's right. And i mean, no one is above it. Like you said she is just a kid."

He sucked in a breath at those reasons and slouched into the couch, a palm coming up to his forehead. "If it's Baba Alhaji you're worried about, then no. I'm not going to tell him. The man is going to pull her out of school the second he hears this."

Laila let out a loud sigh of relief, the girl had put such high hopes on her that she was scared she wasn't going to come through. She saw the 17-year-old version of herself in the girl and promised to at least make someone's teenage years better than hers.

"But," although he looked relaxed, his voice sounded rough and gravelly. "I won't be at rest until i stay and have eyes on her. Not just her, Hafsy too. Only God knows what else they're doing."

Tahir clapped his hands, a little too excited for the scene that just happened which compelled Sudais to tilt to his friend. "Great. Because i wanted to tell you I'm abandoning Lagos. I'll be here on project A17 for a few months."

Anger diffusing off of him, Sudais rushed forward. "You secured the project?"

"I did."

"That's so great man!" Sudais pulled Tahir into a quick bro hug. "Congratulations! Allah sanya alkhairi."

"Amen amen."

When he pulled back, he dropped to a smile, "And thank you man. For doing this for my sister," he then turned to Laila and outstretched his arm for a handshake. She hesitated, furrowing her brows as she glanced at his hand and face, then went for it. "Thank you, Sadiya. Thank you for giving her a listening ear."

"Anytime." She smiled a tight one before excusing the buddies.

"So," Tahir started, suggestively. "Since you have to stay here for at least a month, you should take that contract. Instead of just sitting around without going to your real job and this one too. It's a good one, Tafida. Don't let your ego get in the way."

Sudais hummed, slanting his shoulders down as he bit the layers off the insides of his cheeks. "Yeah...for the first time, i have to be the one bruising my ego by...calling that bastard. It's going to be a unity of hell."

Firmly patting Sudais' shoulder, Tahir grabbed his friend's phone from his side and handed it to him. "Here you go. Happy unity of hell."

Sudais hissed as he snatched the phone to make the call.

Just when Sudais was about to press the red button and not bruise his ego, the man picked up.

To shorten the phone call as much as he could, he queried. "You got someone for the job?"

"No."

Sudais let out an eternal sigh. "Ok. I'm in Abuja and i need a new copy of those papers."

"I gave them to you."

He gritted his teeth, see why he didn't want to work with the dumb ass? "I left it in Lagos."

"Come to the branch for new copies. Are you in then?"

Stupid ass, of course; "I'm in."