Everything turned sour, the Olayinkas were no longer one, the damage caused can never be repaired in years let alone a lifetime.

"Asalam Alaykum(peace be unto you),"Awwal said as he entered knowing fully well that his dad wouldn't ignore the salaam.

"Walaikum Salaam(peace be to you too),"Dawood murmured and wondered how he still had the nerve to say salaam.

  Salma struggled with her daddy's tecnoW2 , its cracked screen didn't allow her press well, she was frustrated and wanted to drop it but Computer  Science assignment was important.

"Daddy, this phone isn't doing well o,"Salma sighed at the incompetence of the phone and at the sharp pain she felt in her stomach.

"It's you people that know how to use it now, so manage it," Dawood said.

   He had replaced his itel1452 with a second hand tecno w2 because Salma insisted that she needed an android as JSCE was around the corner.

"Take this one,"Awwal said and gave Salma a black tecno K7, though not a new one, looked neat.

"Ah, when did you buy this one?"Salma asked and gave her brother a suspicious look.

"This month,"Awwal lied.  It was one of the phones they had stolen or snatched for the deal brought to them by Femi.

Dawood scoffed. "At least you have gotten a better phone, can I have mine now?"He asked and stretched his right hand forth.

"Thanks dad,"Salma smiled sheepishly and handed the phone to him.

"Bye,"he said and left the room.

"Is this how you and dad would keep ignoring each other?" Salma asked when Dawood left the room and peered at Awwal.
 
    Dawood rarely spoke to Awwal, he already concluded that he had three children because his way of life could kill him anytime while Aminah still talked to him and always tried convincing him to leave the gang.

"Do your assignment,"Awwal said in a monotonous tone.

"Dash(gift) me this phone na," Salma whined

Qoyyum smiled. "No problem, just give me my sim,"

"Really?, thank you, so I will use an android phone in my life, thank you,"Salma squealed.

   A call came in and she immediately  handed to Awwal who spoke to whoever was on the other end with an hushed tone, the frown on his face was so obvious. He handed the phone back to her and left without saying anything.
 
  Salma shrugged her shoulders, the possession of an android phone made her feel giddy. She quickly finished her assignment and hurried to the backyard to take her bath.
   She needed to be at Tomi's place before 4pm so they could attend another friend's birthday party, she had taken permission from her parents so there was no hitch. She again ignored the sharp pain as she stepped out of the room
                         
                    ******
Awwal had been called, there was another fight, the black spades gang had come to attack in their own place and he was told that few of his boys had connived  with them, his blood boiled as he went. Instead of the usual route, he took the short cut so he could get there faster.

   Mama as she was fondly called, sat on a ladder back  chair with her eyes closed until Awwal greeted her.

"Kasan, bawo ni(afternoon, how're you),"

"Fine ma," He replied impatiently.

Tell him to go back home, the voice said to her.

"Awwal, where are you off to?"  Mama asked.

"I want to quickly get to that place,"Awwal replied and pointed randomly.

"Don't go, please. Do not go, it's not safe. Just go back home," Mama warned as directed.

Awwal looked at mama and realized that she wasn't joking, he slumped his shoulders in defeat and trudged home.

"Okay mama,"he said and whirled around to leave.

"Thank you jesus,"Mama heaved a sigh, a sigh of relief.

   If there was anything Mama was grateful for, it was the way God communicated to her. Who would have known that God would use a woman who was once a big sinner for his Glory, she had done things which almost cost her life but God in his infinite mercies, gave her another chance. A chance to live again, a chance to repent, a chance to preach his words.....she could go on and on but above all, God had been faithful to her.   
                
  Awwal initially hearkened mama's warning, but the frequent incoming calls from the phone Salma deliberately left at home made him change his mind and instead, took the normal route. He decided to help his members, mama wouldn't know anything, anyway.

                    ******
  Finally, he got to where the fight was taking place, he brought out the machete he hid in his blue Jean trouser and immediately attacked one of the guys from the rival gang who wanted to stab him with a broken bottle.

Everywhere had scattered, shops around there were locked, houses around there were also locked and awfully quiet, parked cars had been vandalised and  on the road was pieces of bottles and the shattered glasses of the cars.

   Innocent passers-by were affected as few were hit with stray bullets from the police men who eventually fled the scene, while some were beaten and robbed.

   Leke grinned when he saw Awwal, his plan had worked. He would make Skippo regret choosing Awwal over him, he had promised him that and he was ready to fulfil it.
  
  He had joined the rival gang just to kill his one time friend and he wouldn't miss the golden chance.
    
    After twenty minutes of their meaningless fight and incessant killings, the mighty Awwal, no Scorpion was eventually maimed.

"Scorpion don drop, scorpion don drop,"one of the guys shouted.

   Razor stopped fighting that moment and ran with the guy, to the spot where he claimed to see Awwal's dead body.
 
    The boy who didn't stop shuddering explained that he caught a glimpse of Leke but he wasn't sure if he was truly the culprit. Most of the members of the rival gang already left as they already settled scores, it was now 1-1.

"Lion go hear am!  He go hear am(he will pay)!", Razor screamed as he and the guy carried Awwal's cold body while the other members both the injured and uninjured who already got wind of the bad incident trailed behind them.

   They were annoyed, the black spades had killed one of them and it wasn't just anybody but their own number two, they would definitely retaliate.
  
                      *******
"Mama Qoyyum o,"Chinelo shouted as she furiously knocked at the door
Aminah opened the door, she frowned her face so Chinelo would know that she wasn't in for her useless gist this evening but the frown was replaced with confusion when she saw tears in her eyes.

"Wha...t happened?"she stuttered.

"Kai, mama Qoyyum..." she was saying before Iya Sarah and Ada came to meet them. They were crying too.

"Ahah, this woman, why would just come to her like that ehn?" mama Sarah asked as she felt a flicker of frustration in her heart.

"I don't know what her problem is, is death a good thing ehn that you now rushed in as if you came to give a good news,"Ada blurted and realized too late that she had given Aminah an hint.

Aminah stepped out of the room fully. "Who died?" she asked, even if she knew who it was, she still was positive and didn't want to conclude yet.

"Na Awwal o(It's Awwal),"Chinelo shouted and sat on the floor.

   Aminah looked at them one by one and suddenly started laughing, she didn't know what was funny at that moment but she just wanted to laugh.

"Ah, Mama Qoyyum don kolo(she has gone mad),"Chinelo shouted, stood from the floor and ran back to the verandah.

"Mama Qoyyum, are you okay?" Iya Sarah asked in a fretful voice.

    As If the question brought her senses back, she stood from the bare floor and ran to the verandah too. She wanted to prove to those bitter women that her son whom she saw this morning wasn't dead, maybe they brought a wrong corpse home.

She got outside, looked to the right where some boys stood behind a covered corpse which they lay on the bench. She glared at the boys who she thought brought another corpse home to fool her that her precious son was dead.
   She moved closer to the bench and stretched her right hand to uncover the upper part of the cloth used to cover the corpse.

" Don't open it,"Mama Akube cautioned.

"Why?, ehn, why? She paused, pointed at the neighbours and onlookers who had turned their house to a viewing centre and continued. "Haven't you all come to mock me?, if it was a good thing, you all wont come out like this but because they have brought some one else's corpse here you all assembled here just so you could tell me sorry. I will open it and prove to you that this isn't my son's corpse," Aminah yelled, her eyes flooded with tears. The pain she felt was like a sharp-toothed creature eating her from inside.

"What's happening here?" Dawood asked as he struggled through the small crowd.

Aminah forgot about uncovering the corpse when she heard her husband's voice.

"Daw..ood, c..an you be.leive?, they said Aww...al is de..ad and I was about to prove them wrong that, that corpse isn't my son's before you came in. Now that you are here, you check, just come and check,"Aminah stammered along the line and dragged him to where the corpse lay.

Why so soon Ya Allah?, why did you allow my son die in this kind of life?"Dawood pondered.

  He opened the corpse and staggered as if a punch landed on his chest. On the table was Awwal's corpse with a very deep cut around his glabella on which a house fly perched on, two huge cuts on his chest and stomach region, a deep slit ran on his throat.

"Ina Lilahi Wahina Ilayhi Rojihun(We came from God and to Him, is our return)"
"Ye!",
"Olorun o(my God)!"
"Jesu mi(Jesus)!",
"Yeeepa!"

  Were the comments from the small crowd while the trio who had gone to call Aminah cried harder.

  Aminah already knew she couldn't prove anyone wrong, her heart suddenly began to beat erratically as she clutched her chest and gave in to darkness.

   Tomi wondered why a crowd stood in front of her friend's house, how did they know what happened?

"Daddy,"she called when she spotted Dawood and others trying to revive Aminah.

"What happened, why are you crying?where is your friend?" Dawood asked, panic written all over his face.

"In the hospital,"Tomi replied.

"Eheh,what exactly is happening?"Mama Akube lamented and cried harder.
    
God won't come down from heaven to talk to us, he will of course send someone and that someone might be 'anybody'. The voice of human is the voice of God, so hearken!

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