8 As he steered the bus down the dark, empty stretches of Herbert Macaulay Way toward Surulere, Afam reached into his tactical vest and pulled out his primary radio-phone. He dialled a number he knew by heart. The line rang twice before a deep, gravelly voice answered, thick with expectation. “Afam. Is it done?”...
Pay Up – 7
7 The dashboard clock glowed a faint, sickly green: 12:45 AM. The engine of the battered, unbranded Volkswagen Danfo sat idle, its metal still pinging softly in the damp night air. They were tucked deep into the pitch-black shadow thrown by the concrete belly of the Yaba underbridge. A few yards away, the intersection...
Pay Up – 6
6 Inside the room the night before the operation, Anu lay flat on his back on his woven mat, staring wide-eyed at the dark ceiling. Every few seconds, the headlights of a passing vehicle on the main road would cut through the window bars, throwing a fleeting, cage-like shadow across the room before plunging...
Pay Up – 5
5 The darkness inside the room felt thicker now, heavy with the trapped heat and the rhythmic, synchronized breathing of the compound. On the floor mattress, Anu lay flat on his back, staring up at the shadow-streaked ceiling. Every time he closed his eyes, he didn’t see sleep; he saw the rough napkin sketch...
Pay Up – 4
4 The midnight air on the journey back to Mushin felt different. Sitting on the back of another okada, the wind roaring past his ears no longer felt like a slap; it felt like a countdown. When Anu finally eased the wooden door of their room open, the familiar smells of the compound wrapped...
Pay Up – 3
3 The cold, damp air of Lagos at 5:00 AM bit into Anu’s face as the okada tore through the empty, pothole-ridden streets toward Ogba. The sky was a bruised purple, the typical Lagos traffic still asleep, save for a few distant headlights of early-bird danfos. Anu gripped the rusted iron rack behind the...
Pay Up – 2
2 A hot, murderous rage flared up in Anu’s chest. He wanted to stand up, demand she pull up her sleeves, and go find Gbenga tonight. But he looked at how peacefully she was chopping the onions, finally safe between the only two men who truly cared for her. If they brought it up...
Pay Up – 1
Pay Up by Osagie Onolunose Synopsis Seven years ago, a Mobile Police (MOPOL) officer laid down his life in the line of duty, taking a bullet meant for Kayode Ishola, then a rising politician, now a powerful Senator. Today, the officer’s orphaned sons, Anu and Dare, are living in the wreckage of that sacrifice....