Mi Thomas is BACK! And he came in all full force of power and interesting short stories. This best short stories collection will put you on the edge of your seats and get you to bookmark this page. You wouldn’t want to leave here until you are done!
What do you know about Mi Thomas?
“MI THOMAS graduated from the University of Maiduguri and had brief stints as a show host with Globe FM 98.5 then a co-host of a musical show on BRC2 94.6. He is the founding editor of Sambisa Reports and a contributor at TrendingAfrique. His credits include two works of non-fiction- Milestones (memoir); Maiduguri: the untold stories. He has also written over 500 love poems, dozens of scripts for screen and theatre and is copyright owner to several photographs.” “He lives in Lagos with his friends, Allen Amadi and Prince Aboh.
Best Short Stories Collection 1 – ONCE UPON A TIME
.……THAT PARTY NIGHT IN KIYAWA…….
It was a relatively cold October evening, the year 2014. Somewhere in South America, a country was conducting presidential elections. That was what I heard on the news, I never cared for details, wasn’t the least interested. Uche Isaac, the incumbent CLO had just left my room at the central-local government lodge having requesting that I co-anchor the batch ‘C’ passing out party taking place later that night. I had reluctantly accepted, not like I had any choice anyway if I mustn’t draw any unnecessary attention to myself.
Up until that point, I was still struggling with the fact that I was going to serve a whole year in that remote part of a remote Jigawa state. Located 15 miles north of Dutse, the state capital, Kiyawa was a very small town uninhabited for most of its history without any 21-century breakthrough. My heart raced at the prospect of life here, separated from everything I was used to. Bushes around the lodge cover the many narrow water exit points, interposed with ditches where snakes lie in wait to prey on the many rats there. In the few flats adjourning lived some of the randiest old men to have ever existed in my imagination- some 8 of them.
Peering out the door, I watched as the other corps members invited from elsewhere arrived. Provocatively dressed girls, already dirty-eyed guys……. what a night!
With visible reluctance, I packed clusters of papers and walked out the lodge and towards the party venue descending into the enveloping darkness towards what appeared to be a night of paddy hills and rolling hills.
I was in for a shocker.
When I got there, I was surprised to be greeted by faces that displayed intoxication already. The party hasn’t even started gentlemen! Oh, wait a second… there was a “before party”, I just wasn’t aware of it. Smh
Nearly all the girls in attendance were with partners and would occasionally drift away from the crowd to God-knows-where and return much later separately; the guy first followed by the girl bearing heavy, lazy steps and looking tired. Don’t ask me what they did…I don’t know!
Eventually, the main party kicked off at 10:15pm…music… jokes…dance… games…
It would have been an ordinary night had I not felt the need to take a piss. Rather than just handling my business anywhere under the cover of the vast generous darkness, I chose the bathroom in the flat.
“What the hell!”, I exclaimed when I realized what I was seeing before my eyes inside the bathroom. I rubbed my hands over my eyes to be sure. This was for real.
Right before me on the WC was a tray with pills of stock Viagra, countless already-opened packs of condoms, several energy drinks and some things I just didn’t know what they were.
“These guys are crazy, mehn,” I chuckled to myself.
Shrugging my shoulders, I made handle my business and was about to turn the door knob out when I thought I heard some voices coming from outside through the window. I gently peeped through the window. Four guys, two who I recognized immediately, were discussing something very outrageous.
“I will be having Blessing, the one with the bubble boobs, you know I like them with big boobs,” one of the guys said and laughter of approval ensued.
One after the other, they distributed the girls amongst them and the plan was simple: drug them and mess them up.
“Bloody suckers,” I muttered to myself. These guys must be cowards, I thought to myself. Else, why would anybody be drugging anybody when all the girls, at least all night, have been seemingly in the mood? I had no intention of getting into their business and would have just hissed and minded my business had it not been for Blessing. She hailed somewhere close to my ancestral home and was known personally to my sister, her husband, and my brother. She attended University for 5years a few miles from my family house- it became only natural that I had sympathy for her.
I slammed the door after me and strolled back to the dance floor. What the hell!
Rather than act immediately, I became rather phlegmatic and decided to take my time, pretend to enjoy the party and get to learn a few more of the moves, I wasn’t going to be stupid to miss some key details.
I never did.
Occasionally some of the guys, obviously those aware of the game plan, would slip into the flat and re-emerge almost immediately. I laughed aware of what the devil was going on. Everyone was laughing too. Maryam was laughing, Amaka was laughing…Blessing was laughing too. No, wait – the drug!
I approached the chief strategist and requested to take a picture with him, just to distract him and buy a little more time. His eyes were red like a Madagascar tree boa at night looking for nocturnal lemurs and chameleons. He was drunk and was laughing sheepishly.
After studying the mood, and Blessing particularly, I gently eased out of position, went and whispered into her ear. She stood up and followed me to the rear of the compound.
“Please, come with me, I will explain everything.”
She didn’t ask one question or protest a bit as we kept walking until we got to the female lodge opposite the one functional gas station in lowly Kiyawa.
If only I was smart as I thought, I was.
“I am sorry to have removed you from the party,” I began with an apology.
“Why was that?”
“See, I overheard, eavesdropped actually, on some guys planning on how to drug you and…” she cut me short.
“They can’t, not me!” she said firmly.
They can’t what? Wait, how on earth did she know what I was going to say?
“Really?”
She thanked me for being that caring or whatever it was she said and I said good night and left for my lodge. For me, the party was over, and I thought I only did what was right.
“Where were you and Blessing off to some minutes ago?” Usman, a roommate asked me when I got to the lodge. He had seen the two of us walk pass the central lodge, for that was the one path. I told him everything and to my surprise, he burst into a burst of delirious laughter.
“I never knew I could be this funny,” I retorted at him sarcastically.
“Wake up, Mr. Conscience,” he mocked “just what made you think she wasn’t aware of what was going on?”
I made to speak and he shut me up reconstructing events that took place earlier that day. One piece after the other and my eyes were suddenly opened.
We heard a familiar voice laughing outside of the lodge and we both walked to the gate. The voice was no longer there but we were there just in time to catch the glimpse of a figure disappearing into the darkness towards the party venue.
I was shocked.
“So tell me who was that?” he hissed at me.
The figure had a skirt, a hoodie, was tall and chubby- Blessing! She was returning to the party.
“Mtchewww,” I hissed more disappointed in myself than in her and walked back to the room leaving Usman standing there laughing at me mockingly. May be I wasn’t that smart after all.
“You can’t help a girl,” I muttered to myself as I sort out my blanket. Considering the things, I saw on that tray I wasn’t going to be the least surprised if the unmentionable in-between the thighs of those girls at the party becomes extinct after that night.
I hissed, pulled the bed covers overhead and grumbled to sleep.
Have you read our Sad Love Series 1?Continue our best short stories collection on the next page
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