Have you ever walked up to someone who was laughing the loudest in the room and who always has a smile on their face and asked them, "Are you really happy?"
"If you walk out of here and you're alone, will you still have a reason to smile?"
"Do you cry yourself to sleep at night because you couldn't let your pain out during the day?"
"Is this all an act you're putting up? Are you just making everyone believe that you're fine and that you have your shit together?"
Try it, and I can assure you that they wouldn't have an answer.
◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈
Enock Sakala laughed the loudest to his own jokes as he told them to the boys who had formed a circle-like sitting position to talk and generally make noise amongst themselves since they had a free period.
"...like dude! You needed to see the way my guy was just feeling this girl everywhere...and she let him. She was just smiling and blushing while the dude's hands were inside her panty!" Enock paused and chuckled as his listeners gave different noisy reactions to his story.
They didn't need to know he was making the story up.
He had never been on a first-class flight and he had never seen a guy finger the lady sitting next to him on the plane either. It was just something he would find interesting if he did witness it.
"Guy! I wish say na me be that guy oh! I go jus carry the babe enter toilet, do the real thing!" One of the guys said and the rest burst into laughter.
The conversations didn't leave the boundaries of sexcapades and girls they hoped to get down with during the sports competition the following week.
"All these Castron High girls wey dey do like say their parts no dey for market, we go show them!"
"I swear, I don't care if they are Lagos babes. We will show them what ABJ boys are made of."
The laughing and chit-chatting went on and on with Enock occasionally pitching in and laughing with them as each guy claimed the Castron High girls they would approach first.
The bell for lunch break rang and Enock gave each of the guys a bro handshake as they rushed out to get something to eat, or rather, hunt down junior students who would run their lunch errands.
"James abeg call one junior student for me. Tell am say na me," Ahmed called out to one of the guys who was heading out.
Enock left the desk he had been sitting on and took a seat closer to Dele and Ahmed who had spent nearly an hour in the Art class for the first time. He was usually the one spending time in their class since he and Sola were Art students while Dele, Ahmed and Annika were Science students. It wasn't a majority carried the vote thing but it just made sense that way.
"Bro, why do you look like you haven't slept in days?" Enock hit Dele's shoulder. The boy was shutting his eyes slowly as he had his hands folded across his chest.
Dele hissed before opening his eyes and turning to Enock who was sitting on the chair he'd turned backwards. "You know my dad is in town. That man will be the death of me."
Enock chuckled because he found the whole thing funny. He wondered how his dad's return could deprive him of sleep. Mr. Akindele was almost always abroad, it was a surprise- and supposed to be a good thing- that he was back.
"And Stiles fell sick yesterday. My dad made sure I was with him throughout last night. The man doesn't want the dog to die but I needed my sleep...which I only got three hours of," Dele explained to Enock while Ahmed gave strict and precise instructions to the boy who was called to go on his errand.
"Buy that wafers for me, the blue one oh!" Ahmed warned, "the blue one wey the sugar inside dey shine white. If you buy the pink one this school no go contain both of us oh!" Meanwhile, he'd asked the junior student to hold on to his ears and draw them open while he gave him the instructions.
"Stiles is sick? It's been so long I saw him. I hope he gets well. And I hope Scott isn't bullying him anymore," Enock said, remembering how Dele's German Shepards used to chase each other round the compound.
"He'll be fine. I left him with the veterinary doctor before coming to school." Dele yawned loudly.
"Where is the clinic?"
"It's in Gwagwalada. I'll go and get him after school."
Dele and Enock equally gave the junior student instructions on what he would get them before the boy scurried off.
"So guy, how far your project?" Ahmed hit Dele's left shoulder the same way Enock had done to his right and Enock chuckled as he watched Dele groan in frustration either at the mini assault or at the question. Or both.
They all knew what Ahmed really meant by 'project'. That's just what they'd tagged him sleeping with Kasy in their WhatsApp group chat.
"Bro, we haven't even talked since then," Dele growled, it didn't look like he was interested in the topic. He never was.
"Why you dey delay na? Do this thing na!" Ahmed slapped Dele's shoulder again with the back of his hand.
"Bro, leave me, abeg." Dele closed his eyes as though he could try sleeping while Ahmed Yusuf was next to him.
Enock laughed hard as he watched Dele's eyes fly open after Ahmed had called out to Kasy who was sitting in front row, at the far end, pressing her phone.
"Come! Flat chest! Come here!" Ahmed got the attention of the whole class as he yelled.
Dele mumbled curse words as he pinched the bridge of his nose while Enock laughed wholeheartedly.
Kasy looked scared and confused at the same time. She was very hesitant to move from her seat.
"Okay, flat yansh come here!" Ahmed tried again before Kasy slowly stood and began walking over. "Okay, so na flat yansh you dey answer,"
"That's not my name," they heard Kasy mumbled when she got to them.
"But you kukuma answer," Ahmed countered immediately. "Anyway, na Dele say make I call you." He motioned to the boy who was just staring at Kasy like a mute.
Kasy turned her gaze to Dele.
"Err...the debate, we need to prep for it. It's on Monday," Dele stated facts.
That was when it struck Enock. He was supposed to meet Tamara in the library during lunch break and it had already been ten minutes into the break.
Enock didn't wait to here Kasy's response as he quickly excused himself, telling his friends that he'd be right back.
It wasn't like he was so interested in doing the project but something told him that Tamara Disemi didn't like being disappointed and Enock hated being seen as a disappointment. And that was why he needed to do all this and not disappoint Sola.
He walked into the massive library and walked past the librarian's desk without acknowledging the pregnant librarian who was sleeping as usual.
It wasn't hard to find Tamara since she was sitting at the first table, a dictionary in front of her.
Enock thought about how that chair could contain someone as big as she was. She was probably three times his size and probably, she might've been just as beautiful as Tari if only she wasn't so...fat.
These thoughts formed the smile Enock greeted Tamara with as he took the seat next to her.
"Finally," Tamara said as she turned to Enock with a glare. Her hair braided in an updo put her chubby, brown face on display and that made her glare look more threatening.
Enock smiled that cheeky smile he knew she would find annoying. Everyone did.
Tamara narrowed her eyes out of irritation. "What are you smiling at?"
Enock chuckled. "I just remembered how that ball hit you this morning."
Tamara rolled her eyes and looked away. She could still feel the impact of the ball colliding with her forehead but thankfully, the aspirin had done wonders with her headache. She just didn't want to be reminded of what had happened that morning. "Let's just work on our debate."
Enock sighed before looking down at the opened book on the desk. He read the debate topic she had scribbled on it out loud, "Premarital sex is necessary..."
"I still hate the fact that we're supporting the motion," Tamara mumbled as she flipped through the dictionary in her hands.
"I love it!" Enock exclaimed, grinning.
"Why won't you?" Tamara turned to him again, "After all, that's the only thing you and your girlfriend are up to. Just know that fornication is still a sin."
Enock furrowed his eyebrows. He took the opportunity and asked the question that had been on his mind since he and Sola were summoned to the Vice Principal's office. "Hey, what's your deal with us anyway? We don't have any beef, do we?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Tamara, confused. She was just going to let go the fact that he was implying they didn't have 'beef' when he and his girlfriend had been calling her a fat pig since Junior class.
"I know you were the one who reported us to the VP," Enock said outrightly.
"Look," Tamara sighed and looked him in the eye to prove to both of them that she wasn't fazed the slightest bit, "I'm a child of God- "
"Yeah, we know..." Enock rolled his eyes dramatically and leaned into his seat.
"...and as a child of God," she continued speaking like he hadn't interrupted, "when I see something that's not right, I point it out. You don't expect me to see you doing something so...unGodly and keep quiet about it, I can't let you ruin your lives. I have to at least try and show you the right path."
Enock couldn't help himself anymore. He burst out laughing like a mad man and nearly fell off his chair while he was at it.
Tamara found it very annoying and infuriating but she let him laugh all he wanted until the pregnant, sleeping librarian stirred in her sleep and he stopped laughing in order not to wake her up.
"Are you done?" Tamara deadpanned. "Now, can we work on our project?"
"You're hilarious, you that, right?" Enock chuckled while shaking his head in amusement.
"I wonder what's so funny in what I said." Tamara hissed. She grabbed the open book on the table and stared at the topic for nearly two minutes. Two minutes of silence until she turned to Enock. "So tell me, since you're the expert here, why is premarital sex necessary?"
Enock smirked. There was something mischievous about it but Tamara didn't want to think much of it. "Do you really want to know?" Enock whispered and she gulped.
"Yes, it's for the debate," Tamara replied.
"For the debate...or you just want to know how it feels to- "
"Mind what you're saying, please." She put up her hand to stop him right there.
It was going to be harder than Enock thought. The girl was too damn stuck up and serious about her faith. Seriously, how do you woo a Christian girl?
Enock put up his hands in mock surrender and smiled that annoying smile. "Okay, so you asked me to tell you- "
"Just..." she shifted the notebook to him, "write it down instead."
Enock smirked and sighed before grabbing her pen and turning to the book. "You're the boss."
Tamara watched for some minutes as he bent over and was writing down the dirty things that had probably consumed his brain. "Your handwriting is not as horrible as I thought it would be."
"First compliment from you. The Holy Spirit touched your heart?" Enock didn't look up to see her roll her eyes at him.
"Don't joke with the Holy Spirit, He's not your age mate."
"So the Holy Spirit is a dude," Enock stated as he looked up at Tamara with a confused expression.
"The Holy Spirit doesn't have a gender, mister man."
"But you said 'he', as in, a guy..."
Tamara's eyes darted around animatedly before she cleared her throat awkwardly and grabbed the notebook in front of Enock. "Aren't you done yet?" she asked before hiding her face with the notebook.
Enock chuckled at her lame attempt to discard the conversation at hand. But he let it go. It wasn't like he was ever planning on meeting the Holy Spirit anyway.
The girl turned back to Enock with a puzzled look after she'd read the key points he'd written down. "Are you seriously serious?"
Enock gave her a wide, Barney from Barney and Friends smile and that was enough to answer her question.
She sighed, shook her head and looked back at the book. She couldn't believe she was about to tell everyone that is was not only okay, but also necessary to have premarital sex.
Premarital sex was a sin, it was frowned upon by God.
She just hoped God would forgive her for the sin she was about to commit.
But then again, it was just a debate, right?
• • •
Afternoon siestas were the best for Enock. He preferred dozing off in the afternoons instead of sleeping through the night. And that particular Friday afternoon wasn't any different.
All his sexual fantasies surprisingly came to life that afternoon. Enock was smiling in his sleep as if he'd won a lottery. Unfortunately, his penis equally came alive in his sleep.
Enock stirred and faced upwards, chuckling and giggling like a moron as he felt soft gentle hands pleasuring him. In his sleep, he could see Sola doing all sorts of things to him while they were both naked. He had no idea what was happening in reality.
Suddenly, the dream was becoming a bit too real as Enock could actually feel real hands on his penis. Something was wrong.
Enock immediately jerked up to consciousness only to find out that his briefs had been pulled down and his genitalia was in full display. And of course the beautifully, curvaceous woman with brown skin kneeling next to him on the mattress.
"What's the problem?" she asked, smiling coyly and eyeing him with those eyes framed by long, artificial lashes. "Weren't you enjoying it? You were already in the mood..."
Enock almost blended into the wall behind him as he moved away and further away from the woman. He was simply trying to recover from the shock of finding her there and the shock of what she had done- or almost did. She had gone too far this time around.
His breathing was heavy and his eyes were as wide as that of an owl. "No..." he breathed out with a shaky breath.
His pulse was going haywire as she glared at him briefly before hissing. "Anyway, you're needed outside."
Enock watched as she stood to her feet, adjusted her tight fitted sleeveless top and pulled down her extremely short skirt before making her way out of his room with her bright red braids dangling and kissing her round buttocks.
Enock closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing after she was gone. She had gone too far this time around. He just couldn't believe it. What the hell?
He remembered that they'd summoned him outside and he immediately grabbed the blue jersey shorts he'd removed and tossed aside before going to sleep. He put it on, grabbed a sachet water, opened the window above the mattress on the floor and washed his face out onto the backyard.
White singlet and a pair of shorts, that was Enock's signature look at home. He felt comfortable that way. He would only put on a T-shirt if he was leaving the compound. And even at that, it depended on where he was going.
He bent over and picked up the tubers of Irish potatoes that had fallen off from the stack in the corner and he looked around the storeroom/his bedroom again to make sure everything was in order.
Bag of rice, check.
Bag of Irish potatoes, check.
Bag of sweet potatoes, check.
The stacks of meat and fish in the fridge, check.
Was the fridge turned on?
Yes, check.
He sighed and left the room, walking out of the passage harbouring the doors to the toilet and bathroom respectively before he reached the very small sitting room. Surely his cousins sat on the floor, facing the flat screen TV as they watched Game of Thrones for the gazillionth time.
He scratched his bushy hair as he thought of how it was already long overdue for a trim.
He sighed before walking out to the veranda where he met Uncle Palo, as expected...and his wife.
"Chungulopo mukwai," Enock mumbled the 'good evening' to Uncle Palo as he ate the food placed before him while his red haired wife rubbed his back like a teddy bear but still managed to throw Enock a disturbing look.
"What took you so long?" the clean shaven, sun burned man asked. He was only in his early forties but the Nigerian weather hadn't done him well over the years. He paused his eating to look up at Enock. "Am I not talking to you?"
"Nothing, I was just arranging the room..." he grumbled the response before glaring back at Aunt Clara who was still giving him that dirty look.
"I called for you and you decided that it was the best time to start doing clean up?" Uncle Palo enquired rhetorically. "Anyway, there are clothes in the backyard for you to wash. And please be fast about it. And also iron them too, very important."
"Okay," he mumbled again and turned to leave before Aunt Clara spoke up.
"And please put a smile on your face, your face is really scary," she said with her hands still caressing her husband.
Enock didn't say anything in response as he simply rolled his eyes at them after he'd turned around and was heading back into the house.
"You better tidy this place up, don't leave it for me," Enock snapped at the boys who were still watching TV. The sitting room was littered with all sorts of snack wrappers and Enock knew that no matter what he said, he would still end up being the one to clean up.
Through the small kitchen, Enock was at the backyard where a hip of Uncle Palo's dirty laundry was waiting as usual.
He groaned but immediately got to work. The sooner he finished with the laundry, the sooner he could go back to sleep. He made a mental note to lock the door whenever he was taking a nap since it seemed Aunt Clara had gone from seduction to child molestation.
The thought of those things sent chills down Enock's spine. It wasn't like his uncle's wife was unattractive and it wasn't like he couldn't give her what she was asking for but, Enock's life was already too complicated for Christ's sake.
And he couldn't do something like that to Sola.
As he mindlessly dipped his hands in and out of soapy water while scrubbing and squeezing, another pile added to the dirty pile of clothes.
He looked up and saw Aunt Clara with that dirty smirk on her face. She winked at him and Enock returned it with a glare. He looked away, knowing she was going to do everything possible to make her buttocks bounce more than usual as she walked away.
Enock took his anger out on the shirt in his hands as he scrubbed it without mercy.
He had gone halfway through with his uncle's clothes and he was thankful for that. It was already getting dark but then, since the witch had added her own clothes, he was likely going to spend extra thirty minutes.
Grabbing one of Uncle Palo's numerous black jeans, Enock soaked it in the soapy water before putting his hands in the pockets to turn them inside-out. But there was something in one of the pockets. It was paper like.
Enock immediately shoved his hands deeper and pulled out a very wet one thousand naira note.
Jackpot.
Enock's face lighted up like a bulb as he stared at the money in his hands.
But then he immediately shoved both the jeans and the money back into the foam filled water when he heard footsteps.
His cousins immerged from the house, both carrying a hip of their dirty laundry.
The electricity was immediately off Enock's face. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" he kept saying as they dumped their clothes next to him. Enock now had two piles of clothes on both his right and left side.
"Lucky! Peter! Come back here! Who did you dump these clothes for?!" he called out to the boys who ignored him and rushed back inside to finish their movie.
Enock whine and complain all he wanted but he knew there would be trouble if he didn't wash the clothes. And Enock didn't want trouble. He was four years and six years, respectively older than them both. They should be the ones washing his clothes.
He grumbled but was a little grateful for the small compensation he'd found in his uncle's pocket. He began checking all the trousers and jeans he'd already washed to see if there were more hidden treasures for him.
There was nothing but Enock was still happy. One thousand would go a long way.
• • •
Phone in one hand, weed in the other one. He blew the smoke out his open window because he wouldn't want his uncle walking into the storeroom/bedroom and catch the stench of weed. Enock would rather be stoned to death before that happened.
In as much as he was taking the risk of mosquitoes spending the night with him, Enock didn't have any other choice. He had to leave the wooden window wide open as he did his thing. At that moment, weed was probably the only thing that could calm him down and get him more horny than he already was as Sola's nude pictures flooded his DM.
Enock smirked as he let the smoke sip out of his lips. He swiped through the pictures before replying his girlfriend, telling her how sexy she was.
It was almost 10 PM and Enock was pretty sure the entire household had gone to sleep but he wasn't going to take his chances. That's why he had bolted the door and put his phone on vibration. He wouldn't want any of them barging in on him and he wouldn't want to make any noise that would wake them up either.
He finished the joint he'd been smoking in no time. He wanted more.
He got down on his rough, tattered mattress and turned it over. He shoved his hand into the hole he'd made in the foam- the hiding spot for his stash of weed.
He pulled out and only an empty, worn out black nylon was there. He'd ran out.
"Shit," Enock cursed.
He really needed to smoke another joint or else he wouldn't be able to sleep. He needed it and he needed it badly.
He picked up his phone and he dialed a number. It took awhile but they picked up.
"Hey, can you come out?" Enock whispered, "I have...one thousand."
They hesitated but eventually gave in. "Okay."
Enock cut the call, arranged his mattress and put on his tight fitted, faded black T-shirt.
He grabbed his phone before lifting himself up with his hands as he held on to the window frame before throwing his legs out and jumping out the window.
After he gently shut the window from where he stood in the backyard, he tiptoed away slowly until he was out of the compound. Luckily, they lived on the first floor so sneaking in and out wasn't a problem for Enock, he'd been doing it for years.
Their building housed many mismatched apartments and single rooms for bachelors and the likes. It was a small two-storey building but Enock couldn't even count how many people lived there regardless of the fact that the landlord had refused to paint the building for some reason.
It was cheap housing, just like every other thing you'd find in the Lower Ring of Newland Estate. That was the area for the struggling citizens.
It was no surprise that the streets of the Lower Ring were still pretty much alive by 10 PM. Enock walked passed Oga Muhammad's the small kiosk and greeted the elderly woman frying and selling akara balls across the street as he headed for the mechanic workshop around the corner.
"Customer, you no want akara today?" The woman smiled at Enock as he walked by. It looked like she was having a bad market that evening.
"No, ma. Maybe tomorrow." Enock returned her smile. She was a nice woman, she usually added extra bean cake for him whenever he patronized her.
In no time, he was at the mechanic and it didn't look like there was anyone there. The whole place was extremely dark but you could still hear the noise from the neighborhood, and also the crickets.
Irrespective of the darkness, it wasn't hard for Enock to find the person he had come for. He was actually punctual for once.
The light-skinned boy with full, curly brown hair sat on the boot of one of the cars. He was putting on an oversized white T-shirt and a pair of ripped faded jeans.
"Umu-nandi, you're on time, thank heavens!" Enock exclaimed before sitting next to the boy on the irreparable Toyota Camry.
CJ turned to assess Enock before asking, "What's that?"
"What's what? You mean umu-nandi?" Enock grinned and when the bored expression on CJ's face told him that he wasn't having any of it, he added, "It's Bemba for 'my friend.' Bemba is a Zambian native language."
CJ nodded once. "I forgot you're Zambian."
"And I still can't believe you're a Canadian." Enock shook his head as he remembered when they'd first found out CJ had Canadian heritage in junior class and Ahmed began calling him 'Canada' probably because he was jealous.
"Half Canadian," CJ corrected. "Anyway," he dipped his hand into the small sling bag that Enock hadn't noticed initially, "here's your stuff..."
Enock gladly collected the black nylon bag that contained his medicine and handed CJ his money.
"You're the best, bro!" Enock patted CJ on the back.
"You have to stop calling me at night, we can do this in school." CJ got down from the car boot.
"No, school is...risky," said Enock. "And bro, you gotta stop being stingy with this stuff. I'm your loyal customer, I should be getting discount."
CJ simply blinked once and began walking away.
"Hey, that's not how to treat customers!" Enock yelled after him.
CJ slowly turned around. "Smokers are liable to die young. Don't say I didn't tell you."
Enock smiled that signature annoying smile of his.
"I know."
Please note that the Enock & Tamara chapters doesn't end here. We have one or two to go but I had to release these first.
Okay, talk to me! What do you think of Enock? Did you learn anything new about him? Did he surprise you or are you still seeing him the same way you saw him from the beginning?
Tell me what you think of Tamara's character as well.
Happy 30th chapter y'all! ♥