When I was in Lagos this February, I went to see a movie with my Friend of Many Years. We’d met in camp during NYSC orientation in Nkwerre, Imo state. I believe it was the luxurious sound of my voice and my amazing speech on parade ground that made her fall madly in love with me agree to talk to… Read more →
A tiny insect was crawling up my left leg. That was how I knew the feeling had returned to my skin. It tickled. It started slowly from the sole of my feet. Those callused feet that my mother would have killed me for if she knew i still had them. When I was a boy, she would force a pumice… Read more →
I have always loved you Omo. First as a friend to make splashes in those rain puddles as we toddled home from school in kindergarten. I didn’t know any other kind of love. We would play for hours and you would forget to go home until your parents came for you. Your mom would call me your husband and… Read more →
All the writing advice I’ve read always warn: Never start a story by describing the weather. But this story won’t make any sense if i didn’t begin from the weather. For months, North York has been covered in snow. But 3 weeks ago the snow melted and the spring breeze chilled the place for a while. Then slowly, but surely,… Read more →
Brume. This guy i admire in my class because the lowest grade he’s ever got in school was an A- . He happens to be Nigerian and that’s a real comfort when I’m sitting in a class full of Chinese, Scandinavian and the odd Canadian. Weird thing is, even though I’ve known him for four months, last night was the… Read more →
I’ve come to love the night. Obviously the best reason is that at night the human body slows down, temperatures lower, the good stuff comes on TV, the kids are asleep, the husband is tired, and I can finally have some alone time. I’m not saying that my life isn’t satisfying- I have everything I thought i would need, and… Read more →
“Silas, what are you doing?!” The Voice screamed in his head, louder this time. That Voice that always told him when there would be a surprise test. That Voice that always told him when not to try the ATM because it would debit him without paying and then swallow his card. That Voice that told him when a sinner needed… Read more →
Dear You, Spent another sleepless night. Waiting for sunrise. Waiting for Godot. The sun came and went, but I must have missed it. All I remember is black. That’s not to say that I’m blind… you of all people would know that. Sometimes I just feel like there is NO light at the end of the tunnel. Do you know… Read more →
The first night Mayowa came home drunk, I was disappointed. He reeked of vomit, sweat, a strange perfume that was neither mine nor his, and of latex. I didn’t ask where he’d been or what he’d done. He wouldn’t have answered me- he was too drunk to even take off his socks himself. He would take one off and put… Read more →
It took me a little while to appreciate the change in that room. There was suddenly so much space between the bed and the TV that you could probably play indoor soccer. Clothes hanging neatly in the closet, shoes stacked properly in racks, dishes in the right places, and that faint hint of pizza going bad was gone too. Wonderful… Read more →