I glanced at my phone screen. 9:45. Oge hadn't called yet and Dera was still talking with Khadija. Leaving me all alone with nothing for company but my sprite bottle. They had moved to lean on the hood of an unknown car. He said something and she laughed. I glared at them, wishing the owner of the car would arrive and ruin their flirting session which in my case should have been over.

Looking away, I sighed and pulled my jacket sleeves lower on my arms. The night had gotten cooler -as I had predicted- and the amount of people hanging around had dwindle. The majority of the population had left and the air was no longer warm and stuffy. I wanted to go back to Oge's room and curl under her blankets, away from the cold, but I couldn't- yet. Picking up my half-finished sprite, I resumed my glaring at an oblivious Dera. How could he just ditch me like that?! He did didn't even call me over for introductions or at least let me know he'd take that long and here I was, wallowing in loneliness with only the streetlight opposite me as a companion. Not that I wanted company, I just wanted to leave and I was irritated that neither Oge nor Dera showed any inclination to sharing my sentiment.

"Hey," a disembodied voice said, dragging my attention away from Dera to the pair of feet in front of me.

Who is this one now? I'm not in the mood for any chyking abeg, let this one carry his wahala and be going.

I lowered my head and sipped my sprite a little louder than usual as I ignored the voice. Whoever it was, I had hoped he'd take the bait and leave. No such luck because the owner of the voice crouched till he was at my level on the curb. "Sister."

Sluurrpp

"You can't communicate?"

Silence. Is it by force?! Just go away.

The owner of the voice which was obviously a guy, huffed. "I'm Zayyad, self proclaimed fuckboy and someone you really shouldn't say no to."

This guy's mental department needed serious maintenance. Who introduced themselves as a 'self proclaimed fuckboy' ? I thought it was a title people gave others and just who did he think he was that I really shouldn't say no to??

I finally looked up to tell him off, "See can you just go away, I'm really not in the mood for any chyk…" I trailed off. Light complexioned, high cheek bones, straight nose, light brown eyes -he was definitely wearing contacts- and his hair from what I could see was far too curly and soft looking to be Nigerian. It was definitely softer looking than Dera's coarse afro. His whole appearance wasn't quite Nigerian-ish. He had to be a mixture of Nigerian and some other nationality. In summary, he was cute and I was staring.

He scowled, "I most definitely wasn't trying to flirt with you. You have something I want. Now give me the second drumstick."

I was awoken from my reverie, my initial irritation returning. I caught a glimpse of the drumstick in his hand. Maybe if i hadn't been irritated at the moment I'd flirted. This was the guy that had the second stick? Now this was a joke of epic proportions. He wanted my half of the stick and to make matters worse he was being rude. Not that I'd give him seeing what I went through to get it, no matter how appealing he appeared. I even endured a bite, but looking at him he appeared unruffled.

"No," I said, standing from my position on the curb to trash my now empty sprite bottle. He followed suit and soon we were standing face to face- more like face to chest. He was a lot taller than my 5ft 5' self, but shorter than Dera by maybe an inch or two.

"Look, how much do you want?"

I looked at him incredulously, feeling my irritation from being uncomfortable for long intensifying. I was already annoyed from waiting for Oge and Dera, and now this…this guy, was taking me for a beggar?!

"How much do I want?! Me?! Do I look like a beggar to you?" I replied hotly.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "why do you seem to think I may be interested in you? I really don't care what you look like. Just give me the drum stick, I'll pay you."

"I don't want your money! This- " I said, waving the stick at him," -is my souvenir. After all I went through to acquire it, you want me to hand it over. It seems like you didn't have to struggle to get yours you arrogant piece of shit."

The corner of his quirked in amusement. "Oh I didn't catch the stick. Some else did. I couldn't afford to be the target of an angry fan mob."

Of course he didn't catch the stick. That would explain his unperturbed appearance. He stole it.

"So you stole it?!"

A few heads turned in our direction. Trust Nigerians and gist.

"No, I bought it," he corrected, "for a really good price too. The original owner was more than happy to sell."

I folded my arms across my chest, "just how much did you offer him?"

"20 k."

"Ehn?!" I exclaimed, wide-eyed

"What? Is it too small for you? I could increase it if you want."

I mulled over my options. Keep the stick and end up broke or sell the stick and lose a very important limited ID memento. Apparently, this guy was loaded and quite gullible. I could extort money from him easily. But if I did, I'd have to give him my stick, my precious treasure. I could always get money elsewhere, but I wasn't going to get Daniel Platzman's stick anywhere else. My decision was already made.

Side stepping him, I asked, "what did you say your name was again?"

"Zayyad."

I glanced towards the car where Dera and Khadija were supposed to be. They weren't there.

"Ok then, Zayyad, no," I said, craning my neck to see if I could locate my Dera.

"Toh, 50k?" He persisted, stepping into my line of vision.

"Dude, no! Leave me alone I said I'm not selling!"

Where did Dera disappear to now?

"Are you serious? What kind person won't hand over a stick for 50k?"

"That would be Onome," a voice answered from behind me. I turned to see Dera, now grinning beside me.

"Thank God you're here," I breathed, linking our arms, "save me from this guy and let's go."

"You mean Zayyad?" He asked nodding to Zayyad who was now standing with his hands in his pockets.

"You know him?"

"Sort of. He's Khadija's brother. We met while I was talking her and what's the rush nah? I thought you guys were getting along."

"Eehen o! This guy was trying to coerce me into giving him the drumstick."

"I wasn't trying to coerce you into anything. I offered you a deal," Zayyad deadpanned.

"Whatever," I said, trying to pull Dera away, "let's go." He seemed to want to talk with Zayyad some more because he barely moved.

"What deal?"Dera questioned.

"Where's my sister?" Zayyad asked instead, "and it's non of your business."

Dera scratched the back of his head, " she said she was going to wait for you in the car. We have to go, my sister already called."

"Ehn? When?" I asked hotly.

"Doesn't matter. She said she tried calling you but your number wasn't available," he answered, pulling me away.

"So she called you since and I've been wait--"

"Hey!" He called out to Zayyad, interrupting my mini rant, "goodnight. You'll probably see me often now."

"Yeah man," Zayyad replied, " and seriously, Onome, was it?"

I rolled my eyes.

"You'll regret saying no to me."

See this fish o!

"Was that a threat?" I shouted, as Dera pulled me further away.

"No b, it's a fact."

___________________________________

Wahala- trouble

K- slang term for thousand. So 20k basically means N20 000

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Corhob