Ify

Ify was thin. And her skin was unusually brown.
Like deep chocolate. And she was liked by her friends
because she was funny. She and Benaba were sent to
me, after the Trenchard Hall show, to "calm me down"
they said. I didn't understand what they meant, and
they were laughing so I laughed too. And calmed down.
They were calming voices in my ear since I had exploded
like a Supernova in the sky. Why, after that performance
I couldn't take five paces without hearing my name in the
air. It was surreal. So Ify and Benaba were very welcome
'awon girlz' in my space. One day I was walking by the
Faculty of Arts towards SUB, again, late into the evening
when I spotted Ify entering into a dark Peugeot. Peugeots
are NEVER black in Nigeria, unless they belonged to some
government official. It was later confirmed that Ify,
aside from being Gbenguze's special side-side, was as well
dating some man in the hierarchy of governance. Of course
when Gbenguze was told this, he lost his cool. He never
loses his cool, and so when he lost his cool, the fighting
escalated all the way to Maryland, where Ify's cousin,
Arogunlade worked. There, Gbenguze's friends came storming
into the city to tell all who would believe, that Arogunlade
was a harlot.

Today Ify lives a quiet live in East Europe. A friend
even took a picture of her the other day and posted it
on Facebook. As for Gbenguze? So far as I have heard,
the war has not ended, for it is in all the papers today
that Ify is a harlot. Maybe it will end with this article.
After all, Shege, it began with me. The day after "that
Trenchard Hall Performance..."

National Theather, Eko

"...abe igi.. orombo..."