Ike's building is situated at no. 1 Okuta str, Bariga Lagos State. He has a good job and drives a Toyota camry,
“The ladies fav” he calls it, “you can get any girl with this car, It works like magic”, He would Brag.
Oh! I forgot to tell you that ikechukwu was my friend. Handsome and vibrant . First time we met was through a friend "Bayo" who is now in South Africa. It was at sandra's Bar Ikeja. Bayo said He wants me to meet his rich friend “Ikechukwu” Bayo is the only friend who calls the name in full.
During the meeting with Bayo, Ike walked in, taking a bee-line as fast as he could with his long legs towards our direction, at first I thought He was some bouncer who needed apologies, A tall man in a black suit. My mind was already racing from the huge image in front of me. Heyy! Bayo whatz up, He shouted with excitement, Bayo replied with a friendly gesture. It was a shock for me at that moment.
“You know him?” Without a word Bayo quickly thrust out his hand for a handshake, while I watched, more like a moron in the middle of this two men, Bayo said to me,
“pls meet Ikechukwu the guy I was telling you about.”
It was like I'm in the land of Oz and I forgot my magic wand , The guy I thought was some bodyguard few minutes ago, turns out to be a friend. Immediately, I felt my pulse surge. Ikechukwu is nothing more like a model, Handsome and light skinned, tall with nice shoulder blade.
"Hey! Bro, how u?" That's Ike to me after the intro by Bayo.
Whatz up! I replied.
“Hey! Looks like we've met before?” Is it just me or this guy is fond of using the word “HEY!! .”
With no second thought, I said “Quite possibly, I don't think I remember where”.
That night we left Sandra's Bar for Fela’s shrine , we were told by Ike that Femi Kuti will be performing.
In his fully equipped and air conditioned Camry we ride. Moment later we were speeding down a tarred road, I watched in disbelief as Ike pushed the speedometer up around 160 kilometres an hour,
“Twelve kilometres to Fela's Shrine, we should be there in 4 minutes” he said. Why not make it six minutes and get us there alive, Terrified Bayo screamed on top of his voice in order to beat down the loud song that was being played in background.
I could remember how He was treating the car, No human on earth would dare to give such first class treatment to an inanimate. He was more like a father than owner. He has a special white hanker chief He uses to clean the steering and the windscreen every now and then whether dirt or no dirt.
That night He offered us beautiful girls of Allen Avenue to entertain us with their dancing skills. I knew Ike to be a gigolo not a PIMP. This same night marked the beginning of our friendship, we did discus like we've known for years.
I noticed one thing about Ike. During the time we were busy dancing with these girls he was on the fourth bottle of Heineken, minding his own business. Something wasn't just right about this guy, He talks about ladies but won't just want to mingle, He gives out girls but stay single yet Bayo said He can't do without girls. As much as I liked Ike for his generosity, I knew there was something different about this young man. It’s going to be a long day trying to figure that out. So secretive, He wouldn't tell no one where he works. He travels out of Lagos, comes back after many weeks, Hang out with friends and catch all the fun he needed within a short time before another trip. Bayo his friend is the yang of Ike, more like a book..
One faithful morning, June 12, public holiday! I called him up, asked if we could hangout that evening since it’s a work-free day. He seems to be doing pretty good with beer spots and locations , He knows every Nooks and Crannies in Lagos. That also fuelled my curiosity, How could a person who barely spend time in Lagos, not only knows everywhere but every beer/champagne spots, Talk of the one at shita, Surulere, all bars at Ikeja, Ikorodu or the nicest spot in Lekki, Ajah! He tells you the address like a child reciting his daily poem, makes me wonder if He ever travels out of Lagos at all. He deals with hard currency, He could spend 1000 Dollars ordering red labels and champagnes without a flinch.
That evening, Ike had called me for dinner. I got dressed and off to Bariga, Ike's residence. The reason why He chose to live in Bariga is still a mirage considering his lavish lifestyle. He had once told me,
“I have my reasons of choosing a location like this.”
It was a self-contain.
By 6PM, I was already at his doorstep, Opened the door, He was in the bathroom. Not long enough, his phone began to ring, it was a text message, I quickly dashed for the phone, picked it up and went straight to the bathroom to give him but He hesitated
“That should be MTN with their Unnecessary wahala” He said. We both laughed over it while I checked what the network operator must have sent him.
Lo and behold it wasn't MTN, What I saw that day shocked the hell out of me, last time I saw something like this was on NTA news network ten years ago.
Immediately Ike stepped out of the bathroom, I showed him the message, He stared at the phone in front of him with astonishment. Ike's face suddenly became angular , the features sharp, each pronounced and definite as if carved by a craftsman more aware of details than the whole, It was a face with quiet conflict with itself, striking and yet unsettled. The eyes were engaging, deep set and very light brown with a questioning quality about them. They seem at the moment to be the eyes of owl, swift to level in any direction, steady and apprehensive. Expression on his face was as rigid as his posture. He knew trying to convince me will be a total failure, He was short of words. His eyes were angry. The whole secret behind his flamboyant lifestyle, I have discovered.
0 comments:
Post a Comment