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*EPISODE 5* I fidgeted when he looked back at me because it just felt awkward. He moved forward towards me and finally spoke up. Stammering and squeezing his face in disgust he said, "They...they share th...that at my work pla...place so that we could give all these people who need it" I said "okay" and swallowed the remaining saliva in my mouth until it was as dry as a dead dingo's donger. Something about his statement didn't sound okay, but I didn't object. I immediately opened the last drawer and saw the blue paper he had asked me to grab. Standing up, I said "I found the paper" in order to break the silence even though he knew that already.   Uncle Sam's POV   "How could I have been so stupid to send her to those drawers," I said in my mind when Meso handed me the paper I had asked her to fetch for me. I was so sure Meso would look at me as a different person and always suspect. I was so angry and upset at my stupidity, but I ...

*EPISODE 4* I excused myself and picked the call right in front of uncle Sam. He just kept staring at me with a very straight face. I couldn't really tell if he was angry or not. I mean, it's just a phone call right. "Hello?" I said when I picked the call. "How are you Meso? I just called to say hi" senior Daniel replied. "I am fine senior Daniel." I said. "No, no, no. You don't need to call me senior Daniel. Just call me Daniel. I am your school father now." He said. "Okay, I'm sorry Daniel. I won't call you by senior Daniel again." I replied. "That's much better, my baby" he said. "My baby?" I questioned myself in my mind. "What are you doing? I hope I'm not disrupting anything." senior Daniel said. "I'm actually busy with my uncle" "Oh!!! so sorry. Then I'll call you later. Just call me when you're free" He said and I replied with an okay before...

*EPISODE 3* After I was done with what I was doing, I decided to open the message that I received earlier. I took my phone and cuddled up in bed before finally opening the message. I hissed when I saw this before it was just one of those mtn messages. I didn't know why I reacted that way because I wasn't even expecting a message. I was about to open the snake game on my phone when another message came in. I opened the message and behold it wasn't from mtn again, it was from a number that I hadn't seen before so I decided to read it first. It was my senior, I mean my new school father who was just asking how about my well being. He did seem like a pretty nice senior. I smiled and replied his message before saving his number as senior Daniel. I decided to take a nap before reading so that I could feel refreshed. My day was really long.   A few hours later, I woke up a few minutes before eight o'clock. I still felt like sleeping, but I knew I had to read because tomorr...

*EPISODE 2* The next day, when I woke up, I got down from my bed, went on my knees and said my morning prayers. You already guessed what I did next, I reached out for my phone from under my pillow, but I couldn't find it. I rolled my eyes knowing that my sister probably took it since she already told me she would always use my phone to play games. "Esther!!! Esther!!!" I yelled out my sister's name as I went into the sitting room to look for her. I didn't know my mum was sitting down on one of the couches so I continued yelling. "so you cannot greet abi", my mum said. "oh! mummy, sorry. I didn't know you were here. Good morning!" I greeted. "Ehen, morning! why are you looking for Esther like this" she replied. "I don't know if she took my phone" "ị biago ozo!(meaning: you have come again in Igbo language) If you guys like, don't get ready for church. I and your father will leave without you people and you...

A TOAST ON A TOMB EPISODE 24 Chief Kalu was fast asleep when the scream that pierced through the serenity of the night woke him up. He turned around to touch his wife but she was not on the bed. He went into the bathroom to check her but she was not there. “This is strange. Lolo doesn’t leave the bedroom by this time of the night. Where could she have gone? ” he said and ran downstairs. When he got down, he saw his workers gathered round somebody; some of them were weeping and shaking their heads already. Linda was half awake when she heard the scream. She thought of getting up and running out to see who it was but fear paralyzed her for she thought it was robbers that were in the house. When she heard footsteps close to her door and voices of domestic servants, she summoned courage and opened the door. There at the front of her door was Lolo sprawled on the floor, her face disfigured. Linda: “Goodness, what happened to her” she shouted jerking chief Kalu out of his reverie for he coul...

A TOAST ON A TOMB EPISODE 23 Linda sat up abruptly when she saw Ike moving close and attempting to touch her. Linda: “What is it? Why are you moving close to me?” she asked. Ike: “I am sorry, I don’t know what came over me” he started to say but suddenly, he felt a strong urge for her overcome him and he grabbed her and threw her on the bed. Linda: “what are you doing” she asked frightfully. Ike: “since you will not give it to me, I have decided to take it myself” he said and grabbed her jean forcefully. Linda was lucky that she was wearing tight jean trousers and so she struggled with all her might. Ike wanted to stop but he felt a spirit urging him on. She summoned courage and punched him on the face and got up, then the scales fell of his eyes and he began to weep. Linda: “I hate you, I hate men so much. I cannot believe that you wanted to take advantage of me simply because I am staying in your house” she spat out. Ike: “I am sorry; it is not in me to rape any woman. I don’t know w...

A TOAST ON A TOMB EPISODE 22 After Gift left his office, Ike picked a copy of Linda’s CV and drove off to her residence. The address she had on the CV was Tedela’s house in Banana Island and as such locating the house was not difficult for him. He got down from his car and knocked on the gate just as Tedela was about driving off to the shrine for the ritual as the shaman had instructed. The security man came out and Ike greeted him. Ike: “sorry, I am looking for one miss Linda Kola”, he said. Security man: “She commot since yesterday with…” he started to say but his boss’ voice interrupted him. Tedela: “Who are you talking with out there that you will not come and open the gate for me?” he shouted. Security man: “oga na one man come say him dey find auntie Linda” he said as he ran to open the gate ignoring Ike outside. Tedela’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Linda’s name. Tedela: “Where is the person?” he asked suddenly surprising the security man who was wondering why his boss sho...

A TOAST ON A TOMB EPISODE 21 Tedela led Linda into his car and drove. The security man seeing how quickly his boss had driven off began to worry that something was wrong with Linda. He concluded that she may have fallen ill and that may be the reason why she had asked for his prayers. He quickly went for ablution so that he could pray for the lady that had been nice to him. Linda felt the sudden urge to talk to Tedela while they drove along the streets to the outskirts of the town where the man’s shrine was located. Linda: “Where are we going?” she asked suddenly startling Tedela who didn’t expect her to say anything. Tedela: “oh, we are going on sightseeing” he lied. Linda: “Sightseeing by this time of the night? Why didn’t you allow me go in and change into something casual before taking me out? Besides, I cannot remember us planning to go out today” she said to him. Tedela: “Oh, it is meant to be a surprise. You will be fine, don’t worry” he said absentmindedly. Linda remembered tha...

*EPISODE 1* “Welcome uncle Sam!!!!” I screamed as I hugged him after opening the door. “How are you, my dear?”, he had replied. Uncle Sam was one of my favorite uncles. He would bring a lot of gifts for me and my sister whenever he came for visits. He would take us out and spend time with us. Some people even started calling him our second father because of the relationship he had with us. He was my father’s only brother. He wasn’t married even though he was about twenty-six years old, but he lived a comfortable lifestyle alone in a very fine bungalow. On the other hand, I lived with my parents, my sister, Esther and the house help, Francis who we usually called Frank. ‘Where is your sister?” Uncle Sam asked. “She is sleeping”, I replied. “And your parents?”, he asked further. “They’re out”, I replied again. “And Where is Frank?” “Uncle Sam, it seems like you missed everyone oo, this one you’re asking about them like this?” I replied. “Eh! Yes! yes, I did. So where is Frank?” He asked ...

A TOAST ON A TOMB EPISODE 20 Linda peeped out from the taxi and saw a vacancy for a customer care officer in one ventures. Something in her ticked and she ordered the taxi man to stop. Linda: “I am going to try that place one more time and if it doesn’t work, I swear that I will kill myself, it is a promise” , she thought. She got down from the taxi and entered the office where she submitted her CV which she printed from her email. She was ushered into the manager’s office for the interview. As soon as her eyes fell on Ike, her heart skipped a beat. Linda: “Good morning, sir” she managed to say wondering why her heart was beating for a stranger. Ike mumbled a reply without taking his eyes off the screen of his Apple computer. Ike: “Go ahead and tell me what you have to offer to this company if you get employed. For your information, the former customer relations officer who has served this company is due to be my wife in a month’s time and that is why we need a replacement so that she ...

A TOAST ON A TOMB EPISODE 19 Linda got home very tired and walked into the compound whose gate was left opened by the security man who had gone to the nearby Mosque for Ramadan Tafsir, it had been a very busy day being her first day at the office. All she needed was sleep; food was the last thing on her mind even though she had not eaten all day. She got home and entered her room, locking the door gently behind her; she was used to doing that anytime she wanted to have her bath. She rushed into her bathroom and allowed the cold water of the shower run down her beautiful ebony skin. She was glad that she had finally found a job and she made a mental note to call her father the next day and break the good news to him. Her father, oh how she missed her dearly beloved father. After her bath, she walked naked to her bed and fell on it with a thump; she had no qualms about going to bed naked since the door was securely bolted. She decided to take a short nap before going to inform Tedela of ...

A TOAST ON A TOMB EPISODE 18 Linda was tired of walking into one office or the other. She didn’t know why all the offices she was entering were chasing her away after she hands them her certificates. Linda: “But what is wrong with my result now?” she said staring into the “B.SC Second Class Upper” that was boldly written on her statement of result. She was tired of wearing heels and so she had resolved to wearing loafers since all she did was trek from one part of the city to the other aimlessly. She wondered where Tedela had gone to that early morning that she didn’t see him before he went out. Linda: “what would I have done without Tedela in this city? He is like a saviour to me. I am sure that if not for him, I would have gone back to the village by now. But wait o, is it not even better I go back to the village? What is the use of staying in Lagos if I will not get a job and if I won’t find my brother ” she soliloquized. She saw a vacancy for a sales representative in one company a...