Virus

Virus

Akintomide Ifedayo Adigwe

Copyright 2014 – Smashwords
Edition

The right of Akintomide Ifedayo
Adigwe to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted with the Copyright right Patents and Designs
Act

All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the author and the publishers

This book is sold subject to the
condition that it shall not be by way of trade or otherwise be
lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of
binding or cover other than that which it is published.

A Holy Ghost inspired idea. Thanks
be to the Lord God Almighty

Chapter One

Wole

The dream was the same as always. He
was flying. It always began by flying, soaring through the thick
somewhat dark cummnilonibus clouds racing for the prize.

What prize? I can hear you ask. Even
he did not know. In some ways, he did not think it was important.
All he knew was that the prize lay beyond the purplish, orange
light at the opposite horizon. His invisible wings carried him
towards it at breathtaking speeds.

Like the million and one times he’d
dreamt this dream, he started to slow down; losing speed. It took
another couple of seconds and he was plummeting to the ground like
a stone dropped from high altitudes. He fell through the smoky grey
clouds beneath him so fast that a void, so wide and vast formed in
his bowels that he knew no substance could fill.

The green covered earth came into
view and he streaked like a meteor towards it. Just as he closed
his eyes to brace for impact_______

“Huh!!!!” Wole gasped sitting up.
His room was gloomy shrouded with black shadows. The large window
to his right, covered by thick grey cotton curtains caught his
attention almost immediately. He could see the faint light of dawn
streaming through the half a dozen tiny holes in the threadbare
curtain.

A sigh burst from his lips at the
sight and he rose off the bed stepping on the cold terrazzo floor.
His bed was nothing more than a large vita form mattress covered by
sky blue cotton sheets.

As he raised his right hand to
stifle a yawn the faint sounds of pots and pans rattling reached
his ears. His mum was already up. He knew it was just a matter of
time before she started heading his way to bang on his door as she
did every morning. The cycle never changed and he did not see it
changing anytime soon, especially today of all days.

As if she knew what he was thinking,
he heard her heavy footfalls striding towards his door. Stifling
another yawn, he strode for the door pulling it open before she
even reached it. Their gazes locked and held for several moments as
mother and son appraised one another.

His mother was five feet five inches
tall. Though she stood and behaved in a way that made most people
think she was much taller. She was not too plump. Teddy bear round
was how he liked to think of her; the way all mothers should
be.

Her face like her body was round,
with full red lips, jet black eyes and skin which was a milky brown
color. In his opinion, her skin was her greatest asset. At five
feet three inches, he was almost as tall as she was. He had a slim
athletic build; his face was lean and angular with eyes that were
bright; too bright in his opinion, shining with a gleam that seemed
almost maniacal.

His mum said he was handsome but he
did not really think so. The best thing he had going for him was
his height, which was not bad for a fourteen year old.

“Aaaah so you are up?” his mum’s
stern voice interrupted that train of thought.

“Yes mummy__” He got out in a glum
voice.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked
noticing the glum look on his face.

“Nothing mummy.”

She gave him a long hard look,
shrugging a few seconds later as she started back to the
kitchen.

“You better get your act together
and go sweep the sitting room and the verandah.”

“Mummy naaa___.”He protested
angrily. “Shey emi lo da be ru?” *Am I the one who disarranged the
sweeping room?

She froze turning around slowly with
her eyes glittering with fury. He grimaced, his body growing tense
as he braced himself for the beating he knew might likely follow.
Surprisingly however the beating never came.

A relieved sigh burst from his lips.
His mother was and had always been a disciplinarian. She had
whipped his hide for less.

“You are very lucky I am in a good
mood otherwise___” She let her words hang in the air for a bit
before she continued.

“___ you best get the broom out of
the kitchen and go sweep. I will not wash the plates, cook
breakfast for you and your father and still sweep while you are
here. Is that clear??”

“Yes mummy__.” He replied in a
subdued tone of voice.

“Get to it__.” She
barked.

What else was there to say? She had
said it all. He sighed and got to it. His ears cocked as he heard
movement coming from his parent’s bedroom. It appeared daddy dear
was up. The sarcasm in his thoughts puzzled him. Quickly dismissing
it, he hurried along with his chores.

Chapter Two

Tunrayo

There was no light as usual. Only
God knew when NEPA (National Electric Power Authority) or was it
PHCN (Power Holding Company Nigeria) would give them light. Two
weeks had passed since the light bulbs had come on.

A deep sigh burst from her lips.
This was great, just great. The most annoying part of the whole
thing was her mother knew someone who worked there. If memory
served her well, he was a manager.

Mother however was being stubborn.
She refused to call him to find out what exactly was going on with
the electricity. The look on Tunrayo’s face grew grimmer as she
remembered her mother’s words.

“I don’t want to be a bother Tunrayo
so stop disturbing me about it. I am not going to call him and
that’s final.”

When her mother used the words
final, it really was final. Her frown deepened as she bent low and
continued sweeping the concrete path in front of their three
bedroom red brick house.

The gloom around her was becoming
lighter. Dawn was almost here. To her far right she could see that
the black skies were slowly turning to navy blue. Turning her
attention back to her task she switched on the torch she held in
her hand. The white light it emitted illuminated the concrete in
front of her.

On her extreme left, just a couple
of feet in front of some thick bushes lay the battered carcass of
her dad’s 1996 Toyota corolla. Another sigh left her lips as she
looked at it. She could not remember the last time that the damn
thing had worked. Looking at the car made her think of her father
and her face grew grimmer.

It was impossible to describe to
anyone what she felt about her father. Love was not close to it.
She did not hate him, that much was certain, but she could not say
she was that fond of him.

A light came on in the sitting room
behind her. She turned looking at it with a wan somewhat sad
expression on her face. Her mother was up. The look on her face
softened. Dear mummy, sweet mummy; the woman could be annoying__
her thoughts briefly drifted back to the electricity problem. There
was no doubt, however what her feelings for the now forty eight
year old woman was.

She loved her to bits. Her mum was
always there for her. She always ensured that the bills were paid,
helped her with her homework when it was necessary and put food on
the table.

In the silence of the early morning,
she heard a creak as the bedroom door opened. A few seconds later,
a second form joined her mother in the sitting room. The gruff tone
told her that her father had awakened. The expression on her face
grew hard. She could not hear what he was saying but she doubted he
was saying anything pleasant. He hardly ever did.

It was sort of a routine with him.
He woke up very early in the morning, got out of bed and started
castigating anyone he met. She did not know why exactly he did
this, but the look in his eyes made her feel he derived some sort
of perverse pleasure from it.

After he was done, putting everyone
down, he would head back into their bedroom and fall asleep. He
usually slept until ten or eleven in the morning. Luckily, for
everyone he remained in the room after he woke; only coming out for
meals. Recently however, her mother had taken to carrying his meals
to him in the room so no one had to see him much. The only snag
with that arrangement was sometimes her mother made her take food
to him.

It was painfully obvious to her
mother that she did not really like her father. This made her
always try to explain away his bad behavior. She would go on a long
tirade about things not being easy for him and he being unhappy
because he lost his job three years ago.

He had worked in a bank, Cadmick
Chartered Bank if she remembered correctly. He was fired. Laid off
was the term her mother used. He had been unemployed since then.
Her mum always said he was seriously looking for work, but somehow
she doubted it. In her opinion, he seemed content to lie back and
let his wife take care of him.

“Tunrayo!!”

The sound of her mother’s voice
snapped her out of her angry thoughts.

“Yes mummy.” She called out as she
quickly continued sweeping.

“Have you finished
sweeping?”

“Almost finished__.”

“You better hurry up. You don’t want
to be late for school do you?”

A smile lifted the sides of her lips
ever so slightly. At sixteen, her mother still thought she was a
child. In two more years, she would be eighteen and an adult. If
all went well she would be on her way to the university. She could
not wait to leave the house. Two years seemed so far away but she
knew the time would pass quickly and then she would be free. That
thought made a thrill of excitement to race through her
insides.

She finished sweeping with that
thought and headed back into the house. Her mum was right. It would
not do to be late.

Chapter Three

Chike

The sleep was sweet. Chai!* *local
expression usually used as an exclamation to show enjoyment. It had
been a while since he enjoyed sleep the way he was doing now. No
dream sef. Just satisfying blackness, yes na so things suppose be.
He could feel a smile lifting the corners of his lips as his
thoughts switched to Pidgin English.

Something inside told him that such
bliss was not meant to last. His thought was confirmed a moment
later as something began to intrude on his bliss. What it was he
did not know. It was a noise; a shaking that refused to go away no
matter how hard he tried to ignore it. The damn thing was gonna be
very sorry if it woke him up, but the noise and shaking continued.
Though he did all to fight it his eyes fluttered open.

“CHIKE!!!!!” His mother
roared.

He sat up with a jolt shocked to see
the light streaming through his window.

“Don’t you realize that school
starts in about forty minutes? Not to mention the fact that you
have to walk; I no know wetin sleep use enslave you__ go bathroom
immediately.”

He leapt out of bed and edged away
from mother's furious gaze. She was a five foot eleven inch, two
hundred pound angry woman. Her bright hazel eyes flashed in their
sockets and her large mouth curved in a disapproving
frown.

He reached the door of the bathroom
in seconds. A quick glance down the narrow corridor and into the
next room whose door was wide open told him that his younger
brothers were already dressed and ready. They looked smart in white
cotton shirts tucked into brown shorts. Their short legs wrapped in
knee length white stockings, while brown leather sandals encased
their tiny feet.