BENJY Benjy had been having the same nightmare for two days. Okay, technically it wasn’t a nightmare in thesense that there were no monsters chasing him through dark streets, but it was still valid as a nightmarebecause he often woke up breathing like he had run a marathon.It usually started with him being at an […]

DEJI Deji pulled up to the school gate just as his 3pm alarm rung. He turned the alarm off before he parkedthe car refusing to think about what it meant.Exiting the car, he took deep breaths. He needed to be calm before he faced his children, needed to notshow his frustration because he believed that […]

ORE “I’m just saying, you didn’t have to smile like that,” Ramsey said.Ore sighed quietly as she towelled her body dry. She wished she could stay a little longer in thebathroom, at least until Ramsey was out of his mood but she had to be at work soon.“Babe, babe, did you hear me?” her husband […]

BENJY Benjy glanced at his phone as it began to ring. He knew, without looking, who was on the other end of the line. He tapped the side button, silencing the phone, and turned his face back to his computer.  Optitex stared at him. It wasn’t a blank page, but it could as well have […]

DEJI Deji counted the bottles where she had hidden them in the back of the wardrobe. Five bottles. It was a reasonable number, considering that it could have been worse. It had been worse. She was making an effort, he gave her that. Although for how long, he couldn’t tell. He had feigned sleep until […]

ORE Ore paused outside her brother’s door, taking a deep breath. She felt bad that she had lied to him, especially because he was the ‘better’ brother. Benjy was easy to talk to, and not judgmental like her eldest brother, Deji. It was why she chose to share her decision with Benjy because she knew […]

BENJY The pitter-patter of the rain against the zinc roof woke Benjy up. Or was it the mismatched voices of the children? He shifted in bed, his hand hitting the wall as he did so, reminding him of his present location; his father’s house. He grimaced, his eyes adjusting to the room he was in. […]

They were in her kitchen – Yvonne had convinced her to come over so they could try their hands on a new carrot cake recipe she had found online. Imade had agreed largely because she had missed their friendly chats and also because she needed something to distract her from the constant loop that was […]

Imade was due to return to Abuja in two days. Mixed feelings were running through her, she had missed Abuja, but she loved who she was in Benin. There was a sense of fulfillment she got from working with the orphanage. It wasn’t a paying job, yes. There were no corporate clients to kiss their […]