Hey y’all!! Hope your weekend was good. I trust it was. And now, to lighten up your Monday morning is the continuation of #OVAV!!!

No time to waste, let’s get into the story… oh, by the way, you’ve probably noticed how the trend goes for Mondays and Fridays, right? Of course you have. Now let’s get into it…

The look of absolute surprise on my face as the song being played on Citi FM faded out had Jesse laughing as he drove me home that Friday night.

“Herh! When you started laughing and saying, ‘this song eh’, I thought you were referring to how it was such a jam back then. But after telling me to listen… ei, how did this thing pass over our heads like that?”

“Chale, like, two weeks ago, I was on my way home, and the song was on. Suddenly, the second verse just stuck out to me, and I was like, ah, wait. Ibi like them dey pass some corner bi. I listen critically, wey I check the lyrics. That be when my brain bost.”

“Nahhh, see. After discovering this, any lingering fragments of innocence in me have been extinguished.”

“Ha! This one be small. Me, I lose my innocence the day I watch some film bi. GH film. Man of the house no dey fit plant seed, wey he travel, so wifey target the innocent houseboy. She call am come the bedroom inside. The boy see sey she dey want the tin, wey he start dey shake gidigidi. The woman talk very calmly. ‘I want you to tear me apart’.”

“Sosket!!” I gasped. “Herh, this be devastatingly raw.”

“Sensationally raw, chale. The scene just ruin me. She be big lady like Kessewaa too, so imagine.”

Kessewaa is Jesse’s wife, and she’s pretty voluptuous, so that must have been quite a scene.

“But chale, wouldn’t be bad if Bambi said that to me after we get married…”

“My guy, easy with the imaginations, lah! You’re still not at the table yet. Put a ring on it for real.”

I rolled my eyes. Among the four of us, Steel and I are the unmarried guys, and Kwabena and Jesse like lording it over us. Jesse got married last year, and Kessewaa is already carrying their first child at the moment. Steel… well, as far as we know, he’s still searching. It’s likely the pain of not being able to go the whole mile with Mawuena hasn’t really worn off. Chale. That couple was the most envied back in school; we were all so convinced that they’d be one of the first couples from our year group to get married. Ah well, things don’t always go the way we expect them to…

“Goweyu! I’m allowed to dream.”

“Ayoooooo! By the way, how far with the plans?”

“Yeah, we dey work on them low key. The official date go come out soon.”

“Nice, nice. Abi you know sey we dey do Kupe formation at the reception?”

“Gidigidi kraaa!”

“You know the deal, right? When the groom and his guys step on the dance floor…”

The two of us exclaimed, “Mooore mbɛlɛde!”

*******

As I opened the door and entered the house, I saw Nii seated on the couch, silent.

“You good, bro?”

He remained silent, seemingly oblivious to my greeting.

I decided to get closer to him to see if he was OK. I noticed his Huawei P20 lying by his side as he seemed to deliberate on something.

“Nii?”

He slowly looked up at me. A familiar tortured look on his face. Those voices must have been at it again.

I sat down beside him. “Talk to me, bro. I’m listening.”

He sighed. “I overheard something concerning me and Razzie. At Papaye.”

My first instinct was to stiffen up.

He noticed it and quickly added, “Not that the person was talking about me per se. The main topic was Eugene.

“So I somehow overhead these two guys at their table talking about him. One guy was complaining about him, that he has become aimless and is doing nothing with his life. All he does is play games and do silly stuff on Twitter.”

I shook my head. I knew that boy quite well, and although I wouldn’t say he was the most ambitious young man on the planet, he certainly never showed any traits of being an aimless fool.

“I also heard he discovered I’m out of prison, and he went on a Twitter rant. Insulting the whole judiciary. Still calling me a murderer. The like. So I just got myself an account, and searched for him. And…”

The way he drifted off made it obvious. He was crushed.

I reached for his phone and pressed the home button. The screen revealed Razzie’s Twitter profile.

Scrolling through it, I was filled with rage, disgust and bewilderment.

How the hell did this guy become such a horrible human being?

It wasn’t just the fact that he was unfairly targeting Nii yet again, it was the unapologetic and uncouth manner in which he spewed abuse at so many people. It was just unbelievable.

“Ah, but how do you live like this? All I see is savagery…. how come nobody has reported him…. herh, herh, herh, what’s the meaning of this? Ei, how do you say such things about the Attorney General? What is the meaning of all this? Nahhhh, I’m horrified. This is pathetic… and there we go. He says it’s just Twitter. See, I dislike when people say this sort of nonsense. You act like a goat on social media and you expect us to believe you’re a dove in person? Hoh!”

“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Nii quietly asked.

My attention immediately switched to his statement. “What?”

“I can’t help but feel like all this is down to that awful day. That my actions sparked this whole change in attitude, and aside our friendship, I’m responsible for the person he’s become now.” He shook his head and stared into oblivion. “Boy. Some life wrecker I’ve turned out to be.”

I looked at him, feeling sad. Man, it’s nothing short of awful what he’s enduring. The voices constantly fighting to keep him stuck in the quicksand of guilt and shame.

I put my arm around his shoulder, pulled him closer to me, and wrapped him in a hug. I felt his stiff shoulders relax as I embraced him.

“Listen, Nii,” I began, “you’re my little man, and I love you. You mean a lot to me. Never forget that, ok?”

“Yes, Sid.”

“Good. Now listen to me: don’t beat yourself up over Eugene’s life choices. As far as this issue is concerned, he has no reason to switch up on you the way he did. Besides, his behaviour alone shows it has to be deeper than just the accident. The family was upset, but nobody was cursing you as brutally as he was. We just don’t know why. But if he’s chosen to become an aimless twat who just abuses everyone without remorse, that’s his choice. You don’t have to account for that in any way.”

“You know, the Ali guy was saying he suspects I did something to turn him against me. That’s all I’ve been thinking about since I got home. Couldn’t even eat well. Yet… I just can’t find that thing…”

“It’s alright, Nii Ajei. We’ve been through this. We thought through everything, and we’re still yet to find any reason why he’d be upset with you. In any case, even if there was a reason to be mad at you, there’s no justification whatsoever for acting like you’re the GH version of George Zimmerman. You never meant it. So please, don’t let this be a new burden on your shoulders.”

Nii silently nodded. “Alright.”

As I let him go, I reminded him, “And no, you are not a life wrecker. Remember how you saved your future sister-in-law that day at the mall?”

So while she was doing her national service, Bambi encountered this catcalling creep at the mall. One of those idiots who think there’s an 11th commandment for women that states: Thou shalt respond and quickly run to a guy when he calls you. She wasn’t interested in stopping for him, and he quickly followed her and got a little nasty. Just as he was about grabbing her, Nii saw it and fiercely stepped in to tell the guy to back off. The guy was not amused and even threatened to beat Nii up, but chale, when Ga blood boils over, you better respect yourself. He walked away.

About three months later, we discovered that he had been arrested for rape.

Nii stopped to think about that for a moment, then cracked a little smile. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Exactly. If you were, only God knows what would have happened to Bambi that day.”

As I stood up, I made him look up at me. “Nii, you will get through this. It definitely will not be easy. But you will win this. And always remember I’m here for you, alright? Your big brother loves you.”

That little smile returned, and he got up to hug me. “I love you too, Sid.”

As we separated, he said, “You know a lot of guys would have a lot of problems with this, right?”

A quick, short Mtcheww departed from my lips in response. “Please, they can go to hell with their fragile masculinity! Chale, if you didn’t finish the food, I’m taking some of the chicken. And put the PS4 on. Time for me to use Mbappe to teach you one or two lessons.”

Lol, Sidney certainly has no issues with showing affection to his brother. How sweet! But then again, there’s still that little question of why this Razzie guy hates Nii so much. We’re gonna find out, aren’t we? And whether Nii will make it through this period of depression. In due time, we will. Episode 6 on Friday!!