Two minutes is all it takes... Chapter three

The cold refreshing breeze of the night and the rhythmic melodies of the crickets flowed in harmony, setting the atmosphere just right in the establishment known as Drink and Eat All Night, DEAN for short. This had become Leo's favourite joint ever since he was dumped by his wife, here he and his drunken friends would come to embark on a journey to the land of soul draining and sorrow sinking. The infamous club of DEAN had a specialty of serving food whilst entertaining their customers with more drinks than they could count and ladies who were meant to keep them in a good mood, mostly with the ultimate aim of collecting massive tips and keeping their customers patronage. Leo sat swallowed up by his thoughts as his friends bickered about their daily lives, while downing the remains of the twelve bottles of Guinness and Star.

"Come Elf, you never still tell us wetin we dey celebrate for here o!" Gabriel said half drunk.

"Wetin dey do you, sey na just these two bottles dey high you? Leo no need reason to celebrate before em call us come here na, abi you wan pay for the drink?" Farouk said also half drunk. He and Gabriel had been friends of Leo since their secondary school days, even enrolled in the same university during the same year  and as circumstances would have it, they all encountered the same problem, underemployment. Gabriel a PhD holder in the field of Accounting, works as a teacher at a Primary school not far from home and Farouk a PhD holder in Psychology, works as a part-time factory worker in a Beloxxi company.

"Inside me and you, who high pass?" Gabriel asked pointing his finger at the girl sitting on Farouk's lap.

"Look the person wey you dey point well o!" Farouk mock him making the ladies laugh, except Leo whose mind was still not in their conversation.

"Elf you no go defend me?" Gabriel asked but got no response from him.

"Leo? Em dey talk to you!" Farouk said tapping Leo's shoulder, this startled Leo who reacted by shoving Farouk.

"Wetin dey do you Leo?" Melody asked sniffing the trail of cocaine she had lined up on the table, "omo this one na original". Melody had also been close to the guys but not as close as they all were.

"I don dey notice am since but I be think sey na only me" Gabriel said leaning closer to Melody, "Abeg arrange small for me too".

"See this one o! When I ask you whether you go buy wetin you talk?" Melody asked.

"Abeg na!".

"I go slap that thing wey dey do you for head!" she shouted.

"Melody why you dey do gra-gra for your boyfriend na, give am small abeg" Farouk said.

"Ehn! Wetin you talk? Na this one wey no get money be boyfriend, no dey insult me like that o Farouk".

"Oya no vex, just give am small I go pay you later" he said taking a huge gulp of his beer.

"Ehen! Na now you talk well" she said and began making another trail of cocaine.

"My guy!" Gabriel hailed.

"Leo! Wetin you dey think sef?" Farouk asked concerned.

"You no go understand" Leo answered.

"Oya make us understand na" Melody yelled as she finished the trail of cocaine for Gabriel.

"Yes na, even if na person dey disturb you we go handle am" Gabriel said leaning on the table to sniff the cocaine.

"See who wan handle person, you never handle your babe finish" Farouk said.

"No mind am, e no even dey man enough sef" Melody mocked him.

"I go show you something this night, no worry".

"Na you wan show me something? You wey go sleep for ground for here small time" she said.

"No worry na, we go see" Gabriel said grinning widely showing the white powder on his upper lip.

"Guys I dey come, make I go collect fresh air outside" Leo said as he stood up from his seat and headed towards the exit.

"No waste time o!" Melody shouted as he left the building.

Leo began to stroll down the block, hoping to get his mind off the worries that had been accumulating on his mind. His bills had been left unpaid, his rent had long expired and the loans he collected were way past payment dates, he was way beneath the red line of bankruptcy and was walking on thin ice. He had walked a little further away from the club when suddenly an object fell on his head.

"Ouch! Na wa o! Bad luck just dey follow me everywhere like MTN" he said rubbing his palm on his head. He looked up to the top of the building but couldn't find anyone at the balconies of the building, he turned his eyes to the ground in search of the unfortunate object that struck his head. There it sat at the corner of the wall hidden by a trash bag, he walked closer to the object and saw that it was a small ceramic ball, painted white and black like the symbol of Yin and Yang.

"What the hell is this?" he asked picking up the ball, he examined it and saw that it was of no special trait except the dual colors, "Na person pikin throw this thing?".

A flash light turned on and was pointed at him, a voice yelled, "Who dey there?".

Leo covered his eyes with the back of his palm to get glimpse of the person, all he could see was a uniform. He wasn't sure if it was the police, the SARS or just the security guard, and he didn't want to find out for he wasn't with his wallet which had his ID in it. He quickly threw the pebble into the trash and ran back to the club.