A Collection of Short Stories
Tales-from-the-Other-Side-2015 Tales-from-the-Other-Side-2015
Jennifer Chinenye Emelife Sour Kisses Life slipped out of her, breathlessly, stiff, like leaf off its branch. But just before she gave in, she toured cities of her heinous life. She visited, once more, the shadows she inhabited, shadows that lived in her also. And there was that mansion. In it, she traced her ruin to the semen mapped bed. She coughed as she remembered that she had slept with the cursed one; one whose darning laid in the juice of experienced loins. She knew this, but the price was too charming. A hundred nights would not earn her such money. So she dared. It was her lifestyle, even though her name was Adakaego. As voices she could not decipher flew round her head, her skin turned white, like the inside of an unripe mango brutally scrapped of its covers. Her bones glowered out of her skin, almost bare and seeking covers too. The doctors had found nothing wrong with her. Not when she started shedding hairs, not when her nails pulverised. Not even when her skin began to vanish. But death was not hers, she believed. She trudged on, gathering breath after breath until her head suddenly began to spin. Voices, yet again… * ‘Are you sure you want to do this, Ada? That man is diabolic!’ ‘Ehen, would that be the first time? Who doesn’t know that all these politicians are evil? I just want to do this and get done with it. Lord, Clara, my younger brother needs to get out of that stupid jail! The bail is big. Those people are threatening. If we are charged to court, where do I get the money to hire a lawyer? All because he stole five thousand naira from his boss!’ Ada said, spreading out her arms. Clara sat back in bed, silent. She understood her friend’s frustration, but she was not sure Hon. Obiano was the man to play games with. Many scary stories had been told about his sex escapades. True, theirs was a business of courage and sometimes, stupid faith, but Clara could not make up her mind about this latest client. 83
Sour Kisses Jennifer Chinenye Emelife ‘Let’s think this through, carefully, Ada. Come, sit down’ Clara gestured her friend to the space she had made for her on the bed. Ada sat down and sighed, her head bowed in her palms. ‘I’m tired Clara, why do things have to be always difficult? My mother, she is still battling with cancer. Her surgery is close, I’m not even talking about my studies anymore. Everyone at home believes I’m the hardworking undergraduate in school, with a part-time job. But look at me, Clara, look at us. What are we becoming?’ ‘I know. I know, Ada. But we will be fine. A few more games and we are done,’ Clara said. ‘But all the girls had warned you too when Femi came with his offers. Remember Femi? Femi of the big firm?’ Ada spoke, not paying attention to her friend. ‘They said he cut off breasts of girls he slept with and stuck them in his own chest, while he tortured them gleefully, his finger in their vaginas, to death. But look at you, Clara. Alive, your big boobs, all staring at me!’ Clara laughed so hard at this. She knew it was the way with the brothel girls to say disparaging things about clients, especially when they wanted such clients themselves. She had slept with Femi and nothing surreal happened. ‘Oh dear,’ Clara sighed, ‘just be careful, Ada. Be careful, okay? If you find his thing changing into monster heads like in the movies, run o. Never mind that you are naked, run for your life o!’ Both girls laughed at the joke. They had come a long way together, fought pain and shared each other’s joy. They tried to live in oblivion of the life they had chosen. Or the life that had chosen them. Humour was an escape with an everyday resolution to quit, whenever guilt surged in. The laughter died out. Ada spoke softly, eyes shut, as though seeing a vision. ‘Things will surely change after this, Clara. Ten million naira is no small money. I will 84 Tales from the Other Side
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Sour Kisses<br />
Jennifer Chinenye Emelife<br />
‘Let’s think this through, carefully, Ada. Come, sit down’ Clara gestured her friend to the<br />
space she had made for her on the bed.<br />
Ada sat down and sighed, her head bowed in her palms. ‘I’m tired Clara, why do things<br />
have to be always difficult? My mother, she is still battling with cancer. Her surgery is<br />
close, I’m not even talking about my studies anymore. Everyone at home believes I’m the<br />
hardworking undergraduate in school, with a part-time job. But look at me, Clara, look at us.<br />
What are we becoming?’<br />
‘I know. I know, Ada. But we will be fine. A few more games and we are done,’ Clara said.<br />
‘But all the girls had warned you too when Femi came with his <strong>of</strong>fers. Remember Femi?<br />
Femi <strong>of</strong> the big firm?’ Ada spoke, not paying attention to her friend. ‘They said he cut <strong>of</strong>f<br />
breasts <strong>of</strong> girls he slept with and stuck them in his own chest, while he tortured them<br />
gleefully, his finger in their vaginas, to death. But look at you, Clara. Alive, your big boobs,<br />
all staring at me!’<br />
Clara laughed so hard at this. She knew it was the way with the brothel girls to say<br />
disparaging things about clients, especially when they wanted such clients themselves. She<br />
had slept with Femi and nothing surreal happened.<br />
‘Oh dear,’ Clara sighed, ‘just be careful, Ada. Be careful, okay? If you find his thing changing<br />
into monster heads like in the movies, run o. Never mind that you are naked, run for your life<br />
o!’<br />
Both girls laughed at the joke. They had come a long way together, fought pain and shared<br />
each other’s joy. They tried to live in oblivion <strong>of</strong> the life they had chosen. Or the life that<br />
had chosen them. Humour was an escape with an everyday resolution to quit, whenever<br />
guilt surged in. The laughter died out. Ada spoke s<strong>of</strong>tly, eyes shut, as though seeing a<br />
vision. ‘Things will surely change after this, Clara. Ten million naira is no small money. I will<br />
84<br />
Tales from the Other Side
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