Chapter One and Two

Chapter One

I repeated my affirmations till I started believing them. That’s how I started my day always. I finally dragged myself out of bed and started getting ready for work. I was sleep deprived but I had no choice so I put my bathing water in the kettle, made up my bed and picked out my outfit for the day.

Two hours later, I was ready for work. I checked to make sure I had locked all the taps, switched off all the fans, turned off all the light switches and locked all the doors. I also checked to make sure I had taken the snacks which I had to eat before lunch and my little “tea” flask which most of the time contained rum or whiskey.

I walked towards the junction hoping to see a bike because I was running late already and sitting in a taxi only means I will arrive my jobsite late. I had no such luck; but on the bright side, once I reached the junction, I saw a taxi which was empty and the driver agreed to carry me.

Seven thirty on the dot, I walked into the Bamenda People’s Paper (BPP) and my boss Mr Ngong Cletus was already in the office. I could tell because Nadine wasn’t outside chatting with the woman who sold chips and Oscar wasn’t attempting to rap. I quietly snuck in and sat on my seat and got to work.

My work was to write articles concerning the entertainment industry and in a Country like Cameroon, that was difficult because the entertainment industry was behind. Almost all citizens were self-acclaimed celebrities and no one really cared. Write an article about the new house Cameroon’s Star International Footballer, Samuel Eto’o Fils bought and no one will read it. In fact, the paper will end up on the “suya” sellers table or in “Mami puff-puff’s” bucket.

I logged into Facebook and scrolled through but nothing interesting was there. Just the normal posts of “Itz Milky Minaj, feeling sexy with Sugar Khid and 49 others. No blogger or news page had posted anything new, so I logged into twitter. When I cleared my conscience by scrolling through social media for any news worthy stories, I downloaded the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie I had been dying to watch and a few novels before Nadine came to take me for lunch.

We went to our favourite ice-cream spot; a little shop behind the grand stand and bought donuts and frozen ice-cream. Of course we ate some there, wiped our mouths and got rid of all evidence and then took the rest to the office. Oscar was wondering why we didn’t try to get him to go to the store for the second round but we came up with excuses.

At five o’clock, when we closed from the office, I was packing my bag to go home when Nadine invited me to attend a birthday party with her.

“whose party is it Nads?”

“My sister, Sandra”

I shook my head and laughed. Sandra’s birthday had passed and we both knew it. She just wanted us to hang out and yes of course, I was down for it. A wild Friday night with Nadine was more appealing than a night at home watching a movie or reading a book while praying Clovis in the next apartment and his girlfriend don’t break the wall with their bed or block my ear drums with their screams, moans and groans.

After contemplating, analysing, debating and agreeing, we finally settled on going to Dream land snack bar at Mile Two Nkwen. Since it was closer to my place, we first went to Nadine’s house at Old Town and grabbed her stuff, then we went to my place. Nadine wore a black spaghetti strap fitted mini dress with transparent heels while I wore a Ruched puff sleeve bodycon dress with black strapped high heeled sandals. I did her make-up and she did mine and of course, we both looked flawless.

“Nads, go home with the guy at six o’clock who has the lady all over him and I owe you ten thousand Francs”

“Why don’t you give the guy sitting opposite us a lap dance and I owe you twenty?”

“good money, but I’ll pass”

“kill Joy, you never do dares”

“Really? We exchange desks at the office and by desks I mean, I get your desk and your window spot if I give him a lap dance and go home with daddy over there”

“The music is loud; I can’t hear you. What are you saying?”

“I thought as much bitch!”

We finished sipping our wine, and then we woke up from our chairs and started dancing. Nadine wasn’t a good dancer, but she sure knew how to bounce and shake her round shapely ass and to her, that was all that mattered. She said it went with all songs and watching her, I think it really did for her.

People had started smoking shisha and the population was increasing. I had a light headache and I was sweating profusely. I looked around for Nadine and she was nowhere to be found. I sent her a message saying I was not feeling too well and I wanted to go home. She replied asking if she should ditch the guy she was with and go with me, but I told her it was okay and I was fine. I told her to have fun and I went home. By the time I got home, it was still Eleven PM. Unfortunately for me, Clovis next door and his girl were not done with business, so I had to hear all the noise but thank the heavens for the miracle called head phones. I put them on and listened to my affirmations till I fell asleep.

Chapter two

Nahlela

Today, I was the first person to get to the office. I went through my articles as many times as possible to make sure I had made no mistakes. The article was about a football match I had watched during the weekend between the Young Sports academy (YSA) from Bamenda and the Petit Paris team from Douala which was played at the Ntambessi field. They were up and coming teams with a lot of talent and they had to be promoted by all means.

Oscar came about twenty-five minutes after me and before he could put his butt on the chair, I gave him a copy of my article and a flask of coffee I brought for him.

“This is Impressive girl. Just a few months here and you have already gotten the hang of it. Writing really is your thing”

I flashed him a smile but deep down inside, I was sad. His last statement reminded me of some past memories. Memories of my twin sister Kadmia who passed away from cancer. When we were in high school, I used to write short stories for kids and she always told me “writing really is your thing”. She always insisted on reading them first and after she read them, she will say “Nah, this is the best story I’ve ever read.” Even when I was reluctant and lazy, she always pushed me to be the best version of myself. I don’t know the cold hands of cancer had to snatch her from me and hand her over to the hungry hands of death.

Nadine’s loud cheerful voice brought me out of my thoughts. She was greeting the boss man the way she always did when she intended on leaving early or asking him for something. Once she entered the office, I gave her a copy of my article to read before she could even open her mouth to greet me. Once she said it was okay, I took it alongside the article about pregnant musicians I had been working on which she and Oscar had already cleared to the Boss Man’s office.

“Good morning sir”

“Good morning Nahlela.”

“this is the article I was assigned last week and then, this is another one I did. It’s about a match a local football team had yesterday with a football team from Douala”

He had a deep scowl on his face “there is no space for this in Todays noon paper.”

“just go over it sir, it might interest you”

He sighed and put the papers on his desk.

I wished him a nice day and turned to leave when he told me to sit down. I was confused, but I quietly obeyed. Once he finished arranging the stuff on his desk, he turned to me.

“Do you know the Cameroonian footballer named Jam Timi, who played for Chelsea FC but had an early retirement because of an Injury he sustained?”

“No sir I don’t”

“He happens to be a big deal, and he has volunteered to coach the University of Bamenda’s football team for the University Games.”

“University Games start in February, so you have three months to build your story. Attend his training sessions, try to interview him and come up with the best article ever.”

I smiled nervously at him “Yes sir I will”

“This is the article of the year, and I am entrusting it to you. Don’t make me regret it”

“I promise to do my best sir; it will be the best best ever.”

He smiled, which he rarely did. It was like we were having a moment, so I decided to try my luck

“sir, about the Salary raise I have been asking you about…”

He cut me before I could continue. “do this article well and we will see about that”

Three months was a long time to go, but at least I had hope so I left his office smiling.

Immediately as I sat down at my desk, I picked up my phone and googled the famous Jam Timi and I was blown away by the search results. I didn’t even realize that I exclaimed loudly till Nadine ceased my cell phone and shouted “fuck me yo”

“Oh boy, who the hell is this?”

“My next article; Retired footballer who has volunteered to coach the University of Bamenda’s football team for the University Games.”

“Why do you get the cool guys while I’m stuck with old Politicians?”

“Because you handle them well. No one else here will be able to get interesting Stories out of them”

I asked for my phone and continued doing my research. The internet gave me his date of birth, age when he started his career, reason for his early retirement etc. but I wasn’t paying attention. I was focusing on the pictures. I went over a hundred plus pictures of him and no bad photos; he looked stunning in all. All the pictures were taken in various football fields. I looked for personal pictures of him and family but I couldn’t find any, so I had to make do with the ones of him on the field.

I made it a habit to leave work at the office when coming back home but today, happily did work at home. I learned all there was to know about Jam Timi Nkwain.  Born on 25^th February 1987 to Mr Atah Collins Nkwain a native of the Kom Tribe in Cameroon and Mrs Alexa Turner a British citizen. One sibling, Aaliyah Nsang. Retired last year because of a leg Injury which included a broken left Fibula and an open dislocation on his left ankle. His career started when he was 18 and he was at its peak when he had the unfortunate accident.

I couldn’t wait to meet him in person. I had a feeling he wasn’t photogenic and the pictures didn’t do him justice at all. Damn, I hadn’t even met him and I was in over my head. I had to control myself or else I will make a big fool of myself.

I said my affirmations till I forgot every other thing, especially things concerning Jam Timi and I went to bed feeling relaxed and excited for the next day.