Junkyard Blues

Chapter Eight

35 C Chapter Eight don’t think owning a phone’s a luxury, man.” Jude looked up from the notebook in which he was logging the last sale he had made. The face before him had a characteristic warm smile that was mixed with some air of sincere stubbornness. The face belonged to a young man about his age, a young man who was shorter, rounder with fresh fat deposits already making his belly to swell. The man was always happy, always satisfied with life, and for all Jude knew the man was always going to be happy and satisfied with life. The young man was Niba Silvanus, one of the few people Jude had been able to hang around with. “Excuse me,” Jude said with his own smile. At times Jude wondered why they were friends, what they had in common, and he always came up with the answer that there was nothing. They were different in every aspect of the word. But they were friends as it stood, one of those strange things that happened in real life. “I said owning a phone’s not a luxury, it’s an absolute necessity.” Niba said leaning on the counter before Jude. Jude shrugged, “If you say so.” “Unless you’re planning to go back to the dark ages,” Niba studied him for a while, “I think the dark ages will suit you well. You really look like an early man.” “That’s your point of view and you’re right.” “I’m always right.” They laughed; it always felt good when Niba was around, the laughter came freely. “Man, you’re hard to find these days,” Niba said and whistled, “Worst of all now that you’re back in that prison.” Jude rolled his eyes. “I pity you,” Niba laughed, “I’ve spent like three years trying to get hold of you, and anytime I come here, your friend here,” he nodded towards where the other sales person in the shop, Okoro who was busily dusting off some second-hand refrigerators, “Keeps telling me you’re out.” Niba smiled, “I 36 and this time Jude saw something in the smile, something that was not supposed to be there, “So how’s the life?” “Nothing bad yet,” he replied still not able to stop seeing that thing that was not supposed to be in Niba’s smile. There was something in Niba’s eyes, something in his smiling eyes that was not all that clear, and he knew Niba enough to know that something was going on behind those smiling eyes. Something that was… Why are you trying to get hold of me? In fact why is everybody looking for me these days? The “People looking for him syndrome” had started exactly three days ago. He had walked into the shop after making a delivery that afternoon to find a dumbfounded Okoro waiting for him almost at the door of the shop. “What’s the matter with you?” he had asked making his way into the shop and dismissing Okoro’s dumbfounded face to be one of his numerous antics. Okoro was a man who had many faces and it just depended on the time of the day. He had longed classified Okoro as an aberration he could simply forget was around the place. But Okoro followed him this time almost drooling as he opened his mouth to speak, “Your friend was here,” Okoro said, spitting out the words as if they were already hurting his throat. “Which one?” Jude murmured knowing that there was only one human being who could come into the shop looking for him. But whoever had spooked Okoro could not be that person, he saw that straight away when he looked up from his notebook which was opened before him. There was something about Okoro, something that Jude noticed instantly but took time to comprehend, it was total disbelief. “He was looking for you,” Okoro said the usual fidgeting taking over his hands helplessly. There was something he wanted to say, something that he wanted to say but did not know how to say it. It was there choking him, trying to come out, but he wanted desperately to create some suspense. “What friend?” Jude asked curiosity stealing through him slowly, Okoro was a being of its kind but this was new, all this fidgeting and the drooling. “You were in school together.” What school? What’s the idiot talking about? [3.144.33.41...