House Officers

This post is dedicated to the house officers I have worked with, I am working with and those that I will work with.
Before we start, there are a few terms you need to get familiar with, if you are not a medic
Tissue: The art of disappearing from your workstation without permission
McAfee: The act of leaving your work for someone else to do, especially if it is a difficult task, like setting a line for a really big baby.
Daze: A senior asks you questions you obviously can’t answer. The idea is to embarrass you in the long run.
Stuff: An expression of what you know. E.G. Dr. Joe, give me stuff on COVID 19.

The medical line and the army have a few things in common, one that is quite notable is the hierarchy. The hierarchy in medicine is as strict as the army. You are senior to the person who resumed a day after you did, regardless of their age, sex, or family status.

I feel it is right for me to be clear here that a house officer is not a medical student. The people you see at NYSC camps are folks that have spent a minimum of 6 years in medical school (10 to 12 years, depending on circumstances), have spent another one year or more, looking for House job placement and have spent another one year or more doing their house job.

Now to the matter…
There are different types of house officers and this is based on my experience; I was one, now I’m working with many. Writing this, I have gladly grouped house officers in the following categories

1. The hard worker
This is everyone’s favourite house officer. They work so hard that we beg them to take a rest. They are the registrar’s dream; they make your calls smooth and never disturb you except it is too hard for them to handle. With them, the registrar can ’tissue’. They are the ones you send to check on patients and give you updates. They are the most pardoned house officers because people like them so much. Their past deeds always hold for them. You can trust their judgment, but they are very few.
The consultant is happy with them because they are always on point.
They are always ready; In their pockets are, continuation sheets, prescription sheets, bottles, needles, flesh and blood.

2. The smart worker
He is indeed smart and knows all the shortcuts
He plans his day such that nobody knows when he tissues.
He is always at the blood bank or setting lines on the ward; You just never find him.
He stalls a procedure till his shift is over and hands over appropriately, faulting the relatives who refused to give home gloves.
Once the others are being dazed; he suddenly remembers he hasn’t checked a patient’s random blood sugar and politely excuses himself from the discussion (We know o).
He uses the signature-hungry medical students to do his work.
He shares his work amongst others and plays the supervisor.
He gets all the glory, because he has the information about all the patients and what has been done for them; even though he did nothing.
His favourite word is “we”
Once you hear things like
“We have done…”
Just know he did nothing.

3. The Eye server
This is your pseudo favourite HOs. They are a good example of masters of none. You would see them do the work, but you would never see the work done. They are the least punished house officers because everyone at every point in time can ascertain them working. They have the best evasive mechanism “Always in view” which works perfectly. Other house officers don’t like them, because they see the real eye server that the resident cannot see.

4. The non-challant
The most annoying HOs, they do whatever they want to do, whenever. They are never in a hurry and have no sense of urgency. They cause you to lose your voice and weight from shouting. No matter how many times they are punished, they still do the same thing over and over. These guys receive so many extra calls that they have set up a wardrobe in the call room that has now become a home.
They don’t get extended because nobody wants to spend one more day with them.
Some however, are just plain clueless, they honestly don’t know. They might have completed many postings but still don’t get it. Do not! I repeat, Do not allow them write for you. ‘Mother’ might turn to ‘murder’. Distinguishing the clueless ones from the others saves you a lot of stress.

5. The stuffy
These are usually the best graduating students from their schools. They know the answers to the questions Residents cannot answer. Usually when you are dazing your house officers before it gets to their turn, they pretend as though they don’t know it; they look away or look down, mostly praying no one gets the answer.
The moment you call their name, they reluctantly start answering with “I think..” then they answer the question very well, smile and then ask you a question as though they do not understand; when you give a wrong answer, or you are unable to answer they go “Errm, actually, when I read it…” and I am like “why then did you ask?”

6. The Over Sabi
These are the ones that feel they know how to carry out procedures. A large percentage of them were the ITKs in school, they are the ones that have instructed their family and friends to call them ‘Doctor’ since their first day in medical school.
Some of them have even done house job somewhere else (on a missionary journey)
Good luck to you if someone from this group resumes a unit before you, they behave as though they are the custodian of all the knowledge in the world.
They rarely get into trouble with their seniors, but when they do, it is usually so bad, and everyone feels fulfilled after their downfall.

7. The snitch
What makes a group of people if there are no snitches.
These are the Resident’s informants. How do you recognize them? Simple!
On the first day, they are usually forward, trying so hard to warm their way into hearts.
They correct other HOs in front of Residents.
They are quick to mention who did what.
They try to form like they are the holiest ones.
If you have a house officer that comes to you when you are alone to say something like this “Ma, I noticed Dr. Tad (a fellow HO) did this, is it right?” Beware, he is a snitch.
Just like every snitch, they get used and dumped! Do not be a snitch!

8. The safe player
These ones just want to do their posting without any hitch. They want to finish their house job and leave.
They don’t play the hero, neither do they play the ignorant.
They wait on you for every instruction and always ask questions even when you query the relevance. They are quick to say “I am sorry” and “let’s go and ask the registrar.”
They don’t answer questions. Their usual response to your question is “I can’t remember sir, let me check it up and tell you tomorrow”.
They are not remembered as they do not create memories.
They usually have a smooth sail and are least likely to receive queries, extra calls, and the ultimate extension.

9. The newbie
I feel bad for this one, who is a lot of things.
First he is the messenger. As he doesn’t know how things run, he is used by the others to do the dirty work. They make him do their work and claim they are training him.
He stays awake when everyone is sleeping. He is not given the details so he would be dependent on the others who can then control him.
He makes the work of the resident slow and hard, as. you have to explain everything from why you are holding the pen the way you are, to why a full stop should come after a sentence.
The only good thing is they are fresh and not corrupted, so the resident can make them who he wants.
They are innocent and are easily pardoned. The resident might be punished for their mistakes because everyone knows you can’t leave a newbie all by himself.

10. The Frosh ones
These ones are usually foreign-trained or from private universities. A few of them are from Federal universities.
They are never to be caught unfresh.
The guys have a clean-cut, with a side parting or punk and well-groomed beards.
They wear coloured socks and the cut of their trousers is on point. Their tie matches their shirt and doesn’t look like a suicide noose.
They try so hard to impress the female registrars,
The girls wear really nice shoes and palazzo pants (Especially those from Unilorin)
Their hair and make up always on fleek! They flirt with the male residents, but talk to Male HOs ONLY when they need a favour.
There are 2 sides to them
a. the people they impress always have good stuff to say
b. the people they don’t care about always have bad stuff to say
The female registrar thinks she is lazy, the male thinks she is a hard worker….

No house officer was harmed in the making of this list. If you feel attacked, it might just be true.
This is my list! Thank you for reading
DrBeezle

The Process

I wrote this piece a while back and I thought it would be nice to share. I am sure it will be a blessing to you. Enjoy, kindly drop your comments and share. Thanks


Yaaaaaaaaaay!!!!! I am going on leave. I feel great, I have waited for this for so long, I am excited. What is it about the ‘leave excitement’ anyway?  You are probably wondering why I am so excited about this leave. It is a great relief from work. Don’t get it wrong, I love my job, and I have worked for a year without break, I deserve this one. I believe life is a cycle of work and rest, I have worked, now its time to rest.

I decided I will write something, every day of my leave. I trust it to be inspiring, fun and motivating. I do hope it strikes a chord with you and brings you all the finest things.

On my first day of leave, I felt so different, starting from the first step of waking up. I woke up for the first time in a long while not thinking about babies. You know, legit, for about 6 months, I have been dreaming about newborns; weird dreams mostly. However, today, I had a different dream; it was so nice that I couldn’t remember.

Today I will be writing about ‘the process’

 God has a plan for each and everything he created; you can imagine that includes you right? Well, it does. The only glitch in each plan is the impatience of humans. We love the endpoint but we don’t like to go through the process. The process seems tedious, especially when we have a shorter route to it. Like, “can’t God see this smoother road, down this lane? Why in the world would he say I should ply a rough terrain to get to the same place at a later time.” The truth, however is, God has seen the endpoint from the beginning, he knows the devil you face today is nothing compared with that which comes with each passing day. He needs you to go through the process to prepare you for the bigger endpoint.

The process may be slow and very uneasy! Gosh!

The moment however you realize that the process is preparing you for the bigger picture, your perspective changes. Sometimes, you see some people who seem to be ahead of you and you begin to wonder, how it is you are where you are. Sometimes you want to take the short cuts of life to get to the destination faster, but the moment you realize God is taking you through the process for a reason, everything changes. Never forget this; life is a marathon, never a sprint.

Though it may seem difficult, as though things are not working the way you would have loved it. It may seem God is even blind to the bright side of life; taking you through this dark phase. Remember though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is with you. Well, he could have led you around the mountain to avoid this dreaded valley. He could have flown you, so you could avoid this soul-consuming shadow of death. Yet he leads you right through it. The only thing that brings comfort in that kind of situation is the truth that you are not alone. He leads you through the process. He walks in front and holds your hands right through it. Wait! If God holds your hands and leads you down a path, you know nothing in this world can stop you right? Yes, you know!

Though the process could be unpleasant, the outcome is full of pleasant surprises and God has promised to lead you all the way. So, walk through the process, learning all the lessons that comes with it; it is God’s way of preparing you for the next phase of your beautiful life. Do not be in a hurry; getting there faster doesn’t necessarily mean finishing strong neither does it mean sustenance! That is the aim, right?

Give God your hands and allow him guide you through the process; do not skip a step, don’t take the shorter route. Let him take you through; you won’t regret it, I promise…

Thanks for reading.
Dr Beezle

PC- Solabomi Oyebiyi (Insta @__Bomi__)

Good wishes

Hi Humans.
I honestly know that it has been a long time here, but I will save you the opening speech.
We are in crazy times, I know. I never imagined that I would play a role in one of those thrilling apocalyptic movies. I never thought we would experience the movie first hand. This suddenly reminds me of the Last ship series or 2010…
How has it been staying at home? I know you are probably tired of hearing people tell you to make most of the time. Read a book, take a course, write a book, you have heard them say. These points cannot be overemphasized though.
Imagine you sleep on the 1st of march just to wake up on the first of may, that is exactly what it will feel like when this is over and you haven’t gained anything but extra weight.
I am not telling you to be extra serious, so much so you wont have time to play. Watch a movie, create and try new recipes; I have been doing this and it has been awesome. I can share some with you, if you would like.
If there is anything I have learnt from having an extra time off work is that I am a good cook.
Parents, I know those kids are pain in your behind, the only way you could get rid of them was school, now there is no school… I know it is so much energy to deal with; you just want to sedate those pieces of trouble…
Let me teach you an old trick. As kids, when we got too energetic, my mother would send you on something I like to call ‘a journey of no return’ She gives you an impossible task, which you must finish (we never finish them, we got bored and begged to sleep). I learnt a nicer version from everybody hates Chris. Rochelle makes the chores in the house competitive and makes her children do them in all eagerness (nothing dangerous). You could try that “The first person to finish arranging their closets gets an extra spoon of rice.” Watch them scamper around. Or the person that keeps quiet the longest gets a bar of chocolate. While they are at it, you can get some sleep, read a book or have an ‘us’ time with your spouse.
For those of you with toddlers and no older ones to keep them busy, my thoughts are with you.
Most importantly, stay sane! Do not lose your mind. Find your happy place and dwell in it. Say a word of prayer from time to time, get closer to God and get to know yourself more. This too will pass; soon we will wish we had this time to spend alone again.Very Soon we will be back to rushing through the world and trying to achieve too much. Now that we are on a compulsory holiday, stay positive and use it wisely…
Stay Safe

Warm regards
Beezle

PC- @Solabomi sending love and hope your way

The Curse of The Money found

As a Nigerian kid who grew up in Nigeria you must be familiar with the consequences associated with picking money found, especially randomly, around a bush, in school but definitely on the floor. I remember there was a time kids were said to be turning into goats and chickens. My all-time favourite remains being turned into a yam. Truthfully, I never witnessed any of these, but who was I not to believe.
This story has a similar narrative, although, we didn’t turn into goats or yam. It was a pee-in-your-pants experience. So here we go…
Mother had warned us sternly on a few things; do not talk to strangers, do not collect things from strangers, do not take what is not yours and never, ever pick money on the floor…
We were walking home from the Otedola’s who had brought us back from school. Their house was like 20 houses from ours. I was about 6 and my brother was 8 years old. We had 3 other people with us; two of them were older. Thinking about it now, they must have been like 10 years old.
While walking down the road, we stumbled on a 5 naira note. See, these days, the only thing a 5naira note can buy you is a candy with after taste, but then, it could get you quite a number of things. As children who had the fear of their mother, we encouraged the others to ignore the money and move, but they insisted. The eldest one, Feranmi, did a little neutralizing dance around the money, then picked it up.
“We need to drop it; the owner will come find it” My brother must have said
“No, for it to be there now, it means the person doesn’t need it” Feranmi responded. Sola and Saraki were indifferent and I did not care. So here is the thing, we had 4 people against my brother; he automatically lost.
“But my mum will be mad at us” My cultured, smart and obedient brother said; I agreed too.
Feranmi stepped forward dramatically and said “She doesn’t have to know, which is why I will place a curse on anyone, who snitches on us”
We were young and didn’t even understand what a curse was, but Feranmi knew just what she was doing. She placed a curse saying, “Whoever tells anyone about this money, may the river of life drown such a person” She then forced us to say Amen. Well, this is where I will warn folks to be careful about whom their children hang out with. To my mother, Feranmi was a very responsible 10-year-old; an angel, but then she was more.
After saying Amen, we walked to a shop and Feranmi bought us biscuits with the money. Thinking about it now, I am not sure she shared it equally; that girl was too smart for us. She handed us the biscuits and we continued our journey home. Well, you all know as a sharp one, I immediately opened my biscuit and started eating. My brother of course did not eat his, he tried to stop me, but hey, we have been cursed already, the least I can do is enjoy the biscuits.
A piece of biscuit and a gulp of water after, we ran into this crying child. Above every other look, she was distressed! She walked past us, looking for something frantically. Well, your guess is as good as mine. We paused, nobody had opened their wraps except me. I began to shiver; I knew I was in trouble. Even if we wanted to return the money, I had eaten some of my biscuits.
Feranmi told us to keep a straight face as we doubled up, soon we started running, which was suspicious. The girl ran after us and asked where we got the money for the biscuits. Before Feranmi could manufacture a lie, I had started crying. I must have said “Feranmi picked it, bought us biscuits and told us not to tell anyone” Do not judge me, I wasn’t the snitch, we all wanted to snitch, I was just the first person to say what was on everybody’s minds.
Apparently, the child-teenager was a maid, who had misplaced the money meant for grinding pepper and her boss had sent her out of the house. The frustrated girl dragged us by our uniforms and threatened to follow us home. That threat was my main problem. See, it would have been better to drown in that river of life than have someone tell my mother that we picked money from the floor, used it to buy biscuits and I had the guts to even eat the biscuit.
Feranmi hit my occiput so hard; she was pissed that I didn’t allow her lie, to cover us up and of course, I broke the pact. She pleaded with the teen to follow us to the biscuit woman, so we could return the biscuits and get her money for her. She agreed. We went back to the biscuit seller and pleaded with her. After minutes of pleading with the seller, which was to no avail, one uncle (sent from heaven) became interested in the case. After we had narrated the story to him, he scolded us but paid for my biscuit and collected the 5 naira from the seller…
The only good thing was that I was able to eat the remaining biscuits without sharing with anyone. If they had followed my intuition and opened the biscuits, I am sure God would have sent that uncle to pay for all our biscuits.
Morale of the story- Always follow my intuition.
It would have been nice if the people in this story are the people you know, but they are not; at least, not yet!
A quick prayer for you before you leave! May you find helpers in strange places!

Kindly share too

via What tha heck is Staphylococcus Aureus?

What tha heck is Staphylococcus Aureus?

There are some people whose noise can wake the dead. I understand fully that “Man must chop” but can man try not to chop on other people’s gullibility? Maybe if I were not a Doctor, I would not have been this bothered about how these lies are spread. It hurts to see humans fall victims of these hungry opportunists, feeding off people’s unpardonable ignorance; thus, this piece.
I was coming back from work after a rather busy day, when the sleeping giant in me got awoken by the cries of a dwarf that has been disturbing the lives of the people I am meant to be protecting. Like an annoying alarm that keeps snoozing when you just need it to be switched off, it disturbed my peace. Think about the scenario:
I wound up my glass, switched on the air conditioning and put on really loud music in an attempt to drown all external noise; still I could hear it, sipping through the vents. The more I tried to drown it, the less successful I was at it.
The source of the noise was directly in front of me; little wonder I could hear it so clearly, even with the really loud music. I didn’t have to strain my ears before hearing “If you have cough, it is staphylococcus aureus (Kokoro inueje as it is called in Yoruba. Dude pronounced it “airis” by the way)
“If you are infertile, it is staphylococcus aureus
“If you are deaf and dumb from birth, it is staphylococcus aureus” (pun totally intended)
What ‘tha heck’ is this staphylococcus aureus that causes more harm to humanity than the devil himself? If I had listened to the man too much, I might have been forced to believe that even poverty is caused by staphylococcus aureus. He was rather convincing.
He further claims to have a cure to this staphylococcus aureus! Doesn’t that make it a medication that cures everything? Wouldn’t it be nice for people to have such a medication that would have their problems gone forever? Well, just as you could imagine; innocently and desperately, humans walked up to his van and bought his concoction. With the influx of people to his sales point, I was forced to believe the guy sells and makes more money than the doctors, who spend bulk of their lives in medical school.
Driving past his van reminded me of an advert I saw a while back “We cure staphylococcus” I had to ask myself “What exactly is staphylococcus?” Is it the same staphylococcus I know? Or another one that people dread more than death itself.
Is it not this same staphylococcus that we sleep and wake up with? Is it not the same staphylococcus that we put into our mouth each time we eat? Now, this is not to scare you, neither is it to trivialize this beautifully notorious bacterium. Truthfully, staphylococcus can cause some life threatening conditions, but I bet you, his concoction will not cure it.

What the heck is staphylococcus?
It is a bacterium that lives primarily in our bodies. However in some cases, it can cause some diseases, especially when the protective mechanism of the body is compromised; like, when you have a wound on the body that breaks the integrity of your skin. Staphylococcus aureus is a part of your life as a soldier; one of the numerous ones that guard your body. And like one in a company of soldiers, Staphylococcus aureus can go rogue once in a while to cause some symptoms.
Staphylococcus aureus does not however cause fibroid, cancer, tuberculosis, bleeding disorders, infertility, poverty, depression, corruption, suicide and bad roads. If it actually causes all these, I guess the human race would have been wiped out. Therefore, before you sip on that unknown, bitter and nauseous concoction, Ask yourself ‘What da heck is staphylococcus aureus again?!’

Red Cave (Kizil Koba)

I love books, I love and appreciate writers and I fully understand the effort that goes into writing books, but as paradoxes go, it is not my usual hobby to sit down and read books. Recently I have been making conscious effort to read books and I must say I am enjoying the process. I hope and pray I am able to keep this up. Anyway, this is not a piece about why you should read books. Maybe when I am better at that, I would be able to help pull out the spec in your eyes; because by then, I won’t feel guilty about the log in mine.

I was reading the book ‘Talent is not enough’ by John C Maxwell (good book). In one of the chapters, he mentioned a number of things about mountain climbing. This brought me memories of my last days in my Alma Mata Crimea State Medical University. My friends and I had planned a couple of things we wanted to do before leaving Crimea; going to the red cave was one of them.
In Crimea, there are many sites you would want to visit; I don’t want to get started on mentioning now, before I start feeling more nostalgic than I already am. I remember when marking the places we wanted to go to in Crimea, we really wanted to visit a water fall – the Uchan-su. It is said to be one of the tallest waterfalls in Europe. Who doesn’t want to be a part of that right?

Anyway, I decided to have a picnic at the red cave with a couple of friends. When we got there, the place was so beautiful and we were so excited. The only bad part was this: The red cave was up a hill or shall I say mountain and we had to walk all the way. We all started the walk up the mountain without a guide. I can’t remember why we didn’t go with a guide; probability is high that we were just being cheap. Who needs a guide when there is a path to follow?
We kept walking up the narrow path that led to the red cave. I wanted to know what it was about the cave that everyone was always talking about. There was no stopping me at this point. In fact, as the chief of the planning committee I encouraged people to move it and move it, until it got to a point that I myself was tired of moving it. It just seemed like the more we climbed up its steep stairs, the farther it became.
We got to a plateau area that had benches; ladies and gentlemen, that was the end of my journey to the red cave.
“I will catch up with you guys soon, just keep going” I told my friends. I remember Femi saying “Ayb, I am sure we are almost there” but I did not listen to him (He cannot comman kill me for my mother).
Well, I sat on the bench with two others, before I knew it, I got comfortable. It was breezy there and I soon began to appreciate the serenity around the area. The next moment, my friends were coming down and of course, just as you expected, they didn’t stop talking about how beautiful the lake was until we got back to school. One of them wouldn’t shut up about how crystal clear the water was and blah blah blah…
“Ayb, you should have come o”
“Don’t I know that? Do you have to put it in my face? arghhh!”

I didn’t make it up the next few steps to see the red cave and I actively blame the people who put the benches there for this. Who puts benches just before the destination? I had been walking all the way for more than an hour, up a hill, no benches; few minutes to the breakthrough, benches came. It would have been another story if I had ignored the benches like my other friends did or even if I had sat for just a short while. I sat all the while appreciating flowing water that I had seen a lot of times; butterflies that probably do not add value to my life. I missed the bigger picture and settled for less, just because it offered me a little comfort. This clearly explains why not everyone can be great. Why settle for beautiful when you can be gorgeous?

The worst aspect of this was that, I was too proud to admit that I shouldn’t have sat. When they came down talking about how beautiful the place is, I should have tried to catch a glimpse of the place. I should have told them I would catch them on the way down and pursued the reason I was there anyway. Now that I did not see it with my korokoro eyes, I can only believe the myths and legends behind the cave.
I didn’t and I may never have the opportunity to go the Crimea to see the red cave anymore. Even if there was no cave, I wouldn’t know.

In life, beware of those benches and the things that offer you less than you deserve. Beware of quitting just because it seems you have done a large work and you are yet to see the result. Beware of pride, it only makes you lose. Make sure you see the ‘Red Cave’; no matter how farther it seems to you; do not give up until you reach your destination.

That reminds me, I didn’t give up on the journey to the water fall. I saw it with my eyes in my socket and my advice is this “Do not go there when there is no rain; it looked to us as though someone stood at the peak and was pouring water from a bucket. My precious, hard earned 100grivs was gone in a jiffy. That is a classic example of a wasted effort.

I am Back!!!

The Stalker; The final episode

Sade really wanted to know why Sam would do what he did. She had always seen him as simple and easy going. She had once described him as a butterfly; easygoing and hurts no one. But today, he stung like a bee; she stared at him through the bars and moved closer.
“Why? Why would you do that?” she whispered, but got no response. He seemed to be saying something so she moved even closer to the bars and could finally hear him
“We’ve met before, a long time ago”
“Sam! I met you just 3 years ago when I interviewed you”
“No, you didn’t. You met me 15 years ago, October 22 precisely. We met at a party in Ibadan, we were secondary school students. I asked for a dance and you agreed. We got drunk and you kissed me. The next day at school, I had told my friends you and I had clicked, that we had chemistry, they told me to prove it. I walked up to you and what did you do? You raised your voice and started shouting; you didn’t just deny me, you insulted me in front of the whole school. We were on the assemble ground and I remember you saying ‘Anybody who kisses you should be kidnapped, raped and killed’.
“Sam! So you looked for me for 15 years just because of some careless words I said”
“They were probably careless to you, but not to me. When I heard everyone laughing at how you disgraced me, I told myself I was going to make you beg. You said no man can make you beg. Well you did tonight.” He whispered. Sade moved forward, trying to hear Sam well, as her head was close enough to the bar; Sam reached forward and held her to the bars. Sade screamed for help, but before anyone could come to her rescue, Sam had bitten off her ear. He was trying to bite her in the neck when a police man entered into his cell and hit him until he released her and she fell into Kolapo’s waiting arms. She was immediately rushed to the hospital.

…
As the Honorable Judge gave his verdict on Sam’s case, relief flooded Sade’s heart. He was sentenced 14 years for attempted rape, 7 years for abducting her and 10 years for kidnapping Kolapo. Sade’s lawyer argued for attempted murder which would have earned him more years but his cunning lawyer talked it down to aggravated assault for which the judge gave him 43 years, bringing the total to 74 years imprisonment. He simply smiled after the judgment was passed. As he was being taken out of the court room, he stopped just in front of Sade and smiled. He quietly scanned the man standing beside her
“I see you finally chose to have a man, but what for? Protection?”  Sam laughed maniacally as he saw the fear on Sade’s face. “74 years, won’t stop me from fulfilling your wish my dear, neither can your soldier boyfriend.” He shouted as the guards whisked him away.
Sade shivered as the events of the last 8months passed through her mind. She absentmindedly stroked her scars, “I can’t go through all that again” she thought, since Sam was sentenced to almost 80 years in prison.
**************************************************
It was Morayo’s – Sade’s third child – 5th year birthday. Her first child, a 10year old girl, walked up to her and delivered a parcel. Sade dropped it amongst the other gift items. If anyone had told Sade few years back that she would fall in love and raise a family, she would have laughed them off. Yet here she is running around to make her daughter’s party pop. She was really enjoying managing being a family woman and a successful fashion designer. And now when those who knew are before asked, she would just say “The taste of the pudding is in the eating” that she would take her current life hundred times over
After sharing souvenirs and thanking everyone who came for the party, Sade suddenly stopped and fixed her gaze in one direction. Her husband, Kingsley had been talking to her for a few seconds but she didn’t respond. He shook her lightly.
“What is the problem Love?” he asked
“Nothing” Sade said smiling.
“I know you babe.” He pressed his forehead against Sade’s who finally let out a breath. “Talk to me”
“Don’t mind me baby, I just saw someone that reminded me of Sam”
“Sam is gone and dusted baby, you don’t have to worry about him anymore.” I thank God for Dr. Maxwell and how much help he’s been to you.
Later in the evening, everyone sat around Sade who had already started unwrapping the gifts. She picked the parcel her eldest child had given her earlier. She removed the wrapped it and found a Barbie set.
“Awwn it is the Barbie set you have been asking for. Today must be your lucky day.” She handed the card over to her 10year old who had been reading out the messages on the cards.
It read
“Happy birthday Jane! Your mother must be proud of you! However tell her, that I am yet to fulfill her promise, and I will. XoXo Sam”
Sade became frantic. She stood up and ran out of the house. Her husband immediately followed her.
“Was he here? Was Sam in my house? At my daughter’s party?
“Sade, please calm down, Sam is in prison. No way was he in our house”
“How do you know that? He could have escaped or something? Oh my God, after all these years, can’t this nightmare just stop for Christ sake?”
Her husband hugs her tight and whispers calming words into her hair
“Why don’t I give the detective a call and we’ll know for sure that all is well”
He then called the detective and told him what just happened, he promised to look into it ASAP
He led Sade inside and she immediately went to her children’s room, drawing comfort from the happiness in their walls.
The detective called back in 10 minutes and informed them that Sam was still in his prison cell
“He read about your daughter’s birth years ago and arranged to have the gift delivered. I’m very sorry for his disturbance. I have arranged with the guards at the prison to punish him for his prank. He will never try it again. Give my regards to your wife sir”
“Thank you very much Detective, I appreciate all you’ve done for my family”
“Just doing my job sir, take care”
When Kingsley gave her the news, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s go to our room honey”
“Can I please sleep in the kids’ bedroom tonight?” Sade asked
“Alright dear, I’m right next door if you need me”

Sade lay on her kids’ bed and looked up at the stars painted above and couldn’t help but thank her stars despite all that had happened. With thoughts of her lovely children on her mind, she drifted to sleep
THE END

The Stalker; Episode 3

Different thoughts came flooding her mind. Her heart started racing again. Soon she heard the main door to her office slam shut. She ran so fast, knocking mannequins down; she made it to the workshop’s door and locked it. Then she moved the closest drawer for reinforcement. She walked back to the table, picked up her phone and sent the text messages.

There was a loud bang on the door. But she wouldn’t answer; she wouldn’t even breathe under the pile of clothes she had hid herself.
“Sade! Open up! It’s me Kolapo”
“Uncle K” she mouthed. She was excited. Rushed towards the door and opened it.
“Uncle K, thank God you are here.”
“Yea! I started coming just as I got your message, what is the problem”
Sade shifted back, and started slowly, away from Kolapo.
“What is the matter dear?” Kolapo asked, moving towards her
“I sent you a message, barely 5 minutes ago, and you are here already. Your house is about 30minutes from here” Kolapo paused, shinning a torch in Sade’s eyes
“I got your message about twenty five minutes ago; it was sent thirty minutes before I had the chance to read it” he walked closer to Sade, who had frozen.
“No! Don’t come near me” she screamed
He moved close to her and gave her a warm embrace “I can’t hurt you, you are my baby’s best friend” he brought out his phone and showed her the message. “
“I didn’t send you this message, this is not my number.”
There was a loud bang, then Kolapo fell. A figure, at least 6ft tall, was standing there, holding a rod. Sade tried to run, but he grabbed her hand before she could move, a gloved hand clamped her mouth before she could scream for help. He picked pieces of clothing off a desk and then gagged, blindfolded and tied her up even as she struggled. He hefted her over his powerful shoulders and dragged the unconscious Kolapo along. He dumped them both in the trunk of Sade’s car and drove off
…
As the blindfold on Sade’s face was removed, she saw a tall masked man walking away from her. He settles on a chair and pours wine into a glass. Kolapo’s groans drew Sade’s attention as he came to. He tried moving but the masked man had securely tied his hands and legs.
The man walked to the chair in which Sade was sitting, sat on the edge and stroked her face. He removed the gag from her mouth and she immediately shouted for help; the masked man didn’t move a finger, he simply laughed at her.
“Conserve you energy my dear. Where we are, nobody can hear you” The voice sounded familiar. Sade shifted her face from the man’s alcohol breath, but he bent closer.
“What do you want from me? I have money! Just release us please. My friend is heavily pregnant and this is her husband. She cannot afford to be worried” Sade pleaded.
“I know everything about you. How else do you think I got him here, despite his “intelligence” I have this all planned out Sade” He pointed in Uncle K’s direction “Even him”
The groans from Kolapo became louder. The masked man went to him and removed his gag.
“Something on your mind?” He asked Kolapo sarcastically.
“Oh yes! You can’t get away with this.” Kolapo spat on the floor beside him “You think I don’t know who you are?”
The masked man mocked him for a minute and said
“Well, well, well, look who wants to make this interesting. Why don’t we play a game? He maniacally threw his hands in the air “Let’s call it “WHO AM I?” He walked back towards Sade’s chair, sat on the edge again, this time he pulled on Sade’s hair. “If you correctly guess who I am, I will remove my mask and call the police myself, you have just 3 guesses and which each wrong guess, I get to do what I want to Sade” He bent close to Sade’s face and licked it. Sade wriggled violently. “I’m sure you can imagine one or two things”
“I am not interested in your dirty games; I just want to go home.” She begged, but the masked man shouted “You think you have a choice???”
“If you don’t play the game, Kolapo dies, if you lose the game after 3 guesses, you both will die. Those are my rules, let the game begin”
“Kolapo, please” Sade begged.
“Don’t worry Sade, it will be alright, we’ll get home safe” Kolapo reassured Sade.
“Enough of this rubbish” The masked man shouted “Let’s play!”
He walked to Kolapo, picked him from the floor and sat him on a chair. “This is so you can see clearly, I mean when I rape her.” The masked man then dropped some objects on the stool beside Kolapo.
“Once you lose, I will skin you alive!” He dragged a chair to the middle of the room, faced them and ordered Kolapo to guess. Sade threw Kolapo a long sad face. He was fairly certain he knew who the masked man was but he had to think twice before blurting it out; not knowing what would happen after.
Kolapo took a good look at the masked man, who had stood up to get more wine; he studied his gait and posture. He took a fast look at the materials on the stool, he saw a scalpel. He quickly bent his body, toward it, in an attempt to pick it, while the man poured himself a glass. He bent as far as he could, but the scalpel was just so far. He reached further, the rope cutting into his skin, he finally picked it. However it dropped on his chair behind him.
“I said play” The masked man shouted. Kolapo took a long deep breath. His heart beat was so loud; he thought Sade heard as she threw him a curious face.
“I know who you are, just promise that if I am right, you would be true enough to agree and unmask yourself” Kolapo pleaded. The man laughed and then nodded in agreement.
“It is you Sam, Sade’s manager” Kolapo said
“What?” Sade turned towards Kolapo
“Why are you playing with my life Kola?” she then turned towards the masked man who had stood and was walking towards her “Sir, please don’t mind him! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! I’m begging you”
The masked man wouldn’t listen. He dragged her up from the chair towards the table. Sade screamed, struggling harder as she was being pulled.
“Why don’t you even tell me if I was wrong?” Kolapo shouted, but got no response. The masked man dragged Sade to the table, and tied her legs apart. He then took a pair of scissors and cut her clothes open. He whistled when the clothes were off, slowly turning to show Kolapo what he was seeing.
“You lose!” He shouted, but Kolapo was not on the chair anymore. Shocked, he looked around, but didn’t see him. He bent to pick the knife on table, but before he could get up, Kolapo hit him twice on the head with a rod.
Kolapo, picked the knife from the masked man, and cut Sade loose. She quickly got up, wrapped her torn clothes around herself and ran towards the door, but he wasn’t following her. She stopped and called out to Kolapo who was busy trying to tie the man up.
“Kolapo, what are you doing?”
“Wouldn’t you want to know who he is?” He replied.
“No!” she screamed, “I just want to get out of this place.”
Kolapo ignored her; she sighed. She saw that he wouldn’t leave until he was satisfied, so she joined him. They both tied him up and Sade became lightheaded as Kolapo removed the mask on the man’s face. It was Sam!
This whole time, it was Sam that was stalking her? Her mind was reeling as she couldn’t imagine why. She surely had been nice to him all along. Why?
Kolapo lifted Sam’s body and headed to the door.
“What are you doing? And how did you know it was Sam” Sade asked.
“I am doing the same thing he did to us, just that he will wake up at the station.” He turned to face the frail Sade, “Don’t just stand there, pick up his phone and take pictures. We need them as evidence when we report to the station. Sade quickly did so and hurried to unlock the trunk of her vehicle for Kolapo, who dumped the body inside and drove off.
“How did you know it was Sam?” Sade asked again, but Kolapo ignored her as earlier.
“Let us call the police, just so we will be covered, I will call some of my colleagues and…”
“Answer me!” Sade demanded, cutting Kolapo’s conversation short. “Ok”
“Ok what?”
“Ok, I will tell you.” He paused as though trying to arrange his thoughts. “Well, the message he sent to me, was sent with a number he had used to call me before which I stored it in his name. When I saw the message, I thought you both were in danger so I came down to your office. As soon as he removed my blindfold, I was almost sure he was the one”
Sade was amazed at how calm Kola was under pressure, while she couldn’t even think straight, he was able to think things through, discover the man behind the mask, get himself free and saved them both. And for the first time in a long time, she caught herself thinking about having a man like him. About how different her life could be if she did, would she work so hard, would she have kids. The journey to the station was quiet and filled with introspection.
As Kolapo drove into the station, some of his friends had brought Sade a dress to wear and was quickly escorted into the station, while Kolapo waited behind, to get Sam out of the booth. With the help of his friends, they lifted Sam, who had regained his consciousness out of the trunk and dropped him on the floor. He yelped from the effect of the drop. If not for the police officer present, they would have really kicked him around. The officer took him in and they all gave their statements
Sade really wanted to know why Sam would do what he did. She had always seen him as simple and easy going. She had once described him as a butterfly; easygoing and hurts no one. But today, he didn’t float like one, he stung like a bee; she stared at him through the bars and moved closer.
“Why? Why would you do that?” she whispered, but got no response. He seemed to be saying something so she moved even closer to the bars and could finally hear him
“We’ve met before; a long time ago”

The stalker Episode 2

The beep of her phone disrupted her focus on her manager’s PowerPoint presentation. She picked her phone to read the message she received.
“You can run, you can’t hide”
The past weekend suddenly flashed in her mind. Her heart started racing then she couldn’t breathe. She stood up abruptly from the meeting and rushed out. Her whole crew followed her, but stopped at her door as she had slammed them out of her office. She opened her bag, and picked out her inhaler. She puffed and took a deep breath. A thousand thoughts flooded her mind as she sank in her chair. Her face suddenly became hot, followed by a shower of tears. Her stomach rumbled so much, she dropped her inhaler on the table and rushed into the bathroom.
She washed her face and went back to her seat but wouldn’t sit. She decided to take a stroll around her office. She paced to and fro; trying to figure who it would be if this were a prank. “Could it be pranks? The incidence last weekend couldn’t have been a prank obviously.” She caught herself saying out loud
There was a loud thump on the door, this made her heart leap, as though making its way out through her throat. She turned to see the door slowly open; the more the door opened, the wider her eyes opened. She moved back, slowly as the door opened more.  She reached close to her antique table and picked up a vase. Finally the door opened enough to let a huge shadow in. There was absolute silence; she held her breath for a few seconds. The sight of a leg entering her office propelled her to almost throw her weapon.
“Hey Hey! It is just me” the squeaky voice of her production manager could not be mistaken.
“Oh it’s you Sam.”
“Yes it is me; I was just wondering why you left like that. Is everything ok? We are very worried …”
“Hope everyone is back to their work posts” Sade interrupted the svelte man who seemed a bit too worried. In his 5 years of working with Sade, he had never seen her that way. She looked frail and scared; he wouldn’t just let that pass.
“They are back, but what is the problem”
“Nothing” She said walking up to Sam. She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I am just a bit sick, that is all.”
“Would you then take the day off and go home? I am sure I can handle things here while you get some rest.” Sam smiled. He had never seen Sade take a rest since they started working together. Even while on vacation, she takes work along.
“Nah!” she waved the option off “I will be fine, I just need time alone.”
“Alright then” Sam gave up and walked towards the door “We will just continue working till you are ready.”
Just as Sam’s hand held the door he heard Sade’s words; she was thanking him in the most subtle way ever. He turned and gave her a warm smile, opened the door and stepped out.
Series of thoughts ran through Sade’s mind. Should she call the number back, or report to the police? The second option felt too drastic a measure. What if it’s a friend playing pranks; “another episode of pranks gone wrong” she had said that out loud and escorted it with a giggle. She felt light; she couldn’t feel her heart beat anymore, the sweat on her face had dried. She wasn’t as scared as she was anymore. She walked into her bathroom and headed towards the wash hand basin.
“Mirror Mirror, show me my ugly sweaty face” she said as she slowly lifted her head to look into the mirror. Her makeup was smudged; the sweat had produced deep tracks through the layers of her foundation.
“Why do we girls have plenty wahala self?” she asked the mirror, as though awaiting an answer, she stared at her reflections for few seconds. Once she got no reply, she opened the tap and washed her face then looked into the mirror once again, this time admiring herself.
“I bet I am more beautiful without makeup sef” She said. She raised her brow, turned her face from side to side, giving herself an assured look from every angle. She smiled, giggled and pouted.
“Sorry mirror, I definitely need my Ruby Woo” she wiped her face and applied a thick coat of her matte lipstick; She brushed her lips against each other; her signature ruby woo smile came up and she felt her personality jump back into her.
“That’s my girl” She gave her reflection a wink. She walked into her office, picked up her phone and replied the message.
“Screw You!!! Once you are done playing your games, let me know who you are. BTW if you think you can scare me, it isn’t working! Douche bag!”
The message tone from her phone made her heart leap. She picked it, opened it and figured it was just a delivery report. Her beating heart slowly calmed down, she took a deep breath and walked out of her office.
…
Her presence in her Sade’s Fashion Hall put all gossips to a halt; each worker scampering to find their way to their work posts. They expected her to scold them, but she didn’t. She simply walked to the centre of the hall and addressed her work force. The hall was silent, each worker paying maximum attention to what she had to say.
“You all can say all you want, you have the freedom to, but whoever doesn’t finish their work before closing time, will be spending the night alone in this place. If I were you, I would stop bothering myself about somebody else’s problems and face my work”
She walked down the hall to her work table. “There you are!” Her eyes widened as she moved close to the mannequin by her table.
“Aren’t you looking beautiful already.” She wasn’t crazy but she was talking to the mannequin wearing the senator’s dress. “Just the finishing touch and you are good to go! I love my job” She exclaimed and started working.
She was soon buried in her work that she didn’t realize it was past ten at night. Her slowest but meticulous worker, Taiye, had just told her that he was done working and he was ready to go.
“What time is it Taiye?” she asked the chubby young man in his late twenties.
“Aunty, it is five minutes past ten o’clock”
“Alright then, just go, I will lock up once I am done with this piece.
“Should I wait for you aunty?” the caring Taiye asked.
“No Taiye! Your wife will be worried; I am fine.” she waved him good night. The young man walked out of the door and shut it behind him.
Sade stood up to close the window; it had become really cold suddenly. She walked through the hall, inspecting the dressed mannequins. She smiled at Taiye’s work, it was perfect.
“Taiye is slow, but he gets the work done right, unlike Moni. What is this she has done now? She will come and meet me here tomorrow.” She said to herself.
She saw something move; she turned back and inspected the room, but saw nothing. Her eyes were playing tricks on her again. She had moved a few steps and this time she could swear by her mother’s name that she saw a shadow. She turned swiftly but there was nothing.
“It is time to go Sade” she whispered to herself, as though preventing whatever it was from hearing her. She walked briskly to her chair, picked up her phone to dial her friend’s number, but she wouldn’t pick up. She then tried uncle K’s line, but he didn’t pick up too. She started typing a message…
“Something strange, I am at work. Come if you can, i…” The lights went off interrupting her typing. She waited for her standby generator which refused to come up. She gently dropped her phone on the table and walked backwards, inspecting the room as she moved.
Different thoughts came flooding her mind. Her heart started racing again. Soon she heard the main door to her office slam shut. She ran so fast, knocking mannequins down; she made it to the workshop’s door and locked it with a key. Then she moved the closest drawer to block it. She walked back to the table, picked up her phone and sent the text messages.