Mr Randy Landlord

Hi peeps, hope you had a good week. And that you're well rested for the coming one...i was going to write another memoir from my childhood but right now i'm feeling quite lazy so i thought i'd put up one of my short stories and you guys can let me know what you think. Hope you have a nice read.
Please don't forget to visit the blog aloted and i are cohosting if you haven't been there.

The Randy Landlord

‘Come out now and defend yourself’, I heard a distant voice behind my bedroom window. I refused to respond thinking it was Bola and his wife my next door neighbours who were constantly at each other’s throat. His wife was always accusing him of cheating on her and in return he would beat her mercilessly. I had gone to separate them while fighting on several occasions. I decided to ignore them and thought they would see reason and carry the fight to their flat.
I turned to the other side, covering my head with the pillow, then I heard loud banging on my door and decided to check the clock by my bedside, it was 12 midnight. ‘Won’t these people just leave me alone?’ I said as I decided to ignore the knock, hoping the caller would take the hint they were unwelcome and go away. It seemed the caller was hell bent on waking me because the knock became louder and more persistent. I listened, trying to grasp what the person was saying. Which of the other tenants would be calling on me at this time of the night? I concluded it could only be Bola and his wife and I got up, ready to go and give them a piece of my mind. If they could not stay married in peace then it was best they separated from each other.
As I wore my dressing gown over my night dress, I could make out the voice of my landlord, ‘useless woman, come out now and defend yourself on why you’ve been rude to my wife’. It was my landlord’s voice alright and I wondered what he was talking about. Did this man know the time was the thought in my head as I stumbled to my door, sleep still very heavy in my eyes.
I opened the door and he was standing right there, half naked, just a wrapper wrapped around his waist. I didn’t even know some men still wore that these days. ‘Good evening sir or should I say good morning? To what do I owe this honour of you waking me up at this time of the night?’
I expected him to be shouting considering what I heard before opening the door but he was all smiles, grinning like an overfed cat, his pot belly thumping up and down
‘Won’t you ask me in?’ He said revealing the gap between his teeth.
‘No sir, I will not let you in, it is the middle of the night and you should go and sleep in your house while you let me sleep.’
‘You’re being rude to me this girl’, he said, holding on to my door so I wouldn’t close it in his face.
‘It’s late sir, we can discuss whatever you need to discuss with me when day breaks’
‘No this cannot wait’, he said as he pointed to the bulge under his towel
‘God forbid! I am a respectably married woman and I will not take kindly to such things. Please leave now before I get very nasty’
‘Relax, young woman, you claim to be married, yet your husband leaves you alone in this house almost half of the year. Let me keep you warm when your husband is away. I can do that very well’
I wondered what to say to this man. I had wondered at the attention he was paying my son and I recently. He would go out and stop by our flat some evenings claiming to have a gift for him. My 4 year old son had even taken to calling him Grandpa and was growing very fond of him. It all made sense now; his sudden interest in our well being, his constant stopping by, his gifts, offering to call his mechanic when my car had a fault, everything made sense now. Wale my husband had told me to be careful with him the last time I hinted him of how nice our landlord was. I playfully told him he was being jealous since he was far away. He told me he was only protecting his family and that he had a feeling the man was not genuine. We did not conclude on what to do but I was not going to treat a nice man with disdain.
Now it all made sense. Why did Wale’s office have to station him outside the city where we live for months on end? His company only allowed him come home for a few weekends. I had complained, prayed and hoped. Now I was just accepting it and hoping our situation would change soon. If my husband was home with me, this old goat would not stand at my door asking me to let him keep me warm.
I came back to the present and shouted so other tenants would hear. ‘Please sir, leave now, my son is sleeping and I would not want you to wake him up’. What was he even thinking standing there in his loin cloth? What would other tenants think if they saw him coming from my door like that? Bisi and Angela were the house gossips; they both lived in the mini flats at the back of the house and made every other person’s business theirs. Rumour had it that Angela was the cause of the fight between Bola and his wife and she endlessly tempted the young man when his wife was not around.
I succeeded at sending our landlord away that night but for the next two months, I constantly received such knocks on my door every night. I complained to my husband who said I should be careful and make sure the door was always locked when we were around at home. He was sorry he could not come home yet, he was on a project and he could nto leave. What kind of job would make a man desert his family in time of need, I wondered. I was upset with him and we had a fight on the phone. He was neglecting me and our son, I told him in plain words. For several months, I had endured the loneliness of a married woman living as a single woman. I lashed out at him with all the frustration I felt and all he could say was how he was sorry for putting me through hell. I ended the call and told him when he had worked something out, he could call me.
Amidst all this, my landlord did not relent in his effort to get me into his bed, he constantly harassed me when other people were there shouting that I was being rude to his wife, then at midnight he would sneak to my window and beg me to open the door just that once and how he would satisfy me. He told me of how he knew I could not be enjoying life with my husband so far away.
My husband continued sending me text messages to say how sorry he was but I knew something was wrong. One of the days when I thought deeply of our situation and how much I loved my husband and was not willing to give up on our marriage, I replied him and asked what was going on. All he could say was ‘I will explain in due time but for now, bear with me, I can’t come home yet’. What was going on? Then, he stopped communicating; he had not sent money to us in the past two months. First month, I thought he was broke and overlooked it, this was the second month and he was incommunicado. I was devastated, I knew I declared the war but it was not like my husband to have both his cell phones turned off. He was not replying his emails either. I thought something bad must have happened to him, but reasoned with myself that his office would have called me. I decided to be brave and called his Lagos office. What I heard was a rude shock, ‘your husband no longer works with us’, the receptionist said in an icy voice, ‘’Do you know why’’? I asked her. Her response sounded impatient: ‘’madam, there was a fraud, your husband was involved in it, any other thing you want to find out?’’ ‘’No, thank you’’, I replied. My world came crashing down. The project he was working on now made sense. My husband was jobless and was now avoiding getting in touch with me. What did he think I would do??? .....to be continued

Thankful Wednesday

This is my third week doing my thankful list and i haven't had any regrets. It's helping me to see God working in my life everyday and not take things for granted...the list continues to grow.

-I'm thankful for our new dvd/home theatre that accepts USB and alllows me play my favourite worship songs that hubby copied from my laptop.... i am loving the one playing right now, it's on repeat... the song goes...

'I trust in You my faithful Lord
How perfect is Your love
You answer me before I call
My hope my strength my song
And I shout for joy
I thank You Lord
Your plan stands firm for ever
And Your praise will be, continually
Pouring from my heart

I will bless Your Lord
I will bless You Lord
How my soul cries out
For You my God
I will bless You Lord'

- I'm thankful for my hubby who knows how to reach me and always has a word of encouragement for me. The guy believes in me like no other person! Lord i thank you for this wonderful man you have given me!

- I'm thankful to God for giving me a word in season for those who need it

- I'm thankful for the idea He's given me and won't allow me to let go of. Provision is coming for the vision, watch this space! lol

- I'm thankful because PHCN has been good to us sice yesterday. Two days ago i almost exhausted a gallon of fuel. I prayed and God answered

- I'm thankful that i was able to finish my cooking yesterday before the cooking gas ran out*
- I thank God for His provision. He has been good to hubby and i

- I'm thankful that our security was able to kill the rat i sighted in our store last week. I hate rats! Thank God i have been rid of that one and may no other one show up...Amen

-I'm thankful that my blackberry is functioning properly now, it got sprayed with water two nights ago and some of the keys were malfunctioning.

- I'm thankful for Obama. Somehow the thought of him being killed occured to me, i know i have an overactive imagination...lol...thank God His inauguration went well and He has now made history. Yes we can!

-Lastly i am thankful for the new blog aloted and I are co-hosting. And for those of you who have been there already..

May we always have reasons to be thankful and may joy never cease from your homes!

*wait o, Abuja people, where's best to buy gas? this one didn't even last one month, in Lagos, my gas dey last 3 months...pls holla.

Iyabo and I...going down memory lane

I was in Primary 3 or was it 4, can’t remember, I was really cute, not small…lol, I was the youngest in my class and the few friends I had were at least one year older than I was. They were more aware than I was, I’ve always been very naïve till recently. I digress, that’s not the point of this post.

So I was in primary 3 and Iyabo was one of my friends, we weren’t too close but we were friends. I used to get to school early because my mum taught in the school I went to, remember I said I was underage, she had to register me in her school when I was going to start because all the private schools said to come back the following year, she took me to her school, I was in primary 1 and I aced the exams, I got promoted and there was no looking back. Public schools were much better in those days anyway….i digress again

Iyabo always had something to say, there was always gist. This morning, we were early to school so a few of us gathered around before the assembly and she told of how a boy was hitting on her, yes, we were in Primary 4 and Iyabo knew what it meant to be hit on, they all had stories of a boy or the other, I had none. I thought of something to say quickly and then I remembered my friend, let’s call his name M, I liked him and he liked me, we just used to say hi and smile at each other sheepishly. So I said ‘can you imagine what M did a few days ago when I went to the bathroom? He was also coming out and he kissed me lightly’. I made her swear she wouldn’t tell anyone and she did. I didn’t even know what being kissed meant but I needed something to say. It was a lie and I felt very guilty afterwards, asking God to forgive me and that was the end of it or so I thought.

We were making a lot of noise in the class, I think it was a few days later, and our teacher said to put our heads on our table and hold our lips, of course, we’d still whisper underneath. Some gist was flying around and then it got to my partner who said ‘you got kissed by Muyiwa’. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. Nap time was over, everyone wanted to ask me how it was, I burst into tears and ran to my mum’s class.

My mum’s partner; her friend, asked me what the tears were for. I said ‘where is my mummy?’ My mum was right there and they both wanted to know what was wrong. With the tears running down, I said ‘Iyabo said Muyiwa kissed me’. Of course, I couldn’t tell what story I cooked up. My mum’s friend made matters worse when she said ‘so is that why you’re crying? How many women has your dad kissed?’ That made me cry the more!

My mum gave me a hug and thankfully it was already closing time. I couldn’t face my classmates’ humiliation anymore. I know,it was my fault. I lied, I wanted to belong but my friend betrayed me. She promised not to tell anyone. Every time I hear the name Iyabo, it takes me down memory lane. I hate the name Iyabo (please pardon me if you happen to have that name). Till date, I don’t think I’ve ever had any other friend called Iyabo. When I hear Iyabo, my head goes ‘olofofo’*. I know that’s not true but it scarred my innocent mind…lol

I don’t know why but in recent times, memories from my childhood keep flashing in my head…I don’t like the name Iyabo, maybe hate is too strong a word!

*tell tale

Thankful Wednesday

Last week, i said i was going to dedicate my Wednesday posts to thanking God and so although my laptop is acting up, i have to keep holding the charger for it to make connection, my internet is being naughty and there are factors militating against it, I am putting up my thanksgiving post! nothing is going to stop me from giving my God all the glory He deserves.

''Ti omode ba dupe oore ana, a ri imii gba''*. Oh Lord i am a child in your hands and i thank you for holding my hands and leading me and for carrying me on your shoulders when the road seems to difficult to walk.

It's another Wednesday and for the following reasons, i am once again grateful:

-I praise Him for breath in my nostrils! He kept me from last week till now

-God delivered me from depression. I had a particular situation I was feeling very blue about at the end of last week but God used hubby and some good friends to encourage and bring me out of it

-He gave me the patience and wisdom to handle a trivial family situation that might have become a crisis

-For my dinner bill at Hilton that got picked up by someone

-For giving me direction and helping me to know what to do at the right time

-For helping me to lose some of my weight, now I can fit back into that size 10 dress I was given! Dear God, thank you..but I still need your help on this…

-And I thank God for my hubby who always knows how to make me laugh….even when things don’t seem too right…


Our God is a good God. You only need to look deep enough to know there’s always a reason to thank Him. He’s worthy of our praises! What are you thankful for?


Ps: My people, abeg I am raising an appeal fund for a new laptop so if God has laid it on your heart, pls do not hesitate to obey Him..lol...Really does anyone know if and where there is a HP service centre in Abuja?


* If a child appreciates the goodness of yesterday, he will be able to receive more

A day at the amusement park

It’s a Sunday afternoon, I’m seated in the living room with my laptop in front of me, jumping from one blog to another, reading, laughing and leaving comments…the TV tuned to Africa Magic, watching a very silly Yoruba movie and chit chatting with hubby all at the same time…he’s holding a glass of cold chocolate and I think ok, maybe I should update my blog…

Last week we had guests, our friends from Lagos came to spend the New year with us and it was fun, they were supposed to leave on Saturday but somehow we convinced them to change their flight to Sunday …I’ve been meaning to visit the amusement park since we moved to Abuja but somehow it hadn’t happened so I convinced the whole crew and off we went to the Amusement park.

It’s called Wonderland and we paid the required fee at the entrance (I’ve forgotten how much we paid), the guys picked up the bill. We decided to walk around the place first before choosing the rides to go on. Our first stop was something called the Pirate ship, it was a ship suspended in the air with some iron like things, pardon me, I don’t know how to describe it. But the pully kinda goes back and forth with the ship swaying from one side to the other. The people on it were screaming and we wondered what they were screaming about. One of our friends was convinced it couldn’t be that bad considering they had been on a more difficult one in SA so we continued our walk.

We went to do the bumper rides and it was fun, it felt like being kids again…it took me back to age 9 when the Ibadan Amusement park was still new and we’d go there to have fun, Yes it was a lot of fun. Hubby said he’d watch so four of us went and rode the bumper cars while hubby captured the moment on video. It was fun, we were laughing and bumping into each other. The ride was too short though, the space wasn’t enough for the cars and it was sort of an anti climax. It ended just when it was being the most fun..but it was fun all the same. I was a kid again! I’m always a kid anyway, people are surprised when they learn I’m just a year away from being thirty (oops, there I told you my age, but isn’t it just a number?)

So we decided it was the Pirate ship next. My friend said she wasn’t going on it, she’d be too scared. We all convinced her and I even told hubby it would give us a chance to make out in our own seat…lol…well we went on the ship, I was really excited. Then the ride started, oh it was the ride of my life..i must say I’ve never been on anything like that. As the ship swayed from side to side doing about 180 degrees turn (hope I’m right cos my maths sucks), I felt like I was coming out of my body and the only thing I could do was scream, scream like I heard those people who were on it earlier did. I was not only screaming, yours truly was shouting yeeeh…one of our friends was at the back and we had recently watched Jenifa (that Yoruba movie, the first part cracked us up) and he said no Writefreak, say ouch, not yeeh and I said ‘Nooooo…it’s yeeeh not ouch’ and continued screaming. All of hubby’s attempts to keep his wife quiet went futile, I didn’t even remember I wanted to make out, the only contact I remember having with me though he was by my side was grabbing his jeans and shouting yeeeeeeh! I think I even teared up at some point, not sure. I looked to the side, my friend wasn’t shouting but it was obvious whatever was happening in that seat between her and her hubby, we’d all pay for it later.

I only got comfortable just as the ride was coming to an end, by then my throat ached! I was glad to come down from that ship, that made me feel like I was coming out of my body. It was wild and crazy fun. Will I do it again? Yes! I’m crazy I know but now I know what to expect and I will definitely have the Mr beside me the next time so I can make good on my promise to make out on a pirate ship suspended in the air…that’s if I’m not screaming again and begging them to stop!

Apparently my friend had threatened to divorce her husband if he didn’t make them stop..she had been saying ‘I’m not marrying you again’ to him. She was shaking when we got off and was useless the rest of our stay at the Amusement park. Not me, I was ready to try other things although my throat burned from too much screaming.

First I opted for a ride that’ll calm me after all the excitement. I convinced hubby to go on a ride where we’d see the whole city from up and just go round, I’ve forgotten the name. We were up there waving at our friends (the other guys thought it was a sissy ride, I didn’t care…and I love my hubby, he humours me). It was calming, just getting fresh breeze and looking at the world from up there, it ended too soon and it wasn’t scary at all!

My friend’s husband was still petting her when we came down ..in my head I was like haba no be the same ride. She was dolling out warnings to him quietly and shaking. We didn’t force her now though we convinced her. We were all scared up there but hey we’ve come down, move on and have some fun, but no way!

There was some water ride which hubby and I and our other friend with no Mrs went to look at, I seriously wanted to get on it but they didn’t want to get wet. There was another dangerous ride, we went there, my friend left his Mrs to calm down. I heard a girl screaming there but I was like, if I went through that pirate ship, I can do this too. The cars go up and down some kinda maze and bump into the sides of the iron maze. I wanted to ride with my Mr but thanks to his long legs, we couldn’t so I had to go alone. I was scared to pieces but I wasn’t chickening out…not when I’d said I’m a tough girl.

So I got in my own car. Held on to the iron rail very well and watch myself travel up and down bumping into things. It was like playing real life car race only I was alone and bumping myself. Was it fun? I’m not sure cos I felt like I was hurting myself for nothing but putting up my face and feeling the breeze while I did that was. What’s life without some excitement? Some adrenaline rush!

We ended it with another go on the bumper cars, my friend was still too shaken to come so she stayed behind with our friend without the Mrs and hubby joined in this time. It was fun bumping into ourselves but once again, the ride was too short and my car sorta liked to drive only in reverse

For me it was fun, crazy fun, reliving my childhood and being kids again with my hubby and friends. Who wants to grow up when you can be a child? lol

Thankful Wednesday

''Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded...'' James 4:8 (NKJV)

I feel Him nudging my heart and telling me to acknowledge Him more in everything even the little things of life...My praise is not enough. When we praise Him, He appears on the scene and dwells in our praise!

So from now till when God tells me to do something else, i will be dedicating my Wednesday posts to thanking Him and picking out some things i'm thankful for...He's a good God, there's always a reason to praise Him.

I am thankful to God for these reasons:

1. For making hubby and i see a new year

2. For giving me the strength to go jogging almost everyday

3. For giving us a house that met most of our specification contrary to people's negative opinion

4. For aloted and her hubby whose first wedding anniversary is in a few days (she used me no be small for this wedding)

5. For my health and hubby's. E don tey wey we enter hospital, glory be to God

6. For HIs faithfulness to me even when i shenk Him and refuse to acknowledge His presence

7. For the lovely gifts i got over Christmas

8. For the idea brewing in my heart that He will bring to pass...

For these and more o Lord i am thankful.

My God you're faithful and no one compares to you

Heaven and earth declare your wondrous works o my father
Great is your faithfulness!


On a light note, i was jogging a few days ago and willing myself to go on when i heard a loud honk, i knew it belonged to a truck only for me to look beside me and all the people in the truck were hailing me and shouting well done! 9ja for life!

A police officer also asked me if he could join me and i told him to come along, he said not to worry, he would follow me in his car, lol...hubby said the guy for just die, when last did he exercise? lol

It's a New Dawn

Welcome to 2009...the year the Lord has made.

2008 is gone, it's a new dawn, a new season, a new day

Many great things happened in the past year, some moments were thrilling, some were sad, some we hoped never to have again...the year is gone now, never to come back...

For the past year, i am so thankful, the good Lord saw me through it, and us all and has brought us to see a new year, that is enough reason to sing His worship.

I am set for new things, i am not looking back, i am making new decisions, decision determines your destiny, i'm not making resolutions...decision...discipline...
Just reposting this to check my blog feed, i have an issue with the feed, it seems to be showing my last post as 2 weeks ago so i need to check...pls bear with me...


I am making decisions that will determine my future and preparing myself for the future the Lord has prepared for me..

He has prepared a future for you also, prepare yourself...

With excitement i go into this year, let's go in with a song of praise in our hearts and a prayer on our lips...may this be the best year you ever lived!

May you never have a better last year!

Much love

Ps: To those who read my blogs in 2008, thank you so much, for your wonderful comments, i really am grateful. Blogville, you've shared my laughter moments and my moments of grief. You guys have been there for me and i am most grateful to you all...for being like a family.

It's a new dawn....

Welcome to 2009...the year the Lord has made.

2008 is gone, it's a new dawn, a new season, a new day

Many great things happened in the past year, some moments were thrilling, some were sad, some we hoped never to have again...the year is gone now, never to come back...

For the past year, i am so thankful, the good Lord saw me through it, and us all and has brought us to see a new year, that is enough reason to sing His worship.

I am set for new things, i am not looking back, i am making new decisions, decision determines your destiny, i'm not making resolutions...decision...discipline...

I am making decisions that will determine my future and preparing myself for the future the Lord has prepared for me..

He has prepared a future for you also, prepare yourself...

With excitement i go into this year, let's go in with a song of praise in our hearts and a prayer on our lips...may this be the best year you ever lived!

May you never have a better last year!

Much love

Ps: To those who read my blogs in 2008, thank you so much, for your wonderful comments, i really am grateful. Blogville, you've shared my laughter moments and my moments of grief. You guys have been there for me and i am most grateful to you all...for being like a family.
Let's do it again in 2009!