CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

He ordered for his favorite brand, he was surprised they had it, the beer parlour in his area wouldn’t have it at this time, how did these ones here manage it? ' Wily people'. When his drink came, it was so cold, an indication the electricity companies are keeping to there promises, they made sure there was steady electric supply during crisis, perhaps to actually keep people indoors. 

Davou hugged his beer, ' oh baby, how I have missed you, I didn’t know I would find you here, mwah, mwah, mwah.’  The others laughed, surely he had been reunited with his lost love'. Before drinking, he had to ' appease the gods', an unimportant ritual, he poured a little in his glass and poured it to the ground and whispered ' for the gods', then he was good to go, the drinking began. 

There are two things about beer parlours, first is you make friends easily, friends who will gladly buy beer for you but will not give you the cash. Second is you never lack what to discuss whether it’s all lies, gossip and nonsense. 

They made friends with the boys there and they didn’t lack what to discuss. They began by talking about the waitress that served them, how beautiful she was and so on and so forth. 

When Davou checked his watch, it was after six. He didn’t know they had been there for three hours. ' what!', he had shouted. “Oh boy, guys lets round up our drinks and leave this place before the curfew time, so we don't get caught in violation of the curfew order. I don't want to be a scape goat in the hands of these security agents.  

“why are you so scared man,” common lets have more fun, lets hang around a little while, afterall its just 6pm and curfew starts 10pm." The guy next to him said.

“guy i agree with you, im with you absolutely on this one, lets hang out a little while, no one is leaving here anytime soon, ,” one of their friend’s cut in, where is the bartender,? please bring us more beer. Let the drinks flow, lets get kinky im already feeling the vibes.”

.” They all laughed, some hitting their hands on the table, Davou almost fell off his seat, he knew these guys well and he knew what they were capable of. Alcohol has become part if their daily lives. They continued with their lies, stories and making fun of each other till some began to disperse.

It was there that Davou learnt Arsenal would play Bayern Munich, the crisis had made him lose touch with the things he cared about. He wasn’t sure the football viewing centre in his area would be opened, why was his area backward when it comes to the things he loved, beer and now football. His friend had assured him the viewing centre would be open, besides, they had watched yesterday’s game there, no need to fear, the proprietor of the viewing centre had given the soldiers observing the curfew some 'tips' in return for their cooperation to allow the viewing centers operates unhindered. 

Yes, the proprietor had given the soldiers something but some idiot or idiots had crossed the line. After the match, there was gunshot, before the soldiers came everyone had dispersed. It was alleged that a rival cult group from the university had come for vengeance on a rival cult member. 

The soldiers had followed and caught a few people but no one knew anything. The soldiers made them sleep at the check points with them and let them go in the morning. The proprietor had gone to the soldiers and apologized to them and promised to come forward with whatever information he heard. He had also increased their 'Tips', were they letting him run his business for nothing? 

When Davou and his friend got to the viewing centre, people had begun gathering, Davou took a vantage position where he would comfortably watch Arsenal’s match and also Chelsea’s who were playing Barcelona.  

The hall was filled and they had played for fifteen minutes when this man walked in, the man causally walked to the front and shouts of '" get out of my way nigga, get out of my way",bro i say piss off!.  Who is this one, Who are you?' filled the air. The man walked as though he didn’t hear a word they had spoken, like no one was there.

 When he got to the front, they realised he was putting on a khaki trouser, one a Nigerian soldier would put on. As he turned to face them, all the shouts died down, no one was saying anything again, it was now his time to speak. A man who stood up to walk towards the exit quietly returned to his seat without being told to do so, two soldiers had taken positions at the exit. 

“On your knees, everybody,” the soldier who had walked in began. He wasn’t shouting but his words carried authority, it was spoken with such confidence, he knew they would do as he had ordered, was he not a Nigerian soldier? Didn’t Nigerians dread Nigerian soldiers? 

They began to get down on their knees, the young, the old. No one said anything, those who grumbled only did so within them, they wouldn’t let the soldiers know they were grumbling. Let the soldiers know you were grumbling or even thinking about it…. No one was interested in watching the match again, not even Davou, what trouble had he just walked in to? 

“Last night,” the soldier continued, “last night, you dug a hole for yourselves.” What hole could he be talking about? Davou thought, he hadn’t dug any hole for himself, what could this man be talking about? The soldier continued, “I’ll bury you inside, I will bury you inside, I will so deal with you so that the next time you see a soldier in your life …….” Another soldier had walked towards him and whispered in to his ear, no one heard what was whispered. 

The first soldier spoke out loud this time, “Boss allow me deal with these people dammit, allow me to teach them somel sense,” The second soldier spoke in hush tones 

 “Oga these guys are plenty, we cant let them off the hook, the first soldier spoke aloud again, let me give them some VIP treatment. Let's teach them a hard lesson. Give us the marching order lets bring them down.”