AGAINST THE SKY

Hi there Charley and welcome!... Here's a little something something I've prepared for ya... Happy Reading!
Click here for the sequel / part 2 when you're done. 

"Jonas, Charley you get Auntie Efe's digits? " an almost short-of-breath Nii asked his friend and room mate.

The said room mate was in a little tete -a-tete with some beautiful ladies from the Mensah Sarbah hall describing his illusory father who lived in the 'States'.
He was hoping to entice one of the females to warm his student mattress laden bed tonight after the party or if not, just a quickie with one of them would have quenched the maniac in him.

The girls knew he was lying but the verve and the charm he employed in presenting his 'lies' thrilled them very much. The pretty petite girl amongst them had already envisioned her body wrapped around his and had liked what she saw. The fact of the matter had not escaped the notice of Jonas so it came as a great displeasure to him ,the series of events that happened, after Nii had asked this question.

Later in life, he would tell his children how Nii had ruined his chances of being the first gentleman of the country because you see, that pretty petite girl became the president of the country but that's a story for another time.

"Naaa... Go biz Paa, " Jonas replied barely averting his gaze from the girls.

" I tried but couldn't find him anywhere, "

"Well... go ask Ebo then... or the freaking Mtn company for all I care... I make busy here noooor can't you see, " Jonas uttered in a shrill voice.

A cacophony of voices screamed in horror  outside.

"What's going on out there? "Jonas quizzed.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you... It's Ebo.... He has climbed the balcony and is threatening to jump to his death!" Nii screamed as he left hurriedly back to where their friend stood to try and see if he could talk him out of his suicide mission.

 The ladies followed Nii to go check the scene out as a bewildered Jonas peered on.
"Typical Ebo!...always grabbing the center of attention, " Jonas cursed.

He slid his hand into the right-pocket of his denim jeans and speed-dialed Auntie Efe's number. When the recipient picked up, he narrated the current situation to her employing some of the verve he had been using earlier,  and jogged to the building balcony, where a huge throng of people had gathered with their smart phone cameras pointing professionally in Ebo's direction ; all signs of the party that had been going on, gone.

"If he jumps aaaaa,  how the video will make my whatsapp group chat butubutu 333!" one guy said to another gleefully.

"Forget Whatsapp la.. Social media go jooorm ankasa! " the other guy rebutted.

Nii sniggered at them. He was soon joined by Jonas who assured him that Auntie Efe was coming. Atinga, the chief security guard, was besides himself with anxiety. Of all the twenty -something years he had been watchman _and then security, no one had attempted such a thing as this that would mar his sterling records and just when he was a few days away from retirement this happens!?

"And...now... my play.. has...ended... " Ebo was heard chanting from the balcony.

"What is that fool rumbling about now? " Jonas accosted no one in particular.

"I think it's his farewell message, " a guy wearing a blue Lacoste shirt answered while adjusting the resolution of his phone's camera.

"His farewell what?.. "

"His farewell message... like in Romeo and Juliet?... Devedas? " the blue-lacoste -shirt guy continued as Jonas shook his head in confusion.

The blue -lacoste -shirt guy sneered at him and walked away to a spot where he could take a better shot of the suicide. He hoped to impress a certain Rebecca girl in his drama class with the video later.  The fact that Jonas had stared at him in confusion puzzled him because he had been taking the same B.A in Fine Arts course with him.

The damned fool had even fooled around with his precious Rebecca once. Whether he didn't really know or was pretending not to know what the famed farewell messages of the principal characters in the plays he had spoken of were, was a mystery to him.

Consequently, a helicopter was heard approaching the campus. The surrounding trees swayed in response to the rhythm the artificial winds created by the blades of the chopper had called.

The chopper landed a few metres from them and a finely dressed woman in a two piece Gucci suit alighted, accompanied by four military personnel.

Her movements were a mixed bag of quick -walks and short sprint bursts while the four men who guarded her made 360 degree turns every few minutes to check for invisible people who might do the lady they protected, harm.

"Wait," a lady reporter ( nobody knows when those people always come ooo)  whispered to a faceless individual at the other side of the phone call she was on.

 "Is that not the Attorney General?" she accosted a lady next to her who quickly googled to verify.

"It is! " the lady's voice ascended in delight as the reporter confirmed the identity of the woman to whoever was on the other side of the phone call.

The throng parted for the Attorney General as she made her way to the front of the crowd.

"Hello boys, " she greeted Nii , Jonas and nodded to the Dean of Students , other faculty members and the police officers who were all present but had not been able to persuade Ebo to abandon his suicidal thoughts.

Prior to Her Lordship Ms Paulina 'Efe' Efua-Esandor's  arrival, Ebo had sat down at the edge of the balcony but when he saw his mother, he proceeded to stand and  chant his farewell message anew.

"And... Now... My... play is... ended... "

"Sergeant Okai "

"Yes Ma'am "

"Please get that fool of a son of mine down... he's embarrassing me"

"Don't let nobody come up here ma... I'll jump! " Ebo threatened as Okai hesitated.

"That boy will never jump Sergeant, go bring him down! " Auntie Efe, as the boys affectionately called her, ordered.

"I'll jump?!" Ebo gestured as his left foot was brought forward bringing him dangerously close to falling over.

The crowd sighed and ooooed. Auntie Efe lifted up her arm and Sergeant  Okai backed off.

"It appears the Attorney General's son is dead-set on jumping to his death... etc " an aesthetically pleasing lady reported for one of the News networks putting the total of TV and radio stations that were broadcasting this incident at twenty-four.

"Fine...Boy... What do you want? "

"You know what I want mother. "

"Ebo... we already discussed this... It just won't work out... I have too many plans for you to let some girl come and mess it up " Auntie Efe answered.

"What are they talking about? " Atinga who was now a nervous wreck accosted Nii.

" Oh right... most of you don't really know why he has gotten up there... to be frank I don't really know either but I believe it might have something to do with Esi, "

"Esi? "

"Yes... Esi Akorful... You're going to have to find a seat for this story... " Nii mused and cleared his throat ...

(sorry guys I have to end here since there's a 1250 word limit I have intended not to breach... see you next week for the continuation yeah? 😀)

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