Chapter 1

The buzzing of his phone against the mangrove polished bedside table just adjacent to his head resulted in an abrupt snap in its direction. 

Ace reached for his phone after releasing a groan of annoyance as he wondered who could possibly have the effrontery to disturb his morning sleep.

"Hello," he said, with a hoarse voice seeping through cracked lips. With his eyes shut, he awaited to hear a voice from the other end other than ruffles from what seemed to be an aluminum foil and then the shattering of a what...a cup?

"Hellooooo?" he reiterated.

His patience was wearing thin. It was no fun amusing with someone's sleep but the person on the other end found it rather interesting.

Ace decided to do what he should've done a long time ago- view the caller ID- when suddenly, the familiarity of a tiny voice got him sober.

"Ace?" The ever so shy voice called.

"Nate, what's going on?" 

Nathan, preferably Nate, was the fourteen years old family Benjamin whose shyness was a major call for concern. He reached out to Ace whenever he was in difficulties--which usually were tips on how to approach girls as the center of discussion-- rather than anyone else in the family. What an irony.

Before Ace left for the hell hole he was currently at, he and Nate had made a deal to reach each other twice a week; Mondays and Fridays. But for whatsoever reason, Nate hadn't reached him the Friday of the previous week.

"I heard something shatter down he...oh my God, my coffee mug, Nathan!" Another not-so-soothing-at-the- moment voice added to the scenery. He could picture the facial expression his mum had on at that very point in time.

"Mum, 'twas a mistake ok?" 

"I'm not going to swallow that pill this time around. Why are you with that phone by the way, have you forgotten you're grounded? Gimme that,"

"But mum, I need to talk with Ace,"

"Ace is at school and right now, all you're doing is distracting him. Go to your room now," the bickering ceased after a faint 'ok', then the voice addressed him, "Hello?"

Ace sat up straight whilst struggling to clear out the hoarseness from his throat, but he knew his mum won't hesitate to figure out what he had been doing the previous day. "Hmm?" he hummed affirmatively though it won't be for a long time.

"Sorry for the disturbance. I hope everything is fine?"

"Uh-hmm." again, he hummed.

"What's your program today? I'll love to call you during your free time. There's something we need to discuss."

That was it. She was actually looking for every possible means to dig him out and it worked each time; it was time for him to vent out and if he did, he will be betraying himself but another thing was, he couldn't hang up the phone on her, lest she flies into town within the next four days, hunt him down and shower him the bickering of his existence.

Again, he cleared his throat, exiting his bed premises to the large veranda attached to his room.

The sun was burning in all its radiance; Mid-January was the dry season in the southwest of Cameroon. It was only ten in the morning but the rate at which the sun shone would make one think it was twelve midday in the desert.

Molyko in the southwest region of Africa in miniature--as it was worldwide known due to the presence of all four climatic zones in one with deserts and Savannahs in the north, tropical rain forests in the east, coasts in the west, and mountains in the center--unlike the one he had spent twenty years of his existence in, was almost not busy. The activities were shy at dawn and sharp at night. The latter was his favorite time.

He stood outside, bare torso, with the aim of using the little noisiness of the environment to mask his coarse voice. Luckily enough for him, a couple of cabs were already present, horning in full blast. A neighbor or two on the opposite side of the street had their woofer speakers as well in full blast. Also, the chattering of the local store owners was loud enough to aid his act.

"Err..." he cleared his throat again. "The class this morning had been canceled so I'm waiting for the next in an hour, you could make use of this time,"

"Ace, have you been drinking again?" his mum's tone was calm and worried.

Damn it!

"No, no I-"

"Ace, why are you doing this? What have we not given or done to you as parents?" he said nothing, which gave his mum the go-ahead. 

"Where have your dad and I possibly gone wrong? The last time you requested a brand-new car if we needed you to stop with the alcohol intake and we shipped it without the slightest hesitation. Now tell me, what do you want this time around? More money? Another car? What?"

Ace swallowed, grabbed his shoulder-length unkempt shiny, brown, curly hair with sufficient strength that they seemed to have uprooted. "I want to return home, mum."

"You know you can't do that until you've learned your lesson, we had a deal remember?"

"I already learned it, mum, I'm sure of it," he pressed.

"No, you haven't."

"How can you even fucking tell?"

Zaphrina sighed. "Ace hun, I sent you there not only to learn 'that lesson' as you put it, but to as well see life from a different perspective."

There she came again with the same old story of perspective and lessons which he still hadn't had a clue to date. "I have been here for a year and I haven't seen shit, so what the hell are you talking about?" 

"Ace darling, this life isn't all about money, alcohol, trending cars, and clothes. There's more to it and I believe you will see that during your stay there. You will thank me later, trust me." the line went silent for a while before his mum pushed on. 

"Please, do me a favor. No, do the family a favor by staying away from alcohol. Is that too much to ask?"

His brows furrowed for a bit as he contemplated the probability of possibility. A habit was easy to build but almost impossible to destroy. 

If the consequences of his actions couldn't stop him from getting any better than he was then what else could? 

Ace heaved a sigh and began roaming the medium-sized veranda of the three-starred hotel he resided in-St Claire. 

The place was pretty much getting boring and the suite seemed to be compressing by the day. The only advantage of the hotel was its closeness to the university. 

"Ace, are you there?" his mum worriedly quizzed.

"I will, mum, I will stay away from alcohol," he answered in a bored tone.

"Thank you. Well...I have to go, your sister has a fashion show to prepare for tonight and I have to give her a helping hand. Nice day son, I love you."

"Yeah. Me too."

Ace flung his phone to the bed from the veranda and then, rested his elbows on the railing. He watched the street begin to fill up with students. 

Two pretty girls who were walking abreast of each other, laughing at what the fairest of them both had said, glanced up at him with a smile.

He smiled back at them with a wink and they both giggled.

Their faces weren't new to him, they were club regulars and one-night stand chicks; Eighty percent of Molyko chicks sheltered beneath that classification. Slayers as they were commonly called as they dressed in almost little to nothing and required nothing but money after a one-hour bed workout.

Those who managed to have 'strings attached' detached them immediately one's wallet ran dry. That was one of the many reasons he never did attempt to date a 'Slayer'. The fling was where he belonged and would always be until he got his ass back home.

His phone buzzed, abruptly directing his right hand to his cargo pants pocket until realization stroke him then did he walk into his room for it. From the caller ID, Ace already figured out the reason for the call.

"Yeah G, what's up?" 

It was Mike, the first buddy he made upon stepping foot in Cameroon. Mike was six feet, just like him, ebony in complexion. He always had his beards and hair reasonably short which made him look neat. 

He was also called the njoka master* and also, he was fun to be with.

"G, Where you? You didn't show up in school today," Mike stated the obvious.

"Man, I was gone. Had too much to drink last night,

Mike laughed, "I know right, nonetheless, tonight's another night, boy. It's partey afta partey."

Ace chuckled as he pictured Mike doing his famous shoulder dance. 

"I don't think I can make it tonight man," Ace rubbed his temples with a grimace.

"Yo! Hold on, I must be talking to the wrong person," there was a pause and then his voice, "This sure is Ace the fountain of shishi*, the god of pounds, dollars, and francs," he hailed. 

"What's up with you G? You know they're gonna be girls right? A lot and a lot and a lot of 'em, there's going to be shisha too...your favorite, Almighty hookah master. Lavida assured us we are among the VIPs, men! Wake up, tonight's gonna be lit," 

There was no way on earth Mike would let him go unless he agreed to it. He thought about the promise he just made to his mother, no, to his family, just a couple of seconds ago. Damn, this was a temptation of the first-class order.

"Yo! G," Another voice echoed in the background. It was none other than Capello, another friend of his who was an aspiring DJ. "I'm expecting you. In case you have forgotten the lieu of partey, it's the almighty Burj Khalifa, 10 pm prompt. Do not fail me, abeg." 

Ace roughly disheveled his curls. It was harder to resist than he thought. 

"Fine, I'll be there." 

There was no going back. He had just flushed his promise. They did this to him, they sent him away, far away from home and that was the result of doing so. Life's too short to spend it trying to please people and grieving.

Besides, it'd been a while since he had done some sexercise. His scrotum required to be drained.

If I perish, I perish.

*Shishi- money(pidgin English)

* njoka master- someone who likes parties and enjoyment.