Ten by Ten - by Big Dee

I didn’t even look at the board members when the clapping started. I just closed my leather folder, gave a slight nod to the chairman, and walked out of the glass room before anyone could start with the fake congratulations.Down in the private underground garage, my driver already had the black G-Wagon idling. The air conditioning was humming quietly, pushing out that crisp, cold leather smell that costs real money. I told him to take the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge.It was pushing 5:00 PM. The rain was coming down hard, blurring the yellow city buses into long streaks of gold on the windowpane. I leaned back against the headrest, watching the tall, glass-faced high-rises on Admiralty Way slide past in the dusk. Dinner was set for eight at that private rooftop spot overlooking the lagoon, a table tucked away in the corner, quiet, zero noise, just how I like it. My phone was resting face down in my lap. I picked it up, staring at the dark screen, waiting for the bank alert to drop for the upfront consultancy retainer... Bzz. Bzz.The sharp vibration against my thigh made me flinch.1 new message.I blinked. The leather scent disappeared. The tinted glass, the link bridge, the cool interior, all gone. My eyes adjusted to the dull, yellow light flickering from the naked bulb hanging off a frayed wire above me.The wet, salty air coming through the rusted window grill smelled like damp concrete and stale drainage water. Outside, the harsh, deafening roar of my neighbour’s I-pass-my-neighbour generator hammered through the thin wall, shaking the cheap iron frame of my bed.I picked up the screen. The glass was cracked in three places right across the middle.Landlord: Good evening. Don't forget the remaining light bill balance for this month. We need to clear it before Friday, or I will disconnect the line.I stared at the text for a few seconds. The screen went dark, reflecting my own face back at me in the dim light. I was still wearing the same faded, stretched-out T-shirt from yesterday. My left foot was resting on a plastic stool that held a half-eaten loaf of Agege bread and a sachet of water.I rubbed my thumb over the cracked screen, dropped the phone onto the thin mattress, and sank back down, staring up at the yellowed water stains blooming across the ceiling.It’s crazy how far you can travel without ever leaving a ten-by-ten room.

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