The Three Musketeers — Dreams and Discipline

A massive crowd of fans filled the entire arena. The turnout was impressive as tickets to the concert had been sold out. Electric on stage was the grammy award winning superstar, Burnaboy. Performing alongside him was Nigeria’s fastest rising artist, Bolaji Akindele, known on stage as Baller. “ON THE LOW! ON THE LOW!” the lyrics from Burnaboy’s hit song ‘Angelina’ echoed throughout the arena as the crowd sang along. Amidst his performance, Bolaji hears a voice calling out to him.”Bolaji”“Bolaji” Louder. He looks around the arena seeking out source but it felt as though emanating from his head. “Bolaji wake up”, screamed the feminine voice which Bolaji recognizes. Shade. His younger sister. He wouldn't budge as he was far too engrossed in his performance on a stage in slumber land. As a last ditch effort to wake him up, Shade hits him hard on the face which instantly brings his performance to halt as he awakens from slumber.BOLAJI: Ooh my God!, what's wrong with you!SHADE: Mummy said I should wake you up.BOLAJI: Is that how to wake someone up.SHADE: I was shouting your name since but you did not wake upBOLAJI: Abeg shut up and just get out.A frustrated shade exits the room and slams the door.BOLAJI: Nonsense! She just disturbed me when I was having a sweet dream.Burnaboy's ‘Angelina’ was playing in the background. His alarm tone. He turns it off and goes back to sleep.Shade's voice could be heard from outside as she complains to her mother about Bolaji's behaviour.SHADE: Mummy! Bolaji said he will not wake up and he said I'm a stupid girl.By then, Bolaji was already back on stage performing with Burnaboy. As he was performing, he felt a sudden chill in the air, it was as though some sort of monster was watching him. This monstrous presence was being emitted by none other than his mother who had come to wake him up herself. Bolaji woke up terrified and glances at his mother's silhouette as she held some sort of disciplinary tool. Her disciplinary tool of choice was none other than her slippers. BOLAJI'S MOTHER: Bolaji!BOLAJI: Ma?BOLAJI'S MOTHER: I said you should wake up and you refused abi? Have you forgotten that you are resuming school today?BOLAJI: No mummy I was awake oo. His mother begins to unleash her slippers on a frightened Bolaji. Shade, who was in the room, quietly slips outside. She stays by the door and eavesdrops.BOLAJI'S MOTHER: I sent Shade to wake you up and you called her a stupid girlBOLAJI: Ah! Mummy, I didn't call her a stupid girl. Mummy she's lying.BOLAJI'S MOTHER: Shut up joor, I sai— I sai—I sai— I said you should wake up and you refused eh? The door slams open and Bolaji comes out screaming.BOLAJI'S MOTHER: Where do you think you're going? Come back here!She hurled her slippers at him with such force that it knocks him out instantly. Shade who watched the whole thing was laughing so hard that she was in tears. Meanwhile In the Johnson household, Chidi was playing battle royale match in the PUBG game.CHIDI: Number two cover me, number one has been knocked out, how far number four help him. Number one shoot this guy na! Ehen nice let's go let's go. Be careful, there might be campers.The door suddenly opens. A figure appears. Chidi quickly lies down and hides the phone under the blanket.The figure disappears Chidi resumes his game.CHIDI: Omo number one is dead, e be like say they get sniper. Omo number two, number four, na the last team be this oo, let's finish them abeg. Let's go let's go number four shoot that guy…. Ehen good, number two cover me I go kill that sniper… I don see am… I kill am. Number two finish the last guy… kill am na… Yes!! Victory!! We don win, winner winner chicken dinner.The door opens againOnce again, a figure lurked by the door. With lightning speed, Chidi ducks under the blanket. His acting was perfect, he able to calm his body and mind to achieve a sleep like state. It was nigh impossible for one to guess that he was awake.The figure that stood by the door did not leaveChidi instantly realized his mistake. The first figure that appeared was his sister, Ngozi, who was sent on a recoinissance mission by the commanding general, her mother. Her mission was to scout the area and report if the target is awake or not. Chidi's acting was so good that Ngozi was fooled and she reported to her mother that it was negative, the target was still asleep. The figure that currently stands by the door was none other than the commanding general herself, his mother who had come to wake him up. Chidi realized that he should have never pretended to sleep, and simply hidden the phone. He tries to rescue the hopeless situation.CHIDI: I'm awa— Before he could complete the sentence, his mother's slippers had already landed on his face.CHIDI'S MOTHER: My friend get up! Don't you know you have school today. Meanwhile In the Ibrahim household, an exhausted Abdul lay on the bed flat on his stomach. He just returned from the mosque after praying fajr prayer. He was very sleepy since he got only an hour of sleep. He spent most of the night binge watching movies on Netflix. He let out a massive yawn and dozed off. He finds himself sitting on a wooden bench in a park. Seated next to him was his crush, Amina. She was blushing, to his delight.AMINA: Abdul I love you She moves closer and places her hands on his. Abdul moves closer and stares right in to her eyes like it was the natural thing to do.ABDUL: Amina I love you too. Amina will you marry me?AMINA: Yes. I'll marry you. They<a class="tc-blue external-link external-link external-link" href="https://you.They" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a>stare intensely at each other.A Hausa love song tunes melodiously in the background. They dance.Abdul`s older brother, Khalid barges into the room and he finds Abdul muttering the word “Amina” in his sleep.KHALID: I'll pretend I didn't see that.He quietly exited the room.Meanwhile, backup dancers appear seemingly out of nowhere and join Abdul and Amina as the couple dance. The door opens again and this time it was his mother. ABDUL'S MOM: Abdul ka tashi! (Abdul wake up!)ABDUL: Amina.. Amina.. Amina…His angered mother takes off her slippers and hurls it at his face. As he dances with Amina, he feels something approaching from behind him with tremendous force. As he turns to see what was coming, the slippers lands on his face with such force that it ends his date with Amina as he bids her farewell. ABDUL'S MOTHER: Will you get up! Don't you have school today? Get up!Abdul gets up in tears with a huge bump on his forehead from the impact of the slippers.ABDUL: Yes ma The boys all prepare for the first day back in school with bumps on their heads. Morals of the Story:Naija moms are scary.The best way to wake someone up is hurl slippers at themLittle sisters are snitchesThe slippers is the best disciplinary tool.

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