CARROTS AND STICKS

She should never have gotten that tattoo. His bulging eyes ran dreamily up and down her neat long legs, taking it all in. Did he think her skirt was too short? His gaze was boring down on her limbs like these were the first pair of lady legs he had ever seen. For a moment, she thought his eyes seemed to examine the beautiful tattoo she had gotten only three days earlier. He liked it, she thought. He was cute, but he was also weird, she thought, and scary too. Nobody stared at a woman’s legs that long, not even a porn-surfing pervert. She wished the train to come quickly, and knew instantly that he was waiting for the same thing too. She tried to steal a glance at him too occasionally. She noticed he had a lean muscular build with short black hair that was receding at the lines. He also had deep-set blue eyes and the hairs that spread so generously across his chest glistened from the unbuttoned top part of the shirt he wore. All these she took in within split seconds. He looked Caribbean and she hoped he had an accent too, and on the side that he was a good kisser. She grinned at the naughty taught and saw his eyes leave her legs to settle on her face. Thankfully, at that moment, the train came. She gathered her groceries in one scoop and in a rush tripped over a few steps later, spilling everything all over the floor. She was only bracing herself for the impact of the subway floor when she felt herself stop mid-air. It was only after that, that she felt the strong hands that were still holding her pull her back up. The hands steadied her and before she had a chance to say thank you, she saw the pervert leg-watcher move into the train. She quickly packed up her groceries and boarded the train.

Her first thought was to be grateful to the pervert leg-watcher, then her second was that he was an arrogant son-of -a-bitch, not even waiting for a ‘thank you’ and instead rushing away like some omnipresent macho superman thingy. He wanted her to go running after him to show her appreciation and look like some cheap roadside grocery-shopping girl. Never! She was not going to star in this drama of his. She was no roadside grocery-shopping girl, she was a hot, sexy paralegal at one of the biggest corporate law firms in Texas and she was enjoying her weekend, and hell, she needed a drink. She was also single and lonely as she had broken up with Craig only weeks back. She found out he was gay. It wouldn’t be a bad deal if this pervert leg-watcher macho superman had some cute in him, she thought and grinned. The train came to a halt and everyone began to file out. She decided to wait out the rush and followed only when the coast was clear. Unknowing to herself, she tried to spot out the macho superman as she alighted and just as she gave up hope of finding him, the crowd in front of her cleared and she saw the pevert leg-watcher macho superman standing in front of her. Before she had a chance to thank him, he blurted out ‘hey you know how I can uh… find Mercer Street?’

Oh really? She thought. He was going to the very same place she was, and he had an icily demanding tone and cute accent that alongside his heavy build made him come through as sexy.

‘Yeah, that’s actually where I live. It’s not far away. We could walk…together’

‘Okay’, he said, with no hint of gratefulness at the piece of information and it still sounded sexy

They walked in silence for a while till she broke the silence ‘Hey thanks for the quick save you did back there. I don’t know how I would have managed if I fell’ she managed an uneasy chuckle.

He just gave a slight nod

‘He’s a stuck-up prick’ she thought instantly, and yet somehow she enjoyed it. She was going to get him to talk, even if it took the hard way.

‘So you don’t talk, huh?’                                     

‘Only when it’s necessary’ was his cold reply. His eyes were on her legs again. She was going to bluntly ask him why he did the pervert leg-watch thing when he spoke

‘Where’d you get the tattoo?’

‘A shop in El Paso, you like it?’

‘What it mean?’

‘Huh?’

‘What the tattoo mean?’

‘I dunno…just asked the punk for a nice, sexy work and he did this’

The macho man only nodded.

‘By the way I’m Valerie. You can call me Val. I work as a paralegal at Cossler, Cossler and Braithwaite, somewhere in town.’

He gave the brief annoying nod again.

She looked at him expectantly ‘You have a name?’

‘L.J’

‘What?’

‘Call me L.J’

‘Hey L.J’, she said with a sarcastic smile ‘Your name got a long form?’

‘L.J is fine’

They got to her house and she invited him in for a drink. That was when she wished she had never go the tattoo. The questions began as soon as he had the cup of scotch in his hands.

‘The guy that did the tattoo, whad’he say when he did it?’

‘Nothing. Why are you so interested in the tattoo?  It’s no big deal but it is cute. I mean, I could take you there so you could get one and….’

He stood up and strutted casually towards her. Val’s mind raced to many of the romantic moves that he could be planning, still hoping he was a good kisser. She was reveling in the thought when she felt the heavy cold feel of metal against her forehead. It was the barrel of a shotgun and L.J was the one holding it. The next words that came out of his mouth were alarming.

‘Give me the package now!’  

ELEMENTAL KING

Suddenly, the yellow being disappears

Not with a gradual edging away

But a sharp retreat

Into the white sheets above

Thankful mutters at Mother’s lips

The day will now have less heat

No more sweat adorns her palms and finger tips

As the sun has chosen to take its seat

                 

But Mother’s mutters may

Not last so long today

As white sheets change to grey

‘Its rain’ gleeful children say

Quick words run on Mother’s lips

Saying a plea to the universal elements

To allow her sell her goods

But the skies seem poised to pour

A strong wind heralds the pour

Itself heralded by a cool breeze

It looks like the skies have waged an elemental war

And this is felt even by the swaying trees

Thunder bolts now clap

Striking quickly, no moments’ gap

The wind now takes a nap

On thunders’ lap

Mother gathers her clothing

Her goods

And her children

Under the rust zinc sheets

Yet nature’s fury is not kept

Nor are the elements appeased

Soon the wind that acted as though she had slept

Is up to see all work has ceased

As if in joy she moves with pride

Tossing here and there, pushing aside

Watching mothers and children run inside

As this wind now doth easily glide

Fear is now on Mother’s lips

When shall I get home tonight?

Will I sell all these many goods?

Or will the day be yet waste

Finally the elemental King arrives

Not with the usual August patter

But with the heaviest of its kind it thrives

As if to prove it is liquid matter

Fast flowing, pouring relentlessly

Knocking at trees, houses, people- aimlessly

Wetting office men carelessly

Raining ceaselessly

Under the zinc sheets the rain finds Mother

And child

And goods

Hurling itself at them

Mother is now mad, yet pleading

You’ve done enough

And the stubborn rain seems to be ceasing

Yet suddenly decides to act tough

Mother moves with children again

From rust sheets to roof of cane

People are packed there; no space to gain

But Mother must get her children out of the rain

Now Mother pleads to the yellow being

Please return with your scorching pain

At least I could sell my goods

And get home tonight

Under the cane shelter

Two women push for space

One at the edge of her tether

Gives the other a slap in the face

Yet again, Mother pleads for Sunlight

As she moves children from the fight

And she sees the day is already night

This has become her plight

As if aware of Mother’s plea

To its elemental rival

The stubborn rain hits fast and hard

Then reduces to a patter so slowly

Mother’s only chance

She grabs it as soon

Pulling the children with both hands

To brave the flood with only the light of moon

And now mother and children are gone

From the rain and from the sun

And they now run

Amidst pattering, they move as one

WHY SO MUCH BUZZ? by Adebayo Caleb

She scanned the surrounding swiftly and quickly adjusted to her new surrounding. As usual, she made her traditional buzzing noise just as her eyes locked on a possible prey. Dinner at last! Immediately, she aimed directly for her unsuspecting victim. In a few seconds, she was settled down to a dinner of fresh human blood. It was only a few seconds later after she had settled down to dine that she saw five heavy fingers descending on the spot where she was. Uh-oh! The victim had just felt her presence. Old Musky Toes had to wrap up dinner halfway and fly quickly away.

The short tale above is only a vivid demonstration of what the mosquito does. Reputed to be one of Africa’s most dreaded insect, the mosquito has earned its reputation from the over thirty million years to as far as the Jurassic era. It has existed on earth and if any awards are to be given for disease-causing parasites, the mosquito will get a Nobel Prize. It has been reported by the World health Organisation (WHO) that mosquito resistance has been reported in sixty four countries, while mosquito borne diseases kill more than six hundred and fifty thousand a year. This is not inconsistent with the fact that there are over three thousand five hundred different species of mosquitoes. Of all these species, each group may operate in its own way. For instance, some species attack people in houses while other species prefer to attack people outdoors or in forests.

However, it is surprising that with how mosquitoes have affected the life of most of Africa, a lot of people don’t know a lot about them. It is worthy of note that the male mosquito has a proboscis but does not have ragged edges for biting, they are also much smaller than the female, whereas the proboscis of the female are custom-made to bite and they also do make the annoying buzzing sound that puts one on red alert. The blood meal they obtain from humans is what enables them to lay eggs. It doesn’t take much to imagine why they are more in Africa since they need warmth and humidity to thrive.

Sometimes, you may also feel like a mosquito goes out of its way to bite you. This may be because they are more attracted to women than men; even weirder is the fact that, if given a choice, mosquitoes would rather drink blood from a blonde. A moving target also almost always attracts a mosquito than a stationary one because it’s a good bet that anything moving is alive and has a lot of blood. A person in dark clothing is also a very likely aim for a mosquito. The mosquito does it by its visual sensors

Mosquitoes can also sense carbon dioxide and lactic acid up to a hundred feet away and these gases are given off by human beings during their breathing process. Certain chemical in sweat also tend to attract mosquitoes, so if you keep wondering how a mosquito gets to know you are around, it’s quite obvious now. And as a result, people who sweat more tend to get more mosquitoes running around them.

These insects also possess heat sensors so they can locate human beings once they move close enough. The combinations of these sensors almost make the mosquito seem like a military aircraft rather than an insect

It is also quite interesting that when female mosquitoes drink blood, they purify the blood in their systems and leave a small puddle of urine on their victim’s skin. That is why when you first get bitten, you may notice a wet spot surrounding the bite.

Aside from malaria, the mosquito saliva released on the skin during a bite can negatively affect blood clothing, vascular constriction and immunity. It also creates inflation, hence the inflated part of the skin after a bite.

Even if eradicating this menace from our planet may be quite difficult, we may use as many preventive measures as possible. Some of the methods by which mosquitoes can be controlled include using of mosquito repellent lotion and mosquito spray. Mosquito nets can also be used. Again, wearing long sleeves and pants may help to reduce the infection by mosquitoes. Furthermore, putting on nightgowns or light-coloured clothes at night will aid in preventing the dreaded mosquito bite. DEET is also a very efficient mosquito repellent which one may use, because it targets and confuses the mosquito’s sense of smell, making the insect’s nerve cells to send a completely different message to the brain, hence preventing it from locating a person.

Indeed so much buzz is made about this deadly insect, and frankly enough, the reasons are not far-fetched, but with sheer determination, we can prevent it from infecting us.

FOR KUDIRAT ABIOLA

In an age where lawlessness prevailed

Where the common man was the criminal

Where guns ruled and blood trailed

In this time, a woman stood regal

                                  

A fighter for  democratic rule

A stickler for the rights of humanity

Like a warrior in the battlefield

The distressed cries of a distressed age

Kept her resolve

Persistent, courageous

Trudging the high path

Of the women folk

When the armory and guns spoke

And no one dared speak in return

When freedom was known to none

And bullets were courage’s cloak

There she stood

Calling for democracy

Refusing victimisation

Providing refuge

Staying strong

Yet she stood

A leader

A veteran

Of the women folk

Yet the khakis could not still

Abandon this heinous ill  will

And allow a free community

With rights for all humanity

So on she fought

Not like the Khakis

Not with bullets

Nor armory

Not with torture

Not with killings

But with her voice

A voice

A voice that seemed to loud for them

Of the women folk

A voice that was silenced

By the bullet

A woman’s voice

Yet lives on still