Just a boy 3 By Zara Iko

“I remember the day you were born; I felt like throwing you out of the window ,right now I feel like doing same” Selma chatted to Stanley. He found that really amusing “I can imagine little you struggling to carry tiny me, Still felt your aggression long after that, you are a nutcase big sis.
“I don’t know if you ever heard this but at a time my name was Rihanna” Selma continued. He laughed and said “I heard that you named yourself that, why didn’t it stick?”
“I guess it’s because I refused to bear mums name and insisted on Rihanna so mum and dad decided it wasn’t going to work then agreed that when you had a daughter you named her Rosario”
“Oh yea, what if Nana wants us to name her Nana?!”
“Hmm, so you think you and nana will get married?”
“Why not, if things works out right” Stanley replied her then she smiled and said “little brother in love, keeping this day in mind to see if you marry your first girlfriend. You are going to have to shut your eyes on sexy, flirtatious campus girls”.
“Like you and Ike haven’t been going strong since four years now and you guys are like 10 million miles apart”
“Common we just short of three hours away from each other approximately 174miles apart”
“And you are guys are still going strong” Stanley replied her
“Ok lil bro fingers crossed you marrying Nana”

Stanley got into the university; he decided to study in the same university as his sister. Selma was in her final year and their mother was more than happy Stanley had her there to look out for him since it was the first time he was away from home. Unlike most junior brothers Stanley decided to take a spare room in his sisters flat so they both lived together. Stanley had the flat to himself most of the day so he could bring all his noisy fresher friends over as his sister and other flat mates spent most of their time in the library writing their final year projects and other course works. They hardly clashed except when he stumbled in drunk after a night out disturbing their sleep. The two had enough time to talk and they ironed out how they felt on certain decisions their parents took pertaining them like how Stanley senior had insisted without relent that Junior studied business and talent management which he finally studying. 

After his first universities championship his lack lustre performance he attributed to his lack of interest. . He didn’t feel the electric in that setting instead it made him long for what he naturally loved to do. He lacked motivation to train, felt miserable training and looked uninterested in competitions that by the end of his first year while his sister had graduated from the university as the reigning universities long jump champion and already representing the country in long jump and winning medals he was being threatened by the university that they may have to withdraw the scholarship if he didn’t step up in his 2nd year.                                                                                                                           
Nothing changed in his 2nd year, in fact it got worse with no one around to push him he abandoned sports completely, the university had been patient with him all along but by the end of the 2nd year he received a letter stating that the university had pulled out of the sponsorship because he failed to meet the requirements of the contract and if he still wished to be a student in the university he would have to foot his bills..

Stanley returned home to ongoing preparation for Sarah’s wedding, all three months of the summer break he just had to come up with an ingenious idea to solve his problem, his dad hearing of the sponsorship cancellation was out of it. Also he didn’t want to cause Rosario to worry so he avoided telling her . Even though his dad was excited seeing him he held back, he wanted to be cautious so he didn't spill and have his dad vent his anger on him.

After days of brainstorming checking and cross checking ideas he arrived at what he thought was his best idea. Sarah had always been the risk taker of the entire bunch, she had a degree in entrepreneurship and he knew if he was able to convince her to trust him for her wedding catering he could convince the family for money to set up his own business.

Stanley called the couple to invite them for a chat,  they were curious to find out what Stanley called to say he wanted to see them about and agreed to meet with him after work. Unable to contain the rush of anxiety as to what their response would be, he quickly spelt out his idea “I want to do the catering for your wedding” he stopped to hear their response but they looked at him waiting to hear more of what he had to say. “The deal is you don’t have to pay me anything until after it’s done, if it’s a flop it’s on me but if it is good then you have to pay me”.
“Stanley no no no can’t do, I would rather pay a caterer who would deliver good food than wait for it to either be a flop or not before I pay” Sarah answered him. I cannot take that risk with my wedding. He turned to Patrick and said “brother in law” but Patrick shook his head in negation. Stanley didn’t mean to be rude but he got up and left without saying good bye their answer numbed all his senses so he couldn’t hear them when they tried to speak to him or when he ignored a car horn and almost got knocked down.

However still not relenting, before the close of work Stanley made samples of what his sisters favorite delicacies were and presented them to the couple in an attempt to convince them to go with his suggestion, he ignored his fathers’ demand that he spent his summer holiday working in his company, he wasn’t bothered about the consequence of that, he was more afraid of the consequence of his dad finding out his university had pulled out of sponsorship contract. The couple enjoyed Stanley’s delicacies but they just couldn’t bring themselves to take the risk “Stanley the catering for the wedding has been sorted out already, it’s too late to change our minds. Lil bro I don’t think you understand the magnitude of the challenge you are want to take. You haven’t got the utensils and manpower to cater for 300 guests, are you going to cook alone and serve us food on your palms?.”

“Guys I can do this, I challenge you to take me on this”. Sarah’s eyes twitched, she loved the challenge Stanley knew and he just stirred up that side of her. She agreed, totally ignoring Patrick’s disapproval. Soon as Stanley left Patrick protested but Sarah calmed him down saying “He will give in. It’s too big for him, I won’t cancel with our main caterers we will just go along until he quits.” 

Just a boy 2 by Zara Iko

Several years later, with Stanley Jnr in high school and finding expression of himself his father was invited to meet with his class teacher because they found out he wasn't too pleased with Junior's favourite pastime.

“Sir Stanley isn’t very interested in playing any sport. The boy loves to cook and he is good at it. He brought a trophy home last week I believe you saw for  baking the best cake in the school’s baking competition” Miss Amaka said to Junior’s dad.

“I saw it but I expected, if my son brought a trophy home it should be for let me say running, MVP or highest goal scorer in a football tournament and the likes not, for cooking. One of his sister’s could easily bring a cooking trophy”

“Sir Stanley is a special boy; he is very talented and needs your support”

“I’ve heard how special he is since he was born, yet I can’t see the manifestation. I want my son displaying Laddish behaviours, running shirtless sweating after a ball and not sweating with an apron in the kitchen.”

“Let the boy do what he loves, sir.”

Stanley rose up and said “I have to head back to work Miss Amaka”

Ever since Stanley Jnr showed prowess in his culinary skills rather than on the field as his father expected, Stanley snr tried vehemently to discourage him. Rosario his accomplice took her time to teach him all he wanted to know, sometimes she wondered why he was so interested but she was too glad to have someone willing assist her that she didn’t want to question his motive so he wouldn’t bail out on her. It wasn’t like he totally hated sports; he played football with his mates and sometimes trained with his older sister Selma who was training to be a professional long jumper. The family was talented in sports stemming from their parents who were star athletes in their university days until they got pregnant with Stacey and settled down to a more quiet family life and Stanley snr setting up a scouting organisation to spot gifted athletes and help them develop their talent. The family was very comfortable, over the years the business had grown and his first two daughters’ joined the firm after graduating from university. Stacey graduated with a degree in sports management and Susan bagged a degree in physical education. Sandra the third child was in her final year studying fashion design and already designed her first brand of sportswear and Selma helped model. Things had turned out right with his other kids, their father felt Stanley jnr was like an alien in the folk. Stanley felt as a Manly man it’s only natural that his son is butch.

After work Stanley returned home and met his son in the kitchen preparing dinner. Luckily Sarah and Selma were also in the kitchen with their mom “Jnr you should stop wearing trousers and start wearing dresses” Stanley made jest of his son. Rosario was quick to take to her son’s defense “You too can join in. We are making dinner as a family” “could be why dinner isn’t ready yet, too many hands spoil the soup you know” Stanley replied her. Rosario said “darling cheer up dinner will be served shortly”. He turned to jnr and said “Let the women finish dinner” and took him out of the kitchen. In order to avoid his father wrath he obliged without complain. Just before they slept Stanley picked up an argument with his wife “It’s all your fault our son is girlie because you treat him like one of the girls, he is twelve and prefers to sweat in the kitchen. I won’t be surprised if someday he comes home with a boyfriend.” Rosario rose up from bed obviously very upset by what Stanley just uttered “don’t be a bully Stanley, don’t push our son out of his mind.” Then she left him to sleep alone.

Before they left for school in the morning their kids realised that Rosario slept in the living room, breakfast was ready but her pillow and blanket was still on the couch. They suspected their parents may have had a fight but they didn’t want to stir up emotions so they left without asking questions while they all had breakfast. Stanley handed a letter to his daughter Sarah and also left without a word uttered. Sarah the sixth child was waiting to get into university. She still wasn’t sure of what career path she wanted to take, she sent applications out to different universities and each university a different course she based her final decision on the first university to offer her a place. She was a little disappointed when the university in her home town offered her a place to study Bsc in entrepreneurship.

Overtime two of the Johnson girls graduated from the university, Sophie gained a degree in sports communication and was employed in a sports television platform as a news reporter while Sonia read law and was a junior lawyer in her father’s organisation she also represented a few of the companies sports personalities. Selma at 17 was the junior champion in long jump and at 18 been given sports scholarship into the university to study BA in human resource management. Stanley jnr brought more trophies from winning cooking competitions , his father had shown his displeasure but was not very expressive about it so he would avoid fighting with his wife that didn't mean he didn’t give his son a piece of his mind whenever he could while they were alone. Stanley Jnr had also become a star runner in school excelling in 400m which also added to his trophy collection, that he did so his dad will give him the laxity to pursue his passion. Yet his dad was still not ready to have his son cooking, all his sisters except the two closest to him- Sarah and Selma stood with their dad.

It was the craziest period of his life. The best universities offering him just as they did his older sister sports scholarship and other packages to entice him into their university. His dad had pressured him to apply for a combined degree in business and talent management so he could someday take over the business  but he wanted to a degree in food nutrition and then become a chef. The scuffle between father and son had generated into a family meeting. The meeting degenerated into a word war with family members throwing words like daggers at each other. Feeling hurt the most was Stanley his dad things uttered words that cut through his heart  "if he was what people classified as special that they were retarded for thinking such and that he wishes he never had him because unlike the others he had made him most misery and was a confused little boy". He had enough of the words thrown at him so he ran away from home that night. Rosario who sat quietly all through the meeting after she saw he son bolt out of the house got up and addressed the whole family and pleaded that her son be left alone to make decisions concerning his life she continued “your expectations of him is driving him crazy. Stanley is only a boy, my boy. If anything happens to my boy I promise you I will never forgive any of you. Some of you mothers” pointing at her four oldest daughters “how would you feel if your husbands’ treated your sons this way?” she stopped there and excused herself from the gathering.

Days passed since Stanley Jnr went missing and still there was no news of his where about. A secret between mother and son had to be revealed  to Selma when she was asked to go look for Junior in a catering school he was supposed to be attending training,no one had heard from him there too. Rosario all along and didn't want to invade his privacy but as more time passed she looked through his phone he left without for clues and found out Stanley jnr had a girlfriend called Nana. After she spoke to Nana,  Rosario was told that the same night he vanished, he went over to see her and since then not seen him or heard from  him .

Selma returned to the university, after the emotionally draining search for her brother. She was in the final semester of third year. “Unbelievable!” she said as she met her brother relaxed in her apartment having tea and chatting away to her flatmates, she looked at him abit annoyed but she didn’t want him to run away again so she hugged him and said “do you want to kill your mother?!” “I thought I should just chill awhile here I hope you don’t mind” he asked “at all;But let’s tell your mother you are here first” Selma replied.