The applause had gotten weaker. The crowd was exhausted and didn’t bother hiding it. Alex sat on the steps leading to a doorway that opened into the semi packed lecture hall. This medium sized classroom served as the arena for one of the many makeshift talent shows organized in his school. He sat with his head bowed between his knees. His left hand was covered in a black, cotton glove and a slightly oversized, army green shirt draped over him, unbuttoned. It exposed a white T-shirt with dull orange stripes and a round neck. The sneakers he wore were grey and borrowed from his close friend, Bright. Alex turned to look behind, half expecting his friend to appear out of thin air. He sighed knowing full well that he was not amongst the other students hanging around, doing their best to encourage their friends who were also contestants at the show. He reckoned he was miles ahead of the pack given his superior musical talent. His initial performance closed to the sound of whistling and cheering from a crowd consisting of students he wouldn’t ever recognize in daylight. His eyesight was not the best and in moments like these, it came in handy. Since he could not clearly see the expressions of people in the crowd, he performed with much less anxiety, He smiled to himself. As soon as he was declared the winner, he would share the prize money with Ebuka.

Ebuka was the reason he was out so late at night, dancing and singing at the top of his voice. He recalled being roused from sleep on a weekend two weeks ago. Ebuka wore a distraught look and a few questions later, he revealed that he was fifty thousand naira short on his rent, He needed help and figured his friend, Alex, could come to his aid. There was a talent contest coming up and the prize money was just enough to cover the expense. All Alex had to do was win it.

“You want me to go and win it for you?” asked Alex.

“I want you to go and win it for us,” replied Ebuka, half smiling.

“Hold on. How much is this prize money?”

“Seventy five thousand naira.”

Alex was abruptly shaken from his memory by the sounds of boos. He almost felt pity for the short, dark skinned young man who entered into the passage from the stage. Even though he tried to maintain a look of dignity, Alex could see that he was grossly disappointed in himself. He wouldn’t be wrong to be. His rendition of Michael Jackson’s Speechless was terrible at best. Alex chuckled to himself as he remembered the many hilarious Project Fame audition videos he tended to watch every now and then. He never understood the motivation behind coming to embarrass yourself in public in the name of singing. In that moment, he was grateful for Bright’s honesty in matters like these. Shortly after accepting to contest, he had Bright escort him to an expanse of concrete ground behind one of the newer buildings in the administrative block, to practice. His friend did a good job of helping him decide on a song that was comfortable enough to perform. His judgement of Alex’s short demo of songs was objective, at least in hindsight. Bright was no stranger to banter and did not spare Alex whenever he felt he was doing too much.

Alex slowly made his way to the stage, casting a glance in the direction of the DJ who was ready to start playing his instrumental of choice. He clutched the mic stand in his right hand and stood with his feet slightly parted. He had his head bowed and soaked in the silence that quickly settled on the crowd. He snapped his head back up in time with the music and spun beautifully, releasing and catching the mic stand as he did. He steadied it with his gloved hand and launched into a fairly popular R and B ballad that made up the soundtrack of a television series that was popular amongst students on campus. He smiled as he heard the approving sigh of the crowd. By the time he was done, his shirt clung to his sweaty body. He exited the stage and shook hands with some of the students hanging around the passage. The ones who were not close enough gave him nods of approval. The MC announced that there would be a brief intermission before the judges made their verdict. Alex assumed his position on the steps, retrieving a small water bottle stashed away in a bag he came along with.

“Still no sign of Bright,” he mumbled to himself after taking a generous swig. He sighed, replaced the bottle and made his way to the stage with the other contestants.

There were nine contestants in total. Amongst them was a dance crew whom Alex thought were at the contest to entertain. He had no idea that they were also competing. As they stood listening to the lead judge give his closing remarks, he began to scan the crowd. His eyes fell on one of the prettiest girls in his faculty. While he could not see her face clearly, she seemed to be looking directly at him. He hoped that what he thought he was seeing was a smile on her face. At a time, he had a crush on her and even now, despite his commitment to another lady, hoped to impress her. The lead judge, satisfied that he had recognized everyone important, proceeded to list out the names of the eliminated contestants. Alex kept his gaze to the floor, scarcely paying attention. He imagined all the things he could do with his twenty thousand naira cut. He reckoned he would first purchase a couple of red sneakers he had had his eye on for some time. He would also be able to easily take his girlfriend out on a date.

Five names later, he lifted his head and was shocked to see the dark skinned dude still standing. His eyes widened with horror as realization began to hit. Asides him, the other two contestants were the dance group and a solo dancer, Frank, who Alex considered the only real threat to his triumph. He assuaged his fears, telling himself that his added singing would certainly give him an edge in the contest. As thoughts swirled around in his head, he heard the lead judge say,  “And the winner is…”

Alex stepped forward.

The sun was out in all its glory. Alex through squinted eyes saw that the time was eleven minutes to twelve noon. The yellow rays shone in through the half open curtains that hung from a wire running from one end of the dirty, off white wall to the other. The top of the curtains held more than just a few cobwebs nobody had been bothered to dust off for weeks. Asides the army green shirt which lay crumpled at the corner of his bed, Alex had everything else on. He recalled dropping into bed when he returned to the hostel but not before shoving Matthew, his fat roommate out of the way. The young man had a knack for rolling off his bed. The effort he remembered exerting nearly knocked the wind out of him. After heaving several times, he was able to move Matthew out of the way. The giant rolled back into his own mattress that lay side by side Alex’s on the floor.

Alex sat upright and took his grey sneakers off. He did not realize that Bright had been standing in the doorway. He looked up at his friend who wore a mischievous grin.

“How far? You win?” asked Bright in Pidgin English.

Alex said nothing. He slowly removed his T-shirt and walked towards the wardrobe.

“Hmm. E be like say you no win,” continued Bright.

“You did not show up. You said you would,” Alex said, his voice slightly animated.

“My guy no vex. I bin wan show but as I prepare go, time never reach. I talk say make I lie down small till eleven.”

Bright stared at Alex, his eyes reflecting the guilt he genuinely felt at missing his friend’s performance.

“When I woke up,” Bright said, code switching, “It was morning. I came here and saw that you were still asleep and decided to wait until you had woken up. So what happened?”

“And the winner is Expression!” yelled the lead judge with as much fervor as he could muster. The members of the dance crew went wild with excitement. Alex stood frozen, his eyes wide with shock. He remained statuesque until one of the excited dance crew members bumped into him. He looked over in the direction of Frank who stood shaking his head in disbelief. Maybe he expected to win as well. Alex retrieved his bag from the passage and made his way through the crowd of wearied students who were exiting the hall. As he navigated his way through this sea of bodies, he caught a few pats on the back. All he could remember hearing was “Guy, you try. You really try. Na you suppose win.” Alex could feel his eyes watering. He quickened his pace, not bothering to look up until all he could hear was the sound of his own footsteps.