END OF FRIENDSHIP.

In the living room, he found his father seated, engrossed in his iPad.

"Dad, um, I need to go see Bayo," he nervously stammered, scratching the back of his head.

"Bayo? That Agboro troublemaker who seems intent on causing you problems?" His father set the iPad aside, paying attention.

"Not like I'm going to meet him. I just want to sort things out, end the friendship," Ohinoyi rushed to explain.

"Alright, but don't be out too long," his father cautioned.

"Thanks, Dad," Ohi said, heading towards the door with a smile.

"Ohi, don't deceive me, or there'll be consequences," his father's voice suddenly took on an unfamiliar edge.

As Ohinoyi turned to face his father, he noticed his father completely engrossed in tapping away at his iPad, a clear sign of trouble. In their home, this gesture always spelled trouble, a fact Ohinoyi was familiar with, yet he didn't retreat. Instead, he exited the house, resolute in his decision to head to his destination.

At Caleb's place, Ohinoyi walked in to the sound of blasting music emanating from the living room's beatbox. Teenagers were energetically dancing, drinking, and smoking. Some faces were familiar from school, while others were complete strangers.

Ohinoyi stood there, resembling a lost soul until Bayo suddenly emerged beside him.

"Hey, my man!" Bayo's darker complexion, round face, and slightly plump figure greeted Ohi, who turned to exchange a handshake.

"What's happening here?" Ohi queried, scanning the surroundings.

"This? This is a real party, bro," Bayo replied with a chuckle.

"You can be such a jerk sometimes," Ohi expressed, a hint of disappointment in his tone.

"Hey, no need to be upset. Chill," Bayo said, tapping Ohinoyi's shoulder.

"Well, this doesn't seem like my kind of party." Ohinoyi had never experienced a disco party before; the gatherings he attended were simple birthday celebrations in someone's room.

Bayo and his friends were engrossed in playing video games while sipping sodas when two rough-looking boys approached them, one of whom was Isah, an acquaintance. Both boys had weed in their possession.

"Hey, look, it's daddy's boy," Isah pointed at Ohi, but Ohinoyi's attention was fixated on the weed. He harbored a deep fear of it.

Bayo accepted the weed from Isah and began smoking it. "Since when?" Ohinoyi inquired, gesturing towards the weed.

"Oh, this? Just for medicinal purposes," Bayo claimed, extending the weed towards Ohi, who promptly swatted it away.

"You're foolish, you know that?" Ohinoyi rebuked Bayo, drawing everyone's attention.

Bayo remained silent while one of the boys jeered, "Oh, look, Bayo's in trouble now," laughing at him.

Laughter erupted around Ohinoyi, leaving him uneasy. "Oh no, what have I done? He must feel so embarrassed now," Ohinoyi thought to himself, reaching out to comfort Bayo.

"Sorry, man, I didn't mean for it to go this way," Ohi apologized, though inwardly, he was merely putting on a show of remorse.

Bayo swatted away Ohinoyi's extended arm. "You fool! Do you even realize what you've done?" Bayo's voice was angry, his face tensed, and his fists clenched.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" Ohi attempted to explain, but Bayo shoved him to the ground and pounced on him, sparking chaos as bystanders whipped out their phones to record the altercation.

Bayo had a short fuse, and in today's clubbing culture, slapping a joint or cigarette from someone's hand often led to confrontation. Seeing the crowd and the recordings, Bayo escalated the fight, pinning Ohi down and preparing to strike, when a girl intervened.

"Stop it, you fools! You'll only end up hurting each other...aren't you supposed to be friends?" she shouted. The girl was Mamisa, their class monitor assistant. Muscular and formidable, she intervened to halt the altercation.

The crowd's jeering intensified until Mamisa turned towards them. "If you all want a fight, watch WWE wrestling on your parents' TV!" Her words instilled fear in their hearts as they recognized her capability for danger.

Ohinoyi stood up, casting a glance at Bayo, who remained indifferent, not even lifting his head.

"Good luck finding a new friend," Ohi remarked as he made his way to the door.

Bayo finally looked up, surprised. In all their disagreements, Ohinoyi had never uttered those words to him.

"Fine, leave. I don't need you. With seven billion people on Earth, I'll find another friend—" Bayo began, interrupted by a boy.

"Um, actually, it's seven billion..." the boy interjected.

"Shut up! Who asked you?" Bayo snapped angrily at the boy, cutting him off.

Ohinoyi stepped out into the compound, where the party was still ongoing. His head hung low, hands buried in his pockets as he walked. Amidst the revelry, he accidentally collided with a lady who was dancing, causing her to stumble and fall. Reacting swiftly, Ohinoyi reached out to assist her, but as he grabbed her hand, he felt a chill run through her body.

Turning to him, the lady caught sight of Ohinoyi—a fair-skinned boy with slightly larger-than-usual eyes for a male. She let out a shriek, stepping back in shock, her eyes wide and her body trembling.

Ohinoyi was bewildered, puzzled by the lady's cold body. As her boyfriend returned with soft drinks and inquired about the situation, she let out a piercing scream, clutching her ears as if in agony, then dashed off as though fleeing from something.

"Babe, what's wrong?!" Her boyfriend chased after her, leaving Ohinoyi utterly confused. He glanced around and proceeded to leave the house.

Arriving home late, Ohinoyi opened the door to find his father standing in the living room, arms folded and a tense expression on his face.

"Where have you been? It's past seven," Ozevehe reproached gently.

"I... I mentioned I was going to sort things out with Bayo," Ohinoyi replied, puzzled by his father's forgetfulness. "He's getting forgetful," he thought to himself.

"Oh... yes, slipped my mind," his father said, relaxing his stance as he settled onto the couch in the living room.

"So, how did it go? Did you get everything off your chest?" his father inquired.

"Well, not everything, but it's over between us, I suppose," Ohi responded, wearing a somber expression.

He chose not to divulge all the details of what happened to his father, who noticed his son's unhappiness and invited him to sit closer.

As they sat together, Ohi kept his gaze lowered while his father reminisced about his younger days, recalling skipping classes to play video games like Contra and TMNT.

"Wait, seriously? You skipped class for video games?" Ohi teased, smirking at his father's admission.

"Hey, those games were top-notch back then," his father defended playfully.

"Nah, Contra was terrible, even in the '80s," Ohi teased back, prompting laughter from his father.

Reflecting on his past, Ozovehe turned serious, remarking, "Those days were enjoyable, but I learned something: the fun we had was detrimental to our future."