The Plan

Chapter 2

TAYO
December 31st 2019

Life is so stressful being a writer. My name is Tayo Adebanjo and I am an author.
I write thriller, mystery or suspense novels depending on the mood of the year.

Many people think being an author is the easiest thing on earth. They say it's a lax job but they don't know how it sometimes gets to you.
It's time tasking, you don't get holidays, you hardly have friends and worst of all you don't get paid enough.

Although, money has never been a problem for me as a trust fund kid but it's sad that these are the realities of most writers.

I've had few acquaintances tell me; "Shebi, na just to write? We go rugged am na. No big deal."

They have no idea that I could be trapped in my mind for days on end looking for stories to write. I could be stuck on a particular chapter, because I'm not able to express how a particular character should be perceived the way I see it in my head.

I'm having one of those days where I'm at the verge of giving up. I'm working on the final book of a particular series I started 4 years ago. I'm finding it difficult to kill my favorite character. I just feel he's just to smart to die like that.

It's not easy to write 5 sequels of a book. I don't know why I decided on a book series. I could have just wrapped it all in a stand alone novel but I was discouraged by my team.
They kept telling me it'll be fun Tayo. I'm getting grey hairs at the age of 29 because of them and they're lounging and having fun.

I started writing when I was 13, and I was lucky to get the support of my dad. My dad is the sole owner of Atlantic Day Press. It's one of the best publishing companies in Lagos.

As soon as he realized I had interest in writing, he started encouraging me to write something new every week.

Some weeks, I couldn't but he let me know it was okay and didn't force me.
On weeks I did, he read everything and pointed out the mistakes I made.

He signed me up for competitions and always got me material each week so I could hone my skills.

He never pressured me to do well at school. He was always content with the grades I got. Luckily for me, I was somehow a nerd so I actually excelled in school.

I finished secondary school at the age of 16 and then went to live with my mum abroad.
It was nice. I enrolled in a university there so I had the opportunity to hang out with my mum's new family for a few years.

When I graduated, I moved back to Nigeria. I missed my dad. I've always preferred my dad to my mum. It's no huge surprise, maybe it's because she remarried and she's not alone anymore.

He never really yelled or got super mad at me while growing up. I used to think he was lonely back then so he couldn't stand to lose me if he showed too much negative emotion.
Now I see that he was always just different, he didn't believe in being the angry dad or the wicked dad like most Nigerian homes.

Yes, I got beaten a few times but I knew I deserved it especially that time I bashed his car when he specifically told me not to drive that day.

At 15, I wasn't scared to come out to him because I trusted him to not treat me differently. The only thing he told me was to be discreet. He made me understand that we lived in a place where it's seen as ungodly and unforgivable.

Nigerians are super religious but sometimes they don't realize they're a tad bit extreme. They quote the Bible up and down of how homosexuality is a sin and we're all meant to perish and rot in hell.
They pick which sin is the gravest of all but they forget that sin is sin.

They fornicate. They steal. They lie. They're super adulterous. They're murderers.
But as soon as they hear you're gay, you're the evil one.

It's gotten better over the past few years, my generation is a little bit accepting of it but we still have a long ass way to go.

Wearing mini skirt on the road is a problem for Nigerian aunties, so being a homophobe to a typical Nigerian is a normal thing.

I look at my watch and realize that it's almost 12am. It'll soon be 2020. It makes me a little sad that I have no one to spend the new year with.
I was a hopeless romantic as a kid so I thought by 25 at least, I'll have been in a stable relationship with someone I absolutely adored.

I always thought that making resolutions was stupid but I decide to be different this year and make one. No matter how much they say God hates me, I'm still religious at heart and believe in Him. I say a prayer that in 2020, I'll put myself out there. I'll make new friends and maybe find "the one" so I won't feel so lonely all the time.