Vagabonds! by  Eloghosa Osunde

Vagabonds!

Eloghosa Osunde

Imagine a city created by a rather malevolent god and watched over by one of his guardian angels. That city is Lagos and the angel looks after the 'vagabonds' - people attracted to the same sex, which is illegal in Nigeria. This is a story about how they survive, undercover of the protection of the angel. It is a story of bewilderment, of defiance, of courage and, most of all, of survival against all the odds.

Extract

There is an eye following you and you know. Everywhere you go e dey look you. The eye is made up of people. The eye does not blink, talk less of sleep. The eye is us, curious. The eye is a city; this eye na Lagos.  Eko. The eye is a gossip, a hypocrite. An eye is naturally unfillable, yes. But this eye is overpopulated, opinionated, twenty-one-million-bodied eye. A famished eye. This is an eye full of lies, full of mouths, full of secrets, full of death. And dem no dey take us play, because we plenty inside the eye. So na amebo we be. Busy body. Eye service. Na our spirit be dat. Who wan challenge us? You don see us? Na who born dem?

Parallels
  • An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma
  • Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala
  • The Famished Road by Ben Okri