The afternoon heat in Lekki had turned the apartment into a greenhouse, but nobody cared enough to turn on the AC. The power had been spotty anyway, and the generator was acting up again. Five bodies occupied a living room built for three. Empty water bottles littered the floor beside notebooks, phone chargers, and a guitar with three strings that Tunde kept threatening to replace but never did.
Frosh lay on the rug, staring at the ceiling fan's lazy rotation, pen between his teeth. Faye sat cross-legged on the only proper chair, running scales under her breath so quietly the sound barely made it past her lips. Kazeem was pacing, as always, muttering bars to himself while chewing on a toothpick that had long since lost its flavor. Amara and Tunde shared the couch, Amara typing furiously into her notes app, Tunde reading a newspaper that was three days old.
