A Story Of Deceit

Episode 19

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We arrived at the park in Lagos by 11:00am, I got down from the park holding on to my bag and purse tightly, I had heard about several cases of theft from Yemisi in Lagos, I couldn’t afford to lose anything.

About two hours after we arrived at the park, I was still standing there looking confused.
Nobody even noticed I was there, I didn’t expect them to anyway, just that, We didn’t have much people that arrived daily in Boma, any new person standing at the park would be noticed and would be given directions to wherever the person wished to go. The place seemed stranged to me, the cars, buses and motorbikes moved constantly, the people were myriad, there were many shops and lots of gigantic houses unlike Boma, where you’d see a car once in two or three days, where you’d have to work miles before seeing a person,where the stalls were very distant from each other, where some of the houses were like huts and where all the houses could be counted in a space of two days.

I finally decided to summon up courage to talk to someone. I went to stall owners at first, but they all just gave me information of where I was in ‘MasaMasa, Mile2’ and dismissed me with the excuses that they were busy with customers before I could get a chance of asking where I could get a house. I was scared to ask the passers-by any questions, they seemed unfriendly with the serious look worn on their faces. I decided to look around for any house by myself but I found no suitable ones, I didn’t like the arrangement of houses there, it seemed choked up which was disgusting . I got frustrated when I noticed the sun had begun to set, I had spent approximately five or six hours doing nothing and I was really starved.
The only thing I could come up with was leaving the park for another environment before nightfall. There were various bike riders. I went to one of them, ‘take me where houses are much’, I said, he looked at me awkwardly and said, ‘which one be where many house dey?, everywhere get house, abi, you no know where you dey go?’, he asked.

‘I know na, where good houses are’, I replied, this time, he yelled, ‘which one be sey, you wan go where house dey, no be house you dey see for here? ‘, he asked. ‘Oga peter’, wetin happen?’, one of the riders asked, ‘see this pikin sha, she say she wan go where many houses dey, I no understand am, as she be small pikin na, I dey pity am, if not, I for carry am go anywhere, collect money dey go’, he said.

The other rider called me and after much interrogation, he discovered that I just arrived in Lagos and had no relatives, I explained that I didn’t have any place to stay in and I needed one that day. ‘You get money to rent house?, the amount wey I just tell you now’, he asked, ‘no, sir, e no reach’, I replied, ‘e get one compound for one street like that wey the landlord dey find who go occupy one of the rooms but the thing be sey, them no dey rent house give girl or small pikin, so the thing be sey, I go need go with you so that you go buy the house with my name because I go complete the money for you’, he explained, ‘your name?or else dem no give rent the house give me and you go complete the money ?, so in Lagos, dey don’t give houses to girls?, nawa for this place sha’, I said. ‘See, if you no want am, forget, I no dey do this kind job, I just wan help you’, he informed. I saw it as a great opportunity that day, the man was willing to help me even as a stranger, I was elated and I expressed insurmountable appreciation. I didn’t stop to think or find it strange that he would want to help a total stranger, I just hopped on his motor bike and he drove off.

We got to the compound as he said after a long ride, there was no electricity supply, the sun had gone to sleep and the moon refused to come out of hiding, the stars were the only visible things I could see in the cloud, otherwise, it would have been a total blackout. ‘Ehen, where’s the money?’, he said, ‘it’s here sir’, I replied, unzipping my bag in an effort to bring out the money. ‘you know, as I be the elder person for here, e go dey somehow if you hold the money’, he said, ‘yes, yes’, I said and gave him almost all I had. We entered the compound, it was a large hallway with just six rooms, three on the left and three on the right. The noise from the generator outside was deafening, few bulbs were turned on in front of various rooms due to supply from the generator. He knocked on the first door by the left and said, ‘na the landlord room be this’. ‘Who’s that? ‘, said a man in a calm voice, ‘it’s me sir, John’, he replied, ‘oh, okay, John, I’m coming’, he said.

A nice fragrance escaped the door of his room, when he opened it, ‘good evening sir’, I said, ‘good evening’, he said and turned back to John, ‘Yes, John, you’ve come here again today, hope you have everything today, because if you don’t pay the first one year rent, I won’t give you that room’, the landlord said. ‘They know each other ooo’, I said in my thoughts. ‘eh, I don get the money’, he said, ‘okay, good, so, who is she’, the landlord said, ‘no be your business’, John told him. They discussed about the room, how well ventilated it was and roof proof that the ceiling had no leakage.
After moving back and forth to the last room by the right severally, Mr. John was finally given the keys, which he handed over to me, he explained to me that one year rent had been paid, that I had nothing to worry about and if that one year eventually elapsed, ‘we’ both would pay for the rent.
The sound of the word, ‘We’ caught my attention, ‘we? ‘, I asked, ‘wetin you mean?’, he asked, ‘I mean, how will we both pay for the house when you are not staying with me?’, I asked, ‘see this pikin sha, so I join money buy house, I no go con stay for the house, house wey them rent with name, come, go wash your mouth’, he said, ‘eh, eh, eh, eh, I no hear you well, me and you go dey do wetin?, live for where?, shey, you tell me?, e for better make I dey sleep outside dan to stay with man, wey I no know, I said furiously, I was beginning to draw attention from neighbours as two doors opened, ‘come, better enter room, wetin make you think sey, I go pay for house, I no go live for the house, I think sey JJC don finish sha and if you dey fear, I no fit do anything to you, you be like my pikin to me, abi I never reach to born you?’, he asked, ‘ask me well well’, I replied and entered the room. I had tears in my eyes, it was too late to collect my money from the landlord, even if I did, the money was not enough to rent another room, I was just kidding when I told John earlier that I’d rather sleep outside, I couldn’t sleep outside, I had never slept outside in Boma where I grew up in, much more in Lagos where I didn’t know anybody.
I dropped my bag on the hard cold floor, I inspected the room myself, it had a bathroom and a kitchen, I assumed, it would be so in every other room, the room was not bad anyways, I just couldn’t bear living with a man. ‘I go come tomorrow with my property’, John said from outside and left. I didn’t expect him to be crooked, he was a middle aged man, I expected more from him.
The room was empty, if I talked, it echoed, I needed properties but that would be when I got a job which I would search for, the next day. After a long bath in the bathroom with the little soap I came with from home, I removed my long Ankara wrapper from my bag and sprayed it on the floor in the like manner as I did my mat at home in Boma in an attempt to sleep but the rumble in my stomach didn’t permit me to sleep.

I was severely starved, I knew it was late, I was new, I didn’t know anyplace, I didn’t even know where I was. I knew I was in MasaMasa several hours ago but I didn’t know where I was at the moment. I got up, I hesitated before I opened my purse, the rent made me really broke but I still had to eat, I took two hundred naira note and went out. I stood at the passageway without a clue on where to go, I decided to ask any neighbour.

I was still thinking of a door to knock on, when the door opposite my room opened, a tall dark skinned guy came out, he stared at me from head to toe, he said nothing and headed towards the entrance of the compound. I stood there staring, it was either to ask him or go inside and remain hungry.

I didn’t know his name, so, I couldn’t call out for him and I didn’t want to stop him with the hiss sound made to call a dog. After thinking, I looked up, he was nowhere to be found in the compound, I went outside and saw him trying to cross the road, I ran after him but I don’t think, it was to ask of where to get food anymore, because, there were several shops I saw alligned on the street. I finally stopped him after I was able to catch up with him, I tip-toed behind him and tapped his shoulder .[b] ‘Yes?’, he said, ‘good evening, I’m your neighbour, I’m Uwanah’, ‘okay, yes Uwanah, how may I help you? ‘, he asked, ‘I need to get something to eat, I’m hungry, since, I’m new here, I don’t know where to go’, I replied. ‘Hmmmmm, there are different stalls around, choose one, except you want to go to a canteen which would cost much’, he said, ‘okay, thank you’, I said, ‘you’re welcome’, he replied, ‘Uhmmm, sorry where are we? ‘, he looked at me weirdly and said, ‘you’re in Orile’, I didn’t even know that a placed called Orile’existed. ‘Okay, Orile, thank you’, I replied, I didn’t have anything to say, I just said goodnight and was about to head towards a stall when he said, ‘I’m David, let’s go together, I want to get something to eat too’, I smiled and said, ‘okay’.

We got a few snacks and soft drinks, which was paid for by him, he didn’t seem as rude as I thought he’d be. We went back to the compound about thirty minutes later, we didn’t really talk much but he welcomed me to the compound and said goodnight.

I thanked him for his kind gesture that night and said good night too. I went inside, devoured my snacks, gulped down the soft drink within minutes and belched loudly, it was time to sleep, I closed the louvers, there was no curtain attached to the window, I didn’t want to see strange faces as my mother made me believe in evil spirits . I lay down to sleep and thought of the guy I had just met, I was shy around him and I didn’t know why but after what happened with Dayo, I wasn’t ready for another drama, so, I planned to keep my distance .
Meawhile, I remembered Mr John, ‘mtcheeew’, I hissed. My first time in Lagos and I would have to start off with living under the same roof with a total stranger. I could already picture different scenarios that gave me creeps. How was living with a total stranger who was a middle aged man going to be like?