Episode 21
âSo, itâs this small pikin youâre sleeping with?â, the woman who was obviously Mr. Johnâs wife asked, âno, I told you, I help am complete money for house, so I say we go dey livw together before you see that text message wey landlord sendâ, Mr. John explained, âso if I no see landlord message, I for no know sey you don rent house, you wan con send me and my children go village and your girlfriend go con dey here, shame on you Johnâ, she insulted him. All the neighbours came out from their rooms with inquisitive gazes due to her awful yell that sounded like a battle cry. David came out and signaled me to tell him, what was wrong, I mouthed the words silently, âI donât understand, I donât knowâ. I was very confused, she was misunderstanding the whole thing, I decided to be a good girl and explain matters to her, I thought sheâd be reasonable but she pushed me aside telling Mr. John, âbetter tell am to pack her load commot for here or else, I go kill am oooâ, she warned. I paused to rethink her statement, âpack my load?, leave?, is she crazy, house I paid for, where would I go to?, it was my house too, I had the right to ask them to leave. âYoung girl like you, we should be the same age and youâre my fatherâs girlfriend, I no blame you na, you dey feel sey you fine, see her nose sefâ, Mr. Johnâs daughter mocked as she entered the house. There was commotion, I wasnât given an opportunity to say anything, they both kept yelling at Mr. John and I .
The neighbours tried to butt in when they knocked on the jammed door.
âWhatâs happening here?â, the landlord asked, âphewâ, I heaved a sigh of relief, finally, someone would bear witness that I paid too. âErrrrm, nothing sirâ, Mr. John said, âwhat do you mean by nothing?â, I asked Mr. John. I ennuciated Mr. Johnâs wifeâs statements to the landlord and asked him to tell her that I paid part for the house. âSorry, Mr. John didnât tell me anything like that, besides, you didnât say anything either that night and this room was rented under his name, young lady pack your things and leave this place, go to your parents house, donât ruin someoneâs marriageâ, he said.
I was speechless, I was so sure everyone in the compound heard that, despite the fact that we were all inside. The landlord stared at me, shook his head and left, he was my only hope and he dissappointed me. That Mr. John, he didnât say anything, he was so scared of his wife. There was no proof or evidence that I also paid for the rent of the room, tears flowed freely down my eyes, there was no way I could take down Mr. Johnâs wife and daughter, they were both skinny but judging by the tone of their voices, I knew I would be beaten mercilessly , they were like monsters and judging from what I saw, Mr. John was fearful, how could a fearful man like Mr. John, live with those two?.
Before I could gain balance and try to make a decision, Mr. Johnâs wife unstrapped the wrapper that held her baby and handed the baby over to her daughter. She grabbed my hands, âthereâs nothing in this kind of life you are living and thereâs no need for you to lie, how can a girl of your age have that kind of money pay for half of this room, if youâve stolen money from your parents, go home and return the moneyâ, she supposedly advised, âno ma, I didnât steal and I donât have parents, I mean, my mum is not hereâ, I said in tears. âThen, go back to wherever your mum isâ, she harshly said and pushed me outside shutting the door at my face. I ignored the poignant penetrative scornful stares of some neighbours, including Davidâs constant tap on my shoulder to get my attention, I was actually surprised that he was still around, he said, he left for work by 7:00am and I was so sure, it was past 7:00am. I just knocked as hard as I could on the door, minutes later, Mr. Johnâs wife opened the door, threw my wrapper on my face, âif you need your bag, e dey your backâ, she said and shut the door again. The tears increased, that was pure injustice, no one even listened to my side of the story, with the stares from the neighbours earlier, they all believed I was a liar except David anyway. All I could think of was how stupid I was, it was not just Dayo now, but Mr. John had taken the position of second in the list of people in my life that had deceived me.
âUwanah, Uwanah, answer me, will you just stand here?, comeâ, David said holding my right hand, âGo where, if I leave, which house am I going to?, I have to stay hereâ, I said, yelling and sobbing, âUwa, thatâs why we are friends, you can stay with meâ, he said. This was help from another guy, I struggled within myself to accept his proposal, if I didnât, I would sleep on the streets, which was my worst nightmare but again, he was a guy, I couldnât just believe that he didnât have ulterior motives. I thought about it and agreed for my own safety from the streets, itâs not like I had any choice . He welcomed me into his room, it was furnished, it had a T.V, standing fan, beautiful curtain, rug, a mattress and a single row chair, he asked me to feel comfortable and that weâd talk better when he returned from work. I couldnât ask him to wait for me because our plans the previous night was to go together to his place of work to see if I could fill in the position of a maid at his place of work but he was in a hurry, I didnât want to delay him more than I already did. âThereâs money in that jacket on the hanger, buy something to eat when you get hungryâ, he said, pointing to a black jacket and didnât wait for my reply before he dashed out. I opened the jacketâs zip because, I was curious, I found a lot of cash in it, âHow could he just show me where he keeps all his money?â, I asked myself but, I didnât take any money, I just zipped the jacket close, itâs not like I was not hungry, I wasnât in the right mood to eat.
I was in a more comfortable room with a comfy chair and all that, but it was not my room but Davidâs. I was going to live with a guy, what I ultimately didnât want.
The house I paid for was overtaken by the people I referred to as ruthless terrorists and there was nothing I could do or say, I wasnât just sure that, living with David, was the right thing to do.
David returned later in the evening smiling immensely making his dark skinned face glow. âHow are you?â, he asked, âIâm fine and youâ, I replied looking sad, âUwa, if youâre thinking that, I would ever try to do anything or chase you out of this house, I wonât, forget about what happened this morning try and be happyâ, he said with a frenzied look, I wanted to lash out on him and ask him why I would be happy after everything but it wasnât his fault and he was being nice, âokayâ, I said, turning away from his direction. âErrrrm, Uwa, did you eat?â, he asked, âyesâ, I lied to avoid questions of concern.
âOkay, Uwa, this morning was terrible, my boss almost sacked me, despite pleas from her husband, daughter and other workers, I was only able to free myself from her wrath when I told her, I had found a maid, willing to resume tomorrow. I donât want to impose anything on you or sound selfish, but I canât afford to lose my job, your resumption at her house tomorrow is the only thing that can keep my jobâ, he explained.
I looked at him in awe, how could he say he was imposing anything on me?, he had just secured me a job and he was feeling guilty about it. âDavid, thank you very much, Iâm grateful, thank you, I will be able to pay the rent with you while staying here at least, thank you so much, what time are we leaving tomorrow?â, I asked. âUwanah, wait, wait, wait, are you sure you can handle that woman, she is the true definition of the word, wicked, like she is wickedâ, he explained, âI donât care, as long as I wonât have to stay at homeâ, I replied giggling . âOkayâ, he said, âand I donât need you to pay the rent, Iâve been paying it for two years, youâre a friend and I just want to help youâ, he informed, âhelp me?, no be, âI just wan help youâ, Mr. John talk that night, shebi, I don see the help?â, I said in my thoughts and replied, âhmmm, okay, thank youâ. I just hoped he was not up to mischief. The rest of the night was straight forward, we didnât talk much except it was needed, he allowed me to sleep on the mattress while he sprayed several blankets on the floor, he just said, heâd wake me up as early as 6:00am to prepare for work and he slept off.
Leaving the compound the next day was annoying, I could hear Mr. Johnâs wife loud abuse, âinstead of you to go to your parents house after trying to snatch my husband, you now want to ruin this small boy lifeâ, she yelled, causing some neighbours to eavesdrop. I was matured enough to know that arguing with her or trying to explain myself was pointless, I ignored her and walked out of the compound with David.
We boarded a bus in which we spent almost an hour in, the conductor was lousy, some passengers were troublesome and the driver was reckless, it seemed like he was drunk. After all the bus drama, we got down and walked into a very quiet street, there were many beautiful gigantic houses, I had no idea that weâd be stopping at the most beautiful house there, it was a huge one storey building, from the outside view, I observed that, the tiles served as the wallâs decor, the roofâs colour was orange, the fence was painted Yellow with security bulbs lined with gauze sitting on it. I opened my mouth in awe when we entered the compound after knocking countlessly before the gate-man opened the gate, the floor was concrete, there were several cars, there was not a single dirt in the compound, there were two security guards at the entrance of the door, I didnât know why, but I was scared. I was allowed to enter after Dayo explained to them that I had an appointment with the madam.
He apologized for not coming into the house with me, he explained that if madam didnât call for a person, the person had no right to enter the house. âIâm going to my duty postâ, he said, I just nodded my head, âit will be fineâ, he assured me and I just nodded my head again. I entered the house like a child who had lost her way, the ACâs chill was stronger than the one in Yemisiâs motherâs car, I moved in a little more, there was a staircase in the living room that linked to other rooms, there were chandeliers in the living room, there was a bar across the other end of the living room, âso, I will tidy up this house alone?â,I asked myself. I was still observing, when I heard an awful cry from the staircase, âYou didnât come to work and you didnât inform me, thatâs why I sacked you, get out of here before I break your headâ, said a woman whose looks were frightening with her excessive makeup, the red lip gloss made her lips look bigger and disgusting, the extra eye lashes glued to her eye lids made her very tiny eyes pronounced, the brown powder was too much, she could be mistaken for a clown, I felt like
running away, how would I work with that woman?ââŠ.
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