A Story Of Deceit

Episode 3

‘Thank you sir！’, I said repeatedly to Mr. Soji,he had just saved me from receiving the beating of my life that I’d get from my mum and given me an opportunity to do something with my life. Here’s what happened,after spiling the beer,my mum threw the plate,which she used earlier for the fried meat at me, Yes！,you saw it, ’a plate’, I dodged and it hit another customer,my mother charged at me immediately like a soldier in a battle field,I had never seen her so angry,I don’t know if it was because of the spilled beer or the customer which the plate was thrown at but she stamped my face with her fingers from the slap I received, ’it was more like the ‘evil step-mother and step-daughter’ scene. I can’t even remember how she constructed the english but She complained about how stubborn and disobedient I was. I was exhausted and angry,all I grabbed was her yells about my refusal to work,in front of the customers,those very useless men started supporting her,they urged me to be a good girl,I guess their insipid talk encouraged my mother to remove her worn out slippers and cause me extraordinary pain by hitting it on my back,I yelled out in pain,while she said, ’Bend and rag up that thing now’, I was light headed from ravenous hunger so I slowly bent down to pick up the cup and tray,my mother was about to hit me again when Soji intervened, ’stop it,no beat am,how much？I go pay？’ ,he asked,my mother smiled at him and said, ’tri hundrid nira’, she said,he dipped his hands into his pocket,brought out some money and smiled at me, ’ what’s funny’, I said to myself and forcefully smiled back at him and said, ’thank you sir’,’no problem’, he replied. My mum collected the money and looked at me like she still had plans for me.

I picked up the tray and headed to the backyard to clean it up,I had not started washing the tray when I heard my name, ’Uwa’, from my mum,I looked up to the heavens and down to the earth wondering if I was cursed, ’Uwa’, she yelled again,this time continously,like I was supposed to dance to the sound of my own name,she didn’t stop calling even when I said ‘ma’ till I showed up,I was ready for another yell but her reaction left me puzzled, ’shey,you are eat？’, she asked with concern,I was shocked,I still don’t know if the spirit of care had given her a divine touch that day, ’no ma’, I said potraying a weaker look to attract more pity, ‘Okay,Soji are say that he is see you,reply first,then collecting money from me to buy food’ ,she said, ’thank you ma’, I replied.
All the while,Soji was staring at us,I actually thought he had ulterior motives with the way he was staring at me until I knew of his intentions,I walked over to his seat and said,’ sir,my mum say that you want to see me’, then I wasn’t also fluent in english, ’yes,so na here you dey everyday？’, he asked, ’yes sir’, I replied, ‘okay,shey you fit work for farm？’ ,he asked, what？he seriously asked me that,was I able to work on a farm？,I was ready to do anything apart from my mum’s idea, to leave that shop,I grinned and excitedly said, ’yes’. He explained to me that he just got a new land,he needed people to cultivate on the land,he said,he normally didn’t employ girls but since I was jobless and said I was ready to work,he decided to help me,the pay was considerable,even if it wasn’t,I didn’t care,at least I’d be a worker,he asked me to resume the next day,after giving me directions to his residence before he left,I thanked him like I just learnt how to use the word,[B] ’thank you’, I was very happy,I didn’t feel the pangs of hunger anymore,I’d earn money,buy new clothes,gain respect from my mum and especially Dayo,would not look down on me,I looked up at yhe heavens and down at the earth again,this time,thinking of how blessed I was,I just couldn’t wait for the next day to start working.