A Story Of Deceit

Episode 7

Two months had passed, work was becoming upsetting and cumbersome, I thought there was nothing more to the kind attitude of the guys I worked with till I found out that most of them just wanted to be in a relationship with me. I went to work daily, not just to farm,I settled disputes and brawls between the guys I worked with . They all tried to make me happy,I had stopped getting hungry,most of them made sure of that. The only person I would have been close to was Bola but I knew that doing that would only push hatred towards Bola from the guys,so I treated everyone equally. I just had to endure, where was I supposed to get another job from if I quit?, I just didn’t want to stay in Boma anymore, I decided to start making enquiries about the City from anyone who just came back, the only person I knew of, was Dayo. Going to him was the last thing I’d do, I didn’t want to be embarrassed by him again.

My mother stopped giving me any money,she even stopped cooking anything at home, perhaps, my job was the reason. Though, I had been saving almost all the money I earned, I still knew, I had to take care of myself, I got a few things for myself,including a new sandal and two gowns, I was contented with it.

I got up in the afternoon, it was a Sunday, I had been sleeping all day, there was no work, I was really stressed out from the week’s work. I stood up from the mat and looked around, I’d rate our house as one of the poorest houses in Boma, we worried about everything, rainy season, snakes, mosquitoes, there was a window but no wood to fit into the square shape that was carved on the wall, a big cloth served as a covering for it, the entrance of our house was guarded by a big cotton cloth and an emergency wood plank that served as a door and there was no ceiling, so our home wasn’t really a home. Staying at home was boring, I took my bath and headed towards my mum’s shop.

I was walking past Dayo’s house, Dayo sat on a bench outside, since that canteen incident, he had not spoken to me, I had even seen him with several girls apart from Bimbo. I don’t know what was wrong with me,he had done a lot to me but Dayo and I had history, so I still had feelings for him but I wasn’t going to talk to him either. I stared at him in a despicable way, then he looked up, I avoided his gaze immediately, ‘Uwa’, he called, I stopped, turned and looked at him with surprise, he was smiling at me, I looked behind to see if there was anyone behind me, ‘Uwa’, he called again,still smiling,this time,he gave a signal to come, ‘this guy wan disgrace me sha’, I said to myself. I brought one of my fingers and twisted it close to my head in the like manner of asking, ‘if he was okay’, I won’t deny the fact that I was tempted to answer, instead, I held my purse tightly and walked on.

I had compassion,when I reached my mum’s shop, the customers were too much,she was being called on from every side, she couldn’t attend to everyone of them but she ran as fast as she could. I knew, she stopped caring for me but, I thought of all those years she took care of me, I would never forget that, I was jolted back to reality when I heard, ‘Uwa,you is come? Oya help’, my mum said, I greeted my mum, though I knew, she wouldn’t have time to answer. I assisted her, she took the customers requests, while I served them.
Business seemed to be going well, I wasn’t hungry that day so I was able to work effectively. ‘welcome sir,oga well done’, I heard, ‘who were they greeting?’, I was curious, I turned around and saw Mr. Soji with the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in Boma, who was she? why was she with Mr. Soji?.