A Story Of Deceit

Episode 8

The girl sat down beside her father, Mr. Soji, I found it hard to believe she was his daughter, there was no resemblance, she was beautiful and Mr. Soji, well….., he wasn’t like her. I got to know she was his daughter, when he bragged that she had finished WAEC and had just returned from the city. She had an unusual phone in her palm, the usual phones I saw in Boma had buttons, her’s was different, it seemed like a glass to me, I didn’t know, it was an android device. I adored her reaction to her father’s jokes, how she laughed and talked, she didn’t take anything, she just sat there staring at her father while he drank.

I guessed, she followed him because she was bored at home and probably didn’t want to stay alone. I assumed Mr. Soji had no child, I had never seen his wife but I was seeing his daughter, ‘how?’, I asked myself, ‘Abeg,it’s not my business’, I reminded myself.

‘Uwa’, Mr. Soji called out, ‘sir? ‘, I answered and walked to their table, ‘na my pikin be this, Yemisi’, he said pointing at her, I nodded and gave the best smile I had, ‘oh, okay sir, my name is Uwa’, I introduced myself to Yemisi, ‘yes, my father told me already ,he said somethings about you when we came in’, she replied nicely, the sound of her voice was enchanting, I didn’t know what things her father had said about me, I just said, ‘thank you’, Yemisi was still smiling at me, when she asked, do you have a phone?, let me give you my number. Phone?, which phone?, I said within myself and replied, ‘ha, no oooo, I don’t have a phone, ‘okay, alright, no problem ‘, she said, ‘okay’, I said and turned around to leave, then she stretched out her right hand across the table , held my left hand and said, ‘feel free to visit me,whenever you can’, ‘ah, okay, thank you,if I have chance, I will come’, I told her. I liked her immediately, she was the only nice girl I met in Boma, other girl were like Bimbo.

Yemisi and her father left later on, it was getting dark, I had to leave too, staying with my mum when those drunkards arrived was not what I wanted, besides, I had to go to work the next day. Before I left the shop, my mum and I shared a meal, which was something we hadn’t done in a long time, hence, I wasn’t hungry.

While I walked home, I had a big grin on my face, I was happy, I did my usual ritual of looking up to the sky and down to the earth, wondering how lucky I was to meet Yemisi that day, I could make enquiries from her, about how the city was,if I had to visit her, it’d be on a Sunday when I didn’t go to work, I had a job now, I wouldn’t have to stay with my mum all day and soon, I’d leave Boma, for the city.

Nothing was going to ruin my day, till I passed Dayo’s house, I started regretting why I didn’t answer him, ‘ I for wait, let me know what he wants to say’, I blamed myself, a part of me yearned for his call again but then, I recalled his weird behavior that afternoon, did he actually think, I’d just run to him when he called like a puppet with strings?,
I hissed and I began to imagine the possibility of different weird humiliating scenarios that would have occurred if I had answered him.

I walked home in the same manner which I did that afternoon when he called me, I held my purse tightly and moved on.

I woke up the next morning, feeling hungry, accompanied by severe headache and dizziness , I didn’t sleep late, I didn’t sleep hungry so, why did I wake up so weak and hungry? I got up from the mat, walked around lazily, made preparations for work, I didn’t eat breakfast at home, I planned to get bread from iya Ruka and bean balls (akara), from a woman whose name has skipped my memory now, I bade my mum farewell and off I went.
I walked towards the other street in direction of where I walked and where iya Ruka’s shade was situated, I still had the headache, I knew it would subside once I ate. I resolved to buying the bread and eating some out of it, before I got the bean balls (akara). I got to iya Ruka’s shade, the sight of the bread from it’s nylon was tempting, I dipped my hand into my purse and brought out a two hundred naira note, which was the only amount I took out daily, I was managing and those guys at work always provided lunch for me, I didn’t really have anything to worry about except for their insipid talks and insensitive arguments that sprung up because of me, it was another of settling disputes. Nevertheless, I picked up a loaf of bread, I was about to pay her when I heard, ‘I’ll pay’, I knew that voice, anytime and anywhere, it was Dayo’s, I looked at him from toe to head and thought, ‘ wetin this boy dey plan now?.