Home Alone
Most students I know want my kind of lockdown; away from the headache of their family getting into their space, free from chores and the need to conform. What if I told them this kind of life isn’t that rosy; would they believe me? I doubt if they’ve considered living alone would mean you will have to go to bed ruminating on several questions: what will you like to eat tomorrow? Do you even have the resources to cook this food? Will you have the strength and skill to cook it? If you eventually cook it, will it turn out good? What if it turns out good but you are already too exhausted to objectively observe how good it turned out to be? As fundamental as these sounds, running through them on a daily basis can sometimes leave us drained and it is in a bid to avoid this we invest in snacks and junks instead while we were in school.
It is on one of these days that I made melon soup but something just isn’t right with it; perhaps it’s the smell of the locust beans that was too strong or the oil that have refused to float on top of the soup no matter the reasonable quantity I add. I forced the food down and I just needed a company–a UI vibe specifically. My classmate that lives in a neighboring town was my closest shot, so I took it. He stays in Emure-Ekiti, about 5 minutes ride from my own town Ise-Ekiti. I have not been to this town for about 4 years now and nothing has really changed. Still the same funny sign posts like Oyinboyinbo and Sons Block Industry, Because of Money Enterprises and the likes.
The bikeman rode through the market I have never seen being in use. Always with tables lying on their belly and fallen market stalls.
I met my classmate and the excitement in the air was undeniable. We exchanged pleasantries with the recommended ‘whyning’ session and we compared how much is left of the student in us before we got down to something more serious as my classmate asked, “Guy, so how long you tink say dis tin go last like dis?”
“See, make I no lie, I no know o. But as the numbers dey rise like this, I dey feel say we go still dey for house for the next 3 months at most”
“3 months? Ah! Some people dey talk say next year oh and I wan know maybe I go go sign up to learn sometin and that tin fit take like 6 months”
Thinking about it for a while, I replied, “Hmm, 6 months is long o, anytin still fit happen within dat time”
“Exactly! Nah why I wan know now before I go sign up for the place wey I wan learn am”
“Shey you no sabi the person ni? You fit follow am talk nah, if you no fit finish before we go back to school, dem suppose allow you finish later maybe when we dey vacation nah”
“Yes, yes, nah true oh”
I smiled as the ‘s’ sound got a bit distorted as they make it pass his gap-tooth. “Follow the person talk jor”
I told my classmate I will like to see one more friend in their town before I return and he decided to drop me off with a motorcycle he borrowed.
As we went around a curve, my classmate asked, “Shey you fit ride bike like this?”
I rolled my eyes before I replied, “No, but I fit ride bicycle”
“Guy wetin you come dey do? Is it that fat girl you want to meet?”
“She’s not fat, she’s just thick” I corrected.
Written by Williams Owoeye
