Under the sun of Agege [Writer's contest 2]

It took a long ride under the sun in a poorly managed Mistibushi vehicle to appreciate a chilled glass of crushed strawberry wafers and frozen yogurt…

It was my third week in the city of Lagos and a month at the Spring Dew Co-operation. “Eko oni baje” I learnt, meant “Lagos no go spoil”. Lagos definitely couldn’t spoil, or could it? I asked myself. I was too confused and frustrated to think straight, as I sat at the back of the company’s vehicle.

The heat and the tiny beads of sweat threatening to multiply at my back, I thought about my current situation. Accommodation! Feeding!! Transportation!!! Welfare!!!! How was I supposed to manage all? I asked myself. My monthly salary was 30 thousand Naira, and that was basically spent on transportation which was about 24,500, also coupled with the fact that my friend I was squatting with was already on my neck to move out.

That alone, was the reason for my sudden weight loss, which everyone thought it was some self-decided diet I embarked on or was it even the cost of housing that was eating up the unwanted fat which I was thankful for in a way.

Sad part was, she was my best friend or so I thought. Coming down to Lagos all on our own, her countenance had really changed but then that shouldn’t be a thing to worry about now.

What to do? I thought to myself, my life was seemingly becoming a story from the daily newspaper of the hardships in our country.

As we drove pass the Ikeja City Mall, heading to Agege, I remembered months back, when I went on a date with guy. Kachi. Kachi was a guy I met on Facebook last year’s valentine. He was working with PHCN, the branch manager, pretty impressive but I never for once liked men with big bellies, it was a total turnoff.

The meeting at ICM was obviously a blind date, talk about being turned off immediately by his appearance or in addition his dentition and also his breath.

At every speech was a remembrance of what it smelt like to orally brush for three days. I was practically puzzled, which he mistook for having puppy eyes, hahaha.

He was really a nice person though but in pidgin “belle no gree me at all”. The blind date wasn’t my thought drive at that moment, it was the dessert he ordered that day that really got me thinking. “Pinky Greece”, this was a sinful mixture of crushed strawberry wafers with frozen yogurt all on top of a whipped cream base.

“Eight Thousand Five Hundred” as I glanced through the menu. It wasn’t that it didn’t taste nice but then I had already eaten so much that I didn’t even have room to savor the exquisite decadence before me.

Like, how was that even possible? After bulldozing varieties of small chops and gourmet noodles. It was really an evening to remember, Food wise to be specific.

How I needed that right now, I sighed. As I called out to the young man hawking ice cream.

NAME: Virginia Ezinne Ogwumah