Episode 2 continued...
This story is interesting as anything... I bet you....
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I stopped at the grocery store. “Old Rodger!” I called as I walked in. Old Rodger ran the store. He had a smile for everyone and he had read some of my articles, he said he loved my work. I didn’t see him at the stand so I walked inside the store. “Old Rodger.” I called.
“Eh…where are you going to?”
I turned round to see a young man staring at me. “Ya…where are you going to?”
“I want to see Old Rodger.” I said, dumbly.
He smiled. “Here’s young Rodger.” I squeezed my eyeballs. “Dad is not around, he is a bit sick.”
“Really?” I stared at him. He was wearing an Apron.
“Come over here.” He said, and walked away.
I followed him. “Are you Old Rodger’s son?” He turned at me with a grimace. “Of course…I am sorry, you said, ‘Dad’.”
“Ms., what can I help you with?” he asked. He stood in front of the Fruit stand. “They are fresh and I bet you would love them.”
I nodded. “I would have some of these and some of that….” I said, pointing at the stand.
“Is that all?” he asked, packing them up.
I shook my head. “No, maybe some potatoes and vegetables too”
“I don’t have all day, please try to be brisk.” He said, with a frown.
I shot at him. “Hey, I am your customer, you asked a question and I responded. If you are not happy working, you should quit.”
“What do you know?” he replied, and walked away to get some potatoes. “Anything else?”
I shook my head. “You are rude! Pack them up.” I said.
He murmured as he put them into bags.
“Stop murmuring, will you?” I shouted, angrily.
He stamped his foot. “I am not in the mood, okay?”
“Try not to rub your moods on others.” I said, as I grabbed the bag. “How much is my bill?”
He ran his eyes through my body and I had to look at it myself. “#3,500” he said, hastily.
I scoffed. “So you assess people before you bill them? You really have a horrid habit.” I said, fumbling with my purse. I handed him four clean #1,000 notes. I would have given Old Rodger the rest as a tip, but for his son, I would gladly collect the balance.
He dashed into the tiny office and returned with the Balance. “Here” He said, stretching out a Five Hundred Naira note at me.
I collected the change and bumped into Old Rodger as I attempted to leave. “Old Rodger!” I said, with some joy. “I thought you were sick.”
He nodded and moved aside. He puffed his pipe carefully. “I couldn’t stay at home anymore, my customers are not pleased with this kid, he’s a pain.” He said, pointing towards the direction where his son was standing, but he had now disappeared into the tiny office. Old Rodger smiled. “Henry is really something else.” He said, and helped himself to his seat. He stretched his cane out and sighed. “Did he treat you right?”
I wasn’t about to answer that and add to Henry’s troubles. I smiled in response.
Rodger scoffed. “Kim, I know he has an effect on ladies with his cute face and masculine body and all, but you should report him when he errs.”
I stared at Rodger. Now that he mentioned it, I had ignored Henry’s gorgeous looks due to his attitude. A bad attitude really takes you nowhere! “I would be off now, Old Rodger. Do take care of yourself, you should probably get some more rest and stop smoking that thing.” I said, pointing at his pipe.
“I can’t stop.” He called back laughing.
I smiled and pushed the door open. “See you later.”
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Old Rodger coughed. His cough had worsened and the Pipe wasn’t going to help, yet he won’t bulge. “Henry.” He called.
Henry came out of the office. “Dad, she provoked me. She won’t make up her mind at once.”
Old Rodger picked his cane and stroked Henry’s arm. “And the same with every other customer?” Henry shrugged. “No lectures today, right? You are in your finals. Try to take things more serious and maturely.”
Henry nodded. “Aye Aye Captain!” he saluted. His father hissed. “Dad, I think you should go home, I am really capable of running this show you know.”
“What show? My shop isn’t a club. I make money from here to take care of you.”
Henry rolled his eyes. “Technically, I didn’t mean it is a show, it is a short way of saying things, Dad. You really are out-dated, you won’t understand.”
Rodger nodded and stroked him harder with the cane. Henry jumped back, rubbing his skin. “Good for me. At least, my generation taught me to have manners. I respect everyone even Ms. Kim, not like you, who can’t respect anyone.”
Henry scoffed. “Come on Dad!” he replied, fetching himself a seat. “That lady isn’t the reason for this attack, is she?” he asked.
His father sighed. “Are you through with your special project work?”
“No Dad, I am taking aids from those Kim Banks Articles, I wish I could meet the lady someday. I need her to assist me on a lot of things, else I won’t be able to import some ideas and it would be a shame because those articles are rich.”
Old Rodger burst into a mocking laugh. Henry stared at him. “What, Dad?”
Rodger continued laughing. He eventually stopped and poured himself some liquor. “You just met Kim Banks.” He replied.
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I emptied the groceries into baskets and stocked them in the kitchen. Ever since we started living together, it became a point of duty for me; I also had to handle the cooking, except for Saturdays when we cooked together and Sundays when we ate out. I enjoyed helping out, but I wished that I had a real job. I am the youngest of us, Tola Matthews is 27, Ini is 24, she would be 25 in a few weeks, and well you know my age, but I would be 22 in July, I was hoping that I would be settled in my field by then. DressAfford Online wedding collections shipped from China
My phone rang. I stared at the home screen, it was Ben. I ignored the call. As I washed in the sink, water dripped from the broken pipe. “Ah…” I sighed and left for the store. I fetched some plumbing tools and a new pipe, all I had to do was to change the pipe.
The door bell rang. I checked the wall clock. “It’s just past noon. Who could that be?” I thought aloud as I adjusted my gloves. The door bell chimed again. “Who is it?” I asked as I reached for the door.
“Rodger” came the response. ‘Old Rodger?’ I thought.
I opened it and shook my head upon seeing Henry, Old Rodger’s son. “What do you want?” I asked.
“Thanks for not telling on me before my Dad.” He said.
I nodded. “If that’s what you came here for, it’s fine.” I replied and tried shutting the door, but he stuck his leg. “What?” I asked.
He smiled. “It’s not fine. If it was, you won’t be trying to get rid of me so easily.” He said, with a smile. He stared at my hand. “What are you doing in those gloves?”
I smiled. “Trying to fix a broken pipe.” I replied, holding the Wrench.
“Can I help out?” he asked, stretching out his hand.
I shook my head. “Nah…I can do it.”
His face fell. “I would feel bad leaving you alone to do it” He said.
“Okay, come in.” I said, stepping out of the way. I shut the door gently behind him.
He stared at the Apartment. “Nice place you have here.” He said. He looked at a Picture frame on the wall. It had a picture of Tola, Ini and I in it. “Your sisters?”
I smiled and handed him the wrench. “More like it.” I pointed towards the kitchen. “Get to work.”
Henry got to work immediately. He started with the wrench while I sat and watched. “You know, I could use some help here.” He said, taking out the old pipe. I smiled. I thought he was acting all ‘Mr. I can do it’.
“What do you need my help for?” I asked.
He popped his head out. “My Special Research project.” He replied.
I stared at him surprisingly. “Plumbing? I had no idea…” I said, with a smile.
He wore a grimace. “Very funny, Ms.” He stretched.
“Kim…Kimberly” I replied, chuckling. “I just knew you needed me for something.”
He put in the new pipe and screwed it tightly. “I need Kim Banks. She has this article that I intend to take a cue from.”
I nodded. “I suppose you got it from Old Rodger.” I said, clasping my hand on my lap. “All you have to do is read it.”
“Kim, it’s not that easy to decipher why a lady would want to get her heart broken, every lady avoids that. So, tell me how you want me to present that to my faculty.”
I smiled. “Oh…well, we might have to look into that on a free day for both of us. What university do you go to?”
He cleared his throat as though he was about to present a speech. Well, he did it in style. “The University of Lagos.”
“Really?” I said, getting two glasses. “Do you care for some Juice?” I asked, getting the Juice from the Refrigerator. He nodded in the affirmative. “Here you go.”
He smiled. “Thank you. In that case, I would love to request for an interview with you, just to make my work more standard.” He took his seat. “So, what do you do?” he asked. “What University?”
“I am a graduate of Economics from UNILAG (short form for University of Lagos)”
He almost spilled his drink. “You are out of the University?” I nodded. “Unbelievable. You look so…young!”
“Well, I am young.” I replied.
He smiled. “And beautiful too.” I stared at him, and he grinned. “Okay, I think you are good for age, but why Economics?” he asked.
I shrugged. “It’s Profession, writing is Passion.” I lied. ‘Economics is profession, Writing is passion! ’ had become my favorite response when asked about my course preference. I couldn’t tell strangers about my parent’s influence. Only close friends knew. Henry took a deep breath and he dropped his empty glass on the kitchen table. “Want another?”
“Nah…I am just wowed by you.”
My phone rang again. Ben…again. I ignored it. The call came in for the second time… still I ignored it.
“Boyfriend? You aren’t gonna answer?” he asked.
I shook my head. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s a friend, but I don’t want to talk to him.”
He nodded. “I wonder how I would feel if I got that treatment from my girlfriend” he caught my expression. “I mean, my friend.”
“Ben isn’t my boyfriend.” I retorted. “So, tell me Henry, how’s UNILAG these days?”
He smiled. “As good as ever, so how’s the job market?”
I cleared my throat. “There are really no jobs out there, anyway, when do you think we could meet?” I asked. Henry was getting too comfortable, I had to usher him out.
He took to his feet. “Probably next week, can I get your phone number?” he asked, bringing out his phone. I collected it and typed the number. “Thank you.” he said and walked out.
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Marcus rubbed his hand on his forehead and slid into the backseat of Ini’s Murano car. “Done! Are you sure about this?” she had packed the car behind the agency.
She laughed out loud. “You just said done, it means that’s over. Where’s that cream anyway?” she asked, stretching out her hand. Marcus placed Shola’s cream on her hand. “She really does go for the best, this is French.”
Marcus jumped into the front seat. “Let’s get out of here.” He suggested.
She scoffed. “Don’t be a chicken, Marcus. Let’s wait till we hear a loud scream at least, then we are sure that Shola has killed her skin.”
He hissed and shot at her. “The only reason why I got as close at the bathroom without being noticed is because I had to dress like a cleaner,” he started, throwing his face cap at her. “What if we are caught? Look Ini, we can always hear about this on the news or through friends in the agency, but we can’t risk being found out. Just start the car.”
Ini hissed. “Marcus, there’s this satisfaction that I would get here and now if Shola Jones rubs that cream on her body now, hearing it later would be stale, let’s just be patient. She should be out of the bathroom by now.” She said, looking at her wristwatch.
Marcus kept looking out of the car. “Ini, this agency is full of security men, we would be finished if we are found out.”
Ini grew out of patience and yelled. “That’s it Marcus! It’s either you get out and run or you stay here and wait, but remember if you run, you are a suspect and I would deny you!”
He fidgeted and took his hand off the car lock. “How did I ever get stuck with you?” he said, silently.
She laughed and kissed his cheek. “Be a man, Marcus!”
“There’s no way we are going to hear Shola scream. The bathroom is not close to this place. We would find out eventually.
Ini slammed her hand on the steering and drove off.