Jollof Love

7- Aroma of Yearning

"I am asking for the last time," Morayo raised her voice, her face pinched as she scanned the busy kitchen,  tapping an omorogun- a stirring rod-  on her palm, as if she wanted to mete out physical punishment to the culprit.

Nini and Ayomide were at a pot of stew they were assigned to cook. Ayomide was putting in the spices while Nini stirred, paying extra attention to the entire procedure.

"Who took two packs of maggi?" Morayo asked. No one answered, and everyone just murmured among themselves without producing the culprit.

"Okay, yesterday was ten pieces of meat, today is Maggi. Sebi Madam is coming today. One of you will confess by force," she clicked her finger at them all, an indication that they will be in trouble. "I have the record of everything we bought, so if you think you are smart, think twice."

She hissed as she moved to yap at an innocent kitchen staff who was in her way. If Morayo didn't get answers, she went crankier than an angry old woman.

"I didn't want to say anything oo," Ayomide started, looking this way and that to make sure there were no ears listening. But everyone was busy with something, and she moved closer to where Nini stood, the stew bubbling with the aroma of beef and ponmo. "But I saw Mildred with an insane amount of Maggi in her hand, and she went out and didn't come back with it."

"Why would someone steal Maggi?" Nini asked.

"So you haven't heard the gist about Mildred?" Ayomide asked Nini. "You are living under a rock oo. You didn't hear that Mildred has an obsession with eating Maggi?"

Nini stopped stirring. "I don't understand. You mean eating stew with a lot of maggi or..."

"No oo, eating Maggi! Whole like that! As in unwrapping it and eating it like one eats Choco Milo," Ayomide tapped Nini's arm, the gist sweetening her soul. "Choco Milo, that candy, you know na."

Nini made a gagging sound. "No, I don't believe you."

"When she talks, don't you sometimes smell Maggi on her breath?" Ayomide asked.

Nini shook her head. She hadn't had a conversation close up with Mildred because she had learnt long ago that Mildred didn't like her one bit, and it was all because of Jide pining after her. If anything, Nini wished Jide gave Mildred all that attention, she didn't need a pinch of it.

"They should be keeping the Maggi from her then," Nini suggested.

"Keeping Maggi from her? If you keep cigarettes from a smoker, does that mean he won't go out to buy more?" Ayomide asked.

"So you're saying she's addicted?"

"No oo, addicted is taking things too far. Me I am saying it's not normal."

Nini looked around the kitchen until she spotted Mildred with some others around the mortar of pounded yam. Each of them took turns lifting pestles to pound the yam that had turned elastic and almost ready to be wrapped in cling film.

"Abi is she pregnant or something?" Nini asked. "Because I don't understand, I swear. Is it craving?"

"No oo, she's not pregnant oo. I also had a friend back in secondary school who used to eat chalks. That one would eat it like biscuits..."

"Ehn, Ayomide, please," Nini couldn't bear to imagine that. "It's okay, I get it."

"Toorh, I'm just saying, if Madam comes in a bad mood, we should just say the truth," Ayomide said. She picked up the raffia fan next to her and tried to ward off the heat from the stew. "This thing should be ready now. I want to sit down."

Despite all doors of the kitchen opened to take out the heat, it was still clogged with the steam of different meals. Nini looked up at the high ceiling, and made a point to talk to Iya Asake to change the old ceiling fans to newer and faster ones.