TÓDÙN

1

TODUN

The hot afternoon sun that descended from the sky made sweat run down my head as I walked to the filling station where I work. I entered the changing room and changed my cloth into my uniform, a combination of blue and pink colour. I sat down on the stool and placed my tray of oranges beside me. I used my hand to chase away the houseflies that tried settling on the oranges.

Music boomed from the speakers attached to the structure that served as shed for  workers. I stared across the road and wondered how people managed to go through the stress of everyday hustle and bustle. The Hausa Mallam that sold cucumber, carrot and watermelon sat at his usual spot attending to his customers.

My co-worker and friend Bisi sat beside me as she squeezed the juice from the orange she was holding into her mouth. A blue car drove into the station and parked at the usual spot. I stood up and asked the man the amount of fuel that should be dispensed.

"Oga, how much do you want make I sell?"

"Five litres my sister, how much for one litre?  Abi you people don increase the price?"

The dark stocky man asked me. He had the gloomy look every driver that was having a hard day has in his face. He was sweating profusely, and he chewed the stick in his mouth with energy sometimes obstructing the things he was saying.

"Na still the same price as before oga."

I answered him as I pressed the appropriate figures on the fuel dispenser and sold his fuel. He handed me a dirty one thousand naira note and I gave him his change. He collected it without a thank you and drove off. That's just a taste of what I go through everyday.

I sat back on the stool and watched as Bisi helped me in selling the oranges to a middle-aged woman that walked in from across the road. She handed me the money the woman paid and I dropped it into my purse that was strapped around my waist.

"Se you have seen oga since you have come?" Bisi asked me as she tried removing the flesh of the orange that got stuck in her teeth.

"Not since I came. Why?" I asked her sensing trouble. Oga will not want to see me if there is no fire on the mountain, I thought.

"I don't know but he has been looking for you since morning."

"I will see him when I am about to go home." I said as she stood up to attend to another customer standing by the dispenser.

Bisi and I met when I started working at filling station and since then our friendship had become better. She had already been working there by the time I joined two years ago. Unlike other co-workers she is the only one who is around my age bracket. She works full-time while I do the part time thing.

I finished my secondary school education two years ago. I did JAMB (Joint Admission Matriculation Board) exam the first time and it jammed me, so I secured a job at the filling station as a part-time worker.  Whenever I wasn't at work, I would go to the market to sell oranges for my Mum. Sometimes like today and on my way back from the market I would work at the filling station till evening and then go home from there. On other days whenever I don't go to the market, I went for my JAMB lessons.

It was 5pm in the evening when I went back to the changing room and changed my uniform to my cloth. A faded jean and a faded pink top. I parked my hair into a bun and washed my face in the wash basin. I stared at the broken mirror and adjusted the powder on my face. I would not bring powder to work but I borrowed the one belonging to Bisi even though we weren't of the same complexion.

I strapped my bag to my back and gingerly walked to the manager's office located at the left side of the compound. I knocked the door several times and heard struggles as someone inside made for the door. The woman who bought orange earlier pushed past me as she adjusted her clothes. I have a little smile and entered the office jamming the door.

"Good afternoon sir." I folded my hand to my back and bent my head slightly.

"Afternoon."

He responded casually and struggled with something under his desk. Thereafter, he placed his hand on the desk and flipped through the tattered cash book. His office which is  small could not house ten people had a table and a chair placed at the center. Stakes of paper littered the floor and the wall had stains of foot wears on it. The patterns are as a result of killing cockroaches that felt bold to venture outside in his presence and those of his side chicks.

"I guess Bisi delivered my message."

"Yes she did sir." I answered in anticipation of what wanted to say.

"As you are aware Olu has stopped working here and I think it is high time you changed to being a full time worker if you don't want to lose your means of feeding." He stopped talking for a while.

He was wrong, it wasn't really my means of feeding but a way of saving up for my school fees

"If you don't become one you are free to go. That means you don't want the job and you have to live in hunger." I immediately went on my kneels and begged him to be patient with me. I went further to explain my circumstances to him as he chewed on his nails. This wasn't the first time I am doing that though and each time he listens in anticipation of something new and where to pick on my words.

" I have said my own, I have no business with whatever happens to you or your mother. Do I by any chance resemble your father?

He looked at me sternly and went back to checking through the cash book. Tears dropped from my eyes at the thought of being laid off. Who will pay my fees? Who will pay my Mum's medical fees whenever she needs one?  Who will pay for the shack we live in?

I wiped my face and stood up. I had a little difficulty opening the door and when I eventually did, the cold breeze hit my face as the rain had started to fall. I opened my bag and took out two nylon bags. I used one to cover my hair and the other one, I dropped my pregnant phone into it.

You might find the word "pregnant" funny since I am talking about a phone. I started calling it that, since the keypad was protruding more like a pregnant woman. It was a second hand property that I bought from a former classmate. I gave her two  thousand naira as payment. It was far better than owing none since I couldn't afford an Android phone.  Android phone to me was a luxury.

I ran under the shelter to meet Bisi. She had already sold part of the orange and it only remained three. She gave me the money she made while I went inside and I poured the remaining oranges into my bag. I handed her one  hundred Naira as gratitude but she refused saying I should save it for my schooling.

I stretched out my hand further from the shed and felt its intensity. Knowing that it had subdued, I bid Bisi a final goodbye and walked into the drizzling rain to trace my steps back home.

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Here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

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