Episode 7
Lagos state: The tricycle we boarded from the park slowed down as we approached a well fenced building painted with yellow. Ovo tapped the guy to stop at the front of the building and we both alighted and took our luggage. Deep inside me I sensed enjoyment with Ovo, especially after seeing the conducive building which I felt was his property and he alone stayed in it. We walked inside through the small gate and went to the second apartment. It’s a self contain apartment. The door to the house was opened which indicated that there was someone inside. Immediately we entered I smelled a pleasant aroma from the kitchen. I wanted to question Ovo about the smell when a slim light complexioned lady of average height, walked to the sitting room and gave Ovo a welcome hug and smiled at me as I greeted her. She looked nice and accommodating and without any doubt I presumed she would be a good match for my bro. She collected our bags and took them inside the room, I was left alone in the sitting room as Ovo followed her to the room. After spending some time together they came out to join me; OVO: Eli, this is the little paradise i am managing for now, I plan to rent a two bed room flat by next month and I don’t mind if you move down with me. You are welcome to Lagos my friend. ME: Thank you brother, you have done me well by bringing me down with you, and I promise to pay back in due course. OVO: There is nothing to pay back, more so I still owe you alot. Less I forget, the lady beside me is “my future, my life, my yoriyori and to crown it up my world” her name is Imabong (She was just smiling at the same time winking at me whenever our eyes met) ME: Wow bro, congratulations!! Imabong i’m Eli by name and I am happy to meet you IMMAGBON: I’m also please to meet you (waving her hands at me) OVO: Imabong told me she cooked my favourite calabar soup called ‘Edikang-Ikong’, that we should go to the dining and fill our stomach. Ovo and I went to the dinning and watched Imabong as she served the meal. I couldn’t resist the meal though its my first time of coming across it. Although I have heard of it several times. I just told myself to ride on with the soup when it comes whether sweet or bitter, in order not to get Ovo sad. The soup really tasted good especially the fresh pumpkin leaf which was inside, but I didn’t like the fact that one have to suck the periwinkle from the shell, it looked irritating and I could not eat much because of that, as I lost my appetite seeing Imabong and Ovo doing so. I felt Imabong noticed that, I was irritated by it but she just pretended to pay less attention to me IMMAGBON: “You don’t like pounded yam I guess? ME: I like it, just that I ate alot before embarking on the trip. At the other end of the dinning, Sweat was rushing off from Ovo’s body, which showed how much he enjoyed the meal as he was concentrating without altering a word. As soon as we finished eating Ovo made some calls and took photocopies of my credentials to some clients and managers who were his friends. Immediately he left Imabong and I started discussing, she told me she noticed I don’t like the food she prepared but convinced me to eat it more often as it was rich in vitamins because of the vegetables in it. “I let her know i’m a good cook but i don’t like the shell of the periwinkle that was put inside the soup, on hearing this she promised not to put them again. She went on to teach me how to prepare the soup. “She said the soup was special to her people, and that the delicacy is prepared with pumpkin leaves which they call ikong in calabar dialect but others called it ugwu, water leaf (mong Ikong), fish, meat, periwinkle (mfi ikpok), palm oil, cray fish and other essential ingredients. “She said It can be eaten with either garri, fufu, amala, tuwo, semovita or pounded yam. At the end of the tutorial on how to cook Edikang-Ikong Soup she left for her room to take a nap. — — — — It was almost 6:30pm and Ovo had not yet returned. I started feeling dizzy and decided to sleep on the chair in the sitting room. I had not slept up to 20mins when I felt some soft touches at the bottom of my feet, after some time it started moving to the femur of my leg. It wasn’t long when I felt a full hand massaging all over my body, I stood up in haste and found Imabong wearing just her panties and bra. She told me to relax and let her have her way to me but I rebuke her, telling her such attitude is against the will of God as well as my culture. She kept on resisting as she fell on me, trying to kiss me and also holding me firm to herself. I tried to explain to her but she did not want to listen as the urge in her grew beyond my comprehension, I had to push her away with a fiercely touch which made her hurt. She started crying that I had injured her and she would tell Ovo when he returned, I assisted her up and pleaded that she should not do such but she rushed at me again begging me to just engage in one round with her, complaining that her sharwama is very hot and needs my joystick badly. I kept on resisting her so-called hot sharwama, which makes her to further increase the threat, promising to make me face her wrath in the house unless I comply. I turned her request down again because i’m a man of my word, which made her got angrier the more. She vowed to give me a tough time in the house and block my success, as I walked out of the house to wait for Ovo outside. I tried to contact Ovo on phone but couldn’t due to low network coverage, I ended up spending some time waiting outside before he finally came. OVO: Why are you outside? ME: I was worried you hadn’t returned since you left OVO: Brother its not easy, I promised to get you a job and i had to stay with my real guys for long just to accomplished this goal. Well the manager of Century Dyes & Chemicals Ltd. at Km 33, Lagos-Badagry Expressway, has agreed to make you his sales manager. He said for a start your salary will be two hundred and fifty thousand naira, then if you please the firm with your work there will be an increment with a well furnished apartment. ME: JESUS!!! Are you saying the truth or i’m dreaming? OVO: If you think its a dream you better wake up ME: you are really a brother, in short you are my God OVO: Don’t mention, God only used people to help his children. Let’s go inside I’ll take you there tomorrow to start but for the now we have to celebrate… TO BE CONTINUED…