HER LAST WISH Chapter 71

(Moremi)

Zeemah Writes 📝

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The door was opened by an old woman, who was slightly bent, her hair was white and soft looking, the glasses perched on her almost wrinkled nose were silver.
“Grandma, good afternoon” Amina and Emeka greeted, going on their knees and prostrating respectively.
Dan and Layla followed their step.
Aunt Esther had told Emeka and Amina to take them to greet Grandma after the merry with the kids.

“My darlings, how are you?” Grandma asked, straining her eyes to look at Dan and Layla who were standing behind Amina and Emeka.
They all walked in. Amina helped her sit back on a chair, which allowed her comfortably rest her back.
“Oshe oko mi (thank you my dear)” She smiled at Amina.
“Aunt Esther said we should bring her siblings to comman greet you, they arrived from overseas just yesterday” Emeka said.

“Ehn ehn. My foreigners, come over here lemme see your faces” Grandma said, adjusting the glasses on her face properly.
Dan and Layla stepped in front of her.
“Ah, beauties. You’re very welcome, how was the flight? It must have been so stressful. Sorry my darlings”
Aunt Esther had not lied when she said Grandma speaks so clearly, not only that.
“Thank you Grandma” Dan and Layla smiled.
“You’re really going to enjoy being here … It’s all fun. I hope you aren’t finding it hard coping with the massive attention you must be getting already?”
Grandma does not only speak clearly, she also speaks very good English.
“Nah, although it was a bit uncomfortable at first but it’s cool” Dan said and Layla nodded in agreement.
“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. Ah, Ah, abi you were the ones I heard those kids singing to earlier?”
“Yeah”
Grandma smiled “It seems they’ve welcomed you already. I’m also going to welcome you tonight with a very interesting tale”

Their faces lit up.
“Thanks Grandma” Layla smiled.
“We look really forward to it” Dan added, with a smile.
Grandma nodded.

A lady walked out of an adjoining room, bearing a bowl of pap with fruits on a tray.
She smiled on seeing Dan and Layla.
“You must be Moremi” She said to Layla.
“Yes”
“And I guess this must be your friend, what’s your name?”
“Dan”
“I was about coming to greet you after I serve Grandma, how was the journey, I hope it wasn’t stressful”
“Not really”
“This is Aunty Lola, grandma’s last born” Emeka clarified to Dan and Layla.
“Oh,” They acknowledged.
“So how do you see Lagos? Are you liking it already?” She asked, sitting on another couch after placing the tray on a stool in front of Grandma.
“We love it” Layla smiled and Dan nodded.
“You’re even going to love it more after you spend more days. You guys are very welcome. I hope you have fun during your stay here”
“Thank you” They smiled.

***

“Wo(see), if you break my eggs, you’ll pay for it!” Aunty Esther shouted at a customer who was close to breaking the neatly arranged eggs in the crate just because she wanted to see the Oyinbo people inside the shop.
“Calm down nah” Mr. Femi said to her.
“You did not see that she almost broke my eggs ni. I have to warn her because if she breaks it now, it’s sorry I’ll collect”
“What do you want to buy jare?” Mr. Femi asked the lady.
“Two pure water and one peak milk” She answered, still staring at Dan and Layla seated inside the shop.

Layla smiled and waved at her and her face lit up immediately.
She waved back happily.

The number of people who have come to get something from Aunt’s Esther’s shop just because they wanted to see Dan and Layla can’t even be counted.
Their compound seemed even crowded than usual.
Aunt Esther had refused to allow them into her shop and at one point she had shouted at the crowd not to kill them for her; something her husband later scolded her for.

“After few days now, all these will calm down, they are just still very excited to see you guys” Mr. Femi assured Dan and Layla after the customer left.
“It’s actually fine, we’re excited also” Layla said.
Dan and David were busy playing a game on Dan’s phone, they’ve been at it for minutes now and they looked as though they were having fun with it.

Another customer appeared, and Mr. Femi started attending to him.
Layla wished she knew everything about selling to people here, she would have loved to help.

“How do you calculate in Naira? I also want to be able to help you sell to customers” Layla turned to Aunt Esther.
“Ah, that’s quite a long process o. You’ll need to know the price of every bit of thing here. . . Besides, It’d be so much stress for you, so don’t bother jare”
“But I really want to bother, Mr. Femi will be resuming work next week, there’ll be no one to assist you”
“David is going to, he knows pretty much about everything here. I’ll just be monitoring him”
“I’m not going to make Dave work while I’m here, I want to do it” Layla insisted. “Please” She quickly added.
“Alright, to make things easier for you, I’m going to put a price tag on every thing here and probably a name tag also. All I just have to teach you is the calculation.”
“And I’m going really good at memorizing. I’m gonna catch on quick” Layla smiled.
“It actually takes a great deal of practice, but I know you’d pull it off” Aunt Esther smiled back at her.

“Phil called me this morning while you and Dan were still in bed”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, she wanted to check up on me and also asked how you guys were”
“We also spoke to her after we were done eating”
“Oh. I hope you also called your friends”
“We did” Layla smiled, she miss her best friends already and they all kind of got emotional during the call.

“Should we make Amala for lunch or just have it tomorrow?” Aunt Esther asked.
“It’d be better for lunch” Dan said.
“I thought you were so busy with your game” Layla said.
“Not really,” He grin at her and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Hey, what’s up?” He asked.
“The only thing up are your ears; when they heard Amala” Layla teased and Aunt Esther who was within earshot started laughing, she didn’t know if it was because of what Layla said or how she pronounced Amala.
“Geez, really?” Dan pretended to look offended.
“Yup” Layla grin.
“Dan, it’s like you have plenty crush already o” Mr. Femi chuckled, walking into the shop.
“Oh” Dan didn’t seem surprised, he’s pretty much used to it.

“Most of the girls have just been asking me different questions about you” He smiled, sitting on the chair.
“Dan must be used to so much attention already” Aunt Esther said.
“Exactly, he is” Layla added.
Dan smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Mummy David” Amina said, walking into the shop.
“Me and Emeka are going to the market, do you want to buy anything?” She asked, smiling at Layla when their gazes met.
Layla smiled back at her, she couldn’t tell why she likes Amina already.
“Yeah, I want to buy locust beans and ewedu.” Aunt Esther said and Mr. Femi gave Amina some cash.
“Thanks Amina, God bless you for me” Aunt Esther smiled.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Alright”

“Moremi, let’s go and start prepping for lunch before Amina comes back” Aunt Esther said and she and Layla got to their feet.

***

“C’mon Amina” Layla chuckled as Amina hit her butt playfully.
They’ve gotten unsurprisingly close within the few days they arrive. It’s actually impossible not to get along with someone like Amina and Emeka. They are sweethearts, they’ve been doing their best in making this place lively and fun for them. Their effort is greatly appreciated.

“I use to think most Oyinbo people have flat bum bum and skinny body until I saw you. See, you even have bum bum than I do. Comman gimme small na” Amina joked and they both laughed as they stepped out of Aunt Esther’s apartment.
Amina has always being amused with Layla’s shape and she doesn’t hesitate in showing it.

They met Dan and Emeka seated on the long bench in the compound and they sat with them.
Dan and Layla were relaxed enough that they now felt at home, they are quite familiar with the neighbors and the environment already.
Although, they were yet to leave the house for anywhere else.
They might be leaving the house tomorrow to go to Layla father’s grave.

“Amina, I was telling Dan how and needs to be smart to live in Lagos”
“Hm, one does not only have to be smart o, but have to be street smart as well” Amina said.
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s because you people have not started going out, that’s why you don’t know yet.” Emeka said.

“This place you don’t just carry your bag anyhow, you actually need to cling to your bag, if possible sef, marry it because before you blink your eyes like this, your valuables have vanished and then you suddenly begin to speak in tongues, your normal heartbeat sef will just run out of control. God help you if you don’t find yourself in the hospital” Amina sigh.
“Really?” Dan and Layla started laughing.

“And even when you go to the market, you must be very alert and vigilant about yourself and belongings, some people only come to the market to steal and not buy anything. Some sellers sef will even try to exploit you when they notice you’re a novice, they’ll charge you extravagant prices and if you don’t know how to price things ehn, you’ll exhaust the money with you without even buying all the things you need” Emeka said.

“Wow” Layla sigh.
“Sometimes at night sef, all these agbero will just start fighting, making people run in different directions, the rate at which everyone will start locking their shops and houses. . . and by agbero, I mean thugs” Amina clarified.
“Oh”
“There are actually thugs in Vegas too” Dan said.
“Yeah” Layla nodded.

“Ah” Emeka laughed, “You see those thugs there are posh thugs. These ones here, you’ll nearly pee on your body if they look at you too much not to talk of when they shout or start fighting, they take real cannabis like it’s food. They’ll use their head to break the bottles they want to use to stab someone, some will even use their body for sample before going ahead. You’ll see someone bleeding heavily and still continue fighting. Hm, I just pray you don’t even experience their stupid fighting before you go back” Emeka said.
Dan and Layla looked quite stunned.
“They don’t really fight frequently here like they do in areas like Mushin, we’re lucky not to live in that area I swear” Amina said, calling her brother to bring water for her.
“Exactly, the thugs there are rugged.”

“Those on the island are still enjoying but you see we in the mainland ehn, it’s only God that’s protecting us” Amina said.
“Oh, there are two parts?” Dan asked.
“Yes, the city has two parts; the mainland and the island. Most people who live in the Island are mostly high income earners. There are high income earners who live on the mainland also though.”
“Wow, there’s pretty much to know about this place” Dan sigh.
“A lot” Emeka said.

“Despite how crazy Lagos is, the beauty still remains. I love living in Lagos except those times crazy things happen” Amina said, drinking from the water her brother brought for her.
“This city never actually sleeps, always awake” Dan said. He noticed everyone still goes about even during late hours.
Different car horns in the midnight.
“I noticed that too” Layla said.
“Yes o, always awake” Emeka said.

“Aunty Amina, my mummy say you should help me and make my hair” Amarachi said, walking towards them.
She grinned happily at Layla, and Layla could see her front tooth is starting to grow.
Layla smiled back at her.
She got to find out Amarachi is Emeka’s younger sister.
“You that like crying like what I don’t know. I hope you won’t cry o” Amina said.
“I won’t” Amarachi said.
“That’s what you always say, sha go and tell my mum to give you comb and cutting comb”
Amarachi hurried away.

“A girl has been peeping over here for a while now” Dan said pointing to one of the neighbors door and they all saw Damilola quickly close the door.

Amina and Emeka sigh almost at the same time, glancing at each other.

“I never even knew she lives here, I once said hi to her when she came to get something from Aunt Esther’s shop but. . . she didn’t respond” Layla said.
“I saw her come out only once since we arrived. Why can’t she just come out to join us instead of peeping” Dan wondered aloud.

“Why. . . Aren’t you both saying anything?” Layla asked.
“Well, her name is Damilola and we were once very close friends” Amina said and Emeka nodded.

“I need to go and pray” Amina said, getting on her feet as the loud speakers of a mosque not so far away from the house boomed.
Normally, she doesn’t get up immediately it booms but she’s avoiding spilling any more details.
“I’ll be back” She said, walking away briskly.

…………