Must Read: Sunrise in Makoko (A Short Story) - Season 1 - Episode 4

6 years ago

Must Read: Sunrise in Makoko (A Short Story) - Season 1 - Episode 4

Awise emerged from his mud house, wand in hand, and said, "Layode, bring a potsherd. Place it on the three stones that rest cooking pots. You are to burn these chameleon, seven grains of paradise, and Madagascar rosy periwinkle. I'm off to the forest to pluck 'alupayida' leaves."

"Dad, I prefer going in search of the leaf. I'm not that good in reciting the precedents required while burning the combinations."

"Simpleton, but you could recite multiplication table 2 even when you were learning to pronounce 'mother'. I would have been asking you to go pluck leaves for me. But you don't have the clearance."

"What is your definition of 'clearance'? Does that in any way tamper with the potency of a medicine?"

"I just hope you are not a bastard for asking these questions. The gods make a medicine potent if you do certain things before plucking leaves."

"If I may ask, when done with the medicine prepared with these ingredients, what is the purpose it is to serve?"

"In the dinner that the king invited us to, if his intention is to give you cash rewards, he will change his mind and give you scholarship awards."

Layode laughed.

"Dad, we all know that this is one of the possibilities in the King's mind. Every endeavor has its time, why is it that no one invokes the god of thunder in dry season."

"Even if you have more newer clothes than mine, you can't equal me in number of rags disposed. I know what I'm doing."

In a blacksmith shop, Diran was blowing air to the blacksmith burner while Tade tried using a picker to check if his cutlass was red hot.

"Our school will be awash with the story of our trending feat tomorrow," Tade said.

"Guy, we may end up being distributed to work in teachers' farm tomorrow instead of the school garden," Diran interrupted. "If that eventually happens, I pray they don't send me to Mr Anwuta's farm. They said his cassava farm, where students often work, are full of stinging nettle plants."

The following day, two groups of four students met at a crossroad. The first group had Tade, Diran, and two other students, while the second group had Layode, Bolu, and two other students.

"We're on our way to Mr Shomolu's farm," Bolu said.

Shrugged with resignation, Tade said, "You have always been lucky. Students often return to school with cracked eggs from Mr Shomolu's farm. How sure are we that there is a God in heaven that answers prayer? I had prayed grandiose litanies in a bid to cancel the odd of being sent to this man's farm. Here I am on the way to Mr Anwuta's farm."

"Let's discuss it with one another if we are ready to swap between each other. I and Bolu are willing to be in your group. Let the two other students in your group replace us here," Layode told Tade.

A surprised student from Tade's group said, "Should we call this a spell or what? Well, I'm more than happy for the swap."

"That's the spirit, men! Let's get going," Tade said with a grin.

"Tomorrow is the d-day. I learnt that dignitaries will be present in the dinner. Ducks are expected to back their ducklings, elders would say," Layode said.

"The roosters, I'm sure, will merchandise their tonic fetes with fervour," Tade added.

Diran said, "You guys are good with words. Anyway, this should just come and pass. We talk of dinner. It seems this is the whole duty of man. Billionaires keep working so that they won't wake up in a morning unable to afford their next meal. If I excel in flying planes, my joyous moments will be when I sit down with my wife and children for dinner. While away cruising along nautical miles, my children will say dad is away in the air hustling."

"But someone has aptly said that until your job becomes fun, one is not going to be happy. That's why I'm choosing what I like most -- nation's defense," Bolu argued.

"You can't work for ever. If you can drive a lorry for days without food or water, and you are told that you have been skipping your meals, that is when you'll say you enjoy what you do, right? When you become 70, and Federal Road Safety Corps withdraws your driving license, what will you do? Go and ask Hulk Hogan how he feels while not on stage fighting," Diran said.

A BMW luxury car on high speed suddenly pulled up beside the students. Three hefty men came down and bundled the students into the car with tinted windscreens.

In kidnappers' den, the kids sat on the floor of a room as a fierce-looking man entered and said, "As soon as Oba Adegboye accedes to our request, you will be fine. You guys are the hottest cakes in Ife-Odan today."

One of the kidnappers entered the room, and called the first man to come out.

"That dumb ass is not ready to pay ransom for the boys' life," the kidnapper said.

A kidnapper said, "We should have known better. That stingy asshole can only give his money in exchange for the lives of his children. And none of the children schools in Ni..."

Another man rushed inside and said, "That's a story for another day. Intel at my disposal shows that security operatives are closing in on us. We are returning these boys, but not the same way they were brought here. We should inflict injuries that can cause brain damage, so that they won't lead security operatives to us someday.

"We should just drop them off under the Third Mainland Bridge," a mean-looking man said.

"The poor boys are hustlers like our selves. We should just let them go," said the one that proposed brain damage.