Market day was the following day. When it was dawn, goats bleated in expectation of raw foods. Dogs glared and barked at the strange faces that walked past. Cocks squawked to dust off the brown chaff that climbed on top of their wings. The actions were followed by persistent crows. Birds sang as they flew from tree to tree. The clamours they echoed were intrusive in a way that people were forced to yawn and rise from sleep. In a short while, the maidens picked bunches of brooms from the backdoors and started to sweep the surroundings. Adolescents stacked plates on the top plate for washing and rinsing. Farmers stooped near stones to sharpen the edges of cutlasses in getting ready for the farm. The road was as busy as a bee since buses, overloaded with cash crops, were moving on it.
At the market square, the youths were carrying large loads on their heads, moving this way and that way. Men and women, who held empty baskets and sacks walked slowly while traders called on them for patronage. Teenage girls and boys, with enamel trays and hawking baskets balancing on their heads and their palms, walked around the market. Beggars sat up from the sidewalk to move around, placing left hands on the shoulders of poor lads whom they hired to lead the ways with bowls where givers would drop some mints of naira. There were walking sticks held in the other hands of these beggars which eased the stress of moving. On the narrow path were the lame, the blind, the dumb whose sources of livelihood came from alms seeking. It was a pitiful sight as they waved continuously towards the people who secretly hissed and looked at them in contempt.
Adigun and his mom arrived at the market as early as possible to make some purchases. They paused walking at a point to observe the happenings of the day. Sade loved to know what was going on in the world. Near the roundabout the opposite of Mama-Put restaurant, an argument was staged by two mothers that were brawling over casual collusion and none thought of saying sorry.
''You're blind. You are sick," the first woman was telling the other.
In fury, the other woman grabbed the sleeve of her opponent's clothes and dragged her. She pulled and pushed her until she almost fell to the ground. No one succeeded in calming the angry women. They ignored the pleas of the gathering and resumed raining curses on each other, forcefully knotting the loosened wrappers tied to their waists and adopting battle poses. The news got to the sergeants assigned to monitor the overcrowded market. They hurried to the scene with cudgels. One was holding a gun. When they got to the place, the one with the gun angrily cocked his weapon, his facial feature appearing too scary. The appearances of those men brought a deafening silence to the gathering. Not all the officers were happy about this because the gun-carrying one wished the women could keep being troublesome so he would arrest them to make some cool cash for himself, but no one dared. The sight of the gun, the cudgels and the frightful faces of the men could cause a stampede, for in those days people feared the police more than they dreaded a snake. When peace had reigned, spectators resumed activities.
When they had watched the drama to their satisfaction, Adigun and his mom gingerly crossed the other side of the market that led to the place fresh fish were sold. Sade was about to pay for the wrapped pieces of fish when it dawned on her that her purse was not in the sack. She felt a rush of sadness and quickly paused to reason where she might have left it.
"Is my brain on holiday or my village people have kidnapped it?," she asked no one in particular as soon as she stepped out of her thoughts.
"Mom, your brain is still intact in your head. Your village people do not need an iota of the brain. What they need are chewing sticks to chew teeth," Adigun laughed.
"God forbid, but what propelled the strange query?" the fishmonger chimed in, restricting her laughter from bursting out. She thrust out more herring fish from the cold carton and placed them on top of the carton so that the passers-by would be baited.
"Who would believe I trekked down here from a distance with my boy, leaving the purse that contains money back home? You would wonder if it my saliva I will pay in exchange for all I need," she hissed a girlishly long hiss that prompted a few people to stare and turn away at the same time.
She walked over to Adigun and placed her arm lightly on his shoulder. "Wait for me, son. Let me hack my way home to get the purse," she said and proceeded to leave.
It was still morning, but the market had started bathing in sunlight. Though the sunshine was not too bright, there was a sign in the air that revealed its plan of being scalding hot in a moment. Adigun resolved to sit on one long leg of a flat table, placed on the right side of the fishmonger. And as he sat on the wood, the brown plank made a gun-like sound, indicating its lack of strength. Adigun sprang up from the plank and hovered behind the fishmonger since he saw nowhere else to rest his buttock. His standing lasted for almost an hour before he began to feel discomfort churning inside him, overturning his calves in a way that his back ached and his legs shivered, he felt it was time he tossed around the area to block the bridge of the chill in him.
"I am coming, madam," he said, turning to the huge fishmonger, "I want to take a walk down the street before my bladder tears to shreds," he placed his hands on his waist and pushed them from side to side in a way that the fishmonger saw the evidence of his tiredness.
The fishmonger laughed, her eyes almost got teary. She wondered how one would have his bladder torn to shreds when standing. She viewed it as an hyperbole, "I brought a long bench to this market for my customers to be sitting on, but bad people of the world sneaked in to steal it. My God will judge all of them," she said, shaking her head, "But watch you don't get lost in this crowded market, and get back in time so that your mom won't start looking for you," she set a fish aside and knifed it to four pieces for a bearded, young man of moderate height and size who stood next to her, holding money in his right hand.
"I will stay safe. I will stay safe," Adigun sang as he was leaving.
By the time the sun was intense, the traders reacted with painstaking slowness. They covered their heads with oversized hats against the harsh weather. A few of them made use of umbrellas that could contain a dozen people. Adigun was not spared either. He hacked his path to the tall tree and stood underneath it to shade himself against the sun that almost roasted him. He mopped the file of sweat from his face with the edge of his shirt. At this place, there was a wide, fallen log. He walked through its direction and perched on it. This place was cool and hushed like midnight, but it housed too many mosquitoes and even ants since it was too close to the bush. Something was crawling in his nape. Adigun was certain it was a mosquito; it could not be a fly. Flies do not hurt one when they hover on a body. He cupped his palm in a way that it would not hurt too much and yet would kill the stubborn mosquitoes that came to suck his blood. Gently, he slapped the spot the mosquitoes were in and showed himself his palm. He hissed at the bloody mosquito that squashed his palm.
When the sun was lukewarm, making the sky look as if rain was threatening to fall, Adigun came out of the place to enjoy the cool breeze blowing down from the air. In a short while, he straightened his gaze to the lane his mom had earlier taken to see if she was on the way. She was not. He looked grim. He did not even know when he landed himself a desperate blow on his hip. His face was unsatisfied. As he was leaving to be with the fishmonger, the pupils in his eyes caught a young damsel who dressed elegantly and was walking towards a shade shop.
"Well done, Aunty Kemi" the girl stooped to greet her neighbour, "do you make sales today, ma'am,"
Adigun moved closer and concealed himself in a corner of an unpainted shop, turning himself into a peeping Tom. He wanted to hear the captivating voice of the damsel whose name he did not know, but whose face seemed familiar.
"Aduke!" Aunty Kemi called, admiringly touching the cornrows in her head, "your face looks as fresh as today's bread," she teased.
The pretty lady was the cynosure of all eyes at the gathering as she strutted confidently in a gorgeous blue blouse. Her hair was as black as a moonless night, her lips full, and her eyes reflected the sunlight. She had such a beautiful figure and well-chiselled features, you would think she was sculpted by the master sculptor himself. Adigun was now certain of her identity. Her voice was not different from the calm voice that captivated him when she was screaming in a gutter. Her waists were as thin as a pencil and her eyebrows were shaped like the crescent moon. She looked prettier than she appeared the other day.
As he took a quick look at her, his heart pounded like pistons and was followed by a slow dipping of hands into his hip pockets to strike a dignified posture. He was so eager to exchange a word with this goddess, but she was still sitting with her neighbour. He smooched his lower lip and racked his brain to seek a trick with which to thereafter engage her in a talk. If he walked a few steps forward, he would be with her, but his mind was halfway seized by his mom; he feared she might catch him a second time with a stranger whom she warned him about. He did not want to imagine what her reaction would even seem like. Imagining it would deflate the balloon of his plan, he was sure.
Aduke sat on a low stool. The stool seemed to glue her, tucking her in, as she felt reluctant to untangle her buttock from it. Perhaps it was the rising sun that birthed the reluctance or the cultural song barring out of the speakers of the shop, that nestled behind Aunty Kemi's shop, that placed her on tenterhooks. No one could really tell except herself and her Creator. She was peeling an orange with a sharp knife, and the slender peel dropped to the ground. At her host's suggestion, she peeled one more orange, sucked it and then modestly announced her satisfaction. Two oranges were enough, she reasoned. As she stood up, Adigun's mind reeled in glee. It was his thought that she was set to leave her neighbour's shop, but he was wrong because Aduke had only sprung up to wipe away the remnants of the orange peel that were on her lap.
The more she reacted, the longer Adigun was placed in a state of dilemma. He did not know what to do anymore, but he was determined to grant his own wish. Now he silently prayed his mom stay away from the market a little longer, and jabbed his clenched fist in the air in preparation to risk his life; to follow a stranger. So engrossed was he in his thoughts when a man coughed repeatedly behind him and the blast of cough was throaty, but Adigun was not compelled to say sorry. His enchantment with Aduke was so strong, leading to his focus on only her as though he were a goalkeeper, struggling to grab a racing ball. At that moment, Aduke helped herself to her feet. She was finally set to leave. She was alone, walking slowly to the third junction with a shopping basket in her right hand. Adigun called on her from a few distances away, yet she did not dart her gaze towards him.
She walked on. Adigun followed her in made haste. As she stopped, he also stopped during which he averted his face to the other side of the spot. Immediately the young lady continued walking with an unsteady gait, he sneaked after her. He obviously was shy and lacked the courage to face her, but the action made the lady frantic; she was in danger. He moved closer to her and tapped her on the shoulder from the back.
"What the heck did you just do?" Aduke had not intended to raise her voice, but it had come out sharp and harsh, "Who are you?" the fearful girl turned and exploded like a bomb. Her eyeballs rolled unsettlingly.
"Forgive my approach if it was wrong," his voice slightly trembled as if he had just escaped a fatal accident," I think I know you," he managed a wan smile.
A mix of surprise and confusion possessed Aduke who suddenly ran backwards. Her thought was he planned to abduct her. Thankfully, Adigun saw a way of ebbing the thought. She moved a bit closer from the rear, furtively staring around to ensure there were spectators to notice the fear in her eyes. There were. A dour-looking onlooker slowed his pace towards the dreadful Aduke. He asked if she needed help. Aduke stared at the strange man, at the puffing smoke of a cigarette in between his two fingers and finally at Adigun. "All is well," she bowed, "Thank you, sir," she added as the man was plodding to his accustomed seat.
"Who are you?" she repeated the question.
Adigun brushed his face with his hand and did not answer instantly. He was fazed. He was angry at the invisible accusation. Certainly, he would have been touched if Aduke had not opposed the envision of the cultist-looking man. He was between loving the lady and hating her. He knew it was time he left because the lady before him was capable of causing danger. So he respectfully lowered his head and left her presence. She was now convinced of his innocence. And because of that, she ran after him minutes later.
"Wait! Wait!," she called as she scurried behind him, "I did not mean to sound so harsh. I was preoccupied with worry. Life is insecure. A pastor could deceive and abduct you. Everyone now pretends to be a saint. Hence, one has to be cautious. But I see the innocence in the pupils of your eyes. Could you now tell me of your identity?' She added when she was finally with him.
"I find it murderous to kill a pest, let alone harm my fellow human beings. Your face looks familiar. So I approached to verify if I was right. That's all. I think I know you from....,' he said, his index finger moving to capture a particular place.
Aduke's eyes followed his demonstration, thirsty to satisfy her curiosity, but she still had no hint of where the young man was pointing.
"Where?" she asked softly, and a dimple appeared on her right cheek. The dimple titillated him.
'Some time ago, It rained heavily. In your surge to God-know-where, you slipped on the moistened ground. You urgently needed help. Someone rushed to you with a bucketful of water in his hand and......'
"Haa! Was it you?" She interjected. Her voice was soft and friendly, and It startled Adigun who nodded vaguely.
Aduke felt as if she were a school teacher who soiled her skirt while amid her pupils. Her poise was meek and straight. Her head ducked in respect. Even her countenance portrayed she was sorry for the gloom she caused him. And It soothed Adigun who gladly reciprocated the respect. After some minutes of conversing with each other, they bade each other a goodbye. In her rush to where she was going, she kept looking back and casting a look at him. Adigun also stared at her, smiling and folding his arms as if she were right there in his arms, resting.
Weak and exhausted from the long walk, Sade returned to the market two hours later. Her entire body was covered in a dripping sweat. Her legs wobbled. She seemed to be battling with a raging headache caused by the stress she had been through. She was breathing like a worn-out footballer on the field. She needed to relax, and the fishmonger pulled her high stool to her side. As she sat on it, the stool squeaked. Then Adigun edged towards her with a flat raffia fan and started to fan her body, hastily raising the raffia fan up and bringing it down. The lines of the sweat were cleaned as they tasted the waves.
"Did you see it?" Adigun spoke finally, still blowing the raffia fan, but with slow motion. He felt grateful, or perhaps happier, that she had not seen a reason to fault him, and an air of glee surrounded his head as he pictured that part where the goddess smiled at him. The lulling and captivating smile, he chuckled, was indelible.
"Yes, I saw it," Sade sighed, "It was squatting near the brown cupboard in the storeroom. The bedroom and the sitting room were all in mess. I turned everywhere and everything upside down in frantically searching this lifeless purse that suffered me a great deal, "she hissed, her hiss growing to a longer syllable, "I even raised your underpants, thinking the purse was hiding there. Everywhere now looks like a wrestle took place there," She straightened her legs to sap the stress and then faced Adigun whose face crinkled into a smile.
"You should take comedy for a job," the fishmonger suggested and laughed, "which one is a lifeless purse that suffered you again and which one is raising a pant to look for a purse. Is this big purse in your hand bigger than his small pant?," A woman was behind the fishmonger. She was also laughing in a way that spit slipped down from her mouth. She used the edge of her wrapper to clean the spittle away and then returned to taste the ocean of laughter. A deep dimple followed her laugh. No one knew why she was laughing because her gaze was darting to the office that had 'Out Of Bounds' boldly emblazoned on it and then looking up often to watch the eagle dipping and rising above the sky.
"It has to be lifeless as it almost made me lifeless in the process. I don't trust some underpants eh. Some of these wears have big money kept there," she reached out and swiped at an insect that landed on her thigh. The insect sadly became lifeless.
Sade had intentionally spoken those words to send them on the rampage of mirth as said her habit and the results she got tallied with her expectations, nevertheless Adigun only grinned. He had wanted to burst out laughing, however, he feared it would pounce at his reverie since his head was immersed in thought-- the thought of Aduke. He felt certain now that she liked him, too. But he blamed himself for not noting down her residence. All right, he was confident that fate would make their paths cross again. It was only a matter of time.
The polythene bag was now loaded with foodstuff. Sade and her son were set to leave for home. They trekked to the next junction at the far end of the market where a group of cyclists stood on their bikes. The collective shout of "let me give you a ride. I will ride you gently. My skill of riding is dexterous" they echoed was riveting. Each of these bike men had a colourful helmet pulled to their head.
"Where you dey go?" A pot-bellied cyclist asked in pidgin.
Adigun was unconscious. He placed the polythene bag down on the brown ground and began to gaze around. He was furtively trying to catch a glimpse of the one that had the key to his heart, but a sight of her was not in the view.
"Ayetoro junction," Sade replied, and friendly pinched her boy on the shoulder. Instantly, he returned to his consciousness and unwillingly mounted the bike.