Taking a walk in Warri's rain part II
Ade Talabi
Nettasie o,
As I give una, man time for waffi yestaday, na hin I come rememba
Anthony. Di
Anthony wey I dey tuk, na 15 years man brain tavel so o. Kai, di tin I
dey hear
for London, be say Anthony dey fill DV-98 form. biko wetin be dat. I tink
say
Anthony don pass hin driving test long time ago o. shuo na wa for waec o.
Wondas
shall neva end, not for waffi aniway. AnyRoads? biko roads boku.
Anthony sabi book in dose days o, na hin I first see Time Magazine for
hin hand,
everitime di bobo go dey tuk time, time, man bin tink say na thyme wey
dem dey
put for rice in dey tuk, no be say man like food o, but una sabi say na
one tin
madam must not forget to put inshide uncle bens rice, dat na thyme o. So
when
Anthony dey tuk time, man just dey tink say, 'dis bobo like food sha,
since hin
cheeks as be like blom-blom so'.
Una sabi blom-blom ke, ani way does of una wey live for wafii una sabi
say one
orange ball dey, wey be say e dey bounce well, well, and e dey very
light. e be
like say na rubber dem take do am. Blom-blom dey always orange, and na
correct
ball o. no be di yeye ball wey just full ground now.
Aniway, na wen dem give Anthony PhD for social anthropologi, na hin man
sabi
wetim time magazine be. even if u wake me from sleep now, as I dey speak
to u,
na onli social man sabi for anthony degree, and di social sef, na because
Anthony like chu-chus dem opekes no be small. Till today di anthropologi
sef
just be like gramma wey don miss road. I fit bet sef, say Anthony no no
wetin e
mean, but biko man no be betting man o. di last time man bet, na all my
moni I
lose, una wan kno wetin man bet, took am easy I go dey yarn u larer.
Dem tell us for waffi dat time say na Oil, Anthony do hin Phd on. na hin
man
tink say wetin consign oil and anthropologi. na wah o. what ever sha
Anthony
sabi book and all of us dat time no dey speak pidgin in front of am,
becos, Ol
boy di bobo sabi block ehn. I rememba one day when, Nneka vex am ehn. Hin
block
di babe, ehn, even sef na moi come dey beg say 'Haba Anthony, wetin Nneka
do you
like dat, wey u block am so'
As some of una no live for waffi, blocking na wetin dem Lagosians dey
call
messing, na hin be say woman go tuk hin own. di woman fit tuk say 'See
dis yeye
man o, I tink say u be betta person, na hin I dey follo u, born 7 pikin
for u'.
Biko no ask me, wetin mama bomboy do born 7 for yeye man o, rememba I
just dey
describe blocking to, una wey no live for waffi.
Di bobo fit tuk say, 'wetin dey do dis woman, u kno say I be yeye man, u
born 7
pikin for me finish, who be yeye, me or you, to say I marry Florence, man
for be
millionaire now sef' dis na what we call blocking for waffi. Dat time we
go say
'di bobo just block anihow'. Na hin be say he don vex. Biko no ask me who
be
Florence o. shuo. I kno no say una nettas like gist like dis.
Dose of una wey dey follo dis gist dey go, Nneka na Anthony girlfi o, dem
don
dey comot together now, e reach two and a haf yiars. Nneka and Helen na
sisters
dem be, na Helen I tell una 2 days ago, say she dey live behind police
barracks
for waffi. For dem Nneka family, na Helen fine pass, anibodi wey live for
waffi
dat time sabi di Nwagbara's. Na 5 girls dey dat famili dat time. Anitin
wey Mr
Nwagbara tuk dat time, na all of us dey listen, becos man neva see
anibodi for
dis whole world use hin power ova men like Mr Nwagbara, if una rememba
well,
well na Mr Nwagbara vex, wey man no sabi spik Chinese till today. Na all
of us
wan dey for Mr Nwagbara's good books.
Una sabi sef, say person no fit read PhD like Anthony read am, wen he no
be
Chike Obi, na onli Chike Obi I no wey be say, afta secondary school, dem
just
give am PhD just like dat, dat bobo hot o, no be small. I even hear say
di
journalist wey go intafew am for Onitsha recentli, just get tan anihow,
and di
bobo black, well, well before. Chike Obi hot sotay, u just need to put
suya meat
near di bobo, di tin go roast one time.
Aniway sha, as I dey tuk dey go, Anthony do hin Bsc for Metallurgical
Enginiarin
for Texas, dat time Emekus dey call am Texan, I dey say wetin be Texan,
if
pesron live for Texas, no be Texican he be. dat one sef for waffi dat
time na
big arguement. some call dem Texanians sef. na wah for waec o. Na hin
Anthony go
shine for Texas o, dem say na hin sabi dribble pass for dem football team
for
there, dem say hin dribble sotay, di bobo win scholarship. How person go
dribble
sotay win scholarship? Man neva hear dat one before o.
All dose dribble wey man dribble behind police barracks for waffi in dose
days,
wey be say sef, all dose 'korofo' wey we dey call recruits go put eye for
balconi dey clap say, look as e dribble 7 people like dat, no body ever
come tuk
to moi about scholarship o. Even Anthony sef wey dey gather scholarship
for
Texas anihow, e no want to dey dey opposite team from moi, because e no
say wen
I dribble all of dem ehn, all di akpu and ewedu and bokoto, wey be say
dem still
dey meet jeje for dem belle, na everitin dem go vomit for field. Man
dribble in
dose days bo. I for follo Anthony go Texas sef. E no dey easy o.
Aniway sha, dem say Anthony play Golf too for Texas, dem say hin handicap
na 3
for 18 hole course, biko don't even go there, becos me sef, di tin just
be like
Greek. But dem tuk say hin sabi golf well, well. As man dey here so, I no
even
no wetin golf mean, Di golf man kno, na Volkswagen Golf, na becos na hin
we dey
take shift babes from Uniben in dose days, come do parti for waffi.
Men!!! dose
were di days bo. And Uniben chikitos, don't even mess, na dem fine pass
o. no be
all dis ones of nowadays, wey no sabi weder dem dey come or go. dis na
real
babes.
Any Unibenite go tell u, even sef dem UniLag, dem UI dem Unife, abi na
OAU now
sef, dem kara-ole (make bodi hard) unifasiti. dem too sabi say na Uniben
di
action dey in dose days. No be now wey dem get Abuja unifasiti.
Aniway sha, na Chinyere, Anthony marri, dem get pikin yanfu, yanfu now,
and dem
still dey live for waffi. I trust my pipul. Waffi too sweet to comot like
dat.
If una rememba na Chinyere go studi botani for Moscow. Na hin dey live
opposite
Baba Badru hin shop where dem dey sell correct taba. Na Baba Badru taba
fine
pass for waffi dat time, because e dey near motor garage, as dem traders
dey
drop dem load from Onitsha market, na Baba Badru dem dey sell dem finest
goods
too. Na hin one yeye person dey tell me say na 'Localisation' dem call
dat one.
Till today me I no see wetin consign Localisation wit good taba. E no
good if
person read too much o. my brodas and sistas make una took am easy. read
small,
play small, no too play sha o. shuo.
na me o.
Good efenin
Odu'a