Oga Martins & His Kettle of Fishes 4.0 – Episode 7

It was a Saturday morning, preparations towards the commencement of the naming ceremony of Madam Ekaette’s sister’s baby was in top gear. The early arrivals had made themselves comfortable. Aside the jollof rice that was still on fire, every other thing needed for the ceremony was ready. Within minutes, 5, Otolorin street Lawanson had become a beehive of activities.

Runo had been trying hard to sleep all to no avail. She had only just returned home after her all night shoot for a musical video. She was so famished that she could kill to sleep for just two hours. On reaching her compound some minutes past 8, she was surprised to see canopies and chairs. A group of women had gathered close to the storehouse, their attention focused on the large cast iron cooking pot of Jollof rice. The aroma that emanated from the large pot that was supported by three huge almost equally sized stones nearly shut down Runo’s senses completely. The firewood beneath heated the pot till all the air the people around the vicinity could breathe was the scent from the Jollof rice. “Well done o!” Runo greeted the women who were talking loudly like chatter boxes

“Fine girl, thank you,” one of them replied.

“Runo welcome,” Madame Ekaette left the small group of women to speak to her neighbour

“Good Morning Madame Ekaette. Are you throwing a party?” Runo inquired as Madame Ekaette walked towards her.

“No oh! Na funeral”

“Are you serious! Who die?”

“Of course I’m only being sarcastic. My family is celebrating the birth of a bouncing baby boy?”

“Wow!A baby boy in your family? I never knew you were carrying a baby”

“Gosh! Miss Fido Dido, are you this dumb?”

“Madame Ekaette what’s that suppose to mean?”

“No vex fine girl, shey someone cannot play with you ni?” Madame Ekaette puts her hands around Runo’s tiny waist in an attempt to pacify her.

“And stop calling me Fido Dido. I don’t like it”

Madame Ekaette smiles mockingly at Runo,”But no be bad name na and it doesn’t change the fact that you are a pretty skinny girl. At least you better pass people like me wey our size no dey market”

“Whatever Madame Ekaette, my name is Runo not Fido Dido”

“Okay I don hear. Anyway na my younger sister they do her pikin naming ceremony”

“Your younger sister? Don’t think we’ve met. Does she stay with you?”

“Of course not. She lives two streets away with her husband”

“Oh, she doesn’t even stay here and you guys are holding the ceremony in this compound”

“And so? Do you have a problem with that?”

“No oh! Why should I? I’m not the landlord now”

“Oh, so you know, I thought you needed to be reminded”

“Anyways congratulations oh! Let me go and sleep small. I will come out later to eat my own Jollof rice”

“No wahala, I go keep your own for you.” Some young guys entered the compound, carrying speakers and musical instruments, it was then Runo remembered she needed to sleep badly and a noisy compound wouldn’t make that happen

“Haba, will you guys be playing music too?”

“What kind of question is that Opelenge? Why would we want to throw a party without music. Is that how it’s done in your village?”

“Sure, that’s why it’s called a party. Sorry jare, I don’t know why I’m not thinking straight,” Runo realized too late that the question was dumb

“You should go rest”

“I should…see you later”

“Madame Ekaete come test the rice oh!” One of the women that had gathered around the large cooking pot of Jollof rice called out to the host. She leaves Runo to attend to the women.

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Aisha had gotten to the third trimester pregnancy, hence she was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the safe delivery of her child. She had woken up as early as six to put things in order in the house. Since it was a weekend, she didn’t have to bother about work. Her husband had gone to bed on an empty stomach the previous night, and she knew he would be really hungry by the time he woke up. Martins had searched for Solonzo’s wallet into the wee hours of the day, so it was no surprise that he was still sleeping at 10 a.m on a Saturday morning.

Runo had been tossing and turning from one part of the bed to the other, trying to catch some sleep. The party was underway and the loud music that enveloped the whole compound made certain that getting any form of rest was going to be an illusion.

“Oh my God! What have I done to myself? What was I thinking when I opted for this compound. Somebody cannot even have a decent sleep. It’s not even like the person who is doing the party lives in the compound. I really have to call Oga Martins. This is so wrong.” Runo spoke to no one in particular in her self-contained room apartment. She picked her phone from the bed to call Martins, but stopped for moment when she realized it was a Saturday morning. It was definitely not the best time to call a married man whose wife could give her rat poison for dinner if she had the chance. The music from the DJ stand got louder and a lot more disturbing. Runo grew more impatient and furious. Undeterred, she finally dialed Martins number.

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Martins was still sleeping when his phone rang, waking him from his slumber, It was Runo. Martins was lucky that his wife was no where around when the lady called, or else all hell would have been let loose. Runo and Aisha were sworn enemies and there was even a  pending assignment Aisha had given Martins that he was yet to fulfill. Aisha had asked Martins to throw Runo out of the compound, an assignment Martins knew he was never going to carry out. Martins made certain his wife was not nearby before he answered the call.

“Hello”

“Hi Martins, It’s being a while,” the voice from the phone receiver responded.”

“Yeah, you know you shouldn’t be calling me on weekends because of my wife,” Martins spoke frantically.

“Yes, I thought about it but I couldn’t help”

“Anyway she’s not nearby. What’s the problem?”

“There’s a party in the compound”

“A party?”

“Yes. You are not aware?”

“Hell no! Who is hosting? Jamiu?”

“No its Madame Ekaette”

“Madame Ekaette? Since when did Madame Ekaette start throwing parties in the compound?”

“It’s not even her party”

“Then whose party is it?”

“According to her, it’s the naming ceremony of her younger sister”

“Her younger sister? Does she stay in the compound?”

“No. She lives some streets away with her husband”

“Are you kidding me?”

“My reaction exactly when she told me”

“No, that’s so wrong. And no one told me anything.” A loud bang on the door cut short his phone conversation with Runo. “Look Runo, I have to go now. Will be there ASAP” Martins ended the call. He darts to the window in the room to check who the intruder was. Martins was shocked when he caught a glimpse of the intruder’s face. “Oh my God! How did he find this place? What is he even doing here? 48 hours he said…” Martins was both confused and frightened, standing at the entrance to his apartment was the mean looking Solonzo.

 

Oga Martins & His Kettle of Fishes continues next week…