Chapter 3

“What do you take me for, your secretary?” she retorted with a deep sigh. “Anyway, things aren’t easy for me also because my finances are in a mess, coupled with a mass depreciation of the shares I own on the stock market.”

I was about to throw another question at her when she continued.

“About the fifty thousand nairas you asked me to give you for Mummy’s medical expenses, I don’t have it, and I don’t think I presently own anything that any bank might be interested in using as collateral if I were to borrow some money.”

I looked at her with scorn before replying, trying to control my anger at the same time.

“Listen, Tamuno Bam-Bam,” I began by calling her by her full name, “I’m not asking you to lend me the money. I’m asking you to give me fifty thousand nairas to complete the required amount the doctors are demanding.”

“Of course, I know the amount the doctors are demanding, five hundred and fifty thousand nairas, for the operation and other expenses. How could I possibly forget?”

I felt defeated as my eyes traveled from her cleavages to her smooth carob-colored legs and back to her left wrist, which was strapped with a beautiful luxury wristwatch. Something in my throat stopped me from talking or asking the saucy princess any more questions as she stood up slowly and began to catwalk to her bedroom.

“I’m dead tired, Tio, and there are only two things I want right now—a cold shower and undisturbed sleep, okay?” 

Without waiting for a response, she went to her bedroom. I didn’t need any prophet to tell me that I had to look for something to eat. The feeling of hunger soon superseded the anger that had been building up during the brother-sister conversation.  

I stood up from where I sat and headed for the kitchen when I heard the bathroom shower being turned on by my sister, who was probably getting ready to satisfy one of her desires. Inside the kitchen, I took a knife and a chopping board and set them on the kitchen cupboard while looking for a lighter at the same time to light the gas cooker. I went back to the small dining room and headed for the chest freezer, opened it, and got two eggs, some fresh peppers, and tomatoes.

I  was about to return to the kitchen when I stopped with my gaze on the television screen, staring at Theo Ihonvbere, one of my former coursemates back at the university. He was being interviewed by the national TV station about maritime activities in the country. It was not the publicity being given to him by the media that surprised me. Rather, it was his position in the maritime industry and society in general that surprised me. This was the same person who carried a large brown envelope containing his credentials just sixteen months ago, looking for any white-collar job he could lay his hands on.

I sat down to listen to the interview, after which I could deduce that this former coursemate of mine now owned the second-largest shipping company in the whole of West Africa. The interview was about to end when I stood up, about to return to the kitchen, when the word ‘perfect’ came out of his mouth. He continued by adding the same word to other answers he gave to the host’s questions, and in the process, he kept mentioning ‘perfect life,’ ‘perfect entrepreneur,’ and ‘perfect business’ until the host ended the interview.

Seconds later, I was chopping fresh peppers and tomatoes; the words he spoke kept ringing in my ears. This was definitely not ordinary; for a former job applicant, within sixteen months, to become a multimillionaire in the shipping industry. I poured the chopped tomatoes and pepper into a small container, broke two eggs into the mixture, and whisked it with a fork. Satisfied with the texture, I fetched two sachets of noodles from the cupboard and emptied their contents into a small cup on the gas cooker. Then, I poured a p*t of water into the p*t, lit the gas cooker, and paused for a moment to think about my coursemate, who was now a millionaire, believing there was much more to the physical fame and fortune the guy possessed.

I managed to snap out of my reverie while continuing with my cooking. I reduced the flame, emptied the seasoning and chili powder in the p*t, and covered it for a few minutes. 

While waiting for the food to get done, I kept staring around the kitchen like a stranger in the apartment. Two minutes later, I opened the p*t and poured the egg batter into it, stirring the contents at the same time. Back when I was rich, I knew I could never eat something like this for dinner because, as far as I was concerned, it was…impossible, with all that money at my disposal.

Putting out the flame a few minutes later, I began to dish out the food, allowing my mind to stray to Theo. Later, while eating my meal, I began to think of my mother in the hospital and most of the things the doctors had been telling me. 

I knew my mother had never been sick in her life, not even once. This was due to her frequent medical check-ups, physical exercise, countless sessions of yoga, meditation, and her strict vegetarian diet. Something had to be done, I thought to myself; I wasn’t going to let my mother die because of fifty thousand nairas.

Halfway into my meal, there was a sudden blackout, which was followed by complete darkness. Hearing a neighbor somewhere outside putting on his generating set, I stood up and groped my way to the light switches, television, and every other electrical appliance in the sitting room to switch them off before continuing my meal in darkness. To me, that was the Power Holding Company’s way of wishing me goodnight while I ate in darkness and silence.