Rosette's Story: Book One

Chapter 4: Borokini

* ~ *

And so, after that night, the next morning Rose kept on going to school until it was the weekend.
Being Saturday morning, Rose woke up stretching and cracking her bones and limbs also suppressing a yawn as she looked at the ceiling and stared out the window as the sun hits her face.

She then got out of bed and began arranging the house, doing her chores, cleaning the ceiling fan of the living room and so on. For breakfast, she ate Beans and Quaker Oats with milk and sugar. As her mum says that; "When you eat wela wela, you go get strength to work."

Briefly, she did the dishes and dressed up to follow her mother to Borokini Market in Yaba, Lagos. She wrote the list of items (groceries) that they needed in the kitchen with the necessary costs. The ingredient list was something more like this:

SHOPPING LIST:

* Crayfish - 9,500Naira

* Fruits & Vegetables - "

* Spices - 11,000Naira

* Fish & Chicken - "

* Rice - "

* Baking Ingredients - "

And so, they headed towards the door, locking it behind them. Mrs. Amelia's car had broken down the last time they drove out, so she had to take a cab (using the new Bolt Taxi App) to King Soyinka's Street till they got to Borokini Market, where they would take a bus.

If there's one thing Lagosians are known for, it is their rowdy roads. But thankfully, today was quite different. Earlier in the news, they watched when the law makers and the Governor spoke concerning this rowdiness and how they intended on putting an end to it.

"Hmm, it looks like they finally kept to their words."

Rose spoke up.

"My pikin, me I just tire for this country." Her mum laughed saying.

Just then, the cab she had booked had just arrived and they both got in, the car sped off to King Soyinka's Street.

Rose enjoyed riding in Bolt vehicles because they were very luxurious (especially when you book a premium ride - the glasses are well-tinted).

And also, she also loved AC (air conditioning) as they had peculiar scents on them that passed through her nose.

The car's radio then began to play one of Adekunle Gold's hit songs, from his latest boom topping album. It was from one of her favorite music stations. Rose was VERY pleased.

But sadly, they got to their destination and Rose's fantasy came to an end. Her mum paid the driver off and they jumped down, with Rose holding the paper in her hand (on one hand), the other hand holding her purse. Fuji Christian music played on the road.

When they looked around, they marveled because the whole of Lasgidi was calm. One of the officers was standing afar, as they looked around in utter amazement.

"Mummy, they would have seriously flogged all these hooligan bus drivers that used to cluster here eh."

She laughed.

"I tell you." Her mum replied. "Thank God oh, hmm finally, law and order."

They then waved a bus down and got in heading towards the market place. Although, Rose hated coming out of her house to go to the market, visit ghettos and to ride in 'dirty' buses, but she knew she had to start getting used to them because she's becoming a woman and she's Nigerian, obviously.

As they reached the place, they got out of the bus and began strolling into the market place. There were sign posts saying things like: "Join this church service and you will never remain the same!" and another one said: "Happy Ramadan" and another said: "SPAR is giving 20% discounts in the next 2 days." The sign posts and billboards were numerous.

Rose held her bag tightly towards her lap because of the thugs and thieves who loved to snatch women's hand bags in the marketplace under hot sun. Thankfully, the market place wasn't rowdy, the effect of the law was effective everywhere in the whole of Lagos.

The people's 'markets' on their various lanes. Some selling fish, others selling grains of rice, beans, garri, etc. They also passed an Alhaji who was butchering his meat (Ram).

Using the list in Rose's hand, one-by-one they bought all the ingredients on their list. They then approached Mami Iyabo who sold fish with a small catfish pond by the side. She told them how she sold them and Mrs. Amelia bought in surplus/bulk. They packaged it in a ghana-must-go bag, along with other ingredients or items they bought eventually.

Her mum then took the ingredients home as they took a premium cab. This made Rosette very happy, she was really excited. After they arrived home and dropped some of the ingredients in the freezer, they went for a treat at Loafers, a fancy restaurant downtown.