Daughter of the King - Summer Wishes

Chapter Six

I was trying to rest from the vigil, but my noisy neighbor decided to be the weapon fashioned against my sleep. 

I had only gotten a few hours of sleep before he decided to turn the after-noon into an after-party. 

He had noisy, weird music blaring out of his speakers, the kind with awful lyrics that normal humans shouldn't even be thinking about, let alone listening to. 

I'm a good girl and all, but sometimes I wished his speakers would spoil or even get stolen. 

Because, just why would someone want to listen to a song and decide the entire neighborhood must listen to his horrible taste in music too? Like he was lord of the atmosphere and decided who should listen to what.

Suddenly, a voice rang in the air from another flat, "Turn off that stupid radio!"

Oh, I wasn't the only one who felt bothered. That's interesting.

"You shut your stupid face, you old hag!" the noisy neighbor retorted.

Then there was an outburst, and words flew back and forth, words I don't dare repeat here.

Not gonna lie, I loved a good drama, as long as I wasn't in the drama.

So I wasn't too surprised when my sleep disappeared in an instant, and I scrambled out of my bed, across my room, and into the parlor. 

My destination was the apartment door, but my adventure was cut short when my mom burst out of nowhere, her arms folded.

"And where are you off to, young lady?"

Oh no, now I'm going to miss the show. 

My tongue got stuck in a twist, and I stood there stupified.

"Pleaseeee, Mom," I said, half giving up on my quest for adventure.

"Now, what did I say about fights in the compound?"

"We should never ever be found near them, because no matter where we find ourselves, we should never forget who we are," I said, dragging words.

I stood for a moment watching my mom turn to fluff a nearby curtain. If only she'd let me look through it!

Even though I knew she was right, I was kind of upset. What's wrong with a little misbehaving? No one was perfect.

Well, the Bible said, "Be ye perfect as your heavenly father is perfect."

But was that really possible? Well, the Bible does say I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I gave in and walked back to my room with my shoulders slumped. At least I would get some much-needed rest.

I dumped myself on the bed the moment I got in. That was the last thing I remembered before I felt a soft, small hand tugging me. 

I slowly lifted my eyelids, and there was the culprit, none other than Tito herself.

"What?" I said lazily.

"Mom wants you to help get ingredients for moi moi," she said excitedly.

There was only one reason she could be this excited about it: it was all her idea!

"No," I said, shoving her off my face and turning to a more comfortable position.

Tito gasped in utter disbelief. "No?" she repeated and went quiet for a bit. Then she said slowly, "Well, Satt would totally love to go with you too, and who knows, she might have all the tea on the drama this morning."

I sat up suddenly. Tito was one mastermind. I scrambled out of my bed, jumped into some outing clothes, and made for the door.

In a few minutes, I and Satt were on the streets, giggling our hearts away as Satt filled me in on all the drama from this morning.

"And then he said it to her face again!" Satt exclaimed, laughing out loud.

"Oh no, he didn't," I said, laughing along. "But for real, if she really wants to complain about that kind of thing, she really needs to start with her own kids."

Suddenly, my phone beeped. I slipped it out. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the message preview from my notification bar. I shoved my phone back again quickly.

"What was that?" Satt asked when she noticed the change in my countenance.

"Oh, it's nothing," I said quickly. I needed to think of how to change the conversation quickly before it got awkward. We were just arriving at the market, and that was the perfect opportunity.

"Oh, we're about to enter the market," Satt began. "Hold on to your bag, phone, and anything precious to you. The weirdest things go missing here."

The moment we stepped into the gated entrance of the market complex, we were greeted by a trillion random hawkers forcing us to buy a shirt or two that were clearly not our sizes and mallams trying to trade gold with us, like, fam, if I could afford gold, I won't even be anywhere near this market. We managed to shove our way through politely, even if they didn't deserve it.

Jewelleries, tops, yams, overly persuasive shop owners and random lunatics: that was Baya Market in a few words. There was something weirdly interesting about this market though: the people, the little shops with what they sell on display for you to feast your eyes on nonstop, and I especially loved the smell of street food. At first, I could perceive the delectable smell of boli, which then metamorphosed into a rich aroma of ewa agoyin. Then what was that? My taste buds glistened in delight as I saw succulently fried golden puff puffs before me.

"Want some?" Satt asked, following my gaze.

"Yes, please," I said, literally begging.

Soon, we were in the queue, got served, and went our way, gobbling on the hot snacks and trying not to burn our fingers in the process.

In the past, I won't be caught dead eating food made by people who probably didn't wash their hands. Imagine if my schoolmates saw me, but they were not here now... at least I hope so.

We turned a corner, and just then my eyes locked with a girl sitting in front of a locked shop from the row. She was about my age, skinny with brown clothes that didn't look like they were brown originally. She was dirty all over, her hair in a mess. How could anyone live like that? For once, even with how miserable my life had become, I felt like I was lucky to have what I still did.

I walked away slowly. Just then, we got to Iya Abigail's store, our destination.

Iya Abigail was a plump woman who was nice to everyone else except her own staff, and we got there just in time to hear her calling a young girl who worked for her a waste of airspace. She turned to face us suddenly, her face framed like an angry lioness. I winced; she looked like she was about to eat me.

However, her face changed into that of a bunny the second she sighted us. Not the first time I'm seeing this, but it shocked me every time. Honestly, someone who could change personalities that easily should be on a Broadway show, not a broad street shop selling grains and beans.

"And what would you like to buy, my precious jewels?" she said suddenly.

"Errr, we'll need all this," I replied, pulling out a list.

"Alright, come seat," she said as she ushered us in, gave us a bench, and bored us with stories for the next half an hour as she packaged our supplies.