"Yo, this Jollof stuff tastes amazing. Who taught you how to cook like this?" August asked with a mouth full of rice.
"My mom. She always knew how to make something out of nothing. We grew up poor, but she some how managed to make us feel rich."
"I bet she was an amazing woman," he said while grasping my hand in his.
"That she was."
August and I had went to the local Lagos market earlier, so I decided to pick up a few things and cook him some food, rather than buy it at a restaurant. Plus, he wanted some homemade "African cuisine," as he liked to put it.
August was fascinated by the variety of people selling different things like food, jewelry and clothing all in one area.
He bought a piece of clothing from a young man who happened to be selling for his sick mother. The little boy had on some torn sandals and a shirt full of ripples. August bought two dresses from him, one for me and the other for him. I told him that the clothes were only for women, but he insisted on getting one for himself too.
He also gave the boy some "loose change" so he could buy some new clothes and shoes.
"Mashallah," the young man responded before courteously bowing to August."
"You don't have to do allat little man, take care of yourself and ya' mama," August said while grabbing a tissue to wipe his running nose.
"Tank you!" The boy said before running off to sell some more.
--
Before we left Aug decided to take a picture with some of the women who were selling!
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God bless his heart.
We were both disheartened by the poverty we witnessed. We came across a blind old man who sat in a small hut asking for money from the people who passed him. August placed a handful of cash in the small pot that sat next to him.
"God bless, brotha," he whispered in an almost inaudible tone.
I could've sworn I saw him shed a tear or two after we left the old man's hut.
If we hadn't left the market, I'm sure August would have given all of his money away without a second thought.
---
After I had finished cooking for him, we decided to wash up and explore Lagos a bit more.
"How I look?" August grinned while strutting outside of the bathroom.
