The Tale of Tobi

The downtempo melody blaring from the radio had Tobi rotating his shoulders, swaying from side to side, and nodding his head to the beat. It almost made him forget the cluster of cars all around him, as he was transfixed in a state of nostalgia. Scrunching up his mouth and wrinkling his nose as he fingered an imaginary piano mid-air, singing along to the lyrics, "Ayy you gal inna di tight up skirt, get that ass in the bed I'ma lock the door; shake that ass like boom shakalacka, boom shakalacka... We don't need nobody watching us!". Eyeing the rear-view mirror and smiling at himself with poise, visualising her smacking her lips together; using her moist tongue as windscreen wipers, whilst he sprayed whip cream on her breasts. The driver of the cobalt Vauxhall Corsa beeped her horn at Tobi, interrupting his fantasising and snapped him back to reality. Instinctively releasing the handbrake with his free hand, his left foot impulsively latched on to the clutch pedal. Shifting the gear stick from its neutral position, to the west and then north, facilitating its entry into first gear. Tobi then pressed down on the gas pedal to move off and ease the flow of traffic.

Tobi coasted in to the Sainsbury's car park, advancing towards the car wash; he pulled up behind the wine-coloured Mercedes C-class. A youthful Eastern European girl paced over to Tobi's window, "Hello, how do you want it?" Tobi disguised his chuckle with a cough, he amused himself at how his mind processed her question. "Inside and out please," his response came with a sinister smirk as he turned her around and arched her back in his pipedreams. To the average eye, there was nothing overtly sexual about her stature, she wore a plain navy blue woolly hat, a New York baseball jacket and a pair of scuffed pumps, she looked no older than 17.

Inspecting Tobi's car with a quick glance, she observed the other vehicles being addressed by her colleagues, "We can do a polish for you, to protect your car from the rain." Tobi hesitated at her offer, it sounded like a good deal because she had said it just as Tobi was admiring her flexible frame, yet he knew it would come at a cost. Tobi was one of those people that was extra careful with money, he had a budgeting system in place for the entire year. The answer to his next question would determine his response, "How much would that be?" She shot a friendly smile at him, "That will be £20." Tobi's eyes rolled from left to right as he performed calculations in his mind. 'Don't be silly Tobi, she's not worth it. Ten pounds brudda! Ten quid can get you a whole bag of gari, scotch bonnet and frozen chicken drumsticks from Iceland,' he thought to himself. "Just inside and out please." The welcoming smile left the girl's face, "Okay, can I have the car key please?" Tobi deposited his key in her hands and went about his business. The girl handed the key to one of her colleagues, who entered the Audi, and adjusted the seat before driving it to the designated area where it would be washed.

Tobi displayed a swagger up the slope as he stepped into Dalston Kingsland shopping mall. Analysing the people around, he continued his daydreaming activities by trying to imagine what each person's expression suggested. Walking past a black lady with the satin headscarf and drawn on eyebrows, she flicked Tobi a disapproving look as he caught her gaze. 'She's grumpy, maybe she hasn't had any in a while. Well, it's not my fault if she's looking like that.' Giggling to himself about the lady as he came across the man with the spiky hair exiting Carphone Warehouse. The man dressed in a black leather jacket and spoke into his phone, whilst walking with a limp. 'I wonder if he was born like that or if he hurt his leg at yesterday's rock concert in them platform boots. Definitely a strange one.' Tobi was distracted by this until he noticed the Somalian man with his brown paper bag, begging people for money outside the Superdrug's store. Tobi deliberately avoided eye contact and picked up his pace, he became anxious when he thought the man had followed him, so he quickly turned into Costa. 'It's such a shame to see a fellow brother like that. How do you end up like that?' Tobi wondered to himself, something he found himself doing often.

Tobi scouted around for an empty table, he spotted a vacant one with a mug on it; he scurried along towards it. Sitting down at the table, he moved the cup so it was positioned at arm's length, crossed his leg and took his android from his coat pocket. Pretending to speak to a friend on the other end that would soon be joining, to ward people off from taking the chair or sitting next to him. The mug was used as prop so that he wouldn't have to make an order at the counter. Tobi sat back into his chair with phone in hand and let his mind wander into a matrix. Inspired by the sudden growl of his belly, he considered what he would eat when he got home – 'Jollof rice or Eba?' Revisiting his earlier vision whilst caught in traffic, remembering her long tongue and the whip cream. Just as he was enjoying the cinematic movie that only he could see, he recalled the documents left in his office drawer at work that he promised his boss he would post. Tobi cursed his luck for forgetting to set a reminder, he would get in early on Monday and deal with it.

Suddenly he pushed his anxieties aside and entered another dream, 'What's the odds of Olu and I bumping into each other here whilst he is doing business in Nigeria. He's doing well for himself with the oil money and he doesn't wear those geeky glasses anymore. Look at David looking all dapper in his three-piece suit, he just broke a deal and signed the papers to his third property! Sorry guys hold on, I'm getting a call from Marvin, you remember Marvin, right? ... hello! I can't hear you properly amongst all that noise. What, you're in Texas? What you doing there? No way! You just sold out your fifth show on tour, that's crazy bro! Super proud of you...Wait, hold on Tobi, you're busy praising all your friends but what are you doing with yourself?' Tobi stopped staring into space and looked around at the people in the coffee shop. Putting his index finger in his mouth, he chewed relentlessly on his fingernail. It dawned on him that he did not have an answer to his question, he was just another paying customer viewing their dreams. Checking the time on his wristwatch, he dashed out the coffee shop to collect his car.

Edited by EzraLoves