Meant To Be
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 6
At the end of the week, Kore, Ayo and Itunu started their journey to Lagos. Ayo and Itunu sle-pt on and off throu-ghout the trip and when Kore finally got to his house, they were slee-ping. He parked the car un-der the shade where he used as his car park and tapped Ayo. She slowly opened her eyes and he said,
“Hey. We are home.” Then he got down as his gate keeper, Dan, trailed after him welcoming him back home . He opened the car door for Ayo who was trying to check on Itunu at the back. He was awake too. As soon as they stepped out of the car, Dan asked,
“Oga, shey na my Madam be this?”
“Will you shut your mouth and just listen?” Kore said, irritated and tired from the journey. Dan held hisl-ips.
“This is Ayo and this is Itunu (pointing at them as they all watched him), they are going to be living with us for a long while. The respect you give me, you give it to her as well. Am I clear?”
“Okay, Oga.”
“Now, help me with the bags in the car. The ones at the back seat is for me so take it to the main house, and the ones at the booth is for her, take it to the headquarters. Since, you have a spare key to the BQ, take her bags there first and when you are done, give me the key.”
“Okay sir.”
“Ayo, this is Dan, he is my gate keeper.”
“Good evening Dan.”
“Good evening Ma
. Welcome to our house.” Dan replied and set about taking the bags inside while Kore showed them the interior of the main house. Taking them throu-gh the rooms then he gave Ayo the back-door key which was the kitchen and it led to the back where the BQ was. He gave her the BQ main door key too. Two each and then he took them to the BQ. It has two entrance, one by the front and the other by the side which had a short corridor where you could sit outside. The door was opened and their bags were alre-ady inside. The sitting room was smaller than that of the main house but it looked cozy.
Flat screen, video pla-yer was arranged by the wall.
“This is the main room and that is the guest room.” Kore said pointing at the rooms which were opposite each other.
“I told Dan to get someone to clean it yesterday, so it should still be neat.”
By the guest room was a corridor that led to the kitchen. It wasn’t so big either but it could contain at least three normal sized people easily.
“This is the kitchen. The g@s has been filled though there is no foodstuff yet. We will sort those tomorrow. I will tell Dan to get us take outs, just take a shower and relax. The bathroom and toilet are in the rooms.” Kore concluded.
“Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you for bringing me into your home.
. I pray we won’t have the cause to regret this decision.” Ayo prayed.
“Amen.” He answered.
“About the food. I made vegetable soup before we left home, I can just heat it and make eba.” Ayo said.
“Won’t that be stressful?” Kore asked,
“Not at all. Will call you once I am done.” Ayo said.
“Okay. I will see you later.” He said, then he went to fix the TV and the DSTV, dropped the remote on the center table and he left the ap@rtment and went to his own. Ayo locked the door and she took their bags into the room then she bathed for Itunu, changed his cloth and then she did the same for herself. After which she took the bag where she packed edible stuff into the kitchen.
She checked the cu-pboards and saw a set of pots. She took out of it, washed it, poured the soup and placed it on the g@s while she sorted the small foodstuffs she had brou-ght.
On another face of the g@s, she washed another pot and filled it with water for the eba. She had brou-ght a turning stick as an afterthought and that was what she used to turn the garri when the water had boiled.
Once she was done, she took Kore’s food to the main house. He was ma-king some calls and she left the food on the dining table then she went to call Dan to come with her to the BQ. She gave him his own share of the food which resulted in him thanking her profusely then she made quic-k calls to inform her Grandmother, her Dad and her friends that she was alre-ady settled. They all prayed and wished her well, then she ate, gave Itunu, whose eyes was glued to the TV, his food.
After eating and doing the dishes, they turned in for the night but not before Ayo whispered words of prayer to her creator.
Meant To Be
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 7
The next day Ayo woke up to the beeping of her phone. She slowly opened her eyes taking in the unfamiliar room then realization hit her, ma-king all of yesterday’s memories rush back and she picked up her phone to see what the beeping was about. It was a message from Kore,
“Hello good morning.
I hope you sle-pt well?
We have a long day ahead of us, we nee-d to leave the house early so get yourself and Tunz re-ady. Don’t worry about breakfast.”
She smiled at Kore’s nickname for Itunu and woke him up . After allowing him to get his bearing, they held hands, and knelt down, saying their prayers. Then she let him sleep while she went throu-gh her devotion which was on her phone in a WhatsApp group.
After concluding these, she went to select the clothes they will wear and then she woke Itunu up again, this time to take his bath after which she took hers and dressed them. She took one of the four sling bags she owns, put in her purse which was filled with important necessities and she left the house with Itunu to the main house.
As Ayo raised her hand to press the doorbell, Kore opened the door,
Ayo asked, amazed, “Wow. Did you see us approach the door?”
Kore answered, “No, I was just about to come over to your ap@rtment
. Good morning.”
Ayo replied, “Good morning. How was your night?”
Kore answered, “It went well. I hope you sle-pt well?”
“Yes, thank you. Big boy, how are you doing this morning?” Kore asked lifting Itunu up in his arms,
“Fine.” He replied shyly,
“You are re-ady right?”
“Sure.”
“Let me just take my car key and we leave.” Kore informed and he went inside with Itunu still in his arms, he picked his car key from the shelf and left the house. He gave Itunu to his mother while he locked the door and he headed towards the car Dan had washed.
“You have three cars?” Ayo asked, surprised.
“Why are you saying that as if I have hundreds of cars parked in here? It’s just three.” Kore replied,
“I’ve never met anyone who downpla-yed things as much as you do.” Ayo said looking at him warily.
“It’s not so much of a big deal. That’s just it.” Kore said shrugging as he opened the car door for Itunu at the back and stra-pped him in then went to the driver’s seat to get in. This car was different from the one he took to his hometown.
Soon, they were on their way out with Dan appreciating Ayo with terrible English words for giving him food the previous day.
Fifteen minutes later, they st©pped by an eatery and after getting settled at the back, Kore asked,
“Is Jollof rice mixed with fried rice and turkey okay?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Or would you want something else?”
“No, the rice variety is fine.”
“Okay, I will be right back.” He said and went to get their food. He c@m£ back with two trays holding a plate of the rice variety and crispy fried turkey with a PET bottle of jui-ce minutes later.
. He went back to get his own and they started eating after Ayo blessed the food. Kore started talking after taking a few spoonsful.
“So, we are heading to different places today.”
“Okay?”
“From here, we will go to UNILAG to see my lecturer friend. After his advice, we will get to Tunz’s school for registration then we are going shopping.”
“Shopping? What for?”
“For food stuffs na. Have you forgotten?”
“Sorry jare. Kore, don’t you think you are spending too much?”
He placed down his cutleries before saying, “AY, let me worry about the money. You worry about ma-king good use of it.”
Ayo mirrored his previous action before saying, exasperated, “Kore! Why are you like this? You don’t even care how much you are spending. What if I don’t get admitted? What if all these does not work?”
Kore explained, “I believe in you. I see a smart person right in front of me. I like when people want to get better. When they want to move forward, it makes me ecstatic and I don’t hesitate to help as soon as I can.”
“Hmmm.” Ayo said as she opened Itunu’s jui-ce for him and continued to eat.
“Yeah. What I am doing for you is what I will do for my sister, my brother, my cousin so just see me as your elder brother who wants you to be a better person.” He explained further and resumed eating too.
“Who is the elder brother?”
“I am.”
“What are you feeling like? How old do you think I am?”
“You tell me.”
“I am not going to tell you my age.”
“It’s going to be on some of your certificates and I am sure I am going to see it.”
“That does not mean you heard it from me.”
“You ladies are something else.”
“You guys are not exceptional.” Ayo said laughing lightly as the conversation turned to her son and soon enough, they all stood up and took their leave.
Tbc