CHAPTER ONE
A PLANET CALLED EARTH
Ile-Ife, Osun State Nigeria.
Tani wakes up in her old, one room apartment, rays of light shining through her back window hitting her on the face. Realizing once again that she was alive, safe and sound and forced to continue living on this planet called Earth, she crawls to the scrap called her laptop to resume from where she stopped working the night before.
On opening a third webpage, she mumbles to herself, 'Ahhh, this again?' she shuts her scrap so hard she could hear its hinges cringe.
She gets up and steps out of her room. One of her neighbors runs past her with a hand on his buttocks and the other holding his belly, heading with full speed to the only toilet they all shared. She hurriedly dismisses the thought of how the toilet would be after he finishes and how she was going to have to clean it, since no one ever did. Unable to handle such a gross image on an empty tummy, she hits herself on the face twice, locks her room, and heads to a nearby store to get some items.
CORNER STORE
“Good morning, Ma, can I have one bread and egg? Please add it to my account.” The kiosk owner leaves the customer she was attending to and goes to get Tani her order. She then places it carefully in a black polythene bag and hands it to Tani who was standing by the back door.
Tani takes her order, says “Thank you” and heads back to her apartment. On getting there, she was met by an awful odor and loud screams. Apparently, she had imagined too little that morning. The neighbor she had met on his way to use the toilet was engaged in a heated argument with her other neighbors.
This was Tani’s cue to turn around and head to the other apartment complex where her friend resided. As she approaches the front gate of the complex, her landlord comes into view bellowing her name, “Tani! Tani! stop there!” It was too late to act like she didn't see him or was it? As she attempted to dodge him and flee to her apartment, she felt a tight grip on her wrist.
Disgust swims all over her body. That same feeling that rises when market riff raffs – strangers - make physical contact with you as though you are close friends. Her reflexes kicked in and without turning to see who it was, she hit the hand so hard, causing it to hit the owner in the face. Turning to see who touched her, Tani finds it was the nosy next compound’s landlady.
CHAPTER TWO
LIFE COULDN’T GET ANY WORSE, COULD IT?
Tani attempted to do damage control but it wasn't possible; she saw the look on the woman's face, the look insinuated she had hit her on purpose. As she hesitated to speak, the landlady cried out, and Tani knew she was doomed.
“I knew it,” said the nosy landlady, “you are an irresponsible girl,” “how rude of you. “Can't somebody touch you again?” Tani knew this nosy landlady, Mama Ajibola, to have an interesting personality, one that conjured up scenarios that never occurred. No matter what she says or does, Mama Ajibola will think whatever she wanted. “E ma gba mi ke,” said Mama Ajibola. “See me see wahala. Taofeek, this your tenant slapped me on my face, just because I tried to stop her from running away from you.”
Taofeek replied, “No need to explain, I saw it with my own eyes. That's how she is, a very rude and strange girl. Did you not see her running away when I called her?” “I have heard a lot about her and now I have seen it with my own eyes,” Mama Ajibola replies, as her mischievous personality kicks in, “I just never knew it was this bad.” She continued, “This lady comes in at late hours, and she is always with at least four men; she must be sleeping with them. If not, why would a responsible lady come back past ten? What could she be doing out so late at night and with men? My advice for you is to chase her from your house, so she won't influence your daughters.”
Tani’s landlord takes a quick look at Tani, who stood quietly, seemingly unapologetic and unperturbed by what Mama Ajibola said. Seeing this, Taofeek replied, , “Tani, I give you one month to pay your house rent or I'll chase you out of the house.” Turning to Mama Ajibola, he said, “Imagine, this prostitute's rent is three months overdue, but as you have said, she needs to leave.” Taofeek looks at the shocked Tani, expecting an apology. Tani takes the hint and made as if to apologize, but before she could do so Mama Ajibola cuts in and says, “Why one month? I give you three days, leave this apartment or we will call the police on you. Ashewo.”
Tani stands there shocked, watching as two out of the three devils in the neighborhood stand between her and her friend’s apartment, which, by the way, is owned by Mama Ajibola. She attempts to enter Mama Ajibola’s compound when she hears her yelling, “I don’t ever want to see you in this compound! You hear me? Going to sleep with your customers again, not in my house.”
That was the last straw. Frustration and sadness envelopes Tani as she walks absentmindedly to the log of wood laying ten steps away from her. Holding her bread and egg in hand, she looks away from the now hot morning sun, sobbing uncontrollably.
CHAPTER THREE
I AM LOSING MY MIND
For a brief moment, Tani regrets ever declaring independence from her grandparents. There was no memo for adulting and if she had known what the world was like, she would have stayed longer under their wings.
Nodding back to reality, Tani shouts out loud, "There’s no going back.” As if. Life outside was far better than living under the idea of what she was supposed to be, as a woman and as a person.
As she thought of what to do next, Tani reckoned that she would plead with her landlord to allow her pay part of the rent. “Maybe I will go and see him in the evening,” she said to herself. What was important to her now was how to prepare the bread and raw egg she was holding.
With the intention of asking him to make a ‘risky burger’ from the ingredients she was holding, Tani picks up her phone to call her friend, Wole, who lives in Mama Ajibola’s compound.
The line rings twice before Wole picks, only for him to inform her that his landlady had told him to warn Tani not to come into her compound much less his apartment. She hadn’t stopped there. His landlady had also barred him from having sex in his apartment, perhaps because of a ‘purported’ used condom that was sighted on his shelf. Like how was that supposed to work out?
If frustration had an older sibling, it would be the way Tani would describe how she was feeling. Too disturbed to sit, she walked in the opposite direction from her house. Five blocks down, Tani remembers Dupe who lives on the other street and decides to go make her food at her place. With sweat trickling down her face, neck, armpits, she walks discouragingly to her friend's house.
On getting there, Tani knocks hurriedly on Dupe's door, only for an angry neighbor to shout at her that Dupe had not been around since yesterday. Now angry, Tani picks up her phone to call Dupe but she doesn't pick up.
Just then, Wole calls Tani to tell her that his landlady had left after being convinced that he was not sleeping with Tani under her roof. But Tani’s tone at the other end of the call gets him worried. On probing, Tani tells him how frustrating her day had been so far and emphasizes how the only thing that mattered to her that moment was preparing a risky burger.
Wole empathizes with her as he informs her that he was on his way to a tenant meeting called by his landlady. Before he hung up, Wole tells Tani that he was going to send one of his friends to help her.
Tani agrees with the last ounce of strength left in her. Thirty-six minutes later, a lady walks up to her and asked her if she was Tani. She replied in the affirmative after which the lady then jokingly states that she was there to rescue her after which she led Tani to her room.
A savior at last! After making and eating her breakfast, Tani sits on the floor of the room and surprisingly found herself waking up at 5pm. She hurriedly stands up, thanks her host, and runs off to find Taofeek.
CHAPTER FOUR
SOMEBODY HELP ME
“Taofeek! Taofeek!!” Bolanle, Taofeek’s wife, yelled, looking for her husband. “Where are you?” Taofeek replies, as he puts out his cigarette, sprays perfume on his body, and walked in haste to meet her. They collide by the door and Taofeek sees she is fuming in anger. Raising her voice, she asks, “Where is Tani?” “How am I to know?” Taofeek asked in return.
Looking at him suspiciously Bolanle said, “My sister told me that Tani tried to seduce you this morning; that if not for her timely intervention, Tani would have succeeded. Taofeek! Taofeek!! Taofeek!!! how many times did I call you?”. Taofeek rolls his eyes in the classic ’here we go again’ manner.
“Abajo!” says Bolanle, “no wonder you have been fighting for her to stay even when she is owing rent. Ah! and my sister warned me not to marry you o!” Bolanle begins to cry in self-pity while Taofeek looks on in silence.
The silence was broken by the shrilling tone of Taofeek's phone. He brings out the phone from his pocket and on checking the caller ID sees the call is from ‘Tani Flat 10’. His wife notices his hesitation and runs to grab his phone. The call disconnected just before she could view the caller ID and Taofeek is relieved. As Bolanle was still asking Taofeek to enter his phone’s password so she could check who called, Tani calls back.
As if possessed Bolanle immediately dashes out to Flat ten to confront Tani but she meets her in front of the building instead. She instantly launched a diatribe, with the words, ‘Olosho’, ‘Ashewo’, ‘home breaker’, reverberating through the compound. Tani was at first confused who the words were for, though she recognized the voice and assumed that Taofeek had been caught with another woman again. But something felt off this time. She soon understood what it was when Bolanle rushed at her and, with no time to decide whether to fight or flee, hit her on her right cheek.
Tani’s reflex immediately kicks in and she goes on a slapping spree in retaliation. Just as Tani slapped Bolanle a third time, Taofeek arrived at the scene and stopped her with a heavy punch to her right side. Tani feels a sharp pain travel through her body, and without thinking, faces Taofeek and attempts to hit him. This boomerangs as Taofeek pins her to the ground instead, hitting her continually with his fists. At some point, her neighbors arrived on the scene, and made several attempts to restrain Taofeek.
Shouting at the top of his voice, Taofeek warns the ‘intruders’ to let him beat the prostitute who hasn't paid her rent. He then notices his wife is on the floor crying and rushes to her side. Bolanle pushes him away, informing him how this was all his fault, that if only he did not sleep around, she wouldn't be in this mess. As Taofeek tries to comfort her, she jumps to her feet, rushing to her initial destination – flat ten – with everyone on her heels. Bolanle stops in front of Flat ten and pushes its door open. Meeting with no resistance, she swung into action, throwing everything her hands touched out of the door and off the balcony, all the while shouting in Yoruba: “Leave my house, you prostitute, you will not spoil my home!”
With a chest heavy with shock, frustration, and confusion, Tani looks up at her apartment from the dirt floor where she lay in pain, asking God why this was happening to her day after day. She was still on this when the sound of hinges brought her back to reality.
A moment passes and Tani slowly gets up, walks to her laptop where it lay in pieces after being thrown off the balcony. She looks up to get a final look at the building she called home and at Bolanle, who wore a shocked look upon realizing the damage she had done.
But Bolanle’s remorse did not last long. "If only you had not seduced my husband this would not have happened to you," she shouted as she locked Tani’s apartment door and walked away, muttering aje’ under her breath'.
CHAPTER FIVE
YET ANOTHER BEGINNING
Tani is no longer surprised. The world has wronged her severally and this was nothing new. “I shouldn’t be expecting anything different,” she whispered to herself. A few neighbors who she had once interacted with or done favors for helped her assemble her things while others walked away.
Any glimmer of hope she may have nursed of temporarily staying with any of her neighbors was dashed when she heard Bolanle shout that, 'Anyone who takes that prostitute in will leave my house!'. Not like she had thought of it though. It took a few minutes to have her belongings neatly piled into a corner with the help of her kind neighbors. That done, the air became awkward with apologies from neighbors who stated how much they would have loved to help but not to the detriment of their own tenancy.
But one person stayed behind to help her. The kind lady helped Tani sort her clothes, books, shoes, and other items into boxes. It was dark by this time. They worked in silence, exchanging only a few words occasionally.
They were done in a little time. As Tani stared at her laptop, the lady stood quietly beside her. The laptop had finally become scrap for real. A few seconds later the lady walked away. Tani sighed in hopelessness. Just as she thought there was nothing more that could be done to help her, she sees the lady approaching with a large leather bag. Standing by Tani’s side, she bent low and gathered what was left of Tani’s laptop. She stopped abruptly, looked at Tani, smiled, lifted her luggage and said, “You can stay the night with me, Bolanle can do nothing.”
Tani is stunned as she walks into her helper’s apartment. A nice bedroom, a cozy kitchen and even a personal bathroom!. She never knew such an apartment existed in this compound. Well it was on the left wing and she was on the right, how could she have known? The soft voice that offered her a place to stay the night spoke again, “I'm not sure if you would like to have a bath, but if you do, you can heat water up, I'd get you blankets and a pillow. I do recommend you take it real slow for the night.”
Tani was speechless, “Who is this lady? Is she really my neighbor?” The lady could see how bewildered Tani was. She chuckled and said, "My name is Amber, nice to meet you.” Amber stretched her hand out to Tani, nudging her for a handshake. Tani, still stunned in her corner, doesn't reciprocate. Amber chuckles again and says, “We'd take it slow. No rush. I heard the landlord’s wife call you Tani, is it okay if I call you the same?” Still no response from Tani. Amber continued, “Well, Tani, do take your time to settle in while I go work. The living room is yours so feel at home.”
Tani finally comes to herself as Amber exits the room. This is Amber, the woman eater people avoid in this compound. Shit! What kind of wahala is this again? Still thinking of how to get out of her predicament, Tani heard thunder echoing and she quickly walked to the window to witness the first downpour of the season. It’s raining. It is raining buckets, and the faint evening light has been replaced by darkness. She couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. Fresh panic rushes through her. She was trapped. Tani’s mind plays back the stories she had heard about Amber, stories that insinuated that she raped ladies and used them for ritual. This is the same Amber whose living room she was standing in.
If panic were a person, Tani was at this point, she couldn't help but shake. She spotted a corner between the chairs, and she hurriedly rushed over, and squeezed herself in between, with the intention of praying and crying to God to save her from the fangs of this woman. What Tani did not realize was that her body had had enough, and she was knocked unconscious by sleep before she could even utter a single prayer.
CHAPTER SIX
AMBER FACES OFF WITH BOLANLE
Tani woke up to the sounds of what seemed like a heated argument. She could identify one of the voices as that of Bolanle but couldn’t identify the other. “Where am I?” she asked herself. Her movements were restricted. She looked up but couldn’t recognize where she was. Flashes came through her mind, then panic. Now she could finally place the voice, yet it remained unfamiliar. The tone sounded enraged and upset. “Bolanle you might be the landlady, but I have paid my rent, if you want me out of your house bring back my rent, if not, leave my house this instant.”
Even though the voice said ‘leave’, she heard the door open, and Amber walked in. Their eyes met as Amber approached her with a reprimand in her voice, “Stop acting like a lost puppy and come out of that corner.”
Delivering her ultimatum, Amber stomped into her room. “What could have made her so upset?” Tani asked herself. As she squeezed her body out of the corner she winced in pain, let out a scream and hit the ground hard.
Next thing she saw was Amber was looking down at her and saying, “If you aren’t interested in taking a bath, get up and let’s head to the hospital.” Nothing made sense to Tani, who was still contemplating what was going on but her body moved without her consent, and she passed out again. When she came to, she was in Amber’s car and on her way to God knows where. Even as she prayed fervently, asking God to rescue her from this woman, yet, she obediently followed every order Amber gave.
About an hour later, they were sitting in front of a doctor and Amber was explaining everything she saw and heard during Tani’s scuffle with her landlord and his wife.
The doctor, who seemed not to know Amber, stood up and asked Tani to sit on the examination bed. Once again, Tani wondered why she was being so obedient. The doctor asked her where she was hit and she showed him hesitantly, sometimes touching the spots.
Tani looked at Amber's face, confused. This woman was supposed to be a ritualist and here she was helping her. Looking at Tani, the doctor asked “Would you like to report this to the police?” Tani mumbled that the police are useless and for the first time, takes a good look at the doctor. Her heart skips a beat as she realized he was young and good looking. “I am John, you can call me Doctor John,” he said with a smile.
“Doctor John,” she repeated after him, and he nods in affirmation. Then he said, "You see Tani, even though the police are absolutely useless they still have a role to play.” Turning to Amber, he said, “I'll leave the room for five minutes. Miss Amber, can you kindly take pictures of where Tani was hit while I go book an x-ray for her?, I suspect she has one or two broken ribs and a possible concussion from the hits she received.”
Chapter Seven to Twelve coming soon.
A Starving Artist Novel by Deronke Abdul
Oriyomi Adebare-Anthony, Nelly Ogar (Ed’s)
