Vooclis
bar was the hottest hang out spot in the city. It was a sure spot for ‘big boys’
and ‘big girls’ in town. They offered goods and services that were top
standard, making customers always come back for more.
That night was not a letdown. The
place was filled with people and was more lively than usual because it was a
Friday. ‘TGIF’ was in full swing. There was eating and drinking in galore as
customers ordered what they wanted to take. Those who didn’t want to stay
inside had seats and tables arranged for them outside. DJ Zoom also added
flavor to the night. He seemed to know the mood of the customers per time and
entertained them with different genre of music ranging from dancehall to R
& B. Those who were in the dancing mood danced to the different genre with
or without their partners in an empty portion in the centre of the bar made for
dancing.
At a corner of the bar sat three
young men; Jide, Kofi and Effiong, drinking and chatting. They were in their
late twenties and had been friends for some years. Though they had different
careers in the city, they still found time once in a while to hang out and
catch up on what had been happening to each other since their last rendezvous.
“Life is good,” Jide said, taking a sip from
his bottle of stout.
“On your side,” Kofi said. “My work is not
paying as much as I want.”
“But you live in a well furnished flat,”
Effiong pointed out to him.
“Yes but some people have duplexes and
estates,” Kofi replied him.
“You also have a Honda.”
“After three years of working? There is still
more to be done.”
“You need to be thankful for what you have,”
Jide said.
“Or you quit your job and join me in my
business,” Effiong told him.
“Nooo. Import business is very risky.”
“Thank God you know. The latest issue now is
that the ship carrying my goods has not been in touch for five days now.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. We don’t know whether the ship sank or
was hijacked by pirates or whether the passengers diverted it.”
“Don’t be pessimistic.”
“It may be in a harbor on a coast somewhere
due to bad weather.”
“And my goods there are worth 7.5 million
naira.”
Kofi whistled in disbelief.
“Meehn!” Jide exclaimed.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“So what are you doing about it?”
“I have done the much I can. I am hoping it
eventually gets here.”
DJ Zoom started playing a popular
dancehall music.
“Let’s dance,” Jide suggested.
“Good idea but we don’t have chics,” Kofi
said.
“We get new ones for the night.”
They look around the bar.
“All the chics here are with their men,”
Effiong pointed out.
“Come on, let’s dance without the chics,”
Jide said.
“There has to be a single one somewhere,” Kofi
said and kept looking. Then he spotted a lady at a corner of the bar. She was sitting
alone, sipping her malt. From the little he could deduce from that distance,
she was endowed. She had a finely cut face et al. Kofi called the attention of
Jide and Effiong to the lone sisi.
“O boy!” Jide exclaimed. “She is too fine.”
“Shoot your shot man,” Effiong said to Kofi.
“What if her guy is around somewhere?” Kofi
asked
“Are you twelve? Is this your first time
chatting up a chic?”
“No, but there is something about this one.”
They watched the lady for a while.
“What are you waiting for?” Jide asked him.
“I want to see if she is truly alone.” Kofi
replied.
“Go talk to her. If her guy comes, apologize
and bow out.”
Kofi
couldn’t move his feet. He just sat and looked. Once in few minutes, a guy
would try to talk to the lady probably ‘excusing her dance’ but she kept waving
them off.
“See,” Kofi pointed out, “She is not in the
mood.”
“You don’t know for sure till you try,” Jide
said to him.
“And I think she likes you because I noticed
she has been stealing glances at us,” Effiong added.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Kofi rushed his drink, adjusted his
shirt and got up.
“Where to?” Effiong asked him.
“To try my luck.”
He walked towards the lady,
rehearsing what to say to her in his mind. Jide and Effiong watched. When Kofi
got close to the lady, something about her took the wind off his sail. He
walked past her and went to the male restroom. In there, he hissed and slapped
himself.
Minutes later, he walked out looking
away from the lady to avoid making eye contact with the source of previous
embarrassment. He got to his table and received the scorn of his life.
“What was that about?” Jide asked him, while
Effiong kept laughing at him.
“My brother I can’t tell what happened there
o,” he replied, scratching his head. “I just couldn’t muster the courage to
talk to her.
“This is not your first time now,” Effiong
told him.
“Jide go and try na?” Kofi told him
“I am not in the mood. I have other things to
think of now.”
“If you no get the liver, bone her na.” Effiong told him.
“Abi?” Kofi said.
“But am just liking this girl. I don’t know what it is about her but she gets to
me.”
“Go and talk to her then.”
“Let me try again. But how am I looking?” he
asked adjusting his clothes again.”
“Sharp.”
“Watch me make my move now,” he bragged.
“We are watching,” Jide said
“Make sure you don’t enter the restroom again
o,” Effiong added.
They burst into laughter
“No mock me na. Watch and learn.”
Kofi walked towards the lady again.
When he was getting close, another guy appeared suddenly and tried talking to
the lady, obviously on the same mission that Kofi was on. He was too close to
just turn back so he went ahead and entered the restroom the second time.
He got another dose of laughter from
his guys yet he didn’t give up. He decided to try again. On the next attempt,
he walked past her and went to the bar counter and ordered a bottle of drink which
he wasn’t even sure he would take.
“Mehn am done with doing this,” he told his
friends when he got back to their table.
“O boi,
see liver cottage.”
“I am too embarrassed to stay here. Make we drink up comot.”
“Kofi my man relax. You have many girls at
your beck and call na. Why worry yourself about this one that you couldn’t get.”
“I no know why the guy they bother himself. Some days are like that.”
“I no
get other girls na.”
“Since when?” they laughed at him.
“Make I mention their names?”
“Leave those ones. It was nothing serious.”
“Na you dey dull yourself. You can have
anyone you want.
“You be fine boy with cash.”
“I have not been lucky with girls. Moreover, this my work no dey give me chance at all.”
“Okay bro.”
“Drink up na make we comot na.”
“Wetin I dey go house go do now?”
“Make we go my house.”
“Do wetin na.”
“Watch match or play video game.”
“hahahaha. Na so the thing reach?”
“Look,” Effiong said to Kofi, pointing. “Your
chick is on the move.”
They watched the lady pay a waiter
for her drink, pick her handbag and got up to leave.
“There she goes o.” Jide told Kofi.
“Go try again.” Effiong told him.
“No am done with that,” Kofi said.
“Go na. She is leaving.”
Kofi sat where he was and watched
the lady leave the bar.
“Opportunity missed,” Jide said.
“She for fit you wela.”
“Let it be,” Kofi said. “I will not make a
fool of myself.”
In his mind, Kofi was flogging
himself for not being a man and mustering the courage to just talk to the lady.
From his assesment, he was very much in her class and better than the other
guys who had tried to talk to her. He
was still thinking about that when Jide called his attention.
“She has come back,” Jide said pointing at
the lady who had entered and sat at a table closer to the entrance/exit than
where she was sitting before.
{to be continued}
(c) 2021. Nedu Isaac
PhotoCred: Canva.com
To read all my writings so far, click here
To contact us, click here
No comments:
Post a Comment