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A JONI THAT SINGS

Anyone could tell he didn’t belong once he opened his mouth to sing the first line of the song “Kumbaya.” Apart from the unconscious cracks and the battle of staying on the key of C major, Joni was shaking with each breath exhaled. His legs wobbled, his hands waggled, and his eyes spoke the language of fear mixed with doubt. How shocking! He was introduced to the choir as a tenor singer from a sister church called Oasis. Unfortunately, this oasis had its lungs and throat all dried up.   Joni stopped singing from the looks on every face. By a corner, he saw the man playing the drums lift his eyebrows - not in wonder but a mechanism most people adopt to hold back laughter. The woman playing the bass guitar was looking down at nothing. As Joni’s eyes roved around the church, he saw an invisible congregation, all rising from their seats, eyes tight with laughter! The white walls were bloody-looking. Ah! Even the brown wooden cross on the altar resembled a negation. Joni felt the wo...
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SCHOOL AND WORK ABROAD




I was weighing 43 at that time. It was not easy balancing school with work. But I needed money. The money my parents were sending was not covering up my needs. I needed a backup and that was why I took a job at an African restaurant, owned by a Nigerian couple back then in London. Jobs like this were reserved for students or for the undocumented. I could not babysit because the timing would clash with my class hours and that was why I settled with washing plates in this restaurant after classes. 

I had done this for a week and could notice my fingers fading away but I didn’t mind at all. All I pictured was my monthly pay.
The next week; on a Wednesday, after classes I resumed work as usual. I had washed the first round of plates and then I heard the voice of my boss (the wife) saying: “Favour, you will be the one pounding yam from today. It is part of your job description…” 

That voice echoed in my head and it still does till today. It echoed when I nodded in agreement, asked to use the restroom, went out through the back door, took the bus home and never returned there again. Sometimes I ask myself what those two were thinking. Were they really willing to ruin their business by asking an underweight student who hated cooking by the way, to pound yam every day except Sundays? 

 Today, I am glad I was bold enough to put my health first before my monetary needs. I am also glad that I felt sympathy enough to help save the couple’s business. That pounded yam would have been a disastrous phenomenon for everyone involved, especially the customers… I am done with my masters now. I hope to get a good job, one that I would not need to pound of course!
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Comments

  1. Unknown21 May 2019 at 02:49

    Very funny, but wait oo this slavery is everywhere. People taking advantage of vulnerable people in vulnerable situations

    ReplyDelete
  2. EMMAWAD8 July 2019 at 11:23

    hahaha... It's like it will never go away

    ReplyDelete

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