THE EXCHANGE
Episode 5
I was still in awe of how everything was going well for Laide when I realised the best man was talking to me. He told me his name is Babatunde, but said everyone called him Baba T. He seemed like a nice guy but I could sense the arrogance in him. He said we needed to be friends to make the wedding beautiful; he kept making everyone laugh with his jokes & I got to know that Baba T’s parents were just as influential but richer than Laide’s parents-in-law. The amount of money they (Bola and Baba T) were discussing scared me; they talked about how they wanted to take their parents’ business to the next level & make it even bigger. They had both studied in the United Kingdom & returned to work in the family business.
After lunch, it was time to go back to where I came from. Bola was going to drop me off at the motor park but his cousin volunteered to, he said it was on his way & he also wanted to get to know me. I gave Laide a look to say I wasn’t comfortable with the arrangement but she only smiled at me with a nod of approval; Baba T jokingly explained what I needed to do at the wedding bcos there was a surprise planned for the couple that we had to take care of, without creating any suspicion & at the park, he gave me an envelope with some money in it & apologized for not being able to take me to Abeokuta. I told him he didn’t have to but he pulled a face of being hurt & insisted, so I took it, thanked him & got in the station wagon. Once seated in the car, I opened the envelope to see how much he had given me & I almost screamed bcos I had never been given that much money by anyone in my life. Immediately I got home, I showed the money to my mother but she made a face & told me to be careful of these Lagos boys. I also told Tunji immediately he got home from work but his countenance changed & I notice he disapproved & I felt he probably feeling intimidated so I thot I shouldn’t have told him but I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.
That evening, I told my mum everything that happened in Lagos & she told me once again to be careful. The money Baba T gave me was a was of hundred Naira notes & it was enough to give my salon a face lift so I bought the hair dryer I had been saving toward, a steamer & some salon & beauty products. After my purchase, I still had a thousand Naira left, which I added to the money I was saving.
I settled back to my life tho I was now making good money bcos I now have a steamer & a new dryer, my customers introduced their friends to my salon, since they can get all the products they needed there; my life with Tunji resumed back to what it was & our love continued to blosom.
Tunji had planned to attend but had another engagement so he passed. I got to Lagos about 4 days before the wedding bcos of my role as the chief bridesmaid but my mum & brothers came three days later to attend the traditional engagement ceremony. I stayed with Laide in her hotel room. Her father said he wanted her to stay there bcos of all the visitors that would be frequenting the house. The groom & Baba T also stayed in another hotel, not too far from where we were. It was on the night of my arrival, at a dinner held at the groom’s house that the best man told me everything about the surprise that the groom’s parents had for couple. They wanted to present the couple with a house, as a wedding gift & wanted us to secretly move their stuff to that house (I later figured that was the reason for having them stay at the hotel rooms). It was an assignment to be executed by the best man & I, without ruining the surprise. During the dinner I couldn’t keep my eyes off how beautiful & tastefully furnished the house was; the cars in the compound, they even had cooks & maids. I was happy for my cousin & a little bit jealous at the same time. I thought to myself “Ó ti rí ibi ire s? ?ru ? k’al? sí” meaning she found a good place to settle in & live a better life. Not that her life is shabby bcos her father well to do in their own standard but can’t be compared to all this. I met Baba T’s parents as well & greeted them like the well brought up Yoruba girl I am & Laide introduced me as her cousin; they took to me immediately saying I was respectful & well trained & Baba-T’s mum said jokingly that she wouldn’t mind ‘plucking’ another girl from our family (referring to me). I was embarrassed but I smiled & walked away.
I was with Baba T all through Thursday as we supervised the moving of the couple’s things to their new home & got things set up. He was fun & really nice to me, he later took me out for lunch & I seized that opportunity to thank him for the money he gave me the first time we met. His response was “Don’t mention, beauty has no price tag”
I wasn’t sure of what he meant by that, but I smiled & thanked him again. He asked me a lot of questions about myself & my background bcos he wanted to really know me, tho he said very little about himself. He applauded my confidence when I told him about my achievement as a beautician & the fact that I spoke very good English but I he was concerned that I didn’t have post-secondary education. He said I should have still gotten it regardless of my entrepreneurial spirit as it would help me handle my business better. I told him he was beginning to sound like my late father & he apologized for being so daring; since I figured I had just 3 more days to spend in Lagos, I decided to indulged him; besides, it felt good to have these conversations as I had not really had anyone talk to me like this before…
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