The Slum Billionaire & The Ocean Princess

* Third Person Point Of View * The island market is in full bloom with vehicular movement across all the connecting roads and streets, blaring horns from cars with drivers impatiently devising ways of navigating the congested traffic, bus conductors screaming the names of their various destinations repeatedly and in an almost incoherent manner understandable only to old dwellers. Commercial activities in top gear. Hawkers everywhere, desperately approaching pedestrians and other passersby with their wares. It is a mistake to look at them if you are not interested in buying their wares. They will pester you till you become frustrated. From a loud speaker hanging on a metal pole beside a record store, the voice of a radio presenter booms welcoming Lagosians to a new week. It is the breakfast show. From a distance, the presenter's voice is almost drowned by the cacophony of other sounds emanating from the bustling marketplace. On the north end of the busy market is a cluster of stilt houses around the shoreline of the Lagos Lagoon. The wave is thrashing menacingly, appearing as though the stilt houses would collapse any minute. It is a slum with mostly wooden and dilapidated make-shift houses reeking of poverty, and inhabited by the good, the bad and the ugly. A sharp contrast with the skyscrapers and lofty buildings meters away from the marketplace housing the headquarters of leading corporations and multinationals. In one of the old poor houses in this battered neighbourhood, we can see a pile of dirty clothes, an old stove, three small pots, two spoons, a fork, plastic plates and a woven bag littered all over the room. The room is as disorganized as the neighbourhood. There is a tiny radio on a small table, the breakfast show is playing on it. Raymond, a thirty year old hustler is stretched on a lean and narrow mattress half asleep. Soon he slaps the side of his cheek and scratches, muttering inaudibly. A tiny Nokia phone on the floor inches away from his head vibrates. He does not move a muscle. A loud bang comes on his door and he springs up in fright. Quietly he walks towards the door, unlocks it and leaves the room. Raymond steps out to meet a serious looking man in his middle sixties. "Good morning sir. Please Landlord, I am sorry I could not..." "Shhhh!" The man cuts in. "I am not here to listen to your endless stories Raymond. Fortunately for you also, I am not here to ask you for my two months accumulated rent. Rather, I am here to ask you something very different." Raymond is slightly confused and a bit relieved to hear that it is not because of his house rent which is actually three months overdue and not two months as the man had mistakenly said that he had visited. But still, he is not completely settled knowing that the man couldn't have come for something exactly nice since there is nothing between them except tenancy and rent. "Aah Oga Landlord, hope all is well?" Oga is a respectful way of referring to a boss or a person considered older or superior. It usually comes like a title preceding the person's name or position. "Will I be standing here if all was well? Okay, were you at my wife's shop last night when those rascals fought and destroyed her crates of beer and other commodities?" He enquires staring intently at Raymond reading his expression with the hope of determining the truth from it. "Oh my God! you mean that people fought at your wife's shop?" Raymond responds pretending to be unaware of the incident even when he is. The area is notorious for street fights and all. It is so regular that it is no longer news and Raymond had been informed by Dele, a teenage boy in his compound who occasionally runs errands for him in exchange for left over food and little tips. Dele keeps Raymond abreast of everything that happens around the neighbourhood whenever he is away to hustle. "And what is the meaning of that nonsense?" Landlord blurts with an angry face. "Don't you have respect for God? Why must you involve the innocent man in this matter? And why for heaven's sake are you answering my question with a question?" Raymond stares at him confused about how best to answer him. "No sir, I wasn't there. I went to see my cousin Chuma." Raymond says with an expression of innocence. "Good for you, because if I catch them, I will physically deal with them," Clenching his fist. "And from here, I will be heading straight to the DPO's office at zone 6, those boys must be arrested and severely punished." The man threatens swallowing hard with an expression of anger which Raymond finds amusing looking at the man's frail appearance but restrains himself from laughing. "Yes. They have to pay for whatever they destroyed." Quickly agreeing with him hoping that it will make him happy so as to buy more time for his unpaid rent. With a mischievous smile, the man responds. "You have no idea of what awaits them my dear. And that reminds me, tell that unintelligent cousin of yours to come and carry his things from my place. I no longer have space in my house because of all those expired belongings of his. I even regret taking them as collateral." "In fact sir, he said by the end of the month unfailingly." Raymond says, glad that the man is not interested in his rent. "What? He wants to tie my money for another 30 days? Today is just the first day of the month." Landlord rants. "He said he would have come since if not that his shop got burnt." "What? What exactly is wrong with that cousin of yours? He has been going through a spate of calamities. Is he under a curse?" Landlord queries. "I don't really know sir." Raymond responds defensively for his cousin. "And I don't expect you to. But that's by the way. Now, when are you going to pay me your accumulated rent?" Raymond is taken aback. "But sir, you said you didn't come for the rent." Almost stuttering. "Are you the one to decide things for me? I said it then. But now I have changed my mind or don't I have the liberty to do so?" The serious stare returning to his face. "You do sir, but..." Cutting in sharply."I don't have the time and the patience to listen to your fabricated tales and fake promises. If you don't pay me by the end of next week, and that's me being generous, consider yourself homeless. Needless I remind you that this is Lagos! Try and pay me my rent Raymond." With that he hurries away as Raymond returns to his house dejected. Raymond enters his house worried. He quietly sits on a small chair in the room thinking about his situation. Raymond graduated from the university about eight years ago with Upper Second Class honours. Although he wasn't the only one that graduated with a 2:1 in his class, he was celebrated as the best graduating student of his class because of his high CGPA. He was just a point shy from a First Class. Having come from a very poor background where he had to help his mother at her small shop in the market each time he came back from school, growing up was tough for him. But he was always the brightest among his peers. He was the second son in a family of three boys and his father had always preferred his elder brother to him. His father loved his elder brother Stephen so much that he always gave him his school fees and pocket money while he gave only school fees to Raymond whenever it was time for them to return to school during their secondary school days. Raymond's crime was that while his elder brother Stephen was a replica of his father in appearance and stature, he, Raymond, looked very much like his mother who was fair skinned, tall and beautiful. His father was short and stout and Stephen took exactly after him. Even till now, Raymond can't still understand why his father held that against him. Was it that he questioned his paternity because he looked like his beautiful mother or what? He had since forgiven his late father who was an illiterate farmer. The man had passed on without warning on Raymond's graduation day from the university. It was if the man was unhappy to see him become a graduate. Raymond could still recall with pain how his father had reacted when he gained admission into secondary school. While he was the brightest of his two brothers, his father had preferred him to go learn electronics repairs and trade. When he refused and insisted he was going to school, the man had told him that he hadn't enough money to see him and his elder through secondary school at the same time and hence only managed to give him his fees. He would run errands for people and hawk things in the local market to raise money for his upkeep in the secondary school. His mother was very helpful. She would put a lot of foodstuff together for him and his brother whenever it was time to go back to school. Their school was in a distant town and they were boarding students. Raymond had passed excellently at secondary school and had quickly gained admission to study Human Resource Management at one of the prestigious federal universities. Stephen had opted to learn fabrics trade at Onitsha, a commercial city not far from their village. Familiar with fending for himself, Raymond had practically seen himself through the university. With high hopes being a graduate, Raymond had taken a night bus to Lagos to meet Chuma his cousin. With courage and confidence, he had plunged into the the Lagos labour market in search of a suitable white collar job, only to end up disillusioned. For almost seven years, he couldn't land any job. It was countless interviews without being called back. Frustrated, he had accepted the job of a primary school teacher with a meagre salary only to abandon the job when he spent almost his entire salary on transport fare. The salary was despicable despite his heavy workload. He had decided to start something on his own no matter how small. He was lucky not to have any responsibility outside catering for himself. His poor mother is now supported by Stephen who complains endlessly about his dwindling business. His younger brother Ephraim, is equally with his Stephen as shop assistant. Their situation is better than his although he never dares to complain to them for fear of being laughed at by Stephen who believes that he is at an advantage being a graduate. There were times he even thought his father was right. Had he learnt the electronics business, by now, he may have owned a very big electronic shop in Lagos and Onitsha who knows. This thought always comes to his mind whenever he is in financial distress just like now. With no real capital, he had chosen to start something somehow. He had a little saving from the teaching job and other menial endeavours as saving, no matter how small the income, saving was something he was very familiar with, a principle that had guided him all through his difficult years at school. With the help of Chuma, who was familiar with the Lagos island market, he had bought belts which he now hawks everyday in the busy market. The vibration of his phone brings him back to the present. He looks at the screen and frowns on seeing the caller ID. As the ringing stops, he picks up the Nokia phone to see 17 missed calls from the same number. He murmurs as the phone begins to vibrate again. Angrily, he picks the call. In another part of the area, Titilayo, a twenty seven year old roadside smoked fish seller, with a funny make up is holding her cheap phone in her hand. From her excessive make up and outdated clothes, it is obvious that she lacks formal education and exposure. Hello? Baby it's me. Raymond on the other end speaks with an angry tone. "And so? Why don't you want to allow me sleep?" "No baby, this is morning already and I just want to tell you that I prepared sweet beans for you." She says smiling hoping that he will be impressed. "I am not interested Titilayo. And please I beg you in the name of God, Stop keeping me miserable with your calls or I will block your number. What is this?" "Baby you are too hot tempered." Titilayo says with a smile. "The beans I prepared for you is honey beans with plantain, dry fish and meat. If you taste it, you will know that I am an international cook. She smiles broadly. "Please I am not interested. This is Monday morning, I want to go to work." Cuts the call angrily and drops the phone on the stool beside him. "Baby, baby, baby! Aah, you've cut the call?" Laughs. "Your pretence is becoming annoying. You must eat this beans that I prepared having you in mind. It can't waste. Not after all I spent. You must eat this beans and you must marry me."