TEMPEST

'You are in serious soup today' ' pay me my money now ' 'the 5 crates of egg that I just bought, you smashed them all with your rickety bicycle' Awero grabbed Ajayi's garment from its shoulder ' I don't know how I lost the control' ' sorry for the loss' Ajayi retorted . ' Young man! You are joking, will sorry bring back my eggs or will it put the food on the table for my children?' ' You'd better dip your hand to that your wretched pocket and bring out my Seven Pounds Ten Shillings or else wahala will wear the same trouser with me and you today'. Awero was firing hot , her eyes like that of a rattlesnake in its fury. She's fully prepared for anything that will happen , nothing can appease her except her money.

Ajayi was pleading , he has no single dime in his pocket. As a matter of fact , he was just coming from Olode village where he went to look for a job as a labourer in a cocoa farm but was unlucky to be employed. 'Seven Pounds Ten Shilling ? ' where will I get that some of money? Me that have not eaten today' He was thinking and blaming himself for not been careful . His rickety bicycle was what brought him to the mess; he was descending the famous Apadi hill when his bicycle's brake began to malfunction , he lost control and eventually ran over 5 crates of egg Awero displayed on her Hawking wares along the road.

It was the general market day , Apadi market was filled to the brim. People were buying and selling while some were just Window shopping. Large crowd gathered around Awero and Ajayi.

Some were blaming and raining insult on him for not being care ' a person without money should always be mindful of the egg seller' ' a child that has no mother should try not to have sore at his back' a man said among the crowd. Others were begging Awero to pardon him and see the incident as an act of god, it has a reason why god allow it to happen. ' it's better to loose ones property than to loose ones life, Aje the goddess of commerce will restored back all your loss in multiple fold' they prayed for her. All their plead Awero turned deaf ear to, she kept on spitting fire like sango olukoso the god of iron.

Awero was a popular figure among the people , she's popularly known as abefele (blade) , a rattlesnake, destructive, tempestuous, and aggressive. The villagers always mind their business around her because of her lousy nature. Her husband ran away from home some months ago when he could no longer withstand her trouble.

Like a thunder, a hot slap sounded on the face of Ajayi , his sight spined and the sound reechoed several time in his ears 'Help!!!' Ajayi shouted as his sight went blackout 'don't let her kill me' ' Awero I will pay your money' ' give me till next market day' 'you can sieze my bicycle till then'

'who will wait till next market day ' Awero dragged him harder with the collar of his buba dress and tore it to shred. People were begging some were just looking and getting entertained by the display of Awero and Ajayi at the market square. 'Awero please don't hurt this young man , he promised to pay you the next market day' 'a creditor that refuse the pleading of his debtor is definitely asking for the life of his debtor' Babaloja the market head advised Awero and with an embarrassing gesture she hissed it off. 'How many of you has ever come to my rescue in order to put food on the table for my children' 'that unfortunate man called their father ran away and left me with two children to cater for' ' who among you here came to my aid' 'anybody that want me to release this man among you should bring out my seven pounds ten shilling' ' anything apart from that I'm not interested' she kept on dragging Ajayi to and fro as she threatened to beat her money out of him. Another heavy slap hit Ajayi's face , his tongue crawled out of his mouth, as he was trying to stabilise himself from the effect of the slap ; a violent push from Awero made him to hit his head on the ground and in two seconds Ajayi was laying lifeless on the ground.

Everybody thought he was pretending , maybe it's a gimmick to free himself from the claws of his creditor. They tried to resuscitate him but he was not responding. Alas! The man has gone. The crowd dispersed immediately and like a flash the market that was bubbling with activities suddenly became empty.

'Awero has killed Ajayi' the story was spreading like a wild fire in the winter. She was left alone on the spot to eat the animal she has killed. The fire in her eyes has quenched, her aggression has suddenly disappeared, her muscle was calm. She became as gentle as a lamb. She shook Ajayi maybe he will by any chance come back to life , poured water on him but all to no avail. ' E gba mi o!!' she yelled for help 'Young man , stand up , I'm not collecting the money again' ' I dash you, don't even bother to pay me back in the next market day'. Ajayi remain lifeless on the floor his tongue stretched out if his mouth. ' young woman, you are under arrest ' two uniformed men grabbed Awero from the back ' I did not do anything to him' she pleaded ' you will have the chance to explain when you get to our station' Her brain reeled and at once everything around her swirled in circle ; she began to blame herself ' had I known , I would have let him go his way' she said with tears rolling down her cheek looking at Ajayi's lifeless body on the dusty floor