Fortune Finds A Pauper (Short Stories)

From the corner of their street,you could hear the loud sound of the music played from the sound system with very big amplifiers.
It is usually the latest release from our state owned super star, Orlando Owoh.
As you approach the house, you can hear her ,singing alone loudly with the musician, she could have done well as a back up singer.
Iyabo was my best friend in secondary school,we did our home work together, shared gossips about which girl was going out with what boy, who is cheating on who and which teacher had an evil eye for a girl child
Iyabo and I finished school and I was not surprised that she quickly realised her life ambition to marry a young rich man.
They quickly built a very moderate house in the city of Zaria, where her husband had a thriving business, roofing newly built houses,for clients
His job description is Contractor
When he gets paid, the music and food festival begins in their house, no titles for the parties, and the jamboree may last as long as two weeks
A large table was usually set with as many Nigerian dishes as possible, ranging from jollof rice to pounded yam,amala,vegetable soups and ofada soups
People just troupe in, eat, drink dance and sing along with Orlando as he blares out his latest releases on the music box
New clothes are made and delivered everyday.
In two weeks,this sensational lifestyle would seize. And there was quiet on Muazu street, and absolute quiet in my friend s house
I visited and was shocked to find that my friend and the husband at home.
NEPA ,the national electric corporation had cut their light,because they couldn’t pay, all their clothes were stacked at a corner, dirty, no detergent to wash them, there was no money to make soup so they drank only gari with or without sugar, .
I asked my friend after her husband, popularly called Alhaji Dan guy, he was lying on the bed in their room,reading a very big bible, .
A few months down the line, I came visiting again. The contractor had done another job, the music blared again, and the jamboree started again
I saw the eyes of Mr two weeks, watching and waiting

Bose