Hello... New writer here...

Here is the first ever story I will publish online

Critics are welcome please

Owo Booking...

Introduction

I was willing to take it. I would not mind the distance. All I desired is silence. All its other faults had thinned out in the face of my desperation. He would have had a fair chance at claiming the booty. But, wait, hasn't I fought with every reasonable bone inside of me?. Every reasonable and logical cell had come with staves and clubs and watery desperate me had withstood them brashly; branding only sheer will. Well, the latter won and the booty was going to be dumped in Baba's laps. But he flunked.

It was a few weeks to the end of the session. By the end of the session, we would have lost the automatic passport we got to live in the hostel. The prudent forsees the evil day and hides himself but the simple pass on and are punished. We were the prudent sorts and we would prepare for the rainy day. The best time was now because a new session would send prices skyhigh. The opportunistic agents and houseowners would have a field day acting the boss by then because we'd need their services and wisdom would have begun to tell us to better accept the offer because time is going.

We both planned on pairing and sharing _ two to one, "pay half, I'll pay the other". We were low on cash; the sun was blazing hot. We set out anyway. We kept on walking. It was like the journey to heaven's dome. The Mama that fried pastries on a large scale was the cue that would make us heave a sigh of relief; but she wouldn't show up. The journey was still far, we kept on. My partner had lost interest, I was beginning to also, but since I initiated the move, I had to keep on. We trudged. Finally, we saw the Mama. We crossed the road and took the path that led to the house that'll become our home while in school for the next one year.

The house was eerily silent. The compound was nothing close to fine. Inside was neat anyway. My partner suggested I asked one of the occupants about the house and how manageable or enjoyable it was before knocking on the Landlord's door for enquiries. We knocked. She opened. She was a student. But she was selfish with info. Or was it rathert that she was guarded? She seemed to be censored; under some obligation not to spill, so, we wouldn't turn tail and run. We said our thanks with tight smiles and slipped inside again. The eerie silence returned. I wanted a house whose environment was serene and quiet; not one with an eerie silence.

I summoned courage. Merely asking wouldn't hurt and hey, we came all the way! Better we made all the enquiries and established interest in the apartment. Time was running out and other students would readily grab the space if we fiddled with it.

We knocked. A woman attended to us and asked that we come in and make ourselves comfortable. I was skeptical. The large parlour was sparsley furnished. The floor was bare cement. I sat on the edge of the seat. So did my partner. The Landlord came in. He was blind. Oh! I would that he hadn't been; for perhaps it could have put a little restraint on his verbal prowess. Or wasn't it said that those with certain deformities had their other sense organs heightened, because the potential energy that was meant for the sense of perception lost, was evenly distributed amongst other sense organs that were functional, thereby increasing their potential abilities? Well, the man was blind but he was verbose. He could perceive the faintest sound but he'd be damned if that hearing didn't find expression through his mouth!

He talked endlessly, and when we established our interest in the one room apartment that was vacant in his house, he was pleased. We asked for the rent, but he wouldn't budge. Not until the hinges of his tongue were greased with the lubricant of OWO BOOKING. We had to pay for the information. The idea was ' if they're interested in the house, they'll pay this token and once paid, they'll think twice before deciding to not take the house'. I was curious. I had the money. So, I paid. My partner warned me, though.

And then, he began, punctuating his breakdown of the rent with brown-toothed watery chuckles. I was near repulsed but I was scared too; the man looked like a phantom. We listened to his blab.
He didn't stop talking for the next 45minutes... needless expansions, dry jokes to which we gave tight chuckles for the sake of respecting an elder, disjointed diversions that bared past glories and conscientious efforts at establishing himself as a man of integrity both then and now as far as it concerned the office of a landlord.

We made sure not to make comments that'll lead to more talks _ we had tried that for politeness sake at the beginning and learnt the hard way.
Eventually, he ended the analysis of how the rent amounted to that much and then began with the rules that governed living peacefully in the house. At the end of all this, he gave a self satisfied grin and congratulated himself on a job well done.

"The talking business is no childs play, don't you think?" We nodded assent and quickly mumbled a beeni to assert our support of his claim. Still grinning and punctuating it with chuckles that now sounded like gasps, he said " So, you see that I did a real job with the breakdown eh? Your money has served you well."

We said our thanks and began to shuffle our feet to register our readiness to leave. He asked when we'll come back." Soon", we chorused.
We bolted. Then all the flaws I was unwilling to admit, joint forces with Baba's tendency to be verbose and meddlesome. There was no way I could stay in that house.

Baba must still be sitting there in his parlour, hoping that he's secured these ones because we paid Owo booking. I laugh. He had looked like he would appreciate a good meal that night. I was glad to have contributed in some way, to the satisfaction of an old man.That money must've gone a long way. I am glad.

The end.

Thanks for reading

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