Tomorrow is far
I was halfway into my meal when the three Okada riders met me inside the Buka. The zinc built roadside restaurant was stuffy that afternoon as the three commercial motorcycle riders stepped into the rowdy joint. They picked a table next to me and then made their orders. I was enjoying my rice and beans with fried meat. This was the popular menu of the eating place. So I was not surprised when the three men also requested rice and beans with meat. But I was surprised when one of them asked the waitress not to put meat on his.
‘ I don’t want meat on my own. ‘He told them loudly.
‘Don’t be stingy. Enjoy yourself while alive.’ I heard one of his companions say.
‘ Yes, spend money on yourself and enjoy your life.’ The third man supported.
But he smiled broadly at his companion and shook his head as if what they were suggesting was ridiculous.
‘You guys can go ahead and enjoy your life with all your money I don’t care. But as for me, I am not spending a dime to buy meat. I hope to do that once I get back to the village. I didn’t come all the way to the city to eat meat.’ He told them seriously.
The waitress brought them their order a few minutes later and I noticed that one of the plates had no meat. I saw the two of them pick out the two plates with meat and left the meatless plate for the third man. He picked up his plate with relish and they all ate silently.
‘But you should be ashamed of your squirrel life. The meat in your meal won’t pinch much from your money. Enjoy today, tomorrow is still far. ’ The first man said as they ate.
‘There is nothing like being a miser here. Look, I have all the money to buy a full ram or goat if I want to. But I have promised myself not to spend extravagantly. I am saving all this money to enjoy myself when I get back to the village.’ The guy responded and then to my surprise brought out a large sum of money from his pocket. ‘You can see I have almost one hundred thousand naira here. But I am not spending a dime on meat. You guys should go ahead and spend yours.’ He said mockingly, protectively returned the money into his pocket and then back to his food.
They finished eating a few minutes later, paid and left me still seated on my seat. I saw them climb their bikes and drive off. I left the buka few minutes later to see a sudden accident ahead of me. Getting to the spot, I saw the mingled body of a man and his bike under a trailer. A proper view confirmed that it was the corpse of the bike rider who had refused to include meat in his meal.
‘ I don’t want meat on my own. ‘He told them loudly.
‘Don’t be stingy. Enjoy yourself while alive.’ I heard one of his companions say.
‘ Yes, spend money on yourself and enjoy your life.’ The third man supported.
But he smiled broadly at his companion and shook his head as if what they were suggesting was ridiculous.
‘You guys can go ahead and enjoy your life with all your money I don’t care. But as for me, I am not spending a dime to buy meat. I hope to do that once I get back to the village. I didn’t come all the way to the city to eat meat.’ He told them seriously.
The waitress brought them their order a few minutes later and I noticed that one of the plates had no meat. I saw the two of them pick out the two plates with meat and left the meatless plate for the third man. He picked up his plate with relish and they all ate silently.
‘But you should be ashamed of your squirrel life. The meat in your meal won’t pinch much from your money. Enjoy today, tomorrow is still far. ’ The first man said as they ate.
‘There is nothing like being a miser here. Look, I have all the money to buy a full ram or goat if I want to. But I have promised myself not to spend extravagantly. I am saving all this money to enjoy myself when I get back to the village.’ The guy responded and then to my surprise brought out a large sum of money from his pocket. ‘You can see I have almost one hundred thousand naira here. But I am not spending a dime on meat. You guys should go ahead and spend yours.’ He said mockingly, protectively returned the money into his pocket and then back to his food.
They finished eating a few minutes later, paid and left me still seated on my seat. I saw them climb their bikes and drive off. I left the buka few minutes later to see a sudden accident ahead of me. Getting to the spot, I saw the mingled body of a man and his bike under a trailer. A proper view confirmed that it was the corpse of the bike rider who had refused to include meat in his meal.
