Beauty And The Beast
She bent slowly, her hand sliding deep into the bag. Her movement was slow, almost deliberate. Funsho’s eyes followed her moves. He was silently grateful for the company which others provided; those who like himself had formed a crowd of onlookers. They had their eyes fixed on this woman who people in the neighborhood had named ‘Queen’. Queen
searched with one hand, while the other tugged at the dirty piece of cloth that covered her protruding tummy, her breasts completely bare. She held to it like it was a talisman, a protection for her unborn child. She straightened to adjust this piece of cloth, as one of its ends was touching the ground.
“Take am easy nah” Funsho spoke in pidgin. He said this to the girl who stood in front of him. The girl had tripped, losing her balance as Queen stood erect. Funsho smiled, it seemed the girl had only realised she had been standing too close to Queen. Too close to be comfortable.
“Sorry” the girl barely looked at him.
Queen had resumed her search. The contents of the bag now sprawled on the ground. She picked up an almost empty lip gloss, and started applying what remained of it on her daughter’s lips. Her daughter would not be more than six years old. The crowd had gathered to watch this unusual make-up session Queen had started moments earlier. No one knew where Queen came from. She had been roaming the streets for a while, and everyone in the neighborhood simply let her be. Well, everyone except Funsho, and some other men. Funsho was sure he was not the only man who had laid with her since she showed up in the neighborhood.
She was through after few strokes of the lip gloss. Though some colours were out of place, still, her daughter looked pretty. It was no wonder why people had gathered. This was the first time she was making her daughter up from the make-up kit she found in a bag she had picked up. The bag contained a lot to make a woman beautiful. Queen guarded this bag well.
“Hey, na she make her girl up like this” a woman who had joined the onlookers said. It seemed more a comment than a question.
“You know wetin she dey do before she craze” someone else responded. People in the neighborhood do say that she might have been a model, a prostitute or a beauty stylist.
Soon, the crowd started to disperse, as the show was over. It was the women and girls who started to leave, as Queen had stripped off the badly torn dirty skirt she had on. The piece of cloth still held firm around her tummy. The men and boys had to leave too, nobody wanted to easily reveal what perversion they had.
Funsho searched his mind, counting the days that remained before he would visit her again. It was only days away. He had to keep with the demands Baba had given him. For the first time, he longed for that day.
source: naijastories.com
“Sorry” the girl barely looked at him.
Queen had resumed her search. The contents of the bag now sprawled on the ground. She picked up an almost empty lip gloss, and started applying what remained of it on her daughter’s lips. Her daughter would not be more than six years old. The crowd had gathered to watch this unusual make-up session Queen had started moments earlier. No one knew where Queen came from. She had been roaming the streets for a while, and everyone in the neighborhood simply let her be. Well, everyone except Funsho, and some other men. Funsho was sure he was not the only man who had laid with her since she showed up in the neighborhood.
She was through after few strokes of the lip gloss. Though some colours were out of place, still, her daughter looked pretty. It was no wonder why people had gathered. This was the first time she was making her daughter up from the make-up kit she found in a bag she had picked up. The bag contained a lot to make a woman beautiful. Queen guarded this bag well.
“Hey, na she make her girl up like this” a woman who had joined the onlookers said. It seemed more a comment than a question.
“You know wetin she dey do before she craze” someone else responded. People in the neighborhood do say that she might have been a model, a prostitute or a beauty stylist.
Soon, the crowd started to disperse, as the show was over. It was the women and girls who started to leave, as Queen had stripped off the badly torn dirty skirt she had on. The piece of cloth still held firm around her tummy. The men and boys had to leave too, nobody wanted to easily reveal what perversion they had.
Funsho searched his mind, counting the days that remained before he would visit her again. It was only days away. He had to keep with the demands Baba had given him. For the first time, he longed for that day.
source: naijastories.com
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