The Canteen

Photo from Adams Arslan on Unsplash 

Welcome to Limitless! 

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“Can you move your busy body back, do you want to enter my stew?” She snarled at the customers, “In this economy, you will pay for it o.” She scraped the sweat on her forehead with her thumb and retied her wrapper.

Ariyo Canteen was flooded with an interesting mix of customers. Men in their suits, women in their corporate wears, bike men, trade apprentices, and children all crowded around the giant coolers and pots being served from. 

Jollof rice, white rice, beans and bread, swallow and soups, were in coolers on the canteen’s serving table. The spicy meaty aroma of freshly-made buka stew engulfed the whole canteen. 

There was also Afro beats playing in the background; competing with the chattering of customers anyway. 

One thing was lacking in the canteen: Coordination. There were no queues and everyone was pushing their way through. Faces were covered in sweat and frowns; customers clearly annoyed by the excessive wait time. 

“My lunch break is almost over, can you guys hurry up please?” One customer in scrubs asked. 

“Aunty nurse, as you can see, we are not playing, maybe you should come and collect the spoon from our hands and serve”, she hissed. 

“Rude much?” The nurse retorted. 

“Ehnehn. So, you want to beat me? Rude much”, she mimicked. “All these Gen Zs or what do you call yourselves. It’s your mother at home you are talking to, not me.” She gave her a dirty up-to-down look. 

“Your food is not even-” the nurse continued but was cut off by a man in his forties. 

“Mama Ariyo, where is my money and where is Ariyo?” The lanky, bald-headed man in a faded Ankara outfit yelled. Everyone immediately stopped talking. 

“Are you sure your head is correct? Can’t you see that I’m attending to customers? If you were smart, you’d call me aside to ask this question, but as usual, your brain is empty.”

The man clenched his teeth, pushed through the customers, and went behind the counter where the sales people and Mama Ariyo were. He clutched her blouse tightly at her chest, and spat out, “this dirty woman, don’t tell me you’ve spent my money on him again”. 

She became furious, “I have forgiven you already o, but I can’t let this one go”. So, she grabbed her iron ladle, and swung hard at his stomach. He immediately loosened his fist from her blouse. She swung at him again and again, until he doubled over and clutched his body tightly. 

“Exactly! Think twice before messing with me.” She flung the ladle to the side and stormed out of the canteen. 

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Thank you for reading. 

If you were a customer at this canteen, what would you have done? And what do you think is going on?🤔 Let me know in the comment section! 

Till we meet again!❤️