CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

                                    

                                          
ENERGY...
                          
"Before you milk a cow, you should at least try to make it your friend", Timmy told Cleo and me the following morning at a livestock farm.
                          
" No. You go on with that. I don't think I'm good at being friends with animals", Fear gripped me as the cow mooed.
                          
"But you have a dog at home", He brought me closer to the cow."You can start by feeding it".
                          
"Hope it won't bite?", I fed the cow slowly.
                          
"Nah. "She's not a bitch like you", Hawau laughed.
                          
"Why did you just say?" Miss Bimbo who was talking to the farm owner earlier turned to her.
                          
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way", She apologized immediately. 
                          
"That's not enough. You're going to sweep the cow's poop before we leave this place", Miss Bimbo told her.
                          
" What!",Hawau replied with disgust in her eyes, and everyone made fun of her.
                          
"Oh my God! I'm enjoying this!" I say, feeling excited as I make use of Cleo's lesson in milking the cow.
                          
"Okay, guys. Come over", My homeroom teacher(Mr. Bassey) called our attention, and we form a circle round him."Can we have a milking competition?"
                          
"Yes, sir", We chorused.








                          
After receiving orders from Mr. Bassey, the competitors started extracting milk from the milkers, using every strength they've got. Shola and I stayed with the other girls under a shade, shouting as much as we could to encourage our bestie(Timmy) who emerged winner, having the highest amount of milk before the estimated time for milking elapses. With excitement, he lifted Shola up and the villagers sang his praises with their local music instruments and rewarded him with a pure white chicken.





                          
"Thanking for earning us tonight's source of protein", Miss Bimbo smiled broadly at Timmy in our kitchen in the evening, as he assisted us in killing the fowl he won earlier.
                          
"Sorry but this is for me and my husband alone", Shola joked.
                          
"Eh Pele oo, ruth abokoku(A woman that builds her world around a man)", Miss Bimbo responded and we laughed."Hey, are you okay?" She asked Ayo who looked unhappy.
                          
"How can she be happy when her husband is not here?" Shola prevented herself from laughing for Miss Bimbo's sake.
                          
"Oh. I see. Even Cleo left Nifemi for Fulani girls", Miss Bimbo teased me.
                          
"That's not true", I replied shyly.
                          
"It's okay, dear", Miss Bimbo forced her to smile."As you can see, Nifemi's enjoying her life even though Cleo's not here so do the same".
                          
"I'm so lucky I've got the best husband in the whole world", Shola made fun of us as she removed the chicken feathers with Timmy, having a bowl of hot water nearby.
                          
"Good evening, people", A young lad with a thick Hausa Accent came looking for Ayo who received him warmly. For a couple of minutes, they sat and chatted outside after seeking permission from Miss Bimbo. 
                          
More also, Hawau came to tell Shola that Mr.  Bassey wants to see her at the palm wine joint where they were having fun, so I to fry the chicken alone. It didn't turn out bad anyway. It was tender and crispy too. Everyone loved it. In fact, all we did was eat it with gulps of palm wine and go to bed. No matter how much Miss Bimbo begged, Mr. Bassey didn't allow her to save any for cooking any soup.






                          
Instead of having our bath in our Palm frond bathroom the next day, we went to the river. On our way, we came across a few monkeys hopping from trees to trees and rabbits being careful not to fall victim to traps. Within the walkway, extensions of weeds tried to prevent us from moving forward but Cleo used a cutlass to cut them off. At the riverside, the girls wore their different designs and patterns of bikini to show off their body shapes, while I sat at the river edge to watch their swimming techniques.