Fola’s Trilemma

Fola wearily walked to the bus stop, which was just a short distance from her place of work. On arrival, she is greeted by the conductor’s yell of “oshodi isale.”

She heeds his call by taking the passenger seat of the bus.

Her mind began to drift away as the bus gradually filled up.

“Finally, the end of the month,” she thought to herself as she opened her paycheck—another thirty days of hard work rewarded with insufficient compensation.

Fola began to perform a mental calculation of all her pending expenditures.

Her first thought was her son’s education. He had been kicked out of school a week earlier for her failure to pay his tuition. She wondered what it must have been like for him to watch his peers march to school every morning while he stayed home idle.

“Jimi has to go to school,” she whispered to herself.

“What about food?” she thought. She couldn’t bear to give Jimi garri and fish for dinner again. She thought about asking her neighbours for some rice but dreaded the idea as she had just collected some beans from them a few days prior. She felt they, too, must be suffering from the inflation in food prices.

“Aunty, your money,” a rough voice said, disrupting her thoughts. She reached into her purse and pulled out a 100 naira note.

“E no complete,” the voice retorted.

“Oh, sorry,” Fola said as she reached for another 100 naira note. She had forgotten all about the recent hike in transport fares.

She looked up and noticed they were almost at her bus stop.

“O wa ooo,” she said as the bus came to a halt.

She began walking to her house, which was about a stone’s throw away from the bus stop.

On arrival, she is met by Baba Sukarno, her landlord.

“End of the month, Fola, you are still owing me rent,” he blurts

“Good evening, Baba,” responds Fola.

“I’d get it to you soon unfailingly,” she continues.

“You better, or you and your son would have to find a new place to live,” he said with a look of dismay.

Fola sinks into her couch on arrival to her self contain apartment. 

She lets out a huge sigh and drifts back into her thoughts.

What was she to do now with her minimum wage salary? Feed her son, pay his tuition or keep a roof above his head?

She continues to ponder until she is overcome by a deep slumber.

The end of the month usually came as a relief to most people but not Fola.