TÓDÙN

25

                   ~TODUN~

I entered the boutique right after Kunle to behold the pretty face of the lady who was behind the desk. She smiled exposing her gap teeth like mine and greeted us in the most pleasant way. Her red lipstick blended with the red blouse she was wearing and her light skin glowed under the fluorescent light that was directly placed above where she sat.

"Good afternoon." She greeted us and bent her head still maintaining the smiling face. "Tola, come and attend to customer o." She screamed and answered us at the same time when we replied her greetings.

"I will like to buy a shoe for my self and something for this lady." Kunle said and held my hand which I snatched away almost immediately. My action didn't go unnoticed by the girl as she smiled and called upon the yet to appear Tola. A voice answered from the array of cloths and a girl in a smart tee-shirt that had the logo of the boutique with a black trousers approached with a wide smile on her face. She reminded me of my days of work at the filling station, only that I usually don't have that smile on my face.

Being able to smile must have been one of the requirements for their jobs, I thought as I stared at both of them. I couldn't really blame them since they work in a conducive environment and they don't have to stare at the struggling faces of broke drivers. If you will agree with me, it is happy and rich people that buy clothes. Even the joy of a new clothe will make you happy whatsoever unlike buying petrols that get increased everyday. The lady who was referred to as Tola beckoned to us and we followed her to where masculine shoes were arranged in their different styles and sizes.

"Which one will you like? Which size do you use?" She asked in a childish voice that almost made me think she was trying to flirt with him. He walked towards an array of shoes and picked them one after the other and at the same time he checked their sizes.

"Why do you even need a shoe for that party?" I blurted and I sighted the sales girl grin, she must have done that thinking I was trying to chase her customer away.

"I only brought canvas that are meant to be worn to school and are supposed to  accompany English dresses.I didn't bring any foot wear to blend with a native dress." He answered me trying to wear one of the shoes he picked.

"I see." I answered and watched the girl walk ahead trying to arrange the shoes that had been scattered.

"What do you think about this one?" He held up a brown shoe for me to see.

"It depends on the colour of the clothe you want to wear but I think black will be better since you can wear it with anything." I answered him and watched him drop the shoe immediately, reaching for a black colour design of it.

"Wow, I never thought of that." He answered squeezing his feet into the shoe. "Thank you." He beamed at me and I shook my head in response. I didn't even do anything, I thought and sat on the chair opposite him. After many tries and errors of different shoes, he finally settled on the black shoe and the lady who was attending to us came back with loads of long gown. I can't believe he brought me here to shop for her I muttered and thanked my lucky charm because he didn't seem to hear what I said.

"You should try those out." He told me and stood up, while I did the same about to make my way back to where we came from. "Where are you going?" He asked and pulled my hand while the girl watched us interestingly, with the same smile she had earlier on her face.

"I am going back there." I pointed to the entrance. "Pay for what you bought and let us go."

"You have to buy something too or we will sleep here, something for the party."  He emphasised on the word party.