Yours,Forgetfully.

1.

SHALOM.

I looked up for the third time in thirty minutes to spy the same man looking around in confusion at everyone as he had been doing all day.

I've seen a lot of men in my twenty five years of living but I could honestly say i'd never seen a face structure quite like the one this stranger had. He had a pair of perfectly arched brows that extended into a chiseled jaw that looked like it could cut glass. His nose was not too high but it balanced well over a pair of natural pink lips.

For lack of a better description, I'd say the man looked like a model and i was simply mesmerized.

And that never happened.

I first noticed him this morning at the exact moment he walked into the bustling overcrowded bus park. I was still setting up my plates and unloading my heavy coolers of food when I spotted a very tall man as he walked inside the park.

He was outstanding for a number of reasons. The man towered over the vast population of people in the park with his staggering height, Also he looked very fit, like someone who never missed a day of workout but most of all because of his attire.

The suit he was rocking was of the expensive variety, anyone with an eye for good things could see that, coupled with the gold expensive watch on his right wrist.

He looked sourly out of place, it was almost laughable except for the fact that the man looked lost and distressed.

Did he lose his job?

Or was he mad? Because Lagos will humble you. I've seen men dressed like Senators sleeping under bridges by evening. You never knew.

So I looked away.

Because in this city, when you see something strange, you mind your business before the strange thing minds you back.

As much as SuitMan was a sight for sore eyes, I had to focus on the business that paid me. My Buka, as my customers were growing antsy and a bit impatient.

(Buka - Roadside Restaurant)

Except... somehow, my eyes found him again and again over the course of hours.

"Aunty, leave man serve me food abeg. Wetin dey do you?" one customer finally said, earning a very harsh glare and a strong hiss from me before his food was roughly placed before him.

(Abeg = please. Wetin dey do you = What is wrong with you)

One thing I'd learnt about being a roadside vendor was that you had to match everyone's rudeness with even more rudeness or else they'll ride you and that's exactly what i did in Asoka park which earned me the title "Pepperline" or sometimes "Pepper body".

A moniker I lived up to with everything I possessed at every turn.  All my life I've been "small" and people tried to always bully me so I learned early on to be as prickly as a porcupine.

When I arrived at the park three years ago with my cooler of food and plates in tow, a couple "area boys" had tried to intimidate me into giving them free food and I knew if I gave in on the first day my business would be doomed on arrival.

So I did what i knew to do best, fight.

When I pushed the first guy, the other guy started laughing, a big belly laughter that ignited all the wraths of hellish anger within me. Immediately I threw my bowl of spicy pepper sauce in his face causing him to squeal like a girl rushing away from my stall to look for help.

The first guy quickly slapped me hard across the face, causing me to see a flurry of stars in my line of vision, I couldn't go down like this. I thought.