Odds: Bourbon
ODDS
Mayowa Ojo
6/10/20264 min read
Some days just start with a bang… a banging headache. Jenny felt like the new year carnival was in her head and there was just no way to turn down the volume or end it. She quickly took stock of her activities the previous day – nothing. She’d been to church in the morning and that was it. The rest of the day she spent indoors watching TV, reading a book she’s been trying to finish for almost a year and of course, watching other people’s lives through every social media platform available down to whatsapp status.
Can boredom cause headaches? She typed into the google search engine on her phone and waited while the circle of death on her browser mocked her with the slow network. In anger she tossed her phone aside and headed for the shower.
Half way through to work the rain started. It had not rained in over a month and she was certain the season was over but somewhere between the gods and climate change, the rain was back. She cursed. She had no umbrella to protect herself and still did not own a car because “No man will marry you if you do” – her mother had told her.
Every year the past couple of years has been the same during the rainy season – a period of deep self-loathing for yielding to societal pressure when she could be in her car and even have a permanent umbrella for occasions like this.
Jenny got into work feeling like a wet cat – temperamental and she hated it. She let out a short prayer for strength and when she opened her eyes she saw her supervisor, Cecil, standing in front of her. He dumped a trailer load of files for her to sort through after he had embarrassed her for coming to work late. She knew not to use the car-excuse because he knew how much she earned and knew she could afford one.
Jenny sighed and picked up the first file in front of her. Judith sauntered her way smiling and Jenny wanted to give her the “Save it. I know everything you want to say and I don’t have time for this right now” line but she held her tongue. She could really use some good news, albeit predictable.
“He proposed,” Judith squealed than talked.
Jenny shot up from her chair and hugged Judith who was too excited to notice her blouse was now wet. Stories were told and congratulations exchanged and it was time to go to work. She opened her computer after her colleague left and typed “I am a self-righteous hypocrite” over and again till her desk phone rang and Cecil asked if the files she was working on were suddenly on her computer.
Jenny hated herself for thinking thoughts she had no business thinking but she could not help herself. She hated that her colleague, Judith was the one who partied and slept with any man who winked her way, hated cooking and still was not sure if having children was for her even though she would not tell the man who married her until after the wedding.
Why does my life suck so much? Why can’t I just be genuinely happy for her? Why has no one asked me out yet in so long? I wouldn’t marry Judith if I were a guy. That indolent slot! I should be the one who is happy. I go to church, I’m a good girl, I don’t party, I’m clean… what else is there for me to do? she thought as she cried her eyes out leaving tear drops on the files in front of her.
*************
It occurred to her that maybe taking an uber home was not such a bad idea but a part of her brain did the maths and declined. Onto a bus she got and followed it as it meandered its way across town. She thought of her recent crush and wondered why he was not seeing all the signs she was giving.
His name was Matthew and he oozed of cool. Jenny knew she would buy a car the moment things got serious… if they ever did. She just didn’t want to scare him away just yet. They attended the same church and they had a healthy friendship. She loved him already and suspected that he at least liked her too which was kind of okay because she could wait a little more.
The only reason she did not think of him often was because she had been at this point before where all her thoughts led her on and eventually hurt her. This time, Matthew was like an old bottle of bourbon that’s brought out on special occasions and tonight was special.
Jenny was sad. Overwhelmingly so. She was saddened by her life. Everything from the rain that beat her in the morning to the excited Judith to her skirt that ripped in the middle of the day and her period that started a day earlier than it was supposed to. There was also her boss and the rubbish meal she had for lunch simply because she was buried in work and client-meetings. Then this matter of jumping buses also made matters worse and on her way home it started to rain again.
Just as she whipped out the thought of Matthew to sip on and console herself, his car passed her by on the bus. She wanted to call but didn’t want to make a fuss or come across as a stalker. She looked through the windshield till she could not see him again. The bus driver was making so many stops that it was impossible to follow Matt’s car.
A few minutes later as the bus came to a stop for some passengers to alight, she saw Matt’s car parked in front of a building along the road. She knew the area because it was her route home – it was a red light district. Jenny frowned wondering why he would stop there. It looked like he was on his phone but there was no way to know who he was talking to.
Right before her eyes a scantily clad young girl with her tiny purse as an umbrella rushed into Matthew’s car and slammed the door. Jenny’s jaw hit the floor. There was no doubt in her mind that the girl was a prostitute. She saw the two of them get into a conversation as her bus zoomed past Matt’s car and her heart bled. Of the many ills she imagined he would have, whoring was not one of them. He’s a church guy, she chanted to herself.
Jenny closed the bottle of Matthew bourbon in her mind and put it back on the shelf where she kept it. She knew she would throw it out with the trash in a short while but she wanted to enjoy the sight of him for just a little longer. Back to square one, she murmured under her breath as she looked forward to face the reality of what she had just seen.