Bread and beans. - by Israel Oyedeji

It was either bread and beans or beans and bread. You had the chivalry of preference—your taste, your style, as Mom would always say. Ibitoye would want to complain, but what’s there to complain about? It was tasty, and most importantly, filling. “Mom, I’ll make you proud one day,” Ibitoye said as he stormed out of the house with an empty cooler to get the usual.While walking the streets, he thought of what he had just said. It felt awkward. He thought, why don’t you get rice today? Then his mind flashed at him: this is my final meal of the day. Rice wouldn’t reach anywhere. It’s only bread and beans that can do it. Bread and beans or beans and bread... he chuckled. He snapped out of the nostalgia, returning sharply to the reality of the construction site where he worked. Everyone was taking a break from the heavy labor and heading out to eat. Some bought bread and Pepsi; some beans mixed with garri; others went for rice and stew. But Ibitoye? He would only get either of those two trusty options. Bread and beans, or beans and bread. He couldn’t fully concentrate on work that day. Mistakenly, he broke a concrete block, his mind completely adrift, pondering on what he would give his daughter on her birthday next week. He cherished his daughter, Dolapo, and wanted nothing but the absolute best for her. “Superman will beat Batman!” She heard it from the back of her head. It was very obvious it was that naughty boy, Chinedu. He likes to make noise too much. “Stop making noise!” Dolapo shouted, “You’re disturbing me!” It was break time and the teacher wasn't in the class, so the noise was endless. Then the question hit her directly. “Dolapo, who do you think would win? Superman or Batman if they fight, ehnnn???”“What is my own?” She asked, “You better leave me alone.”“No Chinedu come, come and see the CD my mommy bought for me yesterday!” It was a Barbie pack. It had Barbie in the Diamond Castle, Barbie Fairytopia, Barbie in A Mermaid Tale… it was the full 24-pack! There was no Barbie movie that wasn't inside it. Chinedu hissed and ran away, completely uninterested. She turned around and excitedly showed her seatmate, Bisola. The teacher walked in and banged her cane heavily on her desk. Gba! Gba! Gba! “All of you keep quiet! Bring out your food and eat quietly,” she commanded. Everyone quickly scrambled to their bags to pull out their lunch boxes. Dolapo opened her flask and saw nothing but beans. Meanwhile, Bisola opened hers and stared down at plain bread.“Eiiiiii, my mommy forgot to put the Bama!” Bisola groaned. “My mommy didn’t even put bread for me, only beans,” Dolapo contributed, looking at her flask.From the back row, Chinedu’s voice boomed again. “I like my mommy's food, it’s so delicious!” Stop making noise, you this boy, went through my mind. Then Dolapo turned around and snapped, “I’ll slap you oooooo!”Bisola and Dolapo both went to the teacher to complain. The both of them were best of friends and their parents knew each other well, so the teacher just smiled. "Since you have bread and you have beans," the teacher chuckled, "do you want bread and beans or beans and bread?" They went back to their seats and shared the food. Chinedu came buzzing around again."Dolapo, I’ll call you Beansy from today! And you, Bisola, I’ll call you Bready!"They ignored him and just drank their water. Before long, the chant spread completely across the classroom: "Bready and beansy! Bready and beansy!" Gbagaun! Gbagaun! Gbagaun! “Break is over!!!!!!!!!”“Ohohhhhhh!!” the students wailed in disappointment. Not long after, the bell rang out again... fellowship time! Today was Friday, and it was time for school fellowship. After it ended, Dolapo and her friend Bisola were hanging around by the swings when Ibitoye and his friend—who happened to be Bisola’s father—arrived together to pick them up. The two girls immediately sprinted forward. “Dadddyyyy!!!!!!” They grabbed their school bags and were just about to walk out, but Dolapo remembered something important. She spun around, looked right at me, and told them to wait. I didn’t know she could see me. Oh well, but here’s what she said: Thank you for sharing my story, I really hope your audience enjoys it and I hope they like, share, tip and even comment on it. She smiled brightly, turned around, and ran right out the school gate to meet her dad.

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