Greetings!
Starting with this honest truth: I’m not into a daily intake of coffee. I drink it maybe three or four times a week, but there was one particular month—it must have been either June or July last year (2023)—when I was so hooked on coffee that I ended up drinking it every morning to start my day. I remember that during that period, life was a bit easier for me financially, so I could afford to purchase rows of sachet Nescafé to use at home, rather than going to the shop close to my house every time I needed one, which had been my usual routine.
I started drinking it daily, and it really helped with my daily activities, especially with staying active and avoiding any drowsiness in the morning. Then one day, very early in the morning around 5:40 a.m., a relative called me to come and help him fix something at his house. He promised I would be back within an hour or two. I left for his house at that exact time, and we started working. By around 7:30 a.m., I began to feel some uneasiness in my body. It wasn’t really hunger, but I felt drawn to get something—some liquid, other than water—to put into my mouth. That was when I noticed the tangerine tree in the compound. The fruits weren’t ripe, but I found myself plucking, peeling, and chewing them. Yes, chewing—since they weren’t big enough to be sucked like large oranges. And, of course, I got the familiar sour slap on my cheeks with each chew.
When my relative noticed me lingering beside the tangerine tree with my frowned face via the tangerine slaps, he asked, “Kingsley, is that hunger at work?”
“No, no, not at all, I don’t eat this early in the morning; my body just feels off, and I feel like chewing these oranges.” I replied and He laughed out loud.
“Hahaha! Tangerines that aren’t ripe—tangerines that are slapping your cheeks as you put them in your mouth!”
During that whole time, I felt like I was missing something, I felt like I was pregnant because I was so restless, just exactly pregnant ladies behave, but it didn’t occur to me that my body was reacting to missing my daily morning coffee. My system had adapted to it and was now unsettled by going just one day without it.
We finished the work around 8:30 a.m., and I took a bike back home. As soon as I entered my room, I finally realized what I had missed that morning. Without hesitation, I quickly turned on the gas, put a little water in a kettle, and placed it on the stove. Just then, my phone beeped with a message from a customer—a tailor—saying I should come quickly to his shop to pick up some clothes he wanted me to wash, warning he’d leave if I didn’t show up in four minutes. Coffee or food can come first on any other day, but not in this situation. I turned off the gas and hurried to the tailor’s shop, only to find him in a heated argument with his neighbor that was almost turning into a fight. I arrived just in time to separate them, and that cost me an additional 40 minutes before I could collect the clothes.
When I got back home, I couldn’t find my keys in my pocket. The only possible place they could have been was at the tailor’s shop. So, I went back, only to find he had locked up his shop, leaving me waiting for him there.
By this time, the day had gone far, and my body was already shivering a bit. It was clear I was hungry by then, and though I don’t consider my morning coffee as a meal, it does keep my stomach settled until I’m ready for solid food.
When I finally got home that day, I decided not to have any coffee, believing that all the signs and events that kept me from my coffee that morning were a warning that something was going to happen. Superstitious and obeyed it!
Thanks for reading.
Photos used are mine