As if the stress that comes from trying hard to thrive as a young lady in the current economy is not enough, my neighbours joyfully give me an extra dose of stress topped with some hot sauce every night, until I served them back with something striking.
19th of September 2021, I finally developed the courage to walk to my dad and tell him I wanted to move out and stay on my own, he paused for a while and took a deep breath, I cracked my fingers to break the awkward silence in the room. “Well, my daughter, to me you are a princess too precious to be left all by herself and you are still my baby girl” he finally said, trying to bribe me with his words to stay.
I was not disappointed…. I didn’t expect him to take my first shot, I went back to my room, waiting to launch my next strategy.
It was two weeks since the day my dad said no and for those two weeks I made sure I did something that proved to him that I’m responsible enough to stay on my own. One of the strategies I used was to get to his heart… through his stomach… yeah, I bribed him back with food. He saw my efforts and eventually had a soft spot for me. I believe the food worked. He allowed me move out of the house.
The following month, I moved to my new apartment. It was awesome until it was time to sleep and I was unable to sleep because my neighbours kept playing loud music from their apartment. I wondered if that’s how they have been or it was just that night.
The next day, I went to work and after facing the hassle of the day, I could not wait to hug my bed, but that night I hugged my bed with my eyes wide open in sadness because my neighbours refused to stop playing this music, neither did they reduce the volume. I decided to be patient, maybe it was just a season of joy for them and they want everyone on the street to know, but few months went by and this season of joy was still seasoning….
I also wondered why no one in the environment was complaining about this, just as I wondered how I could solve this problem without making an enemy.
Bing! It finally dropped! I remembered how I could get to their heart to change it…. their stomach. Thankfully, they didn’t like cooking. One fateful morning, I boldly knocked on their door, greeted them with enthusiasm and friendly smile (praying in my heart that they won’t get the wrong meaning because it didn’t end there), I also greeted them with two plates of hot smokey jollof rice, peppered chicken and two cans of malt, they gave me a warm welcome and were surprised.
They asked what for, I said it was to celebrate as new neighbours and an opportunity to know one another better, lol. We talked for a while and when I was about to leave, I stylishly pleaded with them to reduce the volume of their music in the night because someone might have just given birth in the next house…. What a reason 😂, they caught me and laughed. They said they play the songs because their new friends and girlfriends come over and they just groove, they said it has been their culture.
I didn’t want to push, so we ended the conversation and I went to think of another strategy. I went to work and came back lying on my bed, missing my parents’ house, almost regretting that my dad allowed me move out, I remembered the serenity of my former environment, the purpose of my smokey jollof… wasted. I didn’t know when I slept off and to my greatest surprise, the next time I opened my eyes was the next morning.
I thought I slept so deep that the music didn’t wake me up, until I got outside and heard my other neighbours thanking God that there was no music last night. Finally, my breakfast strategy worked, or so I thought.
From what I also overheard, the breakfast ended the music, but not mine, the one one of the girlfriends served him. One of them had a break up, so they went out that night, too cool off I guess (heartbreak is actually not for the weak😂😂). When they came back, the culture of evening loud music ended with the relationship.
Whether it was mine or his girlfriend’s… I care less, all I know is, a breakfast ended the loud music. What a relief.