Rainbow City
Papa and Pikin Matter
The long-awaited conversation between Vero and her father, debtor Adolphus, and after the last episode we can only imagine the content of this discourse.
Adolphus preambles with lots of talk about Vero as the leader of his wolf-pack of 7 and how his White Master also predicted that Vero would grow up into a beautiful young woman. Slowly but surely, he delves into the crux of the matter; the ‘opportunities’ knocking on her door in the form of suitable suitors for marriage.
Vero reminds her father that passing her Secondary School Exams [WAEC] is paramount on her mind but her father insists that marriage to a ‘big man’ is more important than an education.
‘Papa’, Vero cries, ‘You no want make I happy?’
But Adolphus will not be appeased or back down. Even when Vero inquires about the monies her mother, Beauty have passed on to him as payment for her examination, artful dodger that he is, he diffuses her question; then turns his fury on Mr Chris as the source of Vero’s refusal to marry one of the big men seeking her hand.
Beauty vs. Adolphus
Beauty confronts her husband in respect of Vero’s case. She also demands the funds that she has given him to pay for Vero examinations. We wonder how she could have been so trusting of Adolphus given his antecedents. She is staunchly behind Vero’s decision to pursue her education instead of rushing off into an early marriage as she bitterly rehashes the miserable existence they are confined to as a result of illiteracy.
Madam Asabe vs. Mrs Bature
It is a day for confrontations evidently.
Madam Asabe and Mrs Bature do battle over the cleaning of the communal kitchen, as Madam Asabe insists that Mrs Bature’s firewood is the reason the kitchen is constantly filthy. Instead of addressing the issue at hand, Mrs Bature starts in on Madam Asabe and accuses her of chasing all the men of Endurance villa; namely Mr Chris, Pa Momoh and the Chairman. Madam Asabe keeps her cool and promises to deal appropriately with the ‘craze’ in Mrs Bature’s head upon her return from the market.
Endurance Villa indeed! Should be renamed Chaos Villa!
This is a production of the African Radio Drama Association [ARDA]