Too Small Tola Makes It Count

Tola Finds a Solution
Tola lives in a run-down block of apartments in the megacity of Lagos, in the country of Nigeria.       She lives with her sister, Moji; her brother, Dapo; and Grandmommy. Grandmommy is the boss of them all.
   Tola has lived with Moji, Dapo, and Grandmommy since the day she was born. But when the virus came to Lagos and lockdown happened, then everything changed.
   Moji went to live at her teacher’s house so she could continue her schoolwork. Dapo went to live at the garage so he could continue training to be a mechanic. And Tola went to work as a house girl for a rich family called the Diamonds because she and Grandmommy had no money for food.
   Tola not only worked there—she lived there too, because that is what house girls do!
   Now Tola does not have to live with the Diamonds anymore. She has agreed to work for them on Saturdays but not until they get back from their stay in London.
   Now lockdown is over and Moji and Dapo and Tola are home. They and Grandmommy are so-so happy!
   “Moji!” Grandmommy orders. “Help me grind the beans for the moi-moi!”
   “Dapo!” Grandmommy orders. “Help me collect a newspaper from the hawkers.”
   “Tola!” Grandmommy orders. “Help me measure how much material I have here.”
   When Grandmommy says “Help me,” she means “Do it for me right now!”
   But Moji and Dapo and Tola don’t mind. They are too happy to mind anything now that they are home and all together.
   Every poor person in Lagos is rejoicing that lockdown is over. Now they can go out into the city and earn money without the police chasing them back inside. All Tola’s neighbors are out in the corridors celebrating.
   “It was hard-o! It was hard!” claims Mama Business.
   Mama Business has children in the UK. They sent her money, so she did not have to leave the apartments even once during lockdown.
   “But we managed, we managed.” Mr. Abdul smiles gently.
   Mr. Abdul had to go to work every day or his family would have starved. He was chased home by the police more times than he can remember.
   “Some of us,” he says, looking at Tola. “Some of us even triumphed.”
   “Some of us are liars!” the Ododi boy mocks.
The Ododi boy does not believe that Tola worked for the Diamonds. The Diamonds are the most uber-mega-famous Afrobeat musicians in Nigeria. There is no way Too Small Tola could have worked for them.
   Mr. Abdul turns away from the Ododi boy. He always turns away from angry people. But Tola’s brother, Dapo, does not.
   “Who are you calling a liar?” he asks angrily.
   Grandmommy steps between them.
   “Dapo,” she orders. “Help me fetch my fan. I am sweating.”
   Dapo hesitates. Then he goes.
   The Ododi boy is taller than Dapo and his muscles are bigger. Grandmommy is a short old lady. But Dapo knows who he is more afraid of!
   “Lockdown is gone!” Mrs. Shaky-Shaky changes the subject quickly. “It is finished—pata-pata!”
   Everybody claps happily.
   Then Mrs. Abdul goes to get a tray of fried chicken she has prepared. Grandmommy asks Moji to fetch the moi-moi. And Mrs. Raheen tells her boy to start roasting corn.
   Now it is a party!
   Tola sits on the stairs with her mouth turned down. She is not in a party mood anymore. Mrs. Shaky-Shaky comes to stand next to Tola on her shaky-shaky legs.
   “Don’t mind that Ododi boy,” she says. “Wait till you tell your friends at school about the Diamonds. You will be a celebrity!”
   Tola does not want to be a celebrity. She does not like everybody looking at her. But she does
not want to be called a liar either. That is much worse.
   Mrs. Shaky-Shaky looks past Tola toward the stairs.
   “Before lockdown I used to come down from my room every-every day,” she says.
   Tola nods. At least once a day Mrs. Shaky-Shaky came down to talk to whoever was around. She would sit on the outside steps, and everybody who passed would stop and talk
to her.
   “Now it is too hard,” Mrs. Shaky-Shaky continues. “My legs refuse to cooperate.”
   Both Tola and Mrs. Shaky-Shaky sigh. What problems there are in life!