After crossing the road, he stopped for a moment and turned back to look at the supermarket again. His face became serious. Then, without saying a word, he returned to the construction site.
Inside the supermarket, customers slowly continued their shopping as if nothing had happened. But Muna kept looking at Azuka, and Azuka’s face still looked angry. Neither of them knew that the dirty young construction worker she had just humiliated was hiding something nobody in that supermarket could imagine.
That evening, the supermarket finally closed. Workers changed their clothes and started heading home as the street slowly became quiet. Azuka and Muna walked side by side on the same road. They were roommates. They had been friends since school. After school, Muna had moved to Enugu to work. A year later, Azuka came to stay with her.
As they walked, Muna kept quiet, but her mind was still on what had happened earlier in the supermarket. The image of the dirty construction worker being embarrassed did not leave her head. Azuka, on the other hand, walked like nothing had happened. She even looked calm, like she had done the right thing.
When they got home, they entered their small room. Azuka dropped her bag on the chair and sat on the bed. Muna stood there for a moment looking at her. Then she spoke.
“Azuka, what you did today was not right.”
Azuka looked at her. “What are you talking about?”
“The man you poured water on,” Muna said. “He did nothing wrong. He only asked for help.”
Azuka gave a small laugh. “And so? Did you see how he looked? Dirty, smelling like cement. He even touched me. Why would he do that?”
Muna pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Azuka, that is not how to treat people. It does not matter how someone looks. You still have to respect them.”
Azuka shook her head slightly. “You don’t understand. I cannot allow any random man to touch me like that.”
Muna leaned forward. “So that means you can humiliate anyone just because you feel they are poor?”
Azuka did not answer. Muna continued.
“I blame myself for even pushing you to take this job. You were staying at home every day. You always said you were waiting for a rich man to marry you. You said you want a soft life. Now you are working, but you still treat people like they are nothing.”
Azuka stood up from the bed.
“I never said anything wrong,” she said sharply. “All I want is a good life. I don’t want a poor man. I want a man that can take care of me.”
Muna looked at her with concern. “So, because someone is poor, they don’t deserve respect?”
Azuka replied quickly. “That man was dirty. He had no right to touch me. No right at all.”
Muna sighed. “Being poor is not a crime, Azuka.”
Azuka turned her face away. “I don’t care.”
The room became quiet for a moment. Muna sat there looking clearly upset. She knew Azuka very well. Azuka had always been proud, always quick to talk down on people, always acting like she was better than others. Her beauty was one thing everyone noticed. And because of that, Azuka believed she deserved only a rich man. She often said she would never marry a poor man, not even once. That was how she saw life.
Even when they first met years ago, Azuka’s attitude had caused problems. But Muna still stayed close to her because Azuka had no one else at that time. Muna had always been the kind one, the one who helped, the one who forgave easily.
That night, Muna lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. But sleep did not come easily. She kept thinking about the construction worker, and something about the whole situation made her feel uneasy. Like this was only the beginning of something bigger.
One Saturday afternoon, Muna and Azuka did not go to work. It was their off day. They went to the market together to buy food items. After they finished, they started walking back home with their bags. The road they were walking on passed close to their workplace, the supermarket. Right opposite it was a large construction site.
Work was still going on there. Workers were lifting blocks, mixing cement, and moving around under the sun. Chibuike was there too, working and directing the others.
As Azuka and Muna walked past, Azuka suddenly stopped. She looked across the road. Her eyes landed on Chibuike. Her face changed. It was him, the same man from the supermarket. The memory of that day came back into her mind. Her anger came back fast. Before Muna could even ask what was wrong, Azuka had already crossed the road.
“Azuka,” Muna called out quickly. “Where are you going?”
But Azuka did not stop. She walked straight into the construction site. Workers looked at her immediately. Some stopped what they were doing. She walked fast until she reached Chibuike.
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