RESOLVE

Chapter Ten.

  Chapter dedicated to posoob ... thanks alot baby girl.

~Kene's POV~

"Chidi, I won't be home during the evening hours. If you can't make it this morning to replace the car battery, why don't you send Jimmy or any other of your boys ... get me the new battery. I can even fix it myself." I spoke to my mechanic on the phone while stirring the Guinea corn and millet Akamu mix I'd received from Ifeoluwa's mom yesterday.

"I'll send one of them across if you insist, although I wanted to do it by myself so I can check on other things too. I don't want these apprentices to cause damage_errr you know how they can be-I'm quite busy now," Chidi replied.

"Just send Jimmy to bring the new battery, I have no other issues with the car," I stated plainly going over to the gas cooker, which accommodated the whistling kettle on one part of it, signalling that the water was boiling.

"Okay, I'll send him to do so right away,"

"Thank you."

I ended the call, turned off the gas, and lifted the kettle.

I returned to the white-marbled kitchen counter and placed my phone beside the bowl. I poured the water into the bowl, waiting for it to form a viscous liquid.

It still ended up as watery as my first try.

I frowned, scooping the brown liquid and watching it pour down back into the bowl from the spoon.

What am I doing wrong?

I make custard regularly, and it doesn't end up watery like this. Wasn't the same preparation procedure used for Akamu too?

I took a sip from the glass of water on the table as my stomach growled, then strolled over to one of the cabinets above, opened it, and brought the Little bucket of Hollandia custard out of it.

Ife breezed into the kitchen, humming aloud with stocked sack bags in both hands.

She was flustered seeing me shirtless in the kitchen.

"I...I thought you were out already", she stuttered.

"Good morning o, Aunty Ife," I replied, placing the custard on the counter.

She hid her blush, eyes trained on the custard as I sat on the long stool opposite her, the counter demarcating us.

"Good morning Uncle Jide."

I nodded in response.

"I thought you should be at work by this time" she averted her gaze from mine. "Are you not feeling well?" She quizzed, lifting her eyes to my face as I stared at the tribal marks on both sides of her cheek.

I responded negatively, then shrugged, "Didn't go today...you're back early from the market." My eyes settled on the foodstuff she was removing from the sack bag. "I hope you didn't buy plenty of pepper o," I remarked playfully, causing a chuckle from her.

"No," she replied shyly. "You're making custard?" She asked, noticing it on top of the counter. "What about ..." She was about to ask about the Akamu when her eyes settled on the liquid in the bowl.

She dragged the bowl towards her side and went over to dump it into the sink, her eyes glinting in amusement.

Iya-Ife owned a little fast food around the area.

I'd always filled myself with restaurant take-outs since I settled in Lagos until Emeka introduced me to Iya Ife's food. Her cooking was good except for the pepper, so I hired her to make dishes for me and stuck them in my freezer with clear instructions on less pepper.