BY Sunmola Olowookere

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The gossip mill is one of the most active segment in our neighborhood.
A rumour can break in a day and make all the rounds before sundown. Both men and women alike engage in this delightful pastime. Pastors would even talk about it in churches. Muslim leaders would raise it as a prayer point in the mosque.
All these make gossip to thrive in our society even without the media broadcasting it.
It relieves boredom and the advantages are numerous, though some people think that its a bad habit. However, there is no disputing the fact that gossip is part of our lives, after all, there can be no smoke without any fire.
The neighbourhood’s ladies man has met with an untimely death and most of the women are in mourning. Their generous benefactor is gone.
Eniola’s family had buried their dead and had kept their peace. The children were urged to find means of paying off their father’s debt as some of the debtors came to his burial to demand for their money.
At the meeting, the children neither refused nor accepted the family’s advice. The same day after the meeting, they all went their separate ways and locked up the house with plans to get someone to rent the apartment.
However for us in our neighbourhood, it was far from over.
Our neighbourhood buzzed with the likely cause of death of the middle aged man. Though he had been buried and his family had decided not to prolong the tragedy by investigating the incident, residents were still interested in the cause of his death.
The family argued that anyone with eyes would see that he died as a result of falling which made him to hit his head against the floor edge of his house; a house accident which could happen to anyone.
We do not really believe them. He was killed either physically or spiritually. We live in a cruel world.
They abound everywhere. Various incidents made his neighbours to agree that he must have stepped on some powerful toes.
It all began when Eniola had bitten off more than he could chew. He was set up by a woman he made advances to. He was lured into her room and coaxed into pulling off his clothes. The woman had dumped his clothes inside a pail of water. While he lounged on the bed in his brief happily expecting a rousing interlude, the woman’s husband burst into the room along with some other neighbours. The woman who had been making a show of undressing stopped and clapped her hands gleefully. Eniola was beaten black and blue and dragged to the police station.
It was a sight to behold as Eniola was dragged along to the police station with just his boxers to cover his nudity. The boxers was dripping with water. People that were resting in their homes heard the commotion and came out to check what was going on.
Most of the landlords on the lane also followed them to the police station so that the furious husband will not kill Eniola on the way. If he had been more furious, smoke would have been coming out of his ears. Hence they thought it utmost wisdom to follow them to the police station.
The police welcomed them with open arms; viable business at that time of the night must be welcoming . The front-desk was occupied by two officers whose looks brightened as they observed the interesting scene before them.
And at first, anyone beholding the scene would naturally assumed that it was a case of stealing as the husband of the woman Eniola was caught with occasionally prodded and shoved him to move on whenever he slowed down.
As soon as the group reached the desk, one of them warned the husband “behave yourself! Where do you think you are?”
He gentled somewhat and the chatter of those accompanying them lessened.
“What is the matter?” One of the police men who seemed to be the superior officer asked.
The husband blurted “Sir, I caught him in my bedroom trying to rape my wife. We planned for him and caught him”.
The police man asked again ” how did you know he was coming to rape your wife?”
The man boasted “my wife is a good woman who tells me everything. She told me how this stupid and wicked man had been following her around and offering her money to be his lover….
Another landlord interjected ” and that is how he does to other women in the neighbourhood. Our women are not safe from him…”