Face Me I Face You
“FATHER! Maldives will look good on my skin, and let my melanin pop like Otedola’s pikin. FATHER! Relocate me to Canada, and let my backyard be America. FATHER! Rolls-Royce is my inheritance, and let my enemies tremble at my presence!”
If you’ve ever lived in a "Face Me I Face You" apartment, the poems and stories in this book will feel familiar to you. But before we get into the details of the book, let me take you down memory lane, recalling my own childhood experiences in a place just like this.
As far back as I can remember, my parents moved houses only five times over the course of 24 years. Out of those five, I can clearly recall the experiences in just three of them. The first two homes were from a time when I was too young to hold onto any clear memories of life in those places. But the memories of the remaining three are vivid and clear.
In one of the many places we’ve lived, there’s one house where I feel like I’ve lived many lives, with memories wrapped around me like a second skin. It was a fenced compound with a leveled gate. At the center stood a four-story building, surrounded by boys' quarters on every side. When we first moved in, it was just my parents and a neighbor in this quiet space. But as the months passed, the empty spaces slowly filled with people. Families from different cultural backgrounds, with their own personalities and stories, brought life to the place. The compound soon became a miniature barracks of sorts.
There was this younger friend of my mom, also a neighbor, who often came to our house to complain bitterly about how her boyfriend treated her. One fateful day, she traveled without informing him of when she’d return, only to catch him in bed with another woman. The drama that unfolded was beyond anything you’d see in a Nollywood movie.
I, too, had my own encounter of "yanga dey sleep, trouble go wake am." In our compound, there was only one tap that everyone fetched water from. On this particular day, I went to get a bucket of water and met a lady my mother had warned me never to say ‘hello’ to. I fetched my water and was about to leave when she called me a disrespectful child for not greeting her. I muttered under my breath, "Na my greeting you wan chop for this hot afternoon? If I greet you make I bend"
What’s a good childhood memory without having a crush on someone in the neighborhood or compound? There was this Igbo boy who lived just across from our house, and every girl in the compound seemed to be competing for his attention. I wasn’t left out either. Anytime he came to fetch water, I would suddenly feel the urge to go to the tap too, even if every bucket in the house was already filled. Sometimes, I’d even grab a cup, just to have an excuse to stand there and maybe strike up a conversation with him.
Normally, I’m very upfront about my feelings. If I like someone, I’ll walk right up to them and let them know. But with this boy, I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him how I felt, especially after noticing that his high shoulders and finesse was starting to get into his head.
There’s a daughter who had a fight with her mom after discovering she was secretly having an affair with her boyfriend. Then, there’s a husband so obsessed with his wife that he gets upset whenever another man compliments her. And of course, there’s that family who’s always borrowing kitchen supplies from the neighbors. But rather than bore you with my stories...
If you read Face Me I Face You by Oyindamola Shoola, you’ll witness the everyday lives of different people unfold on each page. The book introduces us to characters like Delilah, a sex worker admired by her neighbor, Broda Samson, a religious man who, despite his beliefs, is curious about what it would feel like to have Delilah in his bed. We also meet Aunty Sola, a nosy divorcee who loves meddling in other people’s business, and Baba Sade, a family man who can’t resist chasing after young girls down the street.
Face Me I Face You is a quick, easy read that will take you less than an hour to finish. The stories are a breath of fresh air, and I found myself laughing out loud as I turned the pages. If you’re in the mood for something lighthearted, this is definitely one to check out.
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