WHO WILL TAKE THE BLAME FOR THE BURNT JOLLOF???

This Saturday was supposed to be a special evening because Mama Chidi had promised to cook a big pot of jolly jollof rice for all the tenants in celebration of her son admission into university. Everyone had been looking forward to the food, laughter and music in the compound but unfortunately something bad happened to our jollof.  [Image Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/fried-rice-bob-korean-967081/) It all started with the smell of smoke in the compound so everyone came out of their apartments to check what is going on, I was still trying to carry on with the movie I was watching but suddenly I heard people shouting “Fire fire!”, I had to rush out of the house to be sure if the fire didn't start from our apartment then I saw Mama Chidi running out with her wrapper flapping around her legs and her eyes wide with panic. A blackened pot sat on the firewood stand with smoke hovering everywhere, Mama Chidi held her head in her hands and said “My jollof rice” as she wailed. Everybody in the house gathered, the air was thick with both smoke and accusation, "Who left this fire unattended?” Baba Ola shouted, he is a retired soldier who believed shouting was the answer to everything “Food cannot burn by itself, somebody must be careless” he said still shouting.  [Image Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-cooking-african-firewood-5949729/) “I only went inside for salt,” Mama Chidi defended herself with her voice trembling “So I left Nkechi to watch the pot”.All eyes turned to her teenage daughter, who felt like the ground should swallow her up because of the weight of the stares. “I was here o but it was Emeka that distracted me with his loud music" She pointed at the young man in the corner, headphones hanging around his neck. “Me ke?” Emeka jumped to his feet in defence, “Don’t bring me into this matter oo, how does my music burn rice? Abeg stop that". The murmurs grew louder with everyone pointing fingers, nobody wants to take the blame “Children of nowadays” hissed Mama Rose the elderly widow whose sharp tongue never rested “no respect no responsibility, always blaming others” Nkechi face turned red and she said “but I didn’t do anything nah, it is not fair!” “You see your life?” Baba Moses roared. “You were given a simple duty and you failed, that is negligence” Suddenly, Mama Chidi face twisted in anger and she shouted “You will not shout at my daughter like that, Baba Moses even if the rice burnt must you crucify her?” Soon, the compound boiled over like the very pot that caused the quarrel, some people defended Nkechi, others blamed her while a few took the opportunity to mock Mama Chidi constant bragging about her special jolly jollof recipe. Amidst the quarrelling and shouting, only one person remained quiet which was Old Papa Joe, the gateman who sat in his wooden chair by the entrance chewing groundnuts slowly. When the noise reached a deafening level he cleared his throat and said “excuse me" but nobody heard so he had to cough louder and say again “excuse me!” Then the compound fell silent, Papa Joe stood stretching his bony frame and he said “I know who is to blame for this rice.” He walked to the smoking pot and tapped it with his stick, then he continued saying “this pot is older than most of you, the bottom is thin, cracked and black even if you watch it with both eyes, it will still burn. It has burnt beans before, burnt yam before, and today it has burnt rice. The culprit is not Nkechi nor Emeka and not anyone here, the true criminal is this pot.” The tenants burst into laughter even Mama Nkechi though still frowning couldn’t help but smile. “So what are you saying, Papa Joe?” Mama Rose asked, “I am saying that instead of blaming one another, buy a new pot so that the next celebration will not end in smoke". The laughter spread, easing the tension, Nkechi wiped her eyes while Emeka shook his head in relief even Baba Ola managed to put up a smile. Mama Chidi sighed looking at her ruined rice “Well this is a lesson, I will get a new pot before the weekend and next time, I will not leave the fire at all” People began to leave for their apartments one after the other still teasing themselves with the quarrel forgotten. The jollof was gone but at least the blame had found a home where it could do no harm and somehow that made everyone hungry for the next feast of jolly jollof rice in a new pot, all thanks to Papa Joe. Thank you for staying with me this far, I hope you had a good read, see you next time 😁