Ikpako quarters.

Welcome to Ikpako quarters.

Ikpako quarters is a compound made up of a total of five old fashioned houses, a church, a shop where electrical stuff is sold,a kiosk for provisions and a hairdressing salon. You see, it's like any other compound but the people in it are somewhat distinct. Located in a street in Delta state, it is the place to go if you want some doses of drama and comedy.

Now, let me tell you about the amiable members of Ikpako quarters.
The landlady- Mrs Ikpako is a lousy old woman that could make you go haywire with her words, she prides herself in being the owner of the houses and that her first son is abroad.
"Na who on tap down?"
" which person pikin do this nonsense?"
" I will call my lawyer for you "
These were her favourite phrases. You can't go a day in Ikpako compound without hearing these.
She hated children playing in her compound and she didn't hesitate to 'discipline' them by flogging them.
The parents dared not say a word for fear of rent increment or eviction. There was nothing she couldn't do.

Then, there's Pa Iduroko, he is a short crooked old man who used a walkers stick, he loved children and loved to see them play in his compound.
He usually bought them sweets and cherries once every week when his wife goes to the market. The children loved dear pa Iduroko and never hesitated to go on errands for he and his wife.

Roselyn was the dirty woman, her environs were always dirty and her kids were no different, she was a single mother abandoned with four children with little age difference between them. They often mistook them for a quadruplet. Some of Roselyn's habits were -leaving her kids poo on the veranda, throwing smelly water on the ground that caused the compound to smell for hours amongst others. She and the landlady always had altercations and the latter always threatened to evict her but the whole compoud begged on her behalf because she was a single mother who had no where to go. Her motto was " I will do better" but she never did.

Sisi Winifred was the fine girl of the compound that all the bachelors tried to woo, she was fair with a big backside that turned the heads of the boys and even the married men. She used her beauty to get favours from men who hoped to get a piece of her in the future.
She was a nurse and she's always in good terms with everybody.

Brother James was always jobless, he graduated from Uniben with a first class in marketing but for the past six years he had been hopping from one office to another with his c.v. The landlady always threw jabs at him saying he stole to pay rent since he was jobless.

"Jesus Christ is coming soon, you better change " were the usual words of pastor Johnson, he owned the church in the compound and he was the only person Mrs Ikpako respected and adored.

There were other people in the compound like Maria, Salem and Idowu but they were always indoors and nobody knew what went on with them.

The lives of these tenants was disrupted when Mrs Ikpako was found dead in her room, her throat slit with a sharp knife.

Now this was what happened that day.....

TO BE CONTINUED.