I was busy preparing for a date at my place and the kitchen has been buzzing with different aroma since I returned from the market.
brrrrrring! brrrrrring!!... My phone rang but the ringing ended before I could pick up.
"Why is Jude calling me?", I asked myself.
I had barely taken three steps away when it rang again.
"I hope he is not coming over", I thought before picking up.
"Hello, what's up?", I asked immediately after picking up.
"Are you home?", he asked.
"Yes, but you can't come over, Helen is almost here", I replied.
"Did you see the news?", he asked and immediately, I scanned the sitting room for the remote.
"No, but I will do that now", I replied.
"You should see it, there is chaos", he replied.
I found the remote and every news headline was talking about the coffee ban.
"Coffee ban!, How? When? This must be a joke, why coffee was banned?", I kept asking questions but Jude didn't say anything until he hung up.
I was speechless and kept pacing around the sitting room.
"No, this is not good", I stuttered immediately after I remembered that I was out of coffee even at home. I rushed to the balcony to check the coffee shop across the road.
"What in Christ's name is happening?!", I screamed at the sight of uniformed men ransacking the place. There was a heavy security presence on the street and it looked like we were at war.
"Mom, yes Mom!", I quickly rushed back to get my phone.
"She can get some for me in the province", I stuttered while waiting for her to pick up.
"Hello son, have you seen the news?", she asked.
"Hello Omma, yes I have. Can you help get some coffee in the province?", I asked
"Coffee! The police have locked every coffee shop here, please be careful out there", She replied.
"Okay ma", I replied before the call ended.
I sank into the couch and was lost in thought but the bang on the door called me back to life.
"Who is there?", I asked but didn't get a response.
"Who could that be?", different thoughts crossed my mind as I approached the door.
"Who is there?", I asked again.
"It's Helen, I have been calling you but didn't pick up", she replied.
I unlock the door and we hugged as she stepped in.
"Hmm, the aroma of your meal is calling me", she complimented my cooking as she entered.
"Everything was for you.", I replied.
"The coffee ban, it must be very hard for you".
"Yes, it's hard. I hope the government reconsider their judgement", I replied.
"You will be fine, I am certain people will find their way around the ban", she said.
I gave a faint smile and asked about her day just to end the coffee discussion, it was breaking my heart.
The reality of the coffee ban dawned on me the next morning. I walked past every coffee shop in disbelief, they were all locked with a restricted area sticker at their entrance.
At work, I couldn't reach my full functionality and everyone noticed it. Weeks passed and my body kept breaking down due to the absence of coffee.
brrrrrrring brrrrring... I reached for my phone and it turned out to be Jude.
"Hey, are you alone?", He asked immediately after I picked up.
"Yes, what's up?".
"I have a gist, you can now have coffee at a secret bar?", he asked.
We spoke for long and he gave me every information I needed.
"Take me to coffee land", I said the secret word Jude gave me immediately someone picked up my call at the secret bar.
The person asked for my name and called back to give me the time and location of the pickup point. I was warned not to come with a phone.
Later that day, I went to the pickup location. It was quiet and I waited patiently for about twenty minutes but no one showed up.
"Was Jude fooling me?", I asked myself.
I was about to leave when a vehicle suddenly parked by my side and before I could say a word, I was blindfolded.
"Coffee land", a voice said and I felt relieved.
"You are George, your parent stays at Old Town...", the voice kept going into details about me. In the end, I said yes to everything.
I heard the device being moved all over my body and a voice said, "Cleared".
The truck moved for a long time before it stopped and we alighted. They didn't take the blindfold off and I was assisted into what I guessed was a boat. I can feel the cool atmosphere and when the engine started, I was sure it was a boat. We were in it for some minutes before we alighted again and I was taken out and into somewhere.
Finally, the blindfold was taken off and I got to see people's faces. I didn't know where we were but I know we were floating.
The aroma of coffee in the place filled my nose and goosebumps grew all over me.
"Please make your order", a lady with a mask said to me.
I gave her my order and wished I could walk in and out of the place whenever I wanted coffee.
Immediately I stood up about two hours later, a man approached me and asked if I was done. I replied, "Yes" and he blindfolded me again.
We went through the same route we came in but they dropped me at a different location.
I returned home and called Jude.
"How was it?", He asked.
"It was great bro, I had a good time but the fee was outrageous".
"It's understandable, they are taking risks", he replied.
We chatted for some time and the next weekend, I made the call again.
"Take me to coffee land".