When her brothers came out, breakfast was already waiting.
“You cooked?” Tunde asked, surprised.
“I woke up first,” she said. “It made sense.”
Obina said nothing, but he ate two full plates.
Later that day, Adese sat in the sitting room and said, “We need money. I have an idea.”
Papa Obi raised an eyebrow. “What idea?”
“Coffee.”
She explained that she had learned to make proper coffee while living with the Adami family’s chef. Cappuccino. Latte. Cold brew. She wanted to set up a small coffee stand near the bus stop.
Papa Obi looked at Mama Obi. Pride passed silently between them.
“Your brothers will help you,” he said.
The next day, three of the most powerful men in Nigeria helped their sister build a plywood coffee stand by the roadside in Mushin.
Ameka carried the table.
Tunde rigged a speaker for music.
Obina—who had operated on heads of state—stood in the sun holding a hand-painted sign that read:
ADA’S COFFEE – BEST IN MUSHIN – 200 NAIRA
He looked like he wanted to kill someone, but he held the sign.
Adese served the first customer, a bus driver named Musa.
He took one sip and stared at her.
“This one is different. What did you put inside?”
Adese smiled.
“Love.”
He bought three more cups for his friends.
By noon there was a line.
By evening, Adese had made twelve thousand naira.
That night, she counted the money at the wooden bench, her face glowing.
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