got hungry and stopped by a local restaurant to refresh
myself.
"Madam, wetin you get?"
"I get Egusi, I get Dror soup, Oha and Bitter Leaf. I also
get Stew-Rice, Ofe Akpu and Pepper Soup. Which one
should I brought for you?"
Nna see English...
"Give me Bitter Leaf."
"Garri or Akpu?"
"Akpu."
"Make I put how many meat?"
"A plate with one meat how much?"
"N400"
"Ha! Madam ee too cost oo."
"My son ee no cost oo. Ee go bellefull you well-well."
"The meat na today meat?"
"Na today meat nah. We no dey do carry over for here
oo."
"Okay oo, oya bring am nah."
"Okay my son."
"(Soliloquizing) Inside IMT campus, a plate of food was
N150 back in 2008. I don’t know if it has increased by
now oo. No matter the increment, if at all there is any,
it won’t be up to N400. For what? Is that how much
I’ll be spending on food? N800 for two meals a day?
From tomorrow, I’ll be eating inside campus. And I’ll
still patronize that my 2008 madam. At least she knew
more than embarrassing me by asking how many meats
I wanted because she know say I no dey chop meat."
After eating, I stayed back to watch television until it
was closing time and I left. I joined a bus that was
going to New Heaven, with no exact destination in
mind. When the bus got to Otigba junction I told to
conductor to stop. I stopped because it is always very
lively there and remains so till the next morning. What
made that place lively were the hookers that normally
hang around there waiting to be picked up by
customers. I located a nearby bar and ordered for
bottle water, sat there sipping the water little by little
while feeding my eyes. That became a normal routine
for me. During the day I would go to a valley by Ebano
tunnel where water constantly flowed through an
opening on the surface of the rock to have my bath.
That place was more like a stream for the guys. Girls
were only permitted fetch water and leave, and that
only happened when no guy was bathing. If any guy
was bathing, a girl that wants to fetch water would
have to wait some distance away till the guy is through
before being allowed to step in and fetch. The
wonderful thing about that place was that there had
never been a rape case there, even though the
environment was conducive enough for that.
Sometimes, there could be up to 20 guys bathing and
just one girl waiting to fetch, yet, no guy would harass
her. Besides that, every other thing you could think of
happened there, from weed smoking to ritual sacrifice
all went on there.
Meanwhile, I had not forgotten the purpose for which I
embarked on a journey to Enugu in the first place, so I
was busy trying to find what to do before I ran out of
money since a place to freshen up and a place to spend
my nights had been settled. One day I stumbled into a
little café with some inexperienced workers. From the
look of things, the café was struggling to stand and
could not afford paying for the services of capable
hands. I took advantage of that and offered to render
professional service for whatever amount they could
pay. They doubted my capabilities at first and brought
out a typing project with they had at hand and told me
to type. They offered to pay me N50 for each page I
typed, and that motivated me a lot. Omor come see
typing! After my JSSCE exams, my mother had enrolled
me in computer institute, and out of all I learnt, typing
without looking at the keyboard was the lesson I was
most passionate about because I watched American
actors do so in the movies and I so loved it. So when I
had the opportunity to learn about computer, I took it
upon myself to study and master typing. I became a
very fast at typing, and as soon as I had learnt how to
type, I stopped going for the computer lessons.
Eventually, I worked with a computer firm where I
acquired the rest of the basic knowledge of computer.
So when I was given this very project to type, I shone
very well. I typed 50 pages within 90 minutes and got
N2,500 for it. Oh, what a wonderful day! They asked
me to come again the next day, as there was still so
much to me typed. The typing lasted for 12 days, after
which I was employed as a full time staff with a
monthly pay of N5,000 only. How I wish there was
always something to type. That way, I would make
more money to rent an apartment. Well, no problems.
Half bread is better than none.
One of those days I did a lot at work and was so
exhausted. After dinner I went to my normal spot and
bought a bottle of water. I started sipping the water
and feeding my eyes, but before long, I fell asleep on
the chair I sat on. I felt a very soft hand tapping me on
the shoulder. I could tell that whoever had the soft
hand was trying to wake me up, but the softness of the
hand made it seem like a massage to me, so I lay back
and enjoyed it while it lasted. If that hand had
continue to try waking me up in the same manner it
started with, there would have been no end to my
slumber. But after a while of trying to wake me up
unsuccessfully, I heard a slap on my left chick and the
soft tone of a gentle voice screaming; WAKE UP!
Immediately, I woke up. I noticed everyone running
helter-skelter. It seemed like there was chaos, and I
started weeping. LORD, PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON ME!
HAVE MERCY ON ME DEAR LORD! DON’T LEAVE ME
HERE WITH THE ANTI-CHRIST. PLEASE I WILL GET IT
RIGHT THIS TIME. JUST GIVE ME ON MORE CHANCE.
"What’s wrong with you? The gentle voice which woke
me up asked."
I didn’t even pay attention to it. I thought the RAPTURE
had taken place. I was still weeping deeply and asking
the Lord for mercy, and then the soft hand that had
slapped me before did so again. Then I noticed that it
belonged to a very pretty damsel who was squatting
beside me as though hiding from something or
someone.
"What is wrong with you? She asked again."
"Can’t you see that the world has come to an end? I
replied. The saints have been taken up to heaven by the
Lord and the sinners have been left behind. Now we
will have to suffer for not paying attention the
commandments of the Lord."
"I can see that you had so much to drink today. That’s
the only reasonable explanation to this drama, said the
girl."
"What do you mean by drama? I asked. Or are you so
ignorant that you don’t even have a clue what’s going
on?"
"I should be asking you that, she said. The police are
here arresting people and there you are, pleading for
mercy and begging for a second chance. Better keep
your head low before we are spotted and arrested too."
"You mean it is not the rapture?" I asked with much
excitement. "So it’s the police? Thank God!!!"
There was a great relieve within me that I even forgot
the police were on operation and nearly screamed but
the pretty damsel stretched out her arm and covered
my mouth with her palm.
"Are you crazy? She asked. Do you want to be
arrested? Well if you want to, I don’t, she said. Just
wait till I’m out of here before calling such attention to
you."
"I’m sorry," I said. And suddenly, my courage, which
seemed to have left me temporarily returned, and I
remembered everything I had forgotten.
"What is your name?" I asked her, smiling.
"Seriously?!" She exclaimed. "Do you really think this is
a nice place for that? We are caught up in the middle of
a mess and all you can do is ask my name? Are you
really that drunk? I bet the next thing you’ll ask for is
my number. Crazy dude!"
"Don’t take my wanting to know your name the wrong
way," I said. "I’ve got a perfect idea of how we could
get out of here unnoticed by the police. You know if
we keep hiding here long enough, they will find us."
"Really? Okay, my name is Ogechi"
"Now ogechi here’s what will
happen………………………………………."
I devised a means by which we escaped to a nearby
hotel where we hurriedly checked into a room.
...To be continued
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