After I had walked some distance away from the park, I 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?’
‘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’ I exclaimed.
‘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 hung around there waiting to be picked up by
customers. I located a nearby bar and ordered for a 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 which 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 be 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 continued 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 can 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.