Jule acknowledged that fact as she waited and mentally thanked God for making life meaningful at all; for bringing peace, hope, calm, control, joy, safety, health and a host of other things to her and her loved ones. She snapped back to reality as she saw a bus approaching- “Estate, Berger, Toll-gate- Berger, Toll-gate!” The conductor shouted, she ran to it. The first, in a long while! But it didn’t stop, the driver only dropped off a passenger and the bus moved right ahead. She stared in disbelief; she didn’t even get close enough to see why they didn’t pick up new passengers. “Which kain?!” She rhetorically muttered, disappointed.
In a few minutes, another bus came along. It slowed down a bit- but didn’t wait to pick anyone. Jule wondered why that was. “Is there something chasing them away?”, She scanned around perplexed, until her eyes met him. He stood just a few feet away from her; his looks- fierce and his movements- stealth. He stood akimbo, wearing a worn-out jean and a somewhat faded Tee. He held a plastic rod on his hand. “Agbero!!”, She muttered angrily under her breath! He was the reason why she was yet to get onto a bus, home.
It was a usual barbaric culture in Lagos for some filthy-looking guys to clog a bus stop, holding clubs in their hands- claiming to be a part of some transport union; who extorted exorbitant sums of money from public bus drivers- Harassing them, their conductors and sometimes their passengers in a bid to collect this money. This process has- as thought- led to the injury of people, damage to vehicles and goods and of course the loss of lives and properties. It was such a sore sight to behold!
Jule stared at him in utter anger- If she were God, she was sure a thunderbolt would have struck him dead from heaven, just by her stares alone. She stood for a while but no bus came again. She checked her phone; it was 30 minutes past 9pm, she was still a long way from home. “When would I get home today?”, She asked herself rolling her eyes. Her shoulders were beginning to ache from the weight of her bag (she still slung them around in a baby-carrier fashion because Oshodi was often thought of as a den of thieves and of some experienced pick-pockets).
It was getting dark, she was getting tired and people were getting fewer at the bus stop, and that posed a bit of a risk to her. She thought about ordering a ride home, but wasn’t so sure she wanted to. She was already at this point and was well on her way to spending the #500 she initially intended to spend. Ordering a ride would increase costs, but then she’d be safe and would arrive home in no time. “Well, that isn’t necessary now, is it?”, She said and decided to wait just a little more, resolving to order a ride, if no public bus arrived in 5 minutes.
“Berger, Toll-gate- Berger, Toll-gate!” A conductor howled from the distance. She trailed the sound with her ears until her eyes matched up to it. She ran forward to the bus; a seeming answer to her prayer, but unbeknownst to her, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The bus looked dilapidated but moved well anyway, there was barely anyone in it, save for someone in the front seat. She moved towards the bus not looking at anything or anyone. The driver willingly opened the front seat door for her despite his fierce look; that should’ve spiked some interest in her, but Jule was too tired to think.
She jumped in and sat by the window, the door was firmly shut and the driver sped off. She held her phone in one hand and transport fare to be paid, in the other. She settled in and sat still. The driver pulled up to the next bus stop, but didn’t even pick any passenger. She wondered why He didn’t stay to pick as much passengers as there were people still calling out to him as he sped off. That posed as a sign and her suspicion rose. She sat still. “Your money there?” The conductor asked, she stretched out her hand, paid him- gathered her things together and sat focused on the road and her surroundings. What was to come was entirely unplanned…
Juliana's Blog {Heaven's Clarion} 