"could this be the centre of excellence? Could this be Lagos?" my raving mind continuously pondered in paranoia, but it was no secret that the question asked from within was only rhetorical, as I didn't hold the answers, this turbulent journey being my first voyage in solitude with no family members to guide me.
Well, my curiosity continued to play the role of protagonist as my eyes hungrily fed on the scenery as we drove by. "is this your first visit to Lagos?" the young lady seating beside me asked, and I nodded shyly, embarrassed that perhaps the tension within was beginning to show. She smiled softly before saying "I will let you know when we get there".
We finally arrived lagos, and trust me I didn't need to be told. As I alighted from the bus, the truth dawned on me as clear as crystal, that I have left my home in the East to come to the West to hustle, despite the fact that my parents could afford my fees and I was doing very well in the university.
Maybe I was too gullible I thought, maybe the movies that clearly suggests that everyone makes it when they arrive lagos, must have misled me. I have no place to stay, what kind of risk have I ventured into, my busy mind continued to rave as I stared in confusion at the tarred road and fast cars going to and fro. But for fear of being regarded as mad, I began to ask for directions to "julius berger" the only place I had heard of in lagos, before now.
But as early as I had arrived, the custom of the city began to sink in, first I had flagged down a bus, which refused to stop, as the conductor kept on staring at me like I was a learner but surprisingly a few other able bodied men had jumped into the same bus while in motion, thus I did not hesitate as another opportunity availed itself, and I decided to jump into the next available bus, despite the fact that the driver was slowly bringing the bus to a stand still.
Almost everyone in the bus wore a weird expression on their face as they stared up at me, probably unsure of my mental status. The real struggle began when a fat lady, the size of three persons, decided to join me and two others at the back. I soon figured that I was seating on the air, but yet the two skinny others kept on giving me the look of oppression, like I was the source of their present discomfort, probably too scared to look at the female "lokozuma" present.
I immediately corrected the impression, as I coordinated the duo into fighting for a common cause tagged the "fight for space". And together we pushed without raising any alarm. It soon began to feel like a hostile take over as it was yielding results, a victory which was soon cut short when Lokozuma noticed the coup that was going on and decided to retaliate. Her action of pushing back with force soon corrected my impression, we were the civilians there and this was the Abacha regime all over again.
However, civilian rule was soon restored when she arrived her destination and had to alight and all I felt was relief, but soon the bus arrived berger which was my own destination.
I moved around for a while joblessly, until I got really thirsty and realised that somehow the money I had left in my jeans pocket was no longer there. Desperation took a passionate hold on me, and my intention was to go to the nearby store to beg for a sachet of water.
A middle aged man and a woman who looked like a hawk were seated there, which immediately made the plea dry in my mouth, but disregarding the confusion on my face the lady spoke up "you too have come to apply for the position of sales boy? And I immediately nodded. (Desperation meets opportunity)
"what is your name?" she asked
"Emeka" I immediately answered
"Where in the east are you from?"
"Anambra"
"where in Anambra?" she asked further and I told her.
Hei! She exclaimed, the frown on her face immediately melting into a smile, "you are my brother o!" Don't worry you have the job, I will just tell you the prices of everything.
I got a meagre monthly salary from her monthly, but that was okay as long as I was given food to eat and a place to stay. Her husband soon came and moved me to his spare parts shop at yaba after his wife had showered praises about my hard working quality and honesty.
Well from thence, life really began for me as during my second day at work, I met Amarachi, the beauty Queen whose car seemed to have had a fault and which parts she wanted changed.
I showed her the spare parts the car needed, but to go the extra mile to please her since she was so beautiful, I decided to check the fault in the car myself. Her warm gaze followed my every move, which made my palms sweaty and gave me happy goosebumps at the same time.
It was a minor fault I soon discovered, and when I fixed it, she thanked me and then used her handkerchief to wipe the sweat off my face.
"can I have your number?" she asked, "incase I need to ask you about these mechanical parts". She added
I looked downwards somewhat embarrassed, before replying "I don't have a phone, but I'm always in the shop". She looked a little startled before smiling and nodding briefly, then she left.
I had a difficult time sleeping that night, as the handkerchief ordeal kept making me feel butterflies in my stomach. But with the days that progressed Amarachi brought her car more often, with one fault or the other or no fault at all.
She soon got me a handset and from thence love bloomed like a tall iroko tree. This was true love, as I could not carry out any action without thinking about her.
Amarachi soon secured a job for me at her father's company due to the fact that I had a valid university education, until I abandoned school of course. I was overjoyed as I held her in my arms and I told her "Amarachi you do not know how much I love you" repeatedly. Until a warm smile spread across her lips and she said softly"Emeka wake up!", "wake up Emeka" and I woke up to meet the concerned faces of my parents!
It was all a dream! "who is Amarachi?" my father asked and my mother felt my forehead with the back of her hand, before saying "I think Emeka is having Exam fever again!"....
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