7.
It does not whistle its appearance,
It comes,
Steals the moment,
Sucks joy,
And leaves as quietly as it came.
Collins worked harder as a conductor and on some lucky days, he drove buses for some sick drivers and earned money. But Collins did not have the understanding of savings and he was impatient with the money he made. He visited the palm wine kiosk with his friends and they spent the money on booze and women. One day, under the influence of ogogoro and seduction, Collins fought with a driver who had influence in the park. He flung the driver like a baseball bat and hit his head with broken bottles. The driver cried red and threatened to make sure that Collins never worked in any garage in Lagos. Collins believed that the man’s threat was futile. It was simply a tactics to reassure his manhood after losing a fight to a conductor. He went home with the chipped shoulders of a soldier who had just returned from a successful battle. He did not deny the young wife the pleasure of his victory.
‘What if the man wasn’t joking? What if you lose your job?’. Ofure asked. Collins could see the naked worry in her eyes and he refused to be scared.
‘It cannot be. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen’. Collins said, to assure himself more.
The reiteration of the tale made Collins scared and soon doubt crept into his dreams and denied him peace. Before cock crow, Collins ran to the park. That day, no driver agreed to let Collin into their vehicle. The same story happened in the next garage and the other. Before noon, Collins stood, sweating and pleading. Everyone he asked told him to go and look for the man’s head whom he broke the day before and beg. But Collins was not one to win a battle and apologize for the might of his strength. And so, he waited in the garage, intransigent and unyielding, hoping that a driver would be brave enough to defy the odds and allow him his daily bread. But the sun rose, left, and the moon met Collins standing and brooding in the car park. When the day had fully disappeared, he picked up his lot and went to the kiosk where he drank palm wine. He met his friend, Johnny there. Johnny was talking to a group of young boys, who sat around him and were probably paying for his drink. They all paid for Johnny’s cup to be filled to hear him speak. He spoke wisdom. Today Johnny was infuriated. He stood, gesticulated and spoke.
‘It is a bloody circle. The government is a bloody useless government. First, they give us bad education and so we have a huge number of illiterates in the society. Children cannot go to school even if they struggle to attend, schools are not up to standard and the school fees are ridiculously expensive. Then, they push unemployment and refuse to create more jobs. This pushes the youth; young men like you to lose concentration and go into fraud. Criminals, just like the ones who rule you. Except me of course, I am too smart to be ruled by anyone. And so, the youths who are not focused and not socially and politically conscious lose interest in politics, and then they are very easy to manipulate. This is the bloody circle of the bloody government. Evil tactics’.
Collins sat close to Johnny, taking in the younger man’s wisdom and thinking about his own lot. Johnny was a young and handsome man. Perhaps if he had money, he would be more handsome. His mother had left his father for a richer man. His father did not survive the heartbreak and was killed by a stroke. And so Johnny roamed the streets of Ajegunle looking for jobs and impacting his school cert wisdom.
‘Collins, why are you wearing that sad face? Come on, drink and forget your sorrows. Life is too short to dwell on the misfortunes that haunt us’
And so, the two young men drank and spoke into the night until Collins realized that the street was almost empty and decided to go home to his family. He and Johnny walked, ran and danced from side to side, singing and jolly. So blind were there to the world that Collins did not see a naked wire carelessly sprawled on the floor. He stepped on it and the force jerked him off. Johnny cried and alerted passerby who began to hit Collins with huge sticks and slaps. This continued for ten minutes until he woke up and started crying. Together, they carried him to his home and left him on the bed. Satisfied that he was alive and sleeping, they left one after the other.
Collins woke up after midnight and told his wife all that had happened in the day, from the garage to his temporary death.
‘When I stepped on the wire. I didn’t feel any pain. I opened my eyes and saw myself entering a white light. Very white. I was walking with Grande people in sparkling white clothes. I searched for you and the kids. I thought maybe you were already waiting for me inside and started moving towards the light. Suddenly, I saw my father. He dragged me out of the line and told me to go back. He told me that it wasn’t my turn yet, and he pushed. I fought back, I wanted to go to the white light. But he pushed and pushed me until I woke up’.