Lagos traffic had a way of testing people's patience and Micheal was one of the most experienced in this type of situation, He had worked all day, and all he wanted was to get home, eat and sleep, sadly, the city had other plans.
Not too far from Ojota, vehicles suddenly came to a standstill, The drivers got out of their vehicles, trying to determine what was going on, soon, people began to hear that there was a fully loaded trailer in the middle of the road that was causing all the traffic.
The impatient drivers started searching for another way and Micheal started following them , He was not used to the narrow road that they all took but waiting in their traffic might take yet another couple hours from his evening.
The inner road was far from level, it was dusty, pitted and lined with old houses and small roadside shops, then, every few minutes, Micheal asked himself whether or not he had made the right decision.
On coming to a junction, he saw a crowd outside a compound, initially, he was planning on driving by, just like everyone else with crowds in Nigeria it meant one thing, mind your business.
However, he slowed down because of something.
The young woman was frantically waving for help to the passing cars.
Many of the drivers looked the other way.
Eventually, Micheal stopped his car.
The lady pleaded as she dashed towards him "Please, help us! "For nearly thirty minutes we have been trying to get a taxi, because my friend is very sick.
Her name was Simbi.
Bimpe was sitting on a low concrete step behind her, her appearance was feeble, profusely sweating, and her eyes were barely open.
Micheal immediately unlocked the back door.
"Let's go."
Simbi carefully assisted Bimpe to be seated in the vehicle before getting in beside Bimpe.
All the way, Simbi communicated with her friend.
Bimpe... stay with me, okay? We are almost there."
Bimpe got just a feeble nod.
Micheal was running faster than he would normally and was praying that they would make it before things got worse.
Luckily, they had arrived at the closest hospital in time.
While Micheal and Simbi waited in the Emergency ward, the doctors took Bimpe in.
It took the next forty minutes to pass like it was forever.
At last, a kind doctor came towards them with a smile.
You brought her in early," he said. She will be ok , see another hour could have been a problem.
The relief on Simbi's face was impossible to miss.
She brought her tearful face to michael.
Thank you, really, what would have happened if you hadn't stopped to help us ?
Micheal smiled.
“What's weird is that I'm not supposed to have to pass this street today,” he said.
She burst into laughter when she heard this one sentence.
Had the trailer not broken down...
Hadn't the traffic got him to turn off the route...
But if he had ignored the mob, like all others,
They would never have met.
Micheal made a couple of visits to Bimpe to see her get better in the subsequent weeks, The visit of check ups began to grow into true friendship.
The three of them soon grew so close that they were practically inseparable.
There were some weekends that they spent by the side of the road eating suya, the other nights were packed with noisy discussions while enjoying dinner of jollof rice and cold drinks, they laughed, debated about football, revisited their choldhood and teased each other like a pair of old friends.
One night after dinner, sitting outside Bimpe's place, Simbi suddenly smiled.
“You are right, something is funny,”
The other two glared on her.
"I almost didn't visit Bimpe that day."
Bimpe laughed.
“And I almost dismissed how sick I was feeling because I believed it was stress.
Micheal shook his head
"I almost stayed in that traffic instead of taking the shortcut."
For awhile, they were silent.
Three different people.
Three different decisions.
One unexpected detour.
Sometimes life didn't need grand miracles, sometimes all it took was a broken trailer, a dusty road, and one decision to stop for a stranger.
None of them could have planned that meeting.
But somehow life had arranged everything so perfectly.
Looking back, it became obvious that what had seemed like an inconvenience was actually the beginning of something beautiful
Detours are frustrating because they divert people from the road that they had thought they would take, However, it is on these random days that friendships and opportunities and moments arise that would not have happened if it were not for the unexpected.
The road Micheal, Simbi and Bimpe never thought they would d travel, is the road that transformed all their lives.
Image gotten from Chatgpt
Aikay👾
