It was a very hot afternoon, very very hot in the city of Lagos, the sun had always been best friends with us but today felt a lot more than usual, and as always it was a very busy day with a lot of people going about their businesses, cars running to and fro hurrying to get to their destinations, some stuck in an hold up, traders calling out to customers to come patronize their goods, so many people filled up the streets as it was normal Overpopulated Lagos tradition.
I had closed a lot earlier from my printing work at yabatech today because it was a really dry day. I barely had any customers and the little money received was spent on peppery beans with bread. Being hungry hasn't been something I was ever used to and I'm sure my stomach wouldn't have that.
So I packed up, closed up the shop at around 5pm and walked through the university road till I finally got to the gate. On getting there I confirmed how much I had left in my pocket, shaking my head at the sight of how little it was but regardless it was still enough to get me home considering I'll trek a little.
I flagged a bus heading towards oshodi, and was greated by a frog face conductor who had a very fowl smell, his face had bruises and his teeths were scattered like the streets of Lagos. The moment he opened his mouth to talk
"oga, wọle pẹlu iyipada ré", /"oga, enter with your change".
I told him I was only going to get a change of 50 Nigerian Naira and he said ok that wasn't going to be any issue. So I sank in beside a fat woman whose face and body were bleached like the "bole"/"fried plantain Tunde's mom usually sells at the junction.
Funny thing is she sat down like she was in her royal chair and was eating some chips, and the worst thing was the way she chewed, it was too disgusting that I got very irritated and prayed that the journey would end pretty fast. I didn't even want to look at the other person at my side because I didn't want to be shocked.
As we were edging closer to the bus stop I reminded the conductor about my change and he kept telling me to stay calm and that he wasn't running away. By this time the go - slow was already accumulating and I soon got exhausted. Then on getting close to oshodi, the road cleared and we were able to navigate ourselves to the bus stop.
"Conductor give me my change na, I've reached my destination".
He smiled at me and say there was no change and that the price of transportation had gone up. Obviously frustrated, I screamed at him and asked him not to play with me.
He just laughed and started to load other passengers, the driver asked me to make room for other passengers but I was adamant( on a normal day if I wasn't really low on cash I would have let it slide, but it was my only means of getting home before I embarked on the remaining trek).
The bus was loaded and the driver had started the engine to go. I don't know where the strength came from, but I immediately rushed the conductor who was hanging by the door of the bus head first. He was clearly taken unawares and my head went straight to his upper jaw, leaving him flying down from the bus and unto the busy road with me.
We both landed on the road with our backs to the ground and just immediately an oncoming vehicle just nearly missed us by inches.
He, already bleeding got up and started to make awful ranting noises( typical for a yoruba person), he kept on telling how he was going to beat me up till my mother wouldn't be able to recognize me again.
Rather impatient, I rushed him again, this time landing a blow on his right cheek bone and sending him to the ground with a loud thud. Lying with his back to the ground, he didn't have time to even breathe when angry blows came raining down on him.
For someone who was quite hefty and gansta looking, he wouldn't have believed that in his life a skinny looking guy would deal with him mercilessly.
I was so angry that it took the driver and other passengers to hold me up. After they did, I calmed down a bit and requested for my change. Immediately, the driver brought out some notes and issued me the #50 note.
Relieved, I turned to go only to hear the driver and conductor chase after me shouting "Thief! Thief! Thief! Thief!".
If you've been in the city of Lagos for a while you'll know how predominant jungle justice is and anyone caught immediately gets beaten to death or burnt to death with tires and petrol.
Immediately I heard their screams I knew it would take a miracle to get past that situation alive. So I ran, faster than I have ever ran, for my dear life, for the sake of my future, I ran, without ever looking back.
Other people around who immediately heard their shout , saw me running with the conductor chasing furiously soon joined in. Bike men, traders, labor workers all joined in the chase, in a bid to catch the thief.
I could hear crazy footsteps behind me, all also screaming "Thief! Thief! Thief! Thief!". I ran, like a drunken master maneuvering through the crowd and through tight places. I felt a strong hand pull me by my shirt threatening to stop me in my tracks. Didn't even know how I did it but I immediately swinged my right hand back, hit the hand hard and it immediately left me.
Getting more scared than ever I knew I couldn't out run them for too long. Different thoughts started to cross my mind, I started to ask God if this was how my life was going to end, what would my mom do when she found out her first son was dead, how would things be from now on?
I was still asking myself this when I saw an almost hidden restaurant around the bend and immediately rushed towards it. I ran inside it closed the doors behind me and like a mad man I started looking for a better place to hide. Next thing I heard was an hefty voice from inside the back of the shop,
"Kedu onye bụ ihe ahụ?" / "Who is that?"
Almost immediately I replied,
"ọ bụ m nwanne gị"/ "It is me your brother"
Hearing that familiar language he came out and then we both started to hear angry banging on the door. Alarmed, he took me to his store room to hide me and then left me to go handle the situation.
I was scared and knew I was hanging by a thread, it would just be a second now and I'll be long gone, dead and not even worthy to be buried. I could hear loud voices arguing for a while and then it became silent. My heart started to beat even faster as I heard footsteps walking towards where I was. To stunned to moved, I just stayed glued to the spot.
Next thing I heard was his familiar voice telling me that every thing was alright and they had all gone. I asked him how he was able to arrest the situation with so much ease and he narrated how he asked the conductor to explain how a skinny looking guy like that beat him up so badly and also requested for him to name the object stolen.
Clearly speechless, the conductor left the scene embarrassed and then the other people follow behind.
There was no way I could have expressed the joy I now felt. It was unbelievable how a stranger had saved my life all because we could speak the same language. It was something I couldn't just phantom.
I thanked him with all the ways I knew how to, rained prayers on him till he got tired and asked me to stop. We went on to talk and he told me his name was chukwudi just like my physics teacher back then in school and I also went on to tell him my name Uche and then we continued to exchange pleasantly till night eventually came and I made my way to go.
He didn't let me leave with retreating me with a big filled with food and transport money. On my way back home I started to remember the whole ordeal I had just gone through some hours ago. Instead of dying today, I'm alive and able to share my story. I went on my way with a smile on my knowing I had every reason to be happy for every breath I took.
Thank you for taking time to read this, God bless you ❤️.
