"UP NEPAAAAA!".
Excited yelps of joy filled the air for at least 2 minutes before reducing to joyful whispers. I was supposed to also be excited and jumping for joy if possible but I wasn't. I was rather angry and dragged myself up from the bed so I could plug in all my devices which had run low.
Source
I had just returned from lectures one sunny afternoon with beads of perspiration rolling almost endlessly down my back, causing my chiffon blouse to stick to my body like butter to bread. I turned on the standing fan but discovered there was no power supply so I went to the bathroom to wash up.
I had turned the shower on to rinse myself after applying a rich lather of soap but there was no water forthcoming. Thankfully, I had a bucket full of water that I had kept in the kitchen for emergencies like this, so I went over to get it and finished having my bath.
I lay down to sleep since I was really exhausted, hoping that the power would be restored soon. I stretched groggily on the bed when I heard my phone ring at about 5pm. It was Fine Wine, my roommate. Apparently, she had been outside knocking for almost 5 minutes before she decided to call me.
"What can we eat in this house? I'm hungry" as if trying to prove the fact, she opened her mouth in a wide yawn, closing her eyes and stretching her arms as well.
"I don't know o. There is no light and so there is no water."
I caught the disappointment on her face and felt sorry for her instantly. "Don't worry, I'll prepare something once there is light "
Her face dissolved into a smile and she too went ahead to lie down and take a nap.
When the power had not been restored by 8pm, Fine Wine and I had to take buckets to scout for water in our neighborhood so we could cook and have our baths the following morning. By evening the next day, the power supply had still not been restored, there was no water, and our devices had gone low.
Fine Wine and I went out to charge our phones and my laptop at a small kiosk where we had to pay some money before they charged the devices. We also couldn't find anyone within the estate who was willing to give us even a bucket of water so we had to go out of the estate. We eventually met a man who was willing enough to let us fetch the buckets we had in hand but told us we couldn't get more because he was also saving some for his family.
As if the no light and water situation was not enough, when Fine Wine and I went to charge our devices the next day, there was no space. It was like the entire community had come to submit their phones at that small kiosk for charging.
"You have to come back in about 3 hours ma'am," the young man running the business told me. I bowed my head in sadness as I trudged back home. I had not worked on my job for the next day yet because I had been at school all day and I couldn't afford to disappoint my boss so I packed my laptop into my bag along with some books and announced that I was going to spend the entire night in school, working, then reading.
Fine Wine protested against the idea but there was almost nothing I could do. If I waited for three hours before charging my devices, they would not get to charge fully before the young man closed up for the day and I would still have to pay him. I reassured her that I would be fine, then headed out.
I walked briskly when I alighted from the minibus I had taken to school. I was close to the school gate when someone walked up to me. I didn't pay attention, I thought he was going to walk past me but then he grabbed my hand and made me stop walking. My heart skipped a beat.
"Madam soldier, anything for the boys?" He was referring to the camouflaged trousers I had put on to protect me from cold. I shook my head in the negative.
He raised stern eyes to me "Can't you talk?" He was speaking with the Nigerian creole otherwise known as pidgin.
I was talking in my head, yet the words were not tumbling out of my mouth.
"Find me something" he whispered tightening the grip on my arm. I was going to rummage through my pocket when the representative of my class walked up to us, I didn't know how he got there but when the guy dropped my hand suddenly, I looked up and saw him.
He asked the other guy if there was a challenge but the guy said there was none and even added "She's my friend". Satisfied, my class representative walked away with me, hand in hand.
I thanked him profusely when we got to the school premises. God alone knows the plan the guy had, I was most grateful that he didn't suspect I was with an expensive phone and laptop else those would have gone without a second thought.
It was the next evening the power was restored. According to my class representative, there was no power supply throughout the entire city because of technical issues.
I am glad the story is a good one to be retold but each time there is a power outage, I remember how I was almost robbed, and who knows? I could have been harassed as well.
