The rain had just stopped when Chisa saw it happen right there at the junction by Mama Nkechi's provisions store, the kind of junction where everybody passes through at one point or the other, where news travels faster than the okada men riding through it....
Kelvin's car had barely touched Chinwe's bicycle, just a small knock, nothing serious, but the way the two of them came down from their respective vehicles, you would think that World War Three was about to break out... Chisa, standing under the store's narrow awning with a nylon bag of groceries hanging from her wrist, watched the whole scene unfold like a movie she did not pay to see.
"You no dey look road?!"... Kelvin shouted, already pointing fingers before anybody could even assess the suitation damage.
"Na me no dey look road? you be the one wer dey over speed for this small junction!" Chinwe fired back, and her voice rising above the noise of the market women who had started gathering, the way market women always gather whenever drama was brewing, as if entertainment was scheduled into their daily routine ish...
Chisa sighed and adjusted her bag, already sensing where this was headed, she knew both of them, not closely, but the kind of we see around familiarity that exists in neighborhoods like this...
Kelvin worked at the small electronics shop two streets down, always rushing somewhere, always on phone calls that seemed more important than they probably were, and Chinwe sold akara in the mornings before heading off to her tailoring apprenticeship, always calm, always minding her business, which was exactly why this whole scene felt so out of character for her.
"Oga, no vex now,"...... one of the market women interjected, trying to play peacemaker, but Kelvin was not having it.
"Who vex? this girl almost scratch my car and she is here shouting like say I was the one who offended her!"..
"Your car?" "Ah".... Chinwe scoffed, hands on her waist now, "see as the bicycle bend finish, and you are worried about scratch? Oga abeg, it is not today that I will explain to my papa why I came to the house with a bend bicycle."
The crowd was growing gradually ,as crowds always do , drawn by raised voices and the promise of free drama on an otherwise quiet afternoon, phones were already coming out, people recording, because in this generation, nothing is real until it is documented, nothing happens until there is a witness with a camera ready to immortalize it online.
Chisa, for her part, had not moved, hadn't said a word, just watching, the way she always did, she was not one to involve herself in other people's wahala.... that had always been her philosophy, mind your business, keep your head down, let people sort out their own matters , but something about the way Chinwe's voice cracked slightly on her last sentence, something about the way her hands were shaking even as she tried to stand her ground, made Chisa pay closer attention.
"She is right," Chisa finally said, stepping forward from under the awning.
Kelvin turned, surprised, as if he hadn't even registered there was someone else close enough to witness the whole thing, Right ke? you saw what happened?"
"I saw everything," Chisa said, her voice steady, calm, the kind of calm that somehow commanded more attention than Kelvin's earlier shouting had, you were coming fast, too fast for this junction, everybody knows this road get pothole, and instead of slowing down, you were busy talking on phone, Chinwe was not even in your way sef, she was close to the side, you just didn't see her because you were not looking."l
The crowd murmured, some nodding, because many of them had probably seen the same thing but were too hesitant to say it out loud, too comfortable sitting back and letting the two involved parties fight it out while they watched like it was a free show.
Kelvin's face changed, the anger slowly deflating into something closer to embarrassment, especially as more voices in the crowd started agreeing with Chisa's account.
"I... I didn't mean..." he started, but the words trailed off, because what was there really to say when the truth had just been laid bare in front of everyone?
Chinwe looked at Chisa, something like gratitude flashing across her face, the tension in her shoulders finally easing.
"Just fix the bicycle for her," Chisa said simply, "and next time, slow down for this junction, no be today person go nearly die for this same road because person they were rushing to where someone does not even know where they were rushing to."
Kelvin, humbled, nodded and reached for his wallet.
And just like that, the crowd began to disperse, the drama resolved, another ordinary saturday afternoon restored, because sometimes all it takes to settle a matter isn't more shouting, it is just one person brave enough to say what they saw.
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