Travelling by bicycle is far better than driving in my father's car.
My father was a soldier who loved anything old-fashioned. His car is a jalopy old Peugeot. The other day, my younger brother threw his pen and mistakenly hit the car. The way my dad flamed up was something I cannot explain. He talked to my younger brother just like a baby, and his words were always not ending, but would be pierced through the spine.
One day, my father had to prepare for a journey to two towns away from ours. We decided to go with him as he was going to attend a party. My younger brother believed we were going to eat fried rice, just like we used to eat when our mother took us along to a party. I had prepared my stomach and had even taken an extra plate just to bring some food home for my elder sister.
My dad decided to start his car, and it gave him a tough time starting. He left it until it was warmed up before calling us to proceed on the journey. My elder sister stylishly threw it to us: “You people would trek back home today.” I never seemed to understand her words. At the time, I felt she was just making us laugh.
We proceeded on the journey, and we were so happy going out with our dad, as it has been so long since we embarked on a journey like this with our father.
As we got halfway through our journey, we heard a noise that seemed like our car was jumping on a pothole. My dad knew immediately when he heard the sound that something had happened to his car. What we heard was “shit.”
“Dad! What's wrong?” I said it with the hope that nothing was going wrong because I didn't want something to interrupt our journey.
“Will you shut up?” he said.
I was not ready to get scolded, and I kept quiet without saying a word.
My younger brother wanted to say a word, but I asked him to let it be.
He highlighted it and asked us to come down from the car. We came down without saying a word.
My dad checked under the car and saw that one of the tires was about to pull off. With the look on his face, it indicated that we had seen the end of the journey. He gave us money to transport us back home while he proceeded on the journey by entering a cab.
We got home, and my big sister started laughing at us profusely. “I stylishly told you two that you would end up coming back; you thought I was joking,” my sister said in a mood of laughter.
My dad came back in the evening with his face swollen, just like a balloon that was ready to burst. He could not say a word, but was rather concerned about the jalopy car that he left on the road. “I just hope no one steals the tires and side mirrors of my car.” My dad was just in grief, just like someone who has lost a soul, and was soliloquizing. Although his jalopy car is just like life to him,
He managed to repair it somehow and brought it home the next day.
A month later, it was my elder sister's introduction ceremony, sister Tayo. We all got prepared while the groom's family was around for the marriage rights. They did all they could to scale through the marriage rights, as it was difficult to pay the bride price in my family. However, my dad was somehow close to the groom's family, which gave them an upper hand. It's time for the groom to go to their home. My dad had to tell the groom's father, his in-law, “Please, why can't you wait? Let me drop you off in the park.”
“Alright, my friend,” his in-law said.
My dad could not wait before calling me to join them on their journey to the park. I was feeling reluctant to join my dad, as I had passed through hell the last time we both went on a trip to his car.
My dad drove his car out, and our in-law and some of his people entered happily. They were so glad to enter my dad's jalopy car. On their way, the car broke down. It needed an extra hand before it could start again. Someone had to push it. The whole of them and I came out, and we started pushing the car until it finally started. They proceeded again, and after five minutes, the car stopped. Everyone began to look around, blaming themselves for entering the car. Some of them had to say they would have got to the park and would have seen a vehicle to their destination.
“Sir, this car requires serious servicing,” someone among them said to my dad. My dad was somehow sad about the words.
“Dad, let's call the mechanic to come over.” For the first time, my dad had to listen to my words after passing through the serious disgrace of his life.
“Please, I'm sorry. I think you people have to find your way to the park now,” he said, feeling so sad according to his feelings. One can see from his look that he was ashamed.
His anger made him buy a brand-new car.