Finally, the long-awaited Tuesday came, the day Thomson was told via mail to come and claim the Samsung phone he won via a lottery conducted by the Samsung company's branch in his state in celebration of the anniversary of the establishment of the branch office.
Time was around 9:20 a.m. when he got prepared, ready to set off to the Samsung office via his motorcycle. He thought of using public transport but no, it'll cost him a lot compared to using his motorcycle which was fine and very fit to ply the 40mins drive to the city from the countryside they're living in.
"Babe, remember to buy the SD card I told you about," Charity, his wife who was standing at the door said as a means of goodbye and walked inside the house.
"Yeah, I still remember"
He brought out the bike, sat on top, and pressed the start button, it produced a sound like it wanted to start but it didn't. He pressed the button again, again and again with force, and it remained the same.
That's unusual for his bike not to start with one or two starts, he used his right leg to pull out the leg kick, he kicked three times and it didn't start either.
"What's happening to it? I've been hearing kicking sounds from inside and that's very unusual" The wife has come out to check what's happening to the bike.
Thomson who was already angry and stressed by the bike didn't answer the wife, instead, he kept kicking it very hard, repeatedly.
"Didn't you use it this morning?" The wife walked closer to the bike.
"I don't know oooh, I drove it early this morning and nothing was wrong neither did I notice any sign" He responded as he opened the bike's seat which enclosed the tools box of the bike, he brought out the plug spanner, loosened out the plug, used some iron wires to scratch the inside of the plug, added a little drop of fuel to it, fixed it back and kicked it again and it made a noise like it wants to start but it refused. At this junction, his neatly ironed shirt was soaked in sweat already.
"Give me your phone let me call the mechanic" The wife placed her hand in his left side pocket on his trousers and brought out the phone.
"Is it mechanic 01 or mechanic 02?" She asked looking confused at the two similar contacts.
"Dial 02"
She dialled and auto-response came out loud 'Sorry, the number you're trying to call is switched off, please try again later, thank you
"Mtchwww!" Two of them hissed in unison as soon as they heard the response.
"Give me the phone" he stretched out his hand, collected the phone and checked the time, it was 10:40 am already, he sighed, looked at his sweaty shirt and added, "I should take public transport. I can't miss this opportunity"
"Okay, I'll find a way to get this repaired before you return," the wife okayed as she struggled to push the bike to a corner and just when the husband was leaving, a thought poked her mind, and she called back the husband, "Honey wait!"
The husband stopped and turned and she walked to him. "It just came to my mind now, what if... What if..." She stammered and paused, flicking her hands on her hair not knowing how to say what was on her mind to the husband who was looking directly into her eyes with all curiosity waiting to know why she called him back.
"What if what?" His voice was a bit loud.
"What if this is a sign that something bad is going to happen? The bike refused to start, we called the mechanic and his number was unreachable and now, the public transport you didn't want to use is what you're finally heading to" She started saying with a shaky voice but ended it with a very bold voice pulling like she's very convinced on what the signs are for.
"Superstition again! You've started again!"
"So motorcycles don't break down? Mechanics' phones don't go off? Abeg! abeg! abeg!"
He fled up and left the wife in awe. The wife stood there, looking at his husband walk away on the tiny road with little bushes on both sides.
Thomson knew the kind of wife he was married to, so as soon as he got onto a bus, he made sure to text his wife and promised to text her as he proceeded on the journey.
The text was pleasing to his wife but that didn't get fully into her heart, so she embarked on low-tone prayers in the bedroom, she turned off the phone's notification and pushed it aside, she needed full concentration and that's how she knelt praying for journey Mercy for her husband until her husband returned after two hours with the phone and it was a thing of joy to her. She believed God heard her prayers and saved her husband from the dangers on the road.
Thanks for reading.