The Journey

I have only been jolted to life by the blaring horn of this car I boarded when I heard 'if you no get money', unconsciously I replied 'hide your face' and then smiled.

This took me through a mental journey of what this song really meant; I had tried giving it a thought some few days ago at the office but for the 'Aunty, please I need to see you' voice that brought me back to the consciousness of my environment.

'Why should any broke person hide their face when in actual sense they should speak out to get help to leave their broke state', I said to myself.

'If you no get money, seek to be helped', this is what I think the logical reasoning should be.

'If you no get money, networking with those who do is the best way to get out that state', I thought again.

I had ruminated on these wavering thoughts for few minutes when the car halted.

'Gbogbo ero' the cab man yelled?

What? What on earth is the problem?, this commuter assistance (or what English word would suffice for agbèrò?) told us that the car would take us a little farther than where we are now and that would have helped me save a hundred naira, I literally screamed to the air but not even the driver responded, I could not cry.

One of the fellow passengers reached out to me, 'Madam, which of your bags should I help you with?' he said, is the little girl with you, he continued pointing to a girl wandering around the car.

I looked at him with some disdain and responded, 'no, I'm alone and I have just my handbag, thank you.

He removed his hands from the bags I was standing with and said sorry before he turned to leave.

I discovered he moved towards a car; a red Chevrolet 2015 model, controlled it open with a remote and the sound' pim pim' was all I heard. I can't dull myself here, I thought to myself and didn't hesitate to move towards him.

'Excuse me, sir, are you per chance going towards my way?' I asked.

'I wouldn't know because you haven't told me where you're headed', he retorted.

'Erm', trying to catch my breath, 'I am headed towards Hugh Avenue and it is quite some distance, I was wondering if you are going towards that direction and I could come with you', I continued.

'Hop in, let's have a sweet ride'.

..................................

Five minutes into the ride, it was all silent as I didn't know how to start a conversation with this super charming bearded cute benign Yoruba angel.

Not so long, I caught my voice.

'Did you leave you car there to travel earlier or how come you had your car waiting for you at arrival, or didn't we board the same car from Osogbo to Ilorin just now?' I asked all at once

'Hey! Easy on me pretty, you could have asked all those with just once question', he exclaimed! Okay, I went with a friend to bury his wife who had died during childbirth in his car but unfortunately, he is still back in Osogbo for some rites I wouldn't be a part of, and yes, I had dumped my car there to go in his car so I could have an easy access to it when I get back, I hope these answered all the questions you asked', he explained.

With a smile, I said yes and told him sorry about his friend's wife.

'I am Oluwameganmikuro Makudurotoluwa, a student of Fisheries and Aquaculture from the University of Minnesota. I have just called in for vacation so I decided to visit my grandma who stays in Ilorin. Thank you for the ride'. I said

Just as he was about introducing himself, I found myself on my bed in my night wear and I realized I have been dreaming.