Authorpreneurs Corner

My silence is right at the tip of the volcano.

The Bus I entered yesterday was indeed a ride or die affair with a touch of fast and furious and the transformers to cap it up.

I sat next to a family of seven, occupying the space next to me, a roll meant for four, miraculously was being occupied by 8 passengers, myself included.

The mum carried a suckling baby on her back and a bigger one on her thigh, the husband carried another on his lap and the first daughter, also a child maybe 8 or 9 I'm not that good with guessing a child's age, once you are short I conclude you are small and if you are tall I assume you are mature.

Forgive me, I digress, anyways the short child carried another smaller one and I was the unfortunate passenger to sit next to this wonderful family bearing a part of their burden, not by choice but again, a wise man once said, "only a fool seeks comfort in a public vehicle."

I was no fool so I was going to endure the ride or die trying, and boy it was a long ride made even longer by the spectacle unfolding before my eyes.

Their stares, they jumped

Their tears, they dropped

Their laughter, it echoed

Their chattering, unending

Even their loving, painful

This was not a strange sight, it was a common one we see everyday,  everywhere and every time.

A bemused sight incongruous to the frailty of the glaring and harsh conditions, I almost wept and laughed at the same time.

Don't blame me, the spectacle made you different shades of attitude. For those humane enough to observe and wonder.

I felt neither pity nor envy.

Their helplessness totally oblivious to me, the only thing of interest to me was the caricature they presented. Call me an asshole and I'll tell you maybe, just maybe why I felt the way I did and still do.

So, when the screams of the one closest to me became unbearable, in the heat of the traffic, I bought plantain chips and handed it to her while the father thanked me.

The mum looked at me...

Her eyes distrustful

Her countenance, paranoia

Her lips, unmoving

Her frown, unwavering

But I didn't care at least there was peace...it lasted only for a second then the other kids wanted their own plantain chips and then four small hands all stretched out to me, begging with both teary eyes and hands and the child that won the jackpot vehemently refused to share and instead hoarded the chips so close to her tiny body I almost laughed out loud at the ludicrousness of the whole drama but then, the mother finally smiled and said with all alacrity.

"Brother buy for the others now so e no go be cheating."

The husband laughed

The children all stared,  hopeful

Passengers glared, some smiled, others aloof

Conductor watched, entertained perhaps or maybe uninterested

Hawkers followed in hot pursuit, Running and waiting

I sat stone faced, disgusted by the audacity of the mom until I couldn't bear it anymore, and so I brought out 500 naira and handed it to the child closest to me but not the one I already bought for, he grabbed my hand and the cash with so much force and almost tore it, trying against all odds to best his siblings outstretched hands and popping eyes, and that earned him some heavy beating from the ungrateful mum.

More tears

More screams

More spit and pain

A moving tragedy

"Thank you very much my brother. This life is not easy, na only me dey take care of this children and their mother. I be ordinary security man and for months now dem never pay me, na my wife sef come dey support us with zobo wey she dey sell. How much be my salary wey dem dey owe me, 10,000 naira only, for all this plenty children wey I get and I never born finish, more dey come.

Wetin person go do, Buhari don say we go die, government don abandon us, na just extra time we dey live so."

The dad complained to me while the children ate the plantain chips, the whole lot all making cracking sounds as they chewed in silence.

Here I am living on the edge of tomorrow.

Not complaining but grateful for the little I have and for the knowledge and joy of sustenance for a better today.

Beside me sits hopelessness.

In the face of poverty and despair.

All of us, on the same road, some to perdition others to Eldorado.

Being driven by the same hands of time and force of nature

All moving at same direction but different speed, and in the end being chased hard by the seductive smell of death and the sweet allure of failure and poverty.

I closed my eyes in silence and finally I cried.

Nigeria.

Kingdavid Chinaeke Ofunne

Authorpreneur