The Bad Road

I place the suya on my lap, holding the ice cream, and had placed the Fanta in the polythene bag, I'll drink it later.

I can't stop myself from imagining the things I could do with the boy behind me. What might he even be doing? Maybe I could use an opportunity, pretending to look at something, and then I'll sneak a glance at him. Or it's best I just mind my business, foolish me!

"ring ring, ring ring" my phone rings, and it's loud, geez!

Did I forget to lower the volume? It's my brother, Peter, calling.

If I talk, people might hear our conversation because the bus is really quiet, apart from the wind howling in my ears. If I pick up the call and talk, my voice won't really be heard, that's a win-win for me.

I plug in my earbuds and place the tips in my ears, then pick up the call. "Hello," I say softly.

"Hello Amanda, hello!"

"Yes, I can hear you, go on"

"Hello, I can't hear you, hello!"

What's wrong? Why isn't he hearing me? Could it be the network, or could it be because I'm talking too low?

I bring the phone closer to my mouth. "Hello, Peter, can you hear me now?"

"Yes, yes, I can hear you. Are you guys there yet?"

"Nope."

"Are you close?"

"No, Mum said we haven't even gotten anywhere."

He starts laughing. "The Lord is your strength."

"You're not okay."

"When you get there, just let us know."

"No problem. Bye then." He cuts the call.

I just pray we get there early. I don't want to spend the night still on the road.

I keep my phone back in my pocket and start opening the nylon of suya. People around are still eating, so I feel comfortable doing it too.

I bite the tip of the ice cream bag and start sucking it, the taste is just like how I remember, I like it!

I use the toothpick the suya guy dropped in the newspaper to feed myself the suya. It's just so nice, one of the things I like about traveling.

"Hello," the man next to me says. He's on a call.

"Ah, omo, we still dey far. We never even reach that Benin bypass. (We are still far, and we haven't even gotten to Benin bypass.)"

I know we are still far, but what is Benin bypass?

"My uncle wey travel on Thursday, spend two days on the road because of that holdup (I have an uncle that travelled on Thursday, and he spent two days still on road because of that holdup)," he says again.

Oh Lord! What does he mean? We are not going to the same place, right?

"Onitsha still far like mad, I no know when we go reach. I dey go Orlu, and tomorrow na lockdown (onitsha is still far and I don't know when we are gonna reach. I'm going to orlu, and tommorow is lockdown there)," he says.

Eh? He's going to the exact place as me? Jesus Christ! Which lockdown? Am I missing anything?

"Na to just reach that place fast because I dey fear night travel, ( I just hope we get there soon, because I fear night travel)," he continues.

I know night traveling can be dangerous, but the way he said it makes me scared?

"Them go just burst person head, carry all our belongings go, (they'll kill us and take all our belongings)" he adds.

I almost choke. Does that really happen? How don't I know this? Oh Lord, please let us get there early.

"Ehhh, I go call you back later, abeg (yes, I'll call you back later)," he says, and I think he's about to hang up the call.

Bypass? Holdup? Killing? Oh Lord, please don't let it be any of our portion.

I hand the rest of the suya to my mom and continue sucking on my ice cream. I pull out my phone to distract myself from these thoughts, but when I'm in a public area, I don't know what to do with it. But when I'm alone in my room, I have a lot of things to do on it. So what do I do now? I really don't know.

I put it back in my pocket and decide to enjoy the outside view.

"Ah, hello," a woman says loudly, everybody could hear her. Doesn't she feel wierd that everybody can hear her conversation with the person she's talking to?.

"We never reach oh. We never even cross that Benin bypass. Holdup go dey, today na Sunday (we haven't gotten there, we haven't even gotten to Benin bypass and today is Sunday, there would be holdup)," she says.

Why is she bringing back those forgotten thoughts? Like, what is this Benin bypass thing?

"Ehh, okay," she laughs, "okay, bye-bye," she says.

I rest my head on the seat headrest, gazing out the window. The man next to me is resting his head against the seat in front of him, pressing his phone.

I love the trees and bushes outside, it's beautiful to me.

We spend some moments on the road, probably hours, and my head is still turned, watching the outside view, while the man next to me has fallen asleep, his head resting on the headrest.

Most people have fallen asleep, so I rest my head on my mom's seat, feeling sleepy too. My eyes have been outside for too long. I feel sleep enveloping me, and I let it.

"Oh God, na wetin I dey fear be dis (oh God, this is what I feared)" someone says, and I hear people complaining.

What's happening? I raise my head and look around.

The bus has stopped moving, and it feels really hot, I feel so much heat. I look outside and gosh! It's crowded with cars.

There's mud everywhere, and even trailers are stuck in it. Like, what the hell is this?

I reach out for my phone in my pocket. It's already one o'clock. Where are we?

I tap my mom. "Mommy, where are we?" I ask.

"Benin bypass o," she says.

So this is the Benin bypass?, It's really messed up. Like, no cars are literally moving, and the cause is obvious, bad road.

I pull off my jacket, I can't live with this heat.

"Open door abeg, person dey feel heat, (open the door, I'm feeling heat)" a woman shouts.

The driver gets out and opens the door, and the breeze comes rushing in, along with the sunlight.

Some people start getting out to walk around, including my mom and the man next to me, but I choose to stay in, I don't have any business outside.

Few people are left in the bus, mostly little children and teenagers my age, including the boy behind my seat.

I keep my jacket on my seat and shift to sit in the man's seat so I can receive the fresh air and look out the window.

There's a car next to our bus, and it moves, the cars and buses on that row are moving, good for them.

My Fanta, where is it? Oh, that's right, I kept it in that bag.

I turn to face my seat, and my eyes instantly land on the boy behind my seat. He had taken off his hoodie and is now wearing a big black top. His arms are folded, and he's just staring behind my seat backrest.

I can see his hair now, and it's braided into twists, hanging around his face. I think they were packed away before because I should have seen them even if he wore his hood to cover them.

Then suddenly, he meets my gaze.

I instantly bend to pick up the polythene bag and raise myself back up to the seat I'm on, forcing myself to look out the window. I can still feel his gaze on me, and I feel embarrassed AF, geez!

I pull out the Fanta from the polythene bag, trying my best to avoid staring at him, then returning the bag to its former position and twist open my drink, gulping it down my throat.

I feel somehow, like why was I looking so long?

I notice the weather starting to change, the clouds are getting darker, and the wind is blowing heavily. The vehicles aren't showing any sign of movement, especially the big ones.

Are we really going to sleep here? Oh Lord, please help us!

The wind starts getting heavier, and the sky grows darker.

"Come inside o, rain wan fall, (Get in, it's about to rain)" the bus driver shouts, getting into the bus.

People start coming in, and I immediately shift back to my own seat. The man next to me also comes in, and I adjust so he can sit on his own seat. My mom also steps in, and everyone else follows.

The rain starts to drizzle, I love it and hate it at the same time because, first of all, I love the rain, and secondly, it's going to worsen our situation.

I feel hopeless at the moment. What if we don't make it today?

The rain starts falling heavily, and people start closing the windows, including the man beside me.

I hear the car engine starting. Is this some kind of miracle? We're moving, not too fast, but we're moving. Thank goodness!

Not just our bus, but it looks like other vehicles are moving too. What could be the cause of it? Who cares, as long as we're moving, I'm happy.

After some time, we finally leave the 'Benin Bypass' and we're back on the main road.

I'm still hoping we arrive early. I close my eyes again, starting to feel sleepy once more.