Tuesday 13 December 2011

the journey here

On d journey 2 here, whr d road ws constantly punctuatd wt masiv potholes, and police chekpoints (u dnt nid 2 knw wr here is). D bus i boarded hd characters, as usual. D 1st dat i noticd ws ds xtremely pako gal blastin ghetto tunes 4rm her china fone and getin on d nerve of d elderly woman deaconess bside her (dats wat she is acordin 2d manifest). I ws sure d woman ws hopin d God of Elijah wud do somtin as d gal ws boppin her head left right n side to side. 2d woman, ds young people mst b hell-bound, disillusioned n lost. A chubby bros wt dreads sitted in front of d 'lost' gal ws in on d groove but bsyd d deacones ws ds pretty woman wt a thick igbo accent who didnt seem to mind all d terry g & baba nee in d air. Our deacones ws caryin a kid who spent an unusualy long time eatin hs Gala roll. He gnawd at it hungrily, bt evritym d gala came out hs mouth it seemd to look dsame in length wt jst scrapes at d tip, lyk wat a rat wud do. Bsyd d guy wt dreads ws ds guy who hd bin on d fone...POTHOLE...since d journey started. He made us knw wat he ws into, construction supervisor, sinc he talkd abt nails, blocks, omo onile, and 17bags of cement dat wsnt enof 4 somthn. Bsyd hm ws a fustratd chic who tryd to find solace in her bottled-water. She ws d finest in d bus, asyds myself. Bsyd me ws ds mallam wt an unusual luggage, he constantly jerkd as if being bitten by a mosquito, i hoped it wsnt a way to detonate d bomb i thot he ws carryin. Bsyd d aboki ws a lady wt a ring on her nose, she lookd realy late 4 an appointment wt her aristo and evry jerk 4rm d aboki provokd her. Behind our aristo ws ds poor young woman carryin a new born of about 4months bt alrdy showing ribs 4rm hunger. They were a part of a family of 5, d husband ws caryin d oda 2 kids. All were mostly skin n bones n dia luggage ws filthy n often ambiencd d bak row. It ws a sad sight, i cdnt help n i hd 2 say a prayer 4 dem. They wr leavin city life it seemd. Behind me ws a plump woman who lovd 2 talk evn to..POLICE... herslf and seizd evri opurtunity b it via d fone or stray topic. She also enjoyd nodgin my seat wt her knee cos she ws too big 4 her space.
The driver ws quietly ovaspeedin while d 2 male passengers bsyd hm wr quietly scared. Only wen there ws an oncomin vehicle, especialy a large one did they uncova dia fright, then d whole bus wud go thus "ah, driver e rora o!,
die die ni o!,
e jo o!,
pele pele o!, etc. And d plump woman bhind me wud end it all wt
"a aso layo o!!
Then d bus wud chorus
"amin o!"
...POT HOLE...
D vehicle ws slow enof 4 us to watch an ongoin scene outsyd, a man ws abt to b linchd by 5 oda men caryin cutlasses, planks and a rake. He ran 4 dear lyf or so we thot and we prayd he wdnt b caught, behold, ds man only went in search of hs own weapon, he surfacd wt a 2 by 4! Enter our chief speaker, enof talk n half cries 4rm her. But there wsnt any fight, jst shoutin and bouncin arnd 4rm all of dm. "won kan hale ni jare" said our driver. Evry1 thot d man was insanely brave, i concurred. 15mins later, chief speaker ws stil leadin a team of commentators
...POLICE CHECKPOINT...
Our 'lost' pako-gal's playlist movd in2 gospel, mayb an attempt to get deacones on her side bt it didnt work cos twas gospel of d ayefele-ish kind wt a bit of street to it. There were more listeners and sing-alongers now. The groovin continued.
Ratigan stil hdnt finishd hs Gala and deaconess ws usd to it cos she didnt complain. Baby at d bak ws cryin, blabber-mouth ws on d fone, igbo woman ws noddin away, aboki was long gone, fone man ws again on d fone. And i ws observing. One of d passengers by d driver hd crutches and said somtin abt nt wntin to break anytin else. Then a realy funny bt equaly frightenin sight approached our vehicle, ds bus hd bn in an accident n 4rm d looks of it, had sumersulted, dented in evry part bt d driver ws steadily cruisin it! My first 'battery low' warning.
Anoda topic of discusion headed honourably by ma'm blabbermouth behind me. Evry1 commentd except me. Suddenly, Tope Alabi finished playin and terry G blared in, but d music stopd and anoda gospel track played. At ds moment, it seemd to deaconess dat the good Lord hd ansad her cos there ws ease in her straind face. But raz babe ws fast asleep! Then it dawnd on aboki, igbo woman,myself and talkative, etc. dat it was dread boy who was d DJ of d bus all along or mayb somwhere bk in time she quit and he took over. A few minutes to 'here' and i thot to myslf "wat ws all ds observation for? Why did i take my time to type out evry1s move? Wats my busines sef? And wats ur busines too? Phseeww.

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