DAILY WRITING (9)

 MONDAY 25TH OCTOBER, 2021

The time is  8:17pm. I am home now.

On my way to meet this potential client, I entered a bus. The driver was a middle-aged man and he spoke good English. I mean, correct one.

When we got to a particular bus stop, he stopped, muttering to himself and looking somewhere. I thought he was waiting for someone who had stopped him. Mind you, we were only two in the bus. “Oga, what’s happening? Let’s go naaau,” I finally spoke when is didn’t see anyone approaching.

“I’m sorry, my sister. Please, I’m waiting for my children. They are coming from inside that place,” he said, pointing to an estate. “I told them to wait for me by the road and they are not here yet.”

“Ohhhh…..okay,” was all I said and I mellowed down. I watched him dial a number on his phone, yelling at whoever was at the other end why the children were not here yet. He kept apologizing all through.

And where I sat, my mind went back……….I thought of my dad, Papa Tope. You peole know I talk about him a lot, yeah? If you don’t, you should see the series I wrote about him on Facebook. It’s titled ‘Papa Tope’. Were you expecting another title? 😂😂😂

My dad used to ride okada (motorcycle) for commercial purpose right from the time I knew the man was my father. The okada was both private transportation for us, his family, and those who paid him to carry thems from one place to another. As a commercial motorcyclIst, you have to know looooooottt of places, nooks and crannies of places, shortcuts to get to places etc. I’m yet to know a place in Warri, Delta State, that my dad didn’t know about sha. It was from my dad I first heard about places like Udu (pronounced u-du), Agbasa (pronounced ah-gba-sah), Kolokolo (ko-lo-ko-lo), Otokutu (pronounced o-to-ku-tu. This place became notorious for being one of the hubs for kidnappers then. We heard rumours that they sold body parts then. People were scared to go there. Really tough times that year) and so many places. And if you know my dad, he’s a good storyteller (Thinking of it now, I think storytelling runs in my dad’s family) and he’d tell us about different places and how they were like.

Where we stayed, Water Resources was seen as one of the somehow ‘tush’ areas, if I can explain it that way. But you see places from Enerhen junction to Deco to Water Odili and all those places, they are called ‘Inside Warri’. These places were prone to fights all the time. We always heard things like, “Area boys from Enerhen dey fight with boys from Ugborikoko (pronounced Oh-gbo-ree-ko-ko) ooo.” There’s a place you can cut and cut through till you get to Ugborikoko. So, it wasn’t really far from my street. But you will trekkkkkkk ehhhnnn.

Anytime there was tension in Ugborikoko, every store owner would lock their shops, my mum included. Why? If they start fighting, they would bring the fights to all the surrounding areas, our area not excluded. They’ll start destroying goods and all……for a fight that you know nothing about.

Okay, I’m taking you to another story oo😂😂😂 Okay, let’s come back home.

My dad used to take us with that motorcycle to and fro school everyday. Every. Single. Day. Well, except for the days the motorcycle had a fault and refused to start.

I didn’t mind this. At first, I thought it was enjoyment.

But as I grew older, I didn’t like it. You know how it is for a teenager whose father is coming to drop her in a motorcycle when her peers’ parents are dropping them with cars. And ungrateful me didn’t want that. Many times I’d ask my dad to stop outside the school so we’d walk in. He’d have none of that. He still drove us in. That got me mad.

I had no choice because if I wanted to go alone, I’d trek first to the road, take a motorcycle to the main road, take a bus to get there OR take a bike straight to school (Isn’t that the same thing?) With my two siblings, for that matter! Plus, who will give me the money? I know my parents would never! So, I was stuck.

But after a while, my dad saw that there were other students who walked home and we stayed in the same area so he stopped coming to pick us after school. (Did I ever share the story how my dad slapped me in front of almost everyone after school? Omoooo…..story for another day.)

Then, if anyone asked what my father did, I’d say, ‘Businessman’ because I was so ashamed my dad drove okada for a living.

And yet, it is that same okada he was driving, together with him being a thrift collector, and my mum’s petty trading they used to send us to school. Imagine having three children at the same time in school……all in private school. Imagine the money he was spending……and he hardly owed. If he ever did, less than a week, the money was sorted out.

So, when I remembered a teenager complaining about her parents to me one time, I shook my head and in my mind, I was like, “Tope, this was literally what you were doing, you know, abi?”

I thought it was the reason why I wasn’t among the ‘cool people’ in school, why boys didn’t talk to me……. because I was poor.

Dad couldn’t keep up with the finances so we had to change from private to public school just after my SS2 first term and I was livid. Daddy, why? My status just dropped to zero! I thought.

Years later, I remember seeing one of my old classmates from the public school I attended. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked after my dad. I told him he was fine. He said, “Tope, do you know you are so lucky? Everyday, I’d see your daddy come to drop you and your siblings off in school and still come back to carry you. If something happens to you, you will call your dad and he will come immediately. When the teachers needs him to come, he will come. If na me, who I wan call? My parents nor even know the school wey I go sef. Dem just know say their pikin dey go school. Till I finish, none of them know which school I finish from. Most of the time, na me dey pay my school fess by myself. You get luck ooo.”

It was the public school I attended that thought me extra street smartness. I saw how the streets operated more. At a first glance looking at me, you’d think I know nothing, as many people kuku used to call me, “Tope naa ajebutter.” But let me just open my mouth to talk, scraaaaa…..kpakpakpa😂😂😂.

My heart dropped for the rest of that day.

I guess the time I began to really appreciate my parents’ efforts, like really understand the sacrifices they made (and are still making) for my siblings and I was my first year in the University.

That’s how I kept thinking of all these till I nearly passed the bus stop where I was to meet someone. Thank God I came back from memory lane.

It’s 9pm now. I’ll stop here.

How was your day?

Below are pictures of how I rocked today. Made sense, abi? I know. 🤭🤭🤭