Americana’s Diary II: They Cannot Be Blamed
A friend of mine told me that my friend, Johnson, whom we popularly call “Jay” is in town from the States. I have been thinking of when I will go and pay him a visit before he leaves. But I have been chocked up with programs here and there. Immediately I leave my kiosk, I will have one or two things to attend to in town. Where he leaves is a little bit far from where I leave. It is not a straight line course to my area. I am yet to have his local number because my friend said he has not gotten a number when last he called him and that when he called to give him the phone number with which we can reach him he will forward the number to me. Since he has not forwarded any number to him, I was thinking may be he has not given him the number with which to call him to in our land or that he has forgotten.
Because there is no way for me to talk to him, I was looking for a convenient time to pay him a visit before he leaves the country for his base. Time is running out and I am yet to pay him a visit.
I know he would have tried to locate me assuming he knows the new place I have moved to, but he did not know my new place.
This was the situation of things until one evening that I finished early from my shop, I was hoping to go and see my grandfather before I go home that day. It has been a while that I see the old man last and he used to phone me to ask me of when I will visit him again that he is missing me. On this day, I decided that if I did not create time to go and visit him there would be no avenue for that until the month runs off again. This makes me close early.
As I was heading towards Kolato round-about from Old Prison Yard Street, with other pedestrians, someone in a car flashed the light of the headlights to us, I did not know I was the one he was flashing, so I did not mind him I kept working, he flashed again, then slowed down because according to the walking rules we were being taught those days in the school, we should face the on-coming vehicles not to back them.
Despite learning this rule, I hardly obey them when I was young. My mentality to not obeying it changed after hearing a friend’s story one day. He was like me, not obeying the rules and anywhere goes on the road, just keep moving.
He said one after finishing from the hectic day’s work in the office and he was trekking home because his house is not far from his office. He was walking in the same direction that the vehicles were plying. After about 50 meters walk from his office, he just heard “pa” on his head, and that was all he could remember as he fell down hitting his face on the ground. Some of the Pedestrians nigh by rushed to carry him while others started pursuing, shouting, waving at the driver of the heavy truck whose planks hit him.
The driver did not know that some of the planks have fallen out of place, extending beyond the edge of the back of the truck where they have been well arranged before taken off the saw-mill. It was one of those heavy planks that hit my friend at the back of his head and he fell down hitting his face on the ground.
They were able to get the driver who stopped his truck and take my friend to the nearby clinic where he was resuscitated.
My friend said he has been in the hospital for hours before he knew where he was. Since the day he narrated this story to me have I stopped walking in the same direction that the vehicle is going.
When this man flashed again, I looked at the brand of the car he was driving I said to myself, “I did not know anyone who has this kind of car”, thus I keep walking not knowing that I was the one he was flashing. He slowed down, hooted his horn and parked asking people to help them call me.
When I walked back, lo and behold it was my friend, Johnson, who was behind the wheels. On seeing him I exclaimed, and the attention of everyone walking by shifted towards us.
“Wow!”
“It’s you I was flashing” he said.
“I saw the flashes but on cross examining the vehicle I said to myself, “I did not know anyone with this kind of car that is why I did not stop”, I replied leaning on the window of the car by the passenger’s seat.
“Get in”, he said.
I opened the passenger’s door, entered the car, put on the seat belt as we started going.
“You are not looking bad friend, I am happy with this posture of yours that I am seeing, you are managing yourself well”, Jay said as he keeps driving
“Really? Thank you. A word like this coming from you means a lot to me”, I said using my handkerchief to wipe off my perspiration
Jay pressed the buttons to roll up the windows in the car, switching on the car’s air-conditioner, touching the air vent, “you can rotate the air-vent on your side so that the air would be blowing to you” I did as he said, rotated the air-vent to my said to be feeling the cool air breeze, he took one of the discs placed by the side of the hand break, inserted it into the car’s disc player, reducing the volume. The song is the latest song by one of the upcoming artiste Samrol, it is titled “Nothin’ Like Love”
Before the first stanza starts, the instrumentalists have been playing for about 20 seconds, then his voice emerged saying, “Love is Valuable, Love is Wonderful, No Regret in Love”, the Refrain is “Oh, Oh, Oh/3x Love is a great gift”
“Do you mind this song?” Jay asked.
“No, I do not. This must be his latest that my sister is talking about, I hope to get it soon”, I replied.
“Oh! You will like it when you play it”, Jay said adding, “I have been around for about three weeks now”
“I know, Rotey told me, but he said he has not gotten your mobile number that the number you used for calling him was your aunt’s, else I would have called you”, I replied.
“Oh! That is true. Ever since that time, I have been trying to reach Rotey but his number is not going. I had to leave voice messages for him, but he has not responded. I am beginning to get worried of what the matter is with him”, Jay responded.
“Oh, there is no problem with him. The network is poor in the area he has relocated to, except if he can get a powerful phone that is when he will be accessible at all times”, I replied him.
“Ummm. I see”, Jay said, “you have calmed down my nerves. The world is a surprise place you know. I was thinking may be he is in some form of trouble or that he will need our assistance or something, I was worried”, Jay replied.
“There is no problem with him. His fiancée’s working place is close to my shop, she has not told me that there is anything with him”, I replied.
“Before we journey far, where are you going? So that I will know how to move” he said, looking at me.
“I closed very early today so that I will go and pay my grandfather a visit. He has been calling me that it has been long that I visited him last.” I replied.
“Oh I see. So grandpa is still alive. He must be over hundred years now because your father too will be getting close to 80 years”, Jay said
“I am not sure of their ages you know. But I should think what you are correct in both instances”, I replied.
“Did you phone him that you will be coming today?”, Jay asked blaring the horn to a bicycle rider who was not riding as expected on the road, “can you see all these people? They ride as if they are the owners of the roads”
“Don’t mind them”, I replied, “and to your question, no, I did not phone him, I wanted it to be a surprise unto him. But, why do you ask?”, I asked him.
“I asked so as to know whether you have promised him of coming or not. If you have, I will take you there and we shall reschedule our meeting”, he said, “but since you have not promised him, it means you will postpone papa’s place today and we shall enjoy ourselves together before I take you back to your place”. He concluded.
“That is good by me”, I replied, “it is over a decade that we saw last neither have we had occasion to talk on any of the social media too. It is my pleasure playing with you today”, I concluded.
“I am elated to hear that. I do not join many of the common social media because I do not want to be hacked, I prefer phoning than those social media”, he responded
“It is as you wish. One cannot be over careful as one joins those social media, and for you who have ready access to many information, there may not be any need for any of those, but for those of us who do not have such access, it is a form of getting fresh information daily”, I said, “but I was thinking you were going somewhere”, I added
“I did not even know what took me out of my house today, I have told daddy that I will not be going out today, but somehow, I just changed my mind, I think the house was boring to me or something, and I said I just want to see the streets of the town”
“Ummm”
“I think it is because of you that I got out of the house because if I had not we would not meet”, Jay added
“And may be it is because of you that I closed early today too because as it stands now, my move has changed and do you know that I have been planning to visit your house, but every second has been on a planner, program upon program”
“I know”
“And if I have not closed early today, you won’t see me, you will just drive past my shop because you don’t know the place”, I said
“That is it. All things work together for good of the beloveds. God has seen our hearts and he brought us together in way that we cannot say”, he said.
“I believe so.” I said there is a momentary silence as we listen to Samrol’s song. Soon he got to the the junction that leads to the stadium and he branched there, he drove into the stadium, moved to the basketball court, stopped and we come down. We did not enter the court, we sat at a corner get drinks for ourselves and we continued to talk while the basketball court remains alive with activities of the basketballers.
We started talking about Favor whose mother is yet struggling despite the fact that his son has been out of our country for about six years.
"Things are not as we used to assume they were oh. Before I travelled out of the country ", Johnson started," I used to abuse my senior brother for not sending things to me, specifically money, then I was thinking that this brother of mine does not want to be useful for the family, but, when, I got there, I know better", he added.
“Uhmmm”.
“Do you know how he left the country?” Johnson asked looking curious.
"I am not too sure of how neither the circumstances that led to his leaving the country, but from the information I was able to gather after he left, I discovered that he left the shores of the country for the States to further his academics there, having been trying to get that achieved here but all to no avail. This to the best of my knowledge was the working theory put forward to us", I replied looking at Johnson’s eyes.
"Em, if he left there for studies do you know if he sponsored himself there?" Jay asked me readjusting himself on his seat.
I laughed, "you are talking as if you do not know the family?" I said, sipping the Coca cola product before me.
"Em, I know the family, but no one can be limited you know, em, I mean, no one can be pushed aside, in this present dispensation, who knows he may have won a lottery or something... "
"Jay!” I called with my voice a little bit raised up than before, “I am telling you that he won no lottery", I am sure of this, I concluded with the drink I was swallowing in between my Adams apple and my oesophagus.
"Wow! This is interesting you know. Em, then who do you think would sponsor him for the studies over there?” He asked like a naive person, adding that, “because studies over there is costlier than it is in our land”, opening the Pamilerin bottled water in his hand, raising it up to his mouth.
"According to my sources, he received a scholarship to further his academics.. ", I barely said as he started talking.
"Em, that is what I want to hear, you see many of those who won scholarships or grants to further their academics up there, after the completion of their studies many of them would have to start to pay back the grants because many of those grants have strings of conditions attached to them... Thus after some's graduation, they may work for 10 or more years to pay back their loans and while doing this, hardly would they be able to send anything home ", Jay enthused.
"Is that so? "I asked looking surprised.
"Oh, yea Segun, that is what is happening over there, and that was why when I also got there, I could not blame my brother again", Johnson concluded.
"With this coming from you, I think I also have to stop blaming some people who have traveled there now for not sending things home", I said.
"That is it my friend, we often talk or complain about what we know little or nothing about and it is sometimes irritating if not most of the times ", Jay said.
“That is true", I said, as we changed topic
Comentarios