Chapter 16

I found my way to the the cold room where I once worked which was right beside the block of flat where Aunty Mary's apartment was. The store was closed for the day and everyone working for Madam Caroline had gone home except for the security guard Bashir. Bashir was the security guard since I was in secondary school, he still worked for Madam Caroline even when I worked there, he was someone that I was familiar with. He was also aware of the situation I was in. While he was on his normal routine check rounds, I managed to sneak past him, then I hid at the back of one of the coldrooms.

The engines were running and the whole place was smelling of blood from the fishes in the coldroom. I was too tired to be bothered,I just needed a safe place to lay my head for the night. I had just picked up a fish carton and layed it on the cold floor when Bashir's torch light fell on me. He had seen me when I thought I was sneaking past him. Bashir, the security guard told me not to worry that I could always come pass the night because he knew, I was not a thief. He then asked me to come out of the engine space because it was not a good place for anyone to sleep.

He took me to the cashier's office which was a single room. The only furnishings were a desk and three plastic chairs and shelf where invoices and newspapers were kept. Normally the office was out of bounds for non-staff of the company but Bashir could not watch me sleep beside the running engines, so he gave me some cartons to lay on the floor for me to sleep on. While I was putting the cartons together he asked me

" Fred, why are you putting yourself through all of these?.. Obviously he didn't know my side of the story, he had only heard the version that was told by my Aunty and cousins.

Everyone else apart from my friends were made to believe that they were trying to set me on the right path but I wasn't listening to instructions, so because they kept on putting pressure on me to get my life together and have a great future was the reason why I decided to move out of the house so that I can always have it my way. I was surprised to hear all of those from Bashir because all I did as a child was being a good boy, obeying all instructions and still got beaten for making the simplest mistakes.

When I told Bashir my side of the story, he looked at me for some minutes. I couldn't tell if he believed everything I said, but he told me, he might be able to speak with Aunty Mary so that I could be allowed to return home and plan my future. "I don't want to go back" I said to him gently then pretended I had fallen asleep .After some minutes of my fake snoring, he picked up his torch and went back outside to continue his watch. Immediately he stepped outside I said a little prayer and finally slept off.

I was in deep sleep when I heard the office door opened, I opened my eyes , it was Bashir. He told me it was 5am already that I would have to get up because Madam Caroline might show up anytime. So I got up and picked up the cartons which I slept on. "Thank you Bashir " I said to him in my lowest voice.

"You're welcome Fred, you can always come here to pass the night until you're able to figure out a plan" he responded.

I opened the door and walk up to the tap outside, took off my clothes and quickly got a shower. By the time I was done washing up, it was 5:15am , I took a walk to Obalende market observing people as they rushed into buses that would take them to work. The day was already bright at 6am, I decided to join the morning devotion at the church so I walked down to the church in Moloney street to join the prayer session. During the session, I asked God to give me a direction because at that moment I didn't know where life was taking me but I didn't want to end up being a failure. The church service ended at 7am, so I walked up to the motor park to get a bus that was going to take me to Surulere where my shop was located.

Lagos city is the commercial capital of Nigeria. It runs a 24hours economy, so there's always a steady movement of people .

Surulere! Surulere!! A man in his early forties chanted at the motor park. I approached him and ask him how much?

He opened the front door for me to pop in then said 50naira. I took the front seat then sat quietly waiting for the bus to get enough passengers. My reason for embarking on that journey was to go and sell off my small business so that I could use the funds to purchase a GCE form which would make me eligible for the examination and a certificate that will enable me get a job.

After ten minutes, the bus was filled with passengers and the driver drove off. It was going to be a fifteen minutes drive to Surulere, so I took a nap because I was still a little bit tired. The bus-conductor tapped me from the back seat and ask for the fare. I handed him a hundred Naira note.