The Lorry Driver,
Episode 4️⃣
It is rainy season and the road is wet. Ada has successfully driven the lorry and covered a long distance without encountering any problem. The conductor was full of admiration for her as she mounted the road and seemed to have conquered it. As the lorry sped on the wet tarred road, Ada could hear the sound of rain water splashing on the eighteen tires and the sound came out like the sound of a flying boat on motion on a river. The ‘zazaza zazaza’ sound made her feel as if she was listening to a good music. She was very proud that she could drive the long vehicle. Even as they passed through police checkpoints, the officers just allowed the lorry to pass without demanding for their usual bribe. But soon, problem started when they got to a section of the road that is filled with craters and portholes. Ada found it hard to drive on the bad road because she lacked experience.
“This road is very terrible. Are you sure we can continue? Don’t you think we should look for a town and wait a little and allow the road to dry up before we continue? Look, everywhere is flooded; I can’t even see where to put the tires. The lorry might fall if we continue. Let is stop and allow the water on the road to drain before we can continue.” Ada said to the conductor who was asleep. He did not hear what she said. His lips were wide open as he lay on the passenger’s seat of the lorry and slept as if he was on a mattress. Ada lifted her right hand from the steering and tapped the conductor. But as she did that, the lorry swerved off the good portion of the road and entered a very big porthole.
The porthole looked like a gutter and the two front tires of the lorry got stuck in it. There was no way for Ada to drive out of the porthole. Officially, they were in big trouble half-way through the journey and the time is 5pm.
“We will have to look for people to help us push out the lorry. This is a serious problem and we may not leave this place early.The last time we had this kind of problem, we ended up spending the night on the road. You have to stay in the lorry so that I will go into the town and find help. I will look for a toing van if I can’t find some boys to help us.” The conductor said. He had woken up from sleep immediate the lorry swerved into the porthole.
“How do you expect me to stay here alone? I’m coming with you. I can’t stay in the middle of this bush all alone.” Ada responded. Indeed, the road was a lonely place. Apart from occasion vehicles that passed them, the other noise they heard came from trees whistling on both sides of the road as they are hit by rainy wind.
“Nothing will happen to you and I will not waste any time. Believe me, I will come back even if I don’t see anyone to help us. Just give me thirty minutes or one hour. There is a town close to this place. It is not as if I’m going back to Ikom. Please stay here and wait. I will be back in minutes.” The conductor said calmly, trying to reassure Ada.
“Please, I’m begging you to return early. Don’t leave me here all alone for a long time. And please, if you are coming back, buy me some food because I’m hungry.” Ada said and went back into the lorry and lay on the two seats. As the conductor left to search for help, Ada kept wondering how she got into the situation she was in.
“How did I find myself in this mess? I was on my own in the village and then boom, this man appeared from nowhere and hijacked me. He said he saw my father, and poor me, I followed him without much critical thinking. Look at me now, driving a lorry that got stuck in the middle of a lonely road. I hope I will get out of this situation and return to my former life as soon as possible. I don’t want to be a lorry driver, I want to go to school.” Ada said to herself. Soon, she slept off.
As it turned out, the conductor did not come back from the town until 8pm in the night. Worse is that he did not find a toing van neither did he come back with boys to help them pull out the lorry from the mud. But at least, he came back with food.
“Here is some food for you. Please, don’t be angry that I stayed long. I tried finding help but no way. No one agreed to come with me because they said night has fallen and it would be unsafe for them to leave the town.” The conductor said with a calm voice.
“You see why I said we should go together? If we had gone together, we would have passed the night in a hotel in the town. Now, we are going to sleep in this lorry. I hate this! I will be sleeping in a lorry for a second night. Imagine what mosquitoes would do to me in the middle of this bush.” Ada said. The conductor listened to her voice and knew she was very upset. He pleaded with her to calm down and at least eat something.
“Apart from the mosquito, I assure you that nothing will happen to us. I have slept on the road lie this before.” The conductor said.
“You have slept on the road before, but this is my first time. Clearly, I can’t be blamed if I’m afraid. I do hope I come out of this mess and head back to the village as soon as I get to Benin City. I’m tired!” Ada said. She ate the food bought for her by the conductor and soon, they fell asleep in the lorry.
There was cold in the middle of the night and the two young people had no option but to hold each other for warmth. But they did not stop there because nature soon took over and they made love. It happened like a dream to Ada and even when she woke up the next morning, she couldn’t believe that such a thing happened between her and the conductor. But it happened. She cried secretly at the back of the lorry.
“I can’t believe I did this.” She said to herself. The conductor had gone back to town to look for a toing van. He soon returned and the van operator went to work, trying to pull the lorry out of the mud. Ada was on the steering, firing the lorry as the van pulled. Just then, the conductor’s phone rang and it was the lorry driver.
“Where is the lorry, I can’t find it. Where is my lorry?” The lorry driver asked with anger and distress in his voice.
“We are driving it to Benin City to deliver the banana to the owner. I hired a driver. But the problem is that we are stuck on the road. We are in the mud and we are trying to come out.” The conductor said. He lied about who was driving the lorry.
“Wait for me there. Don’t move any further until you see me. Text me the location because I’m coming to meet you people.” The lorry driver said. As soon as he dropped the call, the conductor texted their location to the lorry driver and he boarded a vehicle, coming to meet him and Ada.
Tbc
