He Taught Me How To Find Myself

03: Taxi Rides📮

"Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread"

- Richard Wright

As soon as were were ten minutes away from the park. I regretted not taking Langa's hand because it was not sanatized.

He was walking very quickly and I was losing him in this crowd of people. I wanted to sit down and cry right here on the spot.

Every now and then he would turn back and check if I was still walking behind him.

"Oh take my hand will you" I said tugging on his sleeves as we came to a stop in the busy streets.

"Hold on tight" he said. I didn't even register what he said but before I knew it we were crossing the road. The robot was red which meant that all pedestrians could cross but I felt my head spin because of the busy street.

Cars were hooting and impatient and some were turning, there was a point where we had to stand at the middle of the road and wait for a car to turn into another street. Pretty hectic if you ask me.

"Are you still alive?" Langa asked me as we stood on the other side of the road.

My eyes were wide open and I couldn't get any words out of my mouth.

He laughed at my state and he let go of my hand.

"Come on, we don't have time to stand here and wait" I wanted him to hold my hand again but it was not even that busy.

I opened my phone and switched off Location because I knew my mom would track me.

We walked for quite a while. The street was very busy and it was only month end. The road went downhill and as we stood on top I got a clear view of the taxi rank.

There were people cooking and selling goods everywhere. Someone even came to me and tried to sell me earphones for R20. I kindly declined and he clicked his tongue and walked away.

"What are we doing here?" I asked him.

"To catch a ride of course, or do you want to walk to the next town?" He asked.

I quickly shook my head and he laughed at me again.

"Just as I thought. I'll pay for this trip, but you'll pay when we head back" he said explaining this to me slowly. I nodded as he kept talking and walked towards a taxi which looked pretty clean.

"Oh no sweets, this taxi is heading to Umzinto and that's not where we're going" he said

"How do you know?" I asked curiously.

"Each and every taxi is given a spot to rank and that's how you know. This spot is for taxis that are going to Umzinto and like I said, that's not where we're going"

I followed him still unable to process all that he has told me. We got inside a taxi and luckily, we were able to sit next to each other.

"Now we just have to wait for the taxi to fill up and then we will go" he said taking out money from his wallet.

I caught sight of a picture of some girl who had beautiful dark skin and straight hair inside his wallet. It must be his girlfriend, does she mind him being here with me? I'll have to ask him that later

The taxi was full in less than five minutes and the driver got inside and greeted all of his passangers.

I heard change and the sound of bags and wallets opening. A few minutes later I felt someone tap my shoulder and I turned back.