This chapter is dedicated to ifana8 for being an awesome editor and a good friend😉
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*》You know when it's time to make out time for others《*
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"Come, this girl, don't waste my time. Don't waste my time o. Pay me my money make I commot this place (let me leave this place)," the Keke driver said angrily.
"Ah ah. Oga (sir) calm down, please," I told him, going through my bag once again in search of my purse.
No way. There was no way I had left it back in my lodge.
I was sure I had put it in my bag.
"Wetin u dey look for there? You dey look for my money? (What are looking for? Are you looking for my money)?" The driver said agitatedly.
"Yes," I muttered, not looking up from my bag.
Suddenly he burst out, "So you no carry money, you come enter my Keke, ehn? Na wetin you dey tell me, ehn (So you don't have money and you entered my keke. Is that what you're telling me)?"
"Hey, hey, please," I retorted, annoyed by his sudden outburst. "Stop shouting, biko (please). A si m gi na anaghi m enye gi ego (Did I tell you I'm not giving you your money)? Please o."
"Whatever you just said na your own business (is your business). Pay me my money make I commot here, heat dey too much (Pay me my money let me leave this place. The heat is too much)," he said, hissed and crossed his arms.
I rummaged through my bag once more and when I couldn't find the purse, realization set in, followed by a fresh wave of sweat on my face.
I wiped the sweat that had gathered under my eyes away and pulled out my phone from my jeans pocket, deciding to call Chelsea.
She could help me out of this situation. And besides, she had gone to classes earlier than I had so I was sure she was in school already.
Amidst looking at the Keke driver, I dialed her number. He eyed me angrily as I put the phone up to my ear.
My heart fell when I heard the operator's voice.
"The number you have dialed is currently switched off. Please try again later."
Apparently, the driver heard it too because almost at once he started his bickering again.
"Hey. Wetin I do (what did I do)? Allah, wetin I do except say I carry girl come school (Allah, what did I do except carry a girl and come to school)? Na why she dey waste my time like this ehh (is that why she's wasting my time like this)?" He lamented, his face turned upward to the roof of his Keke and hands raised as if invoking his gods.
Dramatic much.
Then he fixed his beady yellow eyes on me. "I no go commot here until you give me my full five hundred Naira. You dey hear me? I hope say you dey hear me. Walahi, if na fight you want, I go fight you, I no mind. Wetin I say be make you carry my money give me. I don say my own (I won't leave this place until you give me my full five hundred Naira. Are you hearing me? If you want to fight I will fight you, I don't mind. What I said is give me my money)."
I felt an urge to say, "Oga shut up joor" but I thought against it.
"Weda you be girl or boy e no concern me. I go fight you here now now now (Whether you're a girl or a boy, it doesn't concern me. I will fight you here now)," he continued his absurd ranting.
"Oga, it's okay zi (sir, it's enough)," I said. "Na your money I dey bring (It's your money I'm bringing)."
"Where e dey then (Where is it then)? Where..."
"I'll pay for it."
My heart made a sudden jolt at those words and, at once, the driver and I looked in the direction and at the owner of the voice.
It was a fair skinned guy.
"I'll pay for her," the guy said again.
He looked familiar.
I knew I had seen him somewhere.
He moved his gaze to me and I was met with grey-tinted contacts.
Then he looked back at the driver.
The grey contacts jogged my memory.
It's that guy from earlier. The one that had told me "hey" during lectures last week.
I could only stare, speechless, as he pulled out a wallet from his blue jeans pocket and took out a one thousand Naira note.
He handed it over to the driver.
The driver stared for a while before slowly collecting the money.
He raised it up to the sun and scrutinized it to see whether it was a counterfeit.
How ridiculous.
"Come, oga no dey waste my time. I don give you money. You know how much you suppose give me, give am to me sharp sharp (Sir, don't waste my time. I have given you the money. If you know how much my change is, give it to me quickly)," the fair skinned guy said with notable contempt.
The driver put the money into his shirt pocket and brought out a five hundred Naira note from his trouser's pocket.
"Take your money," he said.
He slapped the money into the guy's hand and then looked at me.
"Na your luck wey save you today (It's your luck that saved you today). If not, walahi, wetin I for do you (what I would have done to you), you..."
Suddenly, the guy wrapped his right arm around my shoulders and turned me away from the Keke driver.
"You don't stress yourself listening to people like that. Come on, let's get to class," he said, looking at me.
"O-okay," was all I could say.
He dropped his arm from my shoulders as we walked away from the incompetent Keke driver.
As we entered the school building, I realized that I hadn't thanked him yet and I spoke up at once.
"Hey, thank you. Really. For helping me out," I said looking at him.
He glanced down at me and smiled. "It's cool. And besides, you were in a tight spot. Help was the least I could do."
"That guy really acted like he would chop off my head if given the chance. Some people are just a whole different thing altogether," I muttered.
He laughed.
"No dey mind people wey de like that (Don't mind people like that). I've learned it really helps. Just ignore them. You're Sabrina Ikeji, right?"
I looked at him.
How did he know my name?
"No, I'm not a stalker. That's mad. And stupid," he laughed as we took a turn. "Pretty much everyone on campus has heard of who James has his new sights on so...pretty much everyone knows you."
"Oh. Wow," I said genuinely surprised.
So James had taken it upon him to spread the word, hadn't he?
"Hey, don't take it personal. I just...my name's Tony. Tony Lanre," he said as we approached our class.
"It's nice meeting you, Tony," I told him. "Really."
He looked at me, and for a brief moment, an emotion crossed his face, but, I didn't get what it was.
We got to the class and he stopped just at the door, leaning onto to it for a brief moment.
"I'll see you some other time," he said.
"Right." I stared into his grey contacts. "Definitely. Thanks once again."
He smiled then pushed himself off the door.
He had a beautiful smile.
"Once again it's cool," he said, then, turning around, he walked into the large lecture room.
Taking a deep breath, I followed suit and at once I was thrown into an entirely different world of young adults, some hyper and some quiet, the quiet ones waiting silently for the lecturer to arrive while the hyper ones doing things hyper students do.
Taking an empty seat in front of the class, I looked over in the direction Tony had gone.
I spotted him looking for a seat at the other side of the hall.
A girl with large breasts, fake lashes and a blonde, plaited hair motioned for him to sit on the empty seat beside her but he waved her off.
The look on her face was a mixture of disgust, shame and regret.
I looked away and, oddly enough, felt satisfied that Tony had waved her off.
Elated even.
And that surprised me.
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*Translating words that haven't already been translated*
Keke - a tricycle used as a sort of taxi in Nigeria.
Joor - used to stress a point.
Walahi - a swear word used in Yoruba or Hausa, different tribes in Nigeria.
That should be all.
Damn, translating broken English ain't easy task T_T.
So, who wants a Tony, cause, I know I do 😅😅
And, I don't know but, I think this chapter is cute.
Do you?
Love,
Cynthia 😉💕