Twist of Destiny

Chapter 3

He slept all through the journey, waking up at intervals. After it seems like an eternity, in his sleep he heard the driver announced that they have arrived Lagos. He slowly opened his eyes and looked out of the window. What he saw shocked him. He saw a great number of people moving to and fro, all of them seem to be in a hurry. The bus had already stopped and all the passengers were taking their bags and alighting from the bus.

Wale got up but realized his legs felt numb. He waited a few seconds for his legs to recover before he slowly took his bag which was on the compartment of the bus just above his head, and joined the alighting passengers.

He came down from the bus and looking at the crowd of people moving up and down, the endless number of cars moving on the road and the noise that seem to be coming from every direction, he was afraid.

He dipped his hand into his trouser pocket and brought out a small piece of paper neatly folded which contained the address of his friend Steven that lives in Lagos.

He flashed back to after his parents agreed for him to travel. He had gone to meet one of their neighbor who had a mobile phone. He asked him to borrow his phone so that he could call his friend, the neighbor obliged. He called his friend and told him he will be coming to Lagos and asked if he could stay with him for a while, while he looks for a job. Steven was delighted and he told him he will be glad to see him in Lagos.

Steven was his best friend while they were in school. He relocated to Lagos shortly after they graduated.

He was jolted back to reality after a man tapped him on his shoulders and asked where he was going. He looked at the short middle-aged man and told him he was new in Lagos that he didn't know anywhere. The man asked him what part of Lagos is he going to. Wale quickly gave the piece of paper which the address was written to him.

The man collected it from him and told him where he is going is located in an area called Mushin, that he will have to board three buses to get to his destination. Wale asked him if the place was far from where they were. The man replied that it was not that far and pointed to where he can board the first bus since he will be taking three buses.

Wale thanked him and collected the paper from him and looked at it. The direction was well described.

The man told him to be very careful and to ensure he holds his bag tightly till he gets to his destination because of thieves that might want to snatch his bag.

Wale thanked him again as the man walked away.

He felt the pangs of hunger, and he decided to eat before heading to his friend's place. He looked around if he could find any restaurant. He saw one on the other side of the road. He looked by his side and saw a footbridge. He was amazed to see people walking up and down on it. It looked scary.

He watched the people walking on the bridge for some minutes and realized that one could cross to any side of the road using the bridge, but he was very scared of it.

He thought of an alternative. The only alternative was to run across the road to the other side. But looking at the endless number of vehicles moving on the road at a fast speed, he wondered how he was going to do that.

He decided that was the best option because he cannot walk on that dreadful-looking bridge. He muttered, "Gosh! What about if I fall? Ha! I am not ready to die yet".

He stood by the highway, watching the vehicles as they sped across the road. He was waiting to get a chance to cross to the other side. He waited for over 30 minutes.

At last, the road was safe to cross, so he thought, as the oncoming vehicle was a bit far. He thought he could dash across the road on time before the car gets to where he was.

As he ran across the road, his bag suddenly fell. He stopped and quickly picked it up, and the next thing he heard was the tires of a car shrieking and felt the car hit him.

He fell and his head hit the tarred road. He faintly heard voices shouting as he felt a terrible pain in his head. He tried to get up but felt an overwhelming weakness. Just at that moment, he started feeling dizzy and the voices fading off. He closed his eyes as he lost consciousness.