The bus had barely even stopped before I quickly jumped down. It's been about four hours since I left my place of departure, we were all stuffed in the bus and they intense heat from the sun wasn't even helping matters at all. Plus, there were a lot bumps on the way due to the poor road the government showed less concern about fixing right.
But gladly I was still able to make it before the late hours of the night so as to enable me find my way to the exact location the person I came to see had directed me on the phone while I was still in the bus. I wasn't quite familiar with that area. I got carried away that I didn't know when the driver passed where I was meant to stop and made me follow him to the park which was meant to be the final bus stop.
As I got down I called my cousin on the phone.
"Hello, Desmond. I've arrived. So where did you say I should meet you again?", I asked my cousin.
"Okay, where exactly are you now?", he asked.
"Well, the driver dropped me at the park. But I'm heading out right away", I replied.
"The park?! My goodness! What are you doing at the park? But that's not where I said you should drop", he returned with a worried tone.
"Well...there was....I wasn't aware of when the driver passed the initial spot you made mention... I thought that...", I just kept stuttering, hoping to magically come up with something that would make sense at the end of the sentence.
"Phew!", Desmond sighed. "Alright. To avoid wasting extra money on transport, you're going to have to come to the street where I'm waiting for you, it's not that far though. But if you still have some cash with you that you can spare then fine, you can take a bike while I give you the description."
If I had known I would have used part of the money to transport myself to where Desmond was to avoid the drama I could later faced that nearly cost me my belongings I carried along with me. But the old me that is always looking forward to save some extra money would not listen. So I began finding my way to the place Desmond had described to me on the phone.
While trying to find my way, I got to a point that I needed to make sure I was still on the right track so I don't to make my cousin have to redirect me as a result of finding myself in a completely different place as earlier. So I decided to ask people I met on the road if I was along the axis Desmond had described to me. After the incident that merely befell me, I saw the real essence of Google maps. I was soon about to understand why people rely on it even if there are hundreds of people they see on the street. Ay first I thought it was just because they didn't wish to get anyone bothered, but soon I understood better.
While looking for who to ask, I saw to men across the other side of the road which seem to be along the direction my cousin had directed me. So I decided to cross over and see if I can ask them.
"Good day sir. Please, is this Douglas street?", I asked them as I crossed the road.
They both looked at me in a strange way which I didn't really notice back then. glanced at each other, and then one of them asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Not really. I just came to see a cousin of mine but I'm not really used to this area. I'm just trying to find my way to Douglas Street", I replied.
They glanced at my pockets, then other one replied, "Well, you're in luck bro! We are headed there ourselves too. Why don't you walk with us?"
"Okay", I replied, feeling lucky to have met people heading the same place I was heading to.
While we walked they both tried to strike up conversations with me, like asking me my name, where I was coming from and who I came to see. At first everything felt cool. But later I began to feel uncomfortable. There was this aura that I felt around them that I just couldn't explain, but all I did know was that I was not really cool about it.
While we walked at the side of the road, a lady in a car passed behind us and screamed, "What are you doing with that boy?!" One of them replied, "Mind your business, nonsense! Don't mind her. So, back to what we were saying."
Okay, now I was completely uncomfortable. What was that about? What is going on? While I was still trying to get answer to these questions and calculating my next move, I heard a shout from a man behind us that was on the wheels. As I turned my back to get a look at him, one the the guys took to his heels. Before the second one could do so, the driver already caught up with us and in a split second he was out of the vehicle and pounced on the second guy.
"What do you think you're doing? So you want to steal from this little boy too?", the driver exclaimed furiously.
I'm sorry what? Steal? From me?
By this time the guy was already on the bare ground, begging as the driver and some other guys rough handled him. It was then I realized, all this while I was walking with thieves. The driver then asked me where I was headed and I told him. He quickly pushed him into the bus and asked me to get in as he made a pursuit for the other guy who had fled. While I was seated, a lady beside me asked, "So you didn't know you were walking with thieves?" Um, hello! If I knew do you with l'll be taking a walk with them?
As the driver drove, he kept telling the man how badly he was going to deal with him and his colleague after they get a hold of him. The man kept begging but all he attracted from the bus driver was, "Shut up!" I finally got to my destination. I came down and attempted to pay the driver but he declined and said he was just glad to have been able to intervene concerning what would have happened to me. I really appreciated the man. This must be how it feels for angels to come through for you because that driver was definitely one.
"Kenneth!", I heard my name.
I turned as I tried to trace where the voice was coming from. I saw a hand waving at me from a distance as he crossed over to meet me where I was. We both hugged and greeted each other. He expressed how worried he was for missing the initial spot he asked me to drop. I then think to myself, if that got him worried, how then was he going to feel if he knew about what just happened few moments ago? Should I tell him? Or maybe it's best to just keep it to myself?
IMAGE CREDITS: META AI