I arrived in the park early and the bus was already packed.
Not just full - packed with people and noise and heat and frustration. Drivers cried their announcements like they were in a race. “Ojota! Ojota! One chance!” “Yaba straight!” “CMS last bus!”, they chanted. It was a morning of fuel, corn and sweat.
There I stood, with my little backpack, wondering why I'd gotten up so early. I knew what would happen if I didn't get this interview. Another week of explaining at home. More of those "just wait" responses to the waiting.
“Brother, where you dey go?” a conductor called to me from halfway out of a yellow bus.
“Victoria Island,” I said.
He laughed. “ah! you don miss am. It don full since.”
I slowly nodded and backed away. The big buses were gone. There were only a few left - strange routes, longer distances and drivers who looked unsure.
Then I saw it.
A smaller bus, not even painted, was parked a short distance from the commotion. No shouting conductor. No crowd pushing. Just a guy leaning on the door, chewing gum like he was on his way somewhere.
“VI?” I asked.
He looked at me, then nodded once. “We go past there. But not be direct.”
“How long?”
He shrugged. “Depends. Road clear for that side.”
I hesitated. The main road was faster. Everyone knew that. But I couldn't get in there. I couldn't wedge myself.
“All right,” I said at last, getting on the bus.
The bus was half empty. A lady with a basket was sitting by the window. Two young men at the back were chatting. The driver began to drive without waiting for other people.
As we began to drive, I noticed something quickly.
We were not going with the crowd.
Rather than making the turn to the expressway, the driver turned onto a small street I had not seen before. We were leaving behind the chatter of the park. The shouting stopped. Even the air felt different.
“Driver,” I said, shifting my weight a bit, “this road sure?”
He didn't look at me. “You go reach,” he replied.
The woman in the passenger seat looked out the window, like she could feel the sun on her skin.
We drove past houses with coloured gates. Kids in uniforms were gathered in groups, talking and acting like they didn't want to be there. A guy was slowly watering his plants, as if he had forever.
It felt strange.
“It's peaceful here,” one of the blokes at the back said.
“Better pass that madness,” the other replied.
I found myself relaxing a little. No horns. No rushing. Just movement.
But after a while I checked my phone.
We were not going that fast.
“Driver, are we still going to VI?” I asked, a little more urgently.
He sighed softly. “You want to come down?”
“No, but”
“So no but me" he said. “Main road closed today. Truck broke down for bridge, early this morning.”
The woman next to the window looked to me. “My sister, ring me before I come out." She say everybody close up the shop.
My chest tightened. If that was the case, then I could be sitting in traffic right now, even if I had boarded the packed bus earlier.
“So this road…” I began.
“Na the only way,” the driver said.
We continued.
At one stage, the road shrank, became a path, almost abandoned. We were surrounded by trees, the shadows of their branches on the bus. There was a little river next to the road, very gentle.
But then we were on a big, straight road.
Clear.
No traffic. No noise. Just space.
The driver sped up a bit. It glided on the road now, like it was at home.
The two lads at the back laughed.
“See road o!” one said.
“Na here we suppose dey since,” the other replied.
I checked my phone again.
I still had time.
Not a lot, but a little.
When we arrived at Victoria Island it became apparent. While across the main bridge in the distance the traffic was stuck, here it moved freely.
I got off the bus and handed the driver a tip.
“Thank you,” I said.
He nodded. “No worry.”
I stood there for a moment and watched it drive away. It didn't look special. It didn't promise anything. But somehow, it had taken me to where I needed to be.
My phone buzzed.
A message.
“The interview will now take place 30 minutes earlier. Please be punctual.
I looked towards the building ahead.
I smiled.
So I straightened my shirt, took a big breath and entered.