Lagos is a city with its own rhythms. The sounds of generators, the impatient horns of danfos trying to give a signal for passing on the road, the chatter on the street vendors selling puff-puff, and even the newspaper readers. It is a city that never allows silence. For someone like Kunle, that noise is always a disturbance to him.
Kunle was a young adult ripe for marriage he was working as a cashier at a supermarket in Yaba. The pay was barely enough to sustain him, let alone marry a wife and pay dues to his family.
What everyone expected of him at the age of 28 was that he should be bringing home a wife for marriage and making big progress in a city like a successful person, but that required money, and money was one thing Kunle never had. Life was not favorable for him.
Kunle worked as a cashier in a busy supermarket in Yaba. Every morning, he left his one-room apartment in Bariag, squeezing into a danfo where conductors shouted. One chance, one chance! And passengers argued over the change. After hours of standing behind a counter, counting other people's money. He would return home exhausted, only to stare at his own near-empty wallet.
His salary barely survived the month. By the time he paid rent, transport, and sent a little to his family in the village, there was almost nothing left.
And yet he demanded more.
Kunle when will you marry? His aunt asked during the last time he went home for Christmas, her voice loud enough for the neighbors to hear. You're not a child anymore.
He forced a smile. Soon, ma, by God's grace, inside his heart tightened. Marriage. On this salary? He could barely feed himself, let alone a wife and children.
One afternoon Kunle collapsed at work. The fever had been heating up inside him for days, but he kept ignoring it. Lagos doesn't forgive weakness, he thought. But his body eventually betrayed him.
He stayed in bed for three days, sweating and shivering in his tiny room. His phone buzzed with messages from work, from friends even from his girlfriend Tola.
Kunle, you don't even pick up my calls. Is this how you want to build a future with me abi?
Her words cut deeper than the fever. He wanted to reply. I don't have the money Tola. I am trying my best. But he couldn't bring himself to say it. Tears rolled down his face like he was about to lose something.
When he finally returned to work the manager scolded him. You young people don't take life seriously. If you can't manage simple responsibility, how will you handle a family?.
Kunle lowered his head. I'm sorry, sir.
It was nighttime, Kunle was in his house, and he played in his bed listening to the annoying sound of generators outside. He was lost in his thoughts.
He wanted to blame his boss for paying him so little. He wanted to blame life for making him miserable Even the landlords that increased his rent without mercy, the city itself that demanded everything but gave back so little. He even wanted to blame Tola for being impatient and also his Family for everything entirely; he wanted to blame them.
But the truth was harder. Everyone seemed to expect more from him, his family, his boss, his girlfriend. And when he couldn't deliver, the blame landed on his shoulders.
Kunle sighed. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I am not working hard enough maybe I don't deserve more.
The thought broke him.
One evening, his younger sister visited him. She looked at him closely and said, Brother, you look thinner than the last time. What's going on?.
Kunle forced a laugh. It's nothing Lagos stress.
Not that it's more than stress. You've been carrying too much alone. Does it work? Or is it about Tola?.
Kunle hesitated. Finally, he whispered How can I marry when my pay is nothing? Everyone keeps asking when I will settle down. But with what money, Sade? Do they want me to bring a woman into suffering?
Sade touched his arm gently. It's not your fault. Life in the city is hard, stop blaming yourself for what you can't control.
Kunle cried his heart out like his sister's words echoed throughout his body. He had been waiting for someone to comfort him.
The next day when Kunle got to work nothing had changed everything seemed normal as usual but something inside him shifted
He stopped blaming the world for his struggles. He stopped blaming himself entirely. Instead, he accepted the reality of life. Life in Lagos would be tough he will keep pushing forward one small step at a time.
Thanks for reading...