The watch on her wrist ticked signifying 8 a.m as she suppressed a sigh and increased her pace.
'I'm late already', she said to herself.
She got to the bus stop to see a large crowd waiting for commercial buses to their various destinations.
'Oh God, not today!', she lamented to herself out of frustration.
She joined the restless crowd and waited patiently. Every single bus zooming past them was filled to the brim and she looked at her wristwatch again, it was 17 minutes past the hour of 8.
'I can't escape being late today', she thought.
"E be like say dem dey fight for town ne o, dat na why motor no dey", a woman beside Fola said in pidgin english to the lady opposite her.
"No be so, na fuel scarcity cause am. Some drivers no gree comot and some dey protest, na wetin cause am be dat", the lady replied.
"Na wa o, na where our country dey go so. Wetin we go do now", the woman asked again, to the irritation of Fola.
"My sister, na to wait na maybe our luck go shine, abi you wan trek go central market?", the lady asked back as two more buses zoomed past them.
"Ogini, I no fit, na wait we go wait", the woman replied as she continued chewing on a kolanut.
A day before, it was announced that the prices of fuel had increased and commercial drivers who were not content the huge increment of fuel refused to go out for their usual activities.
The few that were out decided to take advantage of the situation and started billing their passengers twice the normal fare.
Fola was becoming impatient as she realized it was already half past 8 a.m.
She thought of taking a bike but quickly waved the thoughts away as she remembered her father's word about the high risk of taking a bike on the express road.
Unable to wait any longer, she started trekking.
"I can't afford to get to work after my madam because I will be in for a serious nagging", she soliloquized while looking for her mobile phone in her bag to give her madam, Mrs. B, a call.
Just then, a car brushed past her and stopped at a distance.
Fola was oblivious to the presence of the car as she kept on searching for Mrs. B's number on her phone. She saw the number and hurriedly dialed it putting the phone to her ear but the number was unreachable.
As soon as she was close to the car, a guy came out, leaning on the bonnet of the car and said. Hello", catching her unawares.
"Hi", she replied and walked past the car to continue her journey.
"Come on dear", the strange guy said, sauntering to her side. "Let me give you a ride. I can see there are no available commercial buses at the moment. I mean no harm whatsoever, I just want to help a friend in need."
Fola stopped walking and looked back at him. She noticed he was a very young guy and he looked sincere.
Not willing to let go of her pride, she replied. "I am sorry to disappoint you sir but I don't accept free rides from strangers. I like to pay for services rendered to me."
She was about to continue her journey when he replied. "You seem to be in a hurry, that's why I am offering to help. Just tell me where you are headed to and I will drop you there. If you insist on paying, you can pay me when we get there. Are you ok with that?"
His persistence was getting on her nerves. "Even with that sir, I........."
"Come on", he interrupted. "Don't be stubborn, I mean no harm young lady. I am neither a kidnapper nor an assassin."
"Your face won't betray you if you are one", she retorted with hands akimbo.
"What?", he questioned, not comprehending what she meant.
"I mean if you are a kidnapper or an assassin, it won't show on your face, or would it?", she repeated.
He got the message and smiled. "Where are you heading to?"
"Kurmin Mashi."
He nodded. "That's my way, I work at Governor's road", he muttered and remained silent. Fola was also silent too before he spoke up again with impatience. "Are you coming with me or not? I'm beginning to get late for work."
Fola stood helplessly and was confused on what to do. 'If I let him go, I will have to trek all the way to work. I think I will just have to trust this man. Besides, he doesn't look like someone who bites', she thought to herself.
She muttered a few prayers to herself before walking towards the car. They both entered the car and he zoomed off.
