Throughout their journey in the night, Richard couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about Janet and regretted everything he had done. Around 5 am, he finally fell asleep.
Around 7 am, the bus finally arrived in Port Harcourt.
"Wake up, we have arrived," the passenger sitting next to him touched him on the shoulder.
Richard opened his eyes and stretched his arms a bit.
"It seems like you've had a nice sleep," the man said.
"Not really," Richard answered.
"Are you sick?" The man asked.
"No, I'm okay," Richard replied reluctantly. The man stopped talking when he noticed the expression on Richard's face.
About 20 minutes later, they arrived at the bus station where the bus will stop.
"Who is dropping here before we proceed to the bus station?" The assistant driver announced.
Most of the passengers started coming down from the bus. When Richard noticed that, he thought of doing the same thing. He walked down from the bus and proceeded to the trunk and waited for his bag to be brought down.
The bus drove into the bus station some few minutes later.
Soon, they were approached by motorcycle taxi drivers asking where they would go. It was then that Richard started regretting why he fled to a place he had no one. He thought he could have gone back home and lived with his friends without his sister discovering that he was back. "Where are you going?" Asked one of the motorcycle riders.
"Actually, I'm waiting for a friend to pick me up," responded Richard. "Oh that's good," he replied.
About five minutes later, everyone was gone leaving Richard standing all by himself. He looked around the city and noticed it was so big and went as far as he could see. There were many vehicles on the highway moving at a very high speed. Beside the highway were shops arranged in rows selling all sorts of things. Many people gathered around one of the shops that sold clothes. Richard thought if he hadn't used half of his money on the bus, he could have bought a shirt too.
He stood in his position for about 30 minutes before he finally decided to move. He crossed the highway and went to a local restaurant situated right in the middle of shops. Unlike the rest of the buildings, the restaurant was big but with two coconut trees above it. There were several plastic tables and chairs arranged in favour of the customers.
Richard walked to the restaurant dragging his traveling bag alongside him.
"Good morning sir," Richard greeted a woman who seemed to be the owner of the restaurant.
"Good morning, you are welcome sir," the woman answered.
"Would you please sit down?'' the woman said, pointing at an empty chair next to Richard.
"What can I get you?" The woman asked after Richard had sat down.
"Anything," Richard barely responded.
"Is anything wrong?" She asked when she noticed the impression on Richard's face. "No, it's okay, I'm just having a little headache because I didn't sleep last night," Richard replied.
"That's really terrible, and it seems like you are traveling despite the fact that you are sick."
" Actually, I have just arrived at this place. I was in a car throughout last night, that's why I couldn't sleep," Richard replied. "Well, you will need to rest after your meal, your headache is nothing but exhaustion," the woman smiled.
"I think so," Richard said, trying to fake a smile.
She proceeded to a small kitchen that was built behind the hut some few meters away. It was built of roofing sheets. The sheets were all black due to the constant use of firwoods for cooking. The woman came back with two plates and kept it on the table for Richard. It was a pounded yam and " egusi" soup on the plate.
The instant the food was dropped in front of him, he started eating ravenously like he had never eaten before. The woman turned in surprise and watched how Richard was eating. When Richard noticed that he was being observed by the woman, he adjusted his speed and started eating slowly. "Enjoy your meal," the woman said before proceeding to the next customer.
By the time she returned to Richard, he was almost done with his food.
"You are not from here, aren't you?" The woman asked.
"No I'm not," Richard answered.
"But if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?" The woman asked. Richard remained quiet without replying to her question.
"Is okay, you don't need to disclose that to me," the woman smiled.
"How much is the food?" Richard asked. "Is 1000 naira," came her answer.
Richard was so shocked by how exorbitant the food was. He thought it was just a local restaurant and her food is not going to be expensive. Left with no choice, he brought out one thousand Naira from his pocket and paid the woman.
"Thank you," she replied and attended to another customer. Richard remained seated there for some minutes until there was no more empty seat for other customers to sit. Left with no option, he stood up from his seat and walked out of the restaurant.
He walked around the city for hours until it was finally evening. He was extremely tired and hungry and felt any moment if he continued to walk. At that time, he arrived at the slummy part of the city. He saw a tree with a lot of garbage disposed of around it. He decided to go under the tree and rest. There were bushes around the tree; because of that, it was isolated from people. He got to the tree, the smell around it was so heavy that he stood it.
As he turned to leave the place, he suddenly found himself surrounded by some thugs. By simply looking at the way they dressed, he knew things would not turn out good for him. He turned around and still found someone behind him.
"If you want to leave this place in one piece, hand over everything you have," one of the boys said.
"Please, I beg you, this is all that I have and I am not from this place," Richard pleaded.
"It seems like you have come to the wrong place at the wrong time," replied one of the boys.
Richard kept pleading to the extent that one of the boys took out a little knife and stabbed him in the stomach. He felt a pain he had never felt before and blood started oozing out. He placed his hand on where he was stabbed in order to reduce the flow of the blood. At that moment, the thought of Janet came to him. He thought maybe it was a punishment from God for what he did to her. They searched his body and removed all the money he had. They threw out the papers they found in his traveling bag and walked away from the place. Richard started feeling dizzy due to the amount of blood he lost. Soon, he passed out.
YOU ARE READING
THE PINK CLOUDS
Teen FictionRichard was a nerd who barely had time for other things but his books. Things took a drastic turn when he was hired by one of his professors to be a private tutor for her spoiled daughter. Being the devil she was, Rebecca made his life a hell which...
