Penfield's Greatest Swimmer

🌊~40

Thanks to the air freshener sitting on the dashboard, Shola's car smelt like a fruity, milky coconut cocktail that I wouldn't hesitate to chug down if I didn't know it was poisonous.

Being in this enclosed space with Shola made my body buzz with excitement. This was the closest I'd gotten to her ever since the unfortunate Science Fair incident.

"Seatbelt please," she ordered, and I quickly strapped myself in place as she brought the car to life with a simple turn of the key. Like an expert driver, Shola backed out of the parking slot and onto the tarred street.

Campus appeared calmer and quieter than it usually was. I guessed everyone else was at the car wash party, treating themselves to copious amounts of alcohol. That massive hangover they were bound to have tomorrow morning made me quite grateful that I didn't attend the party.

Shola soon drove us past the university's main entrance and hit the main road with the help of her GPS.

Accra, as always, thrummed with vibrant activities, colour and music. There was never a dull moment here, and it was probably one of the reasons why it was Ghana's capital. Comparing this place to my hometown, Cape Coast would definitely be considered as the boring version of Accra.

The city drive was fairly comfortable, until we found ourselves in a mass of vehicular traffic; quite typical of Accra. For fifteen minutes, we had no option but to sit and endure 'go-slow' in addition to a thick, heavy cloud of silence and awkwardness.

Since the time we'd set off, both of us hadn't uttered a single word. Shola was strangely quiet, probably lost in her own perfect thoughts. I also didn't have the guts to spark up a conversation because we hadn't exactly cleared the air about the whole Princess thing, and I didn't want to say something that would trigger it.

I fidgeted in my seat, trying to make myself a bit more comfortable, when my subconscious slotted an idea into my head. "Hey, do you mind if I turn the radio on?"

"Not at all, go ahead."

My finger pushed down on the dial, filling the car with nothing but loud static noise. I quickly lowered the volume and turned the dial, keeping an eye out for something interesting to lighten up the mood. I changed from the news to a talk show on yellow fever, some old school blues and a loud commentary on a football match. There seemed to be so much going on that I began to doubt if there was anything decent to keep us occupied.

I continued channel surfing until Shola let out an abrupt "wait!"

"What?" My hand froze on the dial.

"Go back to the last channel you shifted the dial to."

Following her instructions, I rotated the dial anticlockwise and landed in the intro verse of Stonebwoy's 'Everlasting.'

"Oh I love this song!" Shola exclaimed.

"Really?" My eyebrows flew up and I grew even more surprised when she sang out the next verse.

"...Every woman is a superwoman. Every woman is a champion. We no be nobody, if dem no dey our body yie aaah..."

"Ok, ok," I laughed. "I see we've got a member of the Bhim Nation here. But I gotta admit though, I didn't think you'd be into dancehall music."

"Well I'm not much of a music fanatic," Shola said as the song continued on. "But I do appreciate good music once in a while, and Stonebwoy's music happens to be one of them."

"Have you heard Activate?"

"Featuring Davido? Heck yeah!" Shola chuckled, pushing the car forward. "It's one of the first Stonebwoy songs I ever heard. Collaborations like these bring a lot more creativity to the African music industry. I mean, Stonebwoy is Ghanaian, Davido is Nigerian and they came together to create this rhythmic masterpiece, it's amazing." A solemn look touched her features. "Africa as a continent has a lot more to show the world...we just don't know it yet."