BRAVE

Chapter Two

The journey so far had been everything but pleasant.

Ahmadu glanced at his wrist watch again, noting that the bus had taken less time than it needed to for the journey. He did not know if he should be happy about it or admit to the fear he felt towards the speedy driving.

He shifted again uncomfortably, his spine hurting from sitting in such a stiff manner. The man sitting next to him turned and smiled at him, revealing his tobacco stained teeth.

He broke a kolanut and threw it into his mouth, chewing loudly and Ahmadu watched with disdain as his cigarette black lips moved in an irritating manner. He could see his tongue as he chewed and Ahmadu looked away, faintly feeling nausea.

"I am a business man"

The man suddenly spoke eerily in his ears, frightening him and he jumped with a start, making him loose balance and hitting his head as the bus plunged into a pothole again.

Tears filled his eyes and he slowly rubbed the offended part, not forgetting to give a glare to the kolanut chewing mister.

The man looked smug, definitely not minding the bad look and an arrogant look covered his face.

Ahmadu understood him with a look and concluded that he must've been one of the very few villagers who managed to get a little fortune in the city and now believed everyone was beneath them, so he only replied him with a nod and murmured

"That's good"

He had no interest in striking up a conversation with a stranger. Not one like this. His mind was filled with thoughts and he wondered why his mother had suddenly sent for him.

The man on seeing that he was ignored certainly didn't feel good about it. And made up his mind not to give up, thereby gave more information about himself.

"I sell cattle and wrappers. I also have two provision stores in the city. My wife and son manage them"

He looked up at Ahmadu's face, expecting looks of respect and awe. This time, he was fortunate to gain attention, not from Ahmadu though, but from the other passengers who fell into a trance of gossipy silence and perked their ears, looking at each other and pretended they weren't listening.

Ahmadu zoned off, at the part where the man was complaining in a bit boastful yet heartbroken laced tone about the loss he had recently experienced in his cattle business not forgetting to add he lost over fifty cow.

After a while, everyone grew tired perhaps, of listening to him for the noisy chatter resumed and the bus was louder than ever, only increasing Ahmadu's headache.

He was trying hard to protect himself from the heavy dust that usually accompanied the November Harmattan.

Ahmadu removed the handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face again, sighing when he saw the faint orange hue on the hanky. No doubt, dust had settled on his face.

He was really itching for a bath, a cold one preferably.

Thankfully but unfortunately, he was seating at the extreme end of the seat, close to the window which meant that at the very least, he would be seated a bit more comfortable(if not for the talkative man beside him) than those at the middle or the other end of of the seat, though it meant that he would receive the heaviest impact of the dry wind and dirty dust.

It was a rickety old bus, the one driving them to Kurmi right now. The insides were scrapped, few or no windows at all, and the seats were just a bit far from being the same as the other parts of the bus, hard metal.

The potholes didn't make the journey easier, neither did the driver. He drove with a wild speed and the passengers weren't too happy.

"What kind of driving manner is this mallam?"