Capítulo 0007

  Morning came and darkness paved way letting the sun rays shine through. The blaring sound of horns could be heard and voices of children and teenager's could be seen selling the provisions they held out for sale. Those who had white collar jobs drove their flashy cars as they hurriedly tried to overcome the traffic and get to their place of work. It was as if the world was in a rumble. 

Edna woke up from a bad dream only to find herself in the same situation, She wished to be transformed into the good life she desired.

The morning air was fresh and sun rays shone on her face with great intensity. She folded her cardboard and hid it behind, one of the squalid looking houses and went towards the direction of the road. She stood staring at the street as it revealed its form. Her eyes watched as some cars drove past her recklessly, she felt tired of her life. 

Everyday unveiled itself with a yearn for freedom, yet the future seemed bleak to her. A sense of gratefulness for being alive filled her, but there were days she  thought of the burdensome life that was accompanied to living on the street. Day in, day out; she felt the humiliation that came along with being a street child. But the quest for a better life still glistened in her. Whenever the question of success came into her mind  she felt obligated to do something but when her thoughts roamed around her mind it went blank. She stood at a corner letting the sun caress her skin as she watched the cars and people pass. 

"If  only things were better!" . She spat after uttering out the words from her mouth without the slightest thought of having committed an offense. 

"Stupid girl, are you crazy?" The woman hissed cleaning her shoe vigorously. Edna fell silent in utter dismay. 

"Nonsense!" The woman walked away looking at her spitefully. The intense feeling of fear in her subsided as she heaved feeling relieved that the woman had left. The sun had finally revealed it's full form as it was scorching hot. 

She thought of apologizing to 'Madam Tope,' the renowned street kiosk owner who gave her some wares for sale. But had bluntly refused as a result of her lateness last week .She had taken no heed to her endless pleas. 

Edna sat down on a stone with her eyes closed. 

"Hey!" She turned to look around to see who called and found out it was Ogale who was a full fleshed feminine gender from the Niger Delta region. Her dark skin shone in the heat of the afternoon, expressing the beauty of the African race. A flash of her beautiful smile formed on her face, as beads of sweat rolled down from her forehead with a show of vibrancy and strength.

"Why do you look unhappy?" Ogale beckoned to her as she listened. Her eyes looking searchingly at Edna's face as she spoke.

''Nothing,'' she replied. 

Ogale squeezed her hand sympathetically. Luckily, Ogale had been her friend all these years and had always stood by her. Many times, people thought they were sisters because they both had a striking resemblance. Looking at her and holding her hand gave her a sense of belonging although they wished it was possible for them to be bloodily related. With someone like Ogale around her, she felt relieved which made her draw strength from within to push through the hard walls of life. The thought of the days when they had to team up together to avoid other girls from beating them up crept through her mind. They would fearlessly talk to the other girls to avoid any act of bullying. And the great thing about her was her eagerness to always be strong and ready to overcome life's unending obstacles. 

"Why do you look like one who has lost her sense of direction?" Ogale looked at her again and asked. 

"Pardon me for my silence. How are you?" She asked.

"I am fine," she replied smiling happily. They paused for a while and then Ogale spoke in a low tone. 

"I heard about the armed robbery incident. Are you aware of it?" 

"Armed robbers? Um... no," Her voice slowly died off feigning ignorance about the incident. 

"So what happened?" Edna asked intrigued. 

Ogale told her about the incident of the robbery. 

She emphatically expressed herself by throwing her two hands into the air, descriptively explaining like one who was present when the incident had occurred. 

"Hm,what a world!; The world is finally turning into something else," Her speech ended leaving Edna to marvel at how news fly like fireflies extracting the truth from it. This was so because the story Ogale had just unraveled to her were half truths embellished with a different notion. She took pleasure in listening to Ogale's own version of the story. Her jovial personality always fused in making light of the matter. Sometimes the way her hands went into the air descriptively when telling her stories were amusing. Edna thought she would make a good actress if a role was given to her, but she had little education to pursue such a course of life. They laughed heartily after Ogale finished up the story with a joke. 

'You are an amazing story teller,' Edna said with a smile plastered on her face. 

"Thank you." And you are an attentive listener." 

They smiled at each other heartily and Ogale stretched forth her hand and squeezed it as they smiled at each other. She stood up from where they sat and placed a hand on her shoulder.

 "let me go and sell my wares before the sun goes down," .

They hugged each other as Edna teased ,which made her laugh as they bade each other farewell. She walked away and Edna watched as her figure disappeared slowly into the vast space. She felt gladdened for spending some time with her. 

Hawker's ran to and fro holding out their provisions for sale with the words of 'Get your sachet water' or 'get your cold drinks and fried plantain chips.' As they sold in the traffic, buyers purchased what they wanted. Cyclists who drove passengers rode their motorcycles at the corner of the road. Some spluttered mud water to the pedestrians, who in return rained abuses while some cab drivers drove hurriedly with smoke puffing out from their car bonnets saying to the cars in front of them 'move fast.' Only God knew their destination because the rate at which they drove in a haphazard manner was alarming. Edna went to one of the hawkers and bought a sachet of water to satisfy her thirst. A car speedily hit her, causing her to fall down in a thud. Her eyes spun, as her head played different tunes bringing back memories of her childhood in mind. She laid down on the road helplessly trying to recuperate but could not, since she could only hear the faint noises of cars and people. Cold shivers ran through her skin as the feeling of numbness crept through her.  Mr Coker came down abruptly from his car and was astonished at what he had done. He had knocked an innocent girl down and it all felt like a dream to him.

"Let's take her to the hospital," his wife said feeling frightened. A small crowd had formed as some on- lookers roared raining abuses on Mr Coker while some looked and sighed pitifully at her as she looked lifeless. A surge of fear gripped Mr Coker as some group of men carried her to the back seat of his car. The car sped off  leaving passers-by as they shook their heads in pity.