Chapter 2
"As you can see behind me, an accident occurred this morning around 6am on the Ovia river's bridge. It involved a lorry carrying a load of sand heading towards Benin City, Edo State, and a small black Lexus 350 Rx car traveling towards Ondo State. Eyewitnesses report that the lorry driver lost control while trying to slow down and ended up crashing into the car. Here with me is one of the eyewitnesses."
I turned to the side with my mic. "Good morning, sir. What's your name, please?"
A bald man dressed in Ankara attire willingly faced me and began speaking in pidgin English. His tribal marks indicated he was from the west.
"My name na Adebisi Suleman."
"Okay Mr. Suleman, can you please briefly describe what happened here this morning?" I had to hold my breath because the man had a very bad mouth odor and an unpleasant cologne, with numerous cavities in his lower teeth.
One thing that almost made me gag was when he leaned towards the mic I held out for him.
Eww, his breath is terrible. I wish I could just give him a toothbrush and toothpaste, but that would seem disrespectful.
"Eh–" He began, and I struggled to hold my breath. "This morning when I was preparing to go to the farm, I heard a loud GBOO!!! It shocked me, so I ran to see what happened. Two cars had collided, like yam and beans. My sister, the lorry driver tried to run when he saw the Lexus passengers were unconscious, but locals held him and handed him to the state CID police. The Lexus passengers were quickly taken to the hospital with severe injuries. I thank God they didn't die."
Okay, that's enough before I run out of oxygen.
I moved the mic away from his mouth and kept a safe distance to avoid catching anything.
"Thank you very much, sir." I faced the camera for my viewers. "As you've heard, my advice is to be very careful and prayerful. Be cautious wherever you go, and if you're driving, ensure you know your controls well. Bummi Ademola, A.B.O TV News."
"Whew!" My bestie, Lola, quickly maneuvered the camera and sighed deeply. "Meh, that was too much, gal."
"Too much for what?" Exhausted from Lola's antics, we started heading towards our media van. "The only thing that's too much is the frequent accidents on this bridge." I gulped a bottle of water.
Lola looked sad. "Anyway, I feel sorry for the victims. Thank God it's just injuries and no deaths."
Does she even realize what she's saying? Even if it's just injuries, aren't they severe? Won't those people suffer during treatment?
As our van hit the highway, Lola grinned widely at me.
"Babe, how are you?" She put an arm around my shoulders. I knew what she was getting at. "You're buying lunch today."
I just rolled my eyes, too drained to argue.