MAX
The year was 99, most federal government roads were still in good shape, and coupled with the few number of vehicles available then, the journey was pretty much fast. By mid-day, they were at Olam. The journey from Cantina to that point had been boring, as there was pretty much nothing of interest on the way. From one eastern village and town to the next.
She sat next to a lady who was traveling with a girl of about 4 years. When the journey began, one of the passengers stood up and began a prayer session, which was then followed by some bible passages and preaching. The man continued preaching for the next hour until they got to Salsa Town. By then, Max like most of the passengers were already asleep.
She was lost in thoughts and had paid no attention to whatever it was the preacher man had to say. For the first time since the whole pregnancy issue came up, and realizing that it's been a long while since she communicated with Cain, she feared he had moved on with someone else. Would she be welcomed? What if there's another lady in the house? The baby! What would she tell him happened to their child? These were the thoughts that kept reoccupying her mind, with her sleeping off severely.
At Olam, they stopped to refuel and picked up some Aztec-bound passengers because the bus wasn't full when they had left Cantina. This took only thirty minutes and they were back on the road. This was by far the biggest city she had seen with big houses stretching miles all around the city. The heavy-duty trucks, the number of motorcyclists, the noise, the roadside refuse dumps, and the human traffic were way different from her rather developing and serene Cantina.
For Max, the River bridge (linking two provinces ) was just about the longest she had ever seen, so by the time she set her eyes on the famous Canvas bridge, she marveled at its beauty and length. Before now, she hadn't spoken to the lady sitting next to her, but she couldn't help but ask the lady "Is this the Canvas bridge?" just to be sure.
"Yes, it is" the woman replied surprised she had asked her a question after keeping to herself for most of the journey.
"It's so long. The water looks scary" she said beaming with a smile as she looked out through the window.
Curiosity had the better part of the lady prompting her to ask "Is this your first time travelling to Aztec?"
"Yes," she replied calmly looking away from the window realizing her excitement at the bridge had betrayed the "I know where I'm going" script she had been acting right from when she entered the bus. Having been told of how rough Aztec was by friends, they had also told her the best way to act was not to show you didn't know your way around. According to them, people might sell/cheat/rob/molest you with the pretext of trying to help you find your way.
"I see." The lady said. "So what are you going to do in Aztec and who's there to welcome you?" she probed further. This was an opportunity for her to engage the pretty young girl whose dress and comportment had impressed her for most of the Journey.
She never saw those questions coming and it threw her off guard. She began by stuttering, "I.. I.. I'm going to… to, my uncle.. I'm going to my uncle's place" She ended up looking out the window confused whilst hoping the lady would stop questioning her.
From her time and experience in Aztec, she had seen many young girls leave home for Aztecs without any idea of what the place looked like or where they were going. Most end up as red-light girls, contracting and spreading all sorts of diseases all in the name of looking for a better life away from home. With the way the girl answered that simple question, coupled with the way she had kept to herself right from the park, she began to suspect this was another girl running away from home. But yet again, she looked so refined and spoke flawless English, making her probe further.
"Your Uncle, where does he stay in Aztec and what does he do for a living?" she wanted to be sure it wasn't another case of "Traveling to meet her boyfriend" from home doing one menial (or no) job in a slum in Aztec. She was returning to Aztec after taking one of such girls back home.
She owned and ran a very popular "Restaurant" somewhere in Dauda. The girl had found her way to Aztec upon the invite of her boyfriend who left home in search of greener pastures. During the last Christmas celebration, he had gone home and bragged about doing some successful business. Falling for his (cheap) flashy clothes and the way he spent a few bucks, she had fallen for him. In February, two months after he had gone back to Aztec, she realized she had been knocked up by him. Scared of her parent's wrath, she packed her things and followed him to Aztec using the address he had given her. As the story went, she met the guy who turned out to be a bus conductor. He could barely afford two decent meals for himself and shared his single-room apartment with another hustling boy from Salsa town.
She did nothing other than cook for the two of them. One day, two months after she arrived, the dude didn't return home. Two days later they discovered he was discharged by his boss (driver) for shortchanging him. Around Ostrim, he had snatched a trader's purse and was chased down by an angry mob when the lady raised an alarm. Within 10 minutes after he was caught, the frustrated mob had set him ablaze.
The other boy gave her two days to mourn her lover and by the third day, he propositioned her. It was simple, either she started sleeping with him or she moved out. He didn't care if she was pregnant for someone else. After all, he was the one squatting her late lover. With no option, she let him have his way. A month later, she realized the dude would still kick her out anytime so decided to go out of the house to look for something to support herself. That was when she saw the signpost of her restaurant. She came in greeting her in Cantinan, after which she had asked if she could work for her.
Long story short, she took the girl in and was able to establish contact with her parents back home. At the end of the day, it turned out her parents didn't mind and took her back with open arms. So looking at this girl right here, she was determined not to allow a repeat.
"He's an army officer. He works with the Nigerian army at Quartz barracks" she replied the lady confidently turning to face her.
"Oh. I see. So what's your name? Is he coming to wait for you at the bus terminal or do you know how to get there?" she asked still not satisfied.
An opportunity to end the questioning finally she thought. "My name is Maxwell". He'll be waiting for me at the terminal" she lied after telling the lady her name. That mistake would later cost her.
Before the lady could ask another question, the driver of the bus pulled out, off the road into a parking space for cars/buses. They were in Abam and this was where passengers were to eat before their onward journey.
The journey continued with her chatting the woman up, asking her questions about life generally in Aztec. She did this deliberately so the lady wouldn't ask her personal questions that might lead to her divulging things she'd rather not.
By 4 pm, they had left Ore and were headed for Altoona when the bus broke down halfway between the two towns. Max couldn't understand why the passengers were panicking. Though she was pretty much exhausted from the never-ending journey, she felt the passengers were overreacting with the way they shouted at the driver. Not until the lady told her the probability of being robbed by daredevil robbers at this spot was far greater than them leaving the place unharmed. Max began to sweat.
The bus had overheated, with the gasket burnt. This meant they had to stop now and then to put water in the radiator and manage the bus slowly. The journey became very slow and boring because the passengers kept lamenting and cursing.
When they got to Altoon, a passenger shouted "Driver this is my bus stop"
As the driver pulled to where he would park for the man and his partner to alight, she asked the lady "Where are we now?"
"This is Altoona. Ore Province" she replied. Don't worry Aztec is not that far again. If not for the bad bus.
"But I thought the man said they were stopping at Altoon or something like that?" she asked curiously
"Altoon, Altoona. It's still the same place. People feeling lazy just omit the letter "A" calling it Altoon.
She slept off severally and by 10 pm, they were at Berger. Waking her up, the lady said she was alighting there because she had something to deliver to her townswoman. She like other passengers stopping there kept cursing and swearing at the driver. She failed to notice the confused look on the girl's face.
The bus continued its journey into the city. Someone from behind the bus shouted, "Driver am stopping at the bridge". Two other people affirmed that was their stop prompting her to shout "Driver I'm stopping at Quartz".
"I've heard" the driver shouted back, he was listening to a popular reggae track "Wait and See"
A few minutes later, they were at Quart and the driver pulled to a stop shouting "Quart drop here" A lady began to gather her things as she prepared to move out. Confused, she gathered her bag and alighted from the bus thinking just like Altoon and Altoona were the same place, Quart was the short form of Quartz.