Blessing in Disguise

BLESSING IN DISGUISE

    “Guy, how far?” Kanu greeted, sat down.

    “My man, I dey ooh.” Emeka responded in vernacular.

    Kanu and Emeka who were two jobless graduates resident in the ancient city of Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria had been best of friends ever since they came across each other four years back in the said city. While they await white-collar jobs, which weren’t forthcoming, they could indulge themselves in any menial job just to make ends meet. On the above mentioned occasioned, Emeka  who was living just a stone’s throw from his friend was already seated in one of the restaurants named HotZone situated within their places of residence prior to Kanu’s arrival; HotZone was where they usually had their meals on a daily basis as well as their relaxation corner whenever time permitted. Aside foods coupled with drinks, other assorted and cultural dishes like pepper soup, ‘Nkwobi’, among others were as well sold at the joint.

    Emeka who was seated alone at one of the spots in the magnificent restaurant before Kanu joined him was already devouring a plate of white rice and stew accompanied with a piece of meat.

    The moment Kanu had his seat directly opposite Emeka who was making use of one of the red plastic tables in the joint, he requested for a plate of Fufu and Egusi soup to be garnished with a piece of fish. “How long have you been here?” he enquired as soon as he received the meal from the waitress.

    “Let say…, fifteen minutes.” answered the chocolate-skinned Emeka who clad in blue jeans, green polo and black leather slippers, took a sip of a sachet water that was positioned on the table.

    It was about 6:15pm on Saturday 17^th of March 2007.

    “How far nah?” said the dark complexioned Kanu who dressed in a similar attire but different coloured. “Any show?” He added.

    He was, as usual, actually referring to job opportunities.

    “Guy, nothing dey oh.” Emeka replied in their common language.

    “But, come to think of it,” quoth Kanu, took a bolus of his meal. “How long are we going to continue like this?” He lamented.

    Both of them who graduated from different polytechnics had been in the labour market for over eight years.

    Emeka took a spoon of his stewed rice. “God’s time is the best,” he asserted. “That’s all I know.”

    “Since you said so,” Kanu who wasn’t that religious as Emeka responded sceptically. “Let’s continue waiting till God’s time.”

    “We have no choice, my dear.” Emeka declared, rounded off his meal and quickly requested for a bottle of malt to dilute it.

    “Did you watch that match yesterday?” Kanu changed the topic referring to a football competition.

    “Yes, I did,” Emeka said. “It ended 2-1.”

    “That’s what I learnt,” Kanu said. “But, I was told Adjei Reuben didn’t perform very well?”    

    The moment he dished out the enquiry, Emeka received an SMS on his cell phone. He hurriedly opened the mail; wow, it was an invitation for a job interview scheduled to hold in Lagos State. The proposed interviewer happened to be one of the telecommunication firms where he had earlier applied for a job. “My man, I don get job ooh.” He elatedly announced as he scrolled down.

   “Are you serious?”

   “You remember that telecom firm I told you of?”

   “Yes.”

   “Guess what?”

   “I’m not good in guessing,” Kanu informed. “You know nah.”

   “They just called me for an interview.” Emeka informed joyfully, handed the phone over to him to read for himself.

    “Oh, this is good news,” Kanu exclaimed as he read the message.

    “You can say that again.”

    “The interview is on 19^th of March being Monday,” Kanu said. “That is, next tomorrow?”

    “Yes.”

    “Which means, you will be leaving for Lagos first thing tomorrow morning, unfailingly,” Kanu clarified. “Or, even tonight.”

    “You are right,” Emeka concurred. “Wahala dey ooh!”

    “What’s it?”

    “I don’t even have enough money for my transport fare.”

    “That one is not a problem,” Kanu assured. “I will support you.”

    “Really?”

    “What are friends for?”

    The good news ended their stay at the restaurant. They quickly rounded off and left the arena for Emeka’s lodge. Kanu spent the night at Emeka’s place; he needed to be around him to ensure that everything was in order.

    First thing the following morning being Sunday, Emeka departed en route to Lagos State. He had planned to spend some nights at the residence of one of his relatives based in the state. While on his way via a white Luxury bus, on reaching Benin-City, Edo State, one of the female passengers in the bus became so pressed that she needed to urgently address the malaise, so the driver had to apply the brake upon the solicitation of other passengers in the bus including Emeka who had sensed how disturbed the victim was.

    Having applied the brake as demanded, the lady hastily went into the nearby bush to unwind; in the process, Emeka who was yet to have his breakfast decided to walk to a shop within to purchase some items he would consume in the bus. The moment the lady returned from the bush, unfortunately they continued their journey while Emeka was still away; none of his (Emeka’s) fellow passengers remembered that he wasn’t around. They only recollected that he was missing when the driver had already covered a reasonable distance, thus there was nothing the driver could do.

    When Emeka returned and met their absence, he felt like going crazy. Worse still, he had no sufficient money on him that could take him to his destination (Lagos). The only money he had was his transport fare back to Awka after the incoming concernment; and he wouldn’t like to get stranded when he got to Lagos. Hence, he started begging for cash from the passersby and his fellow travellers within; luckily for him, he was able to raise enough fund. 

    While in the new bus he boarded, on approaching Ore in Ondo State, intriguingly he saw the previous bus he boarded lying pitiably on the tarred road; therein, he learnt the bus in question had a very fatal auto crash few minutes back, hence stumbled several times that none of its passengers alongside the driver survived. The news was just like a daydream to Emeka. “Could it be a blessing in disguise?” He soliloquized astonishly.

    Emeka safely arrived Lagos State that very day at about 5:20pm. The following day, he left for the interview. All-in-all, he emerged successfully after the interview, thus he was offered a well paid job by the telecom company.

    Surely, ‘God’s time is the best’. His hypothesis was at last proven beyond doubts. Isn’t it? Think about it!

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