GIVE ME A HEART
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CHAPTER8??
May 3rd 2020
Ten years later……
Grinnnng!!! The telephone ranged.
” We’ve got an order,” my boss, Mr Ade yelled out. ” Where the hell is Andrew?”
” He’s on his way, boss,” Cynthia said. ” He’s held up in the traffic.”
” Traffic?” Mr Ade yelled again. ” He’s ten minutes late already and we’ve got a new order downtown.”
I barged into the room immediately from the backdoor. ” I’m here boss, sorry, traffic was terrible today.”
” Why didn’t you get up early from bed, huh?” Mr Ade asked visibly angry. ” You could’ve gotten up much earlier before 6:30pm.”
” I’m sorry, sir,” I apologized.
” Sorry for yourself. Go change up immediately and head over to Victoria streets. Someone just ordered a ten thousand naira worth of pizza. If you’re five minutes late for delivery, I’d deduct it from your salary.”
” Yes boss,” I hurried to the restroom, changed into my uniform and returned back to Cynthia. She smiled as she dropped the pizzas in my front.
” You are lucky I covered up for you today. Mr Ade was about to blow the ceiling when he thought you weren’t coming. You better be careful next time.”
I nodded as I wore my cap. ” Thanks a lot for this, Cynthia.”
I went to the pizza delivery car and started down the road. Tonight, the traffic was crazy and getting to Victoria street would take forever if I was to use the highway. One good thing about being a delivery boy is that you get to know all the shortcuts in the neighborhood. Victoria street wouldn’t be soo far from reach if I took the unpopular shortcut that ran along with the local market. In no time, I reached Victoria’s street.
Victoria’s street was an estate. Only the rich lives around here. I’ve been here three times in a row to deliver pizzas. Each house owns its own numbers and my usual numbers were 056 and 034 but today I was to deliver to house 078. A new customer, I suppose and today’s delivery was ten times my normal delivery. I wondered if they were throwing a party or something.
I found the house I was looking for. A car was revising out of the gate. A dark Prado Jeep. It blew it’s horn three times and drove past me. I couldn’t see who sat at the driver’s seat because the windscreen were tinted.
I pulled up and got out of the car. I ran up to the gateman and asked if they had ordered some pizza.
” Hey,” someone called out from a balcony in the big house. ” Pizza boy. Over here.”
I glanced up and saw him. He was a handsome hulk of a man with a muscular sexy build body. He’s skin shone like olive and he had that handsomeness women go nuts for.
I ran back to the car and brought out the pizza. The gateman led me to the front door and I ranged the doorbell, waiting patiently. He opened the door and took the pizza.
In my presence, he did a bank payment transfer to my boss account and gave me a tip of two thousand naira. It was the most briefiest delivery service I’ve ever rendered to anyone. I envied this young man. He had everything, a big house, about three cars in the garage and a pretty girlfriend, whoever she might be. It was a life I wished for myself but life had been soo unfair to me.
On my way to the car, I took one last look at the good life and riches behind me. It’s been ten years now. Those ten years a lot happened. My uncle trained me in school. He paid for my school fees, my waec and my neco and in return I assisted him in his business. I took my studies seriously and after writing jamb, I secured an admission to study business administration in Lagos State University.
At that time, I learnt how to barb hair. I made some little cash cutting men’s hair and with my uncle’s little support, I trained myself in school until I graduated. Mom and dad were proud of me. It’s been ten years since last I saw them. It’s been too long but I haven’t had the chance nor the balls to visit them. I hated being reminded about home. To me, home was bad memories. I was happy here in Lagos State or so I thought.
Driving down the highway, I switched on the headlight as darkness descended on the horizon after sunset. By June 4th I’ll be twenty seven years old. A graduate of business administration and yet still jobless. Being a delivery boy in a place like Lagos isn’t Soo bad as it seems that is if you’re the type who settles for less. I was ambitious, I wanted to make it to the top, I hated my job. Everything all centers on me.
I left my uncle’s house the moment I graduated. I rented my own house, found myself this delivery job and kept managing with the merge income I received every month. I had applied for numerous jobs. I’d sit by my cell phone, praying and hoping for one of those firms and companies to give me a call. Turns out times were harder than I imagined. Ten times more than it was in 2016. Getting a job these days was difficult, only the streets offers something to put on the table.
I made twenty delivery trips that night. On my last trip, it was raining heavily and suddenly my car headlights picked her out of the darkness.
She stood with an umbrella beside a big dark Prado Jeep. She had on a red wine coloured gown that ran down to her knees. She raised her head and waved to me.
I wasn’t in the mood to give anyone a ride. I was done with my job for tonight and needed to get home before it was 1.am. But something drew my attention to this young lady. From the looks of it, she was having trouble with her car and it was raining really crazy. It’d be cruel and heartless of me to leave her here all stranded in such a lonely deserted area.
I pulled up by her and leaned out of the window.
” Please, sir,” she said. ” I’m having troubles with my car. Can you help?”
I didn’t say anything. I got out and went over to the Prado Jeep. Lifting up the hood, I opened my flashlight and studied the engines. The rain pelting down on me stopped and I turned to see why. She’d placed the umbrella over my head to stop the rain from wetting my clothes. The umbrella was only big enough for one person therefore, she stood in the rain.
” What are you doing?” I asked.
” I don’t want you to get wet,” she said. ” It’d give me no joy to see you getting all wet when I have an umbrella here with me.”
I was suprised and speechless. I glanced back at the batteries. ” Return be to the car and start the ignition key.”
She gave me the umbrella and went back to the car. I got thinking about her. She’d been the first person that’s been nice to me in a long time. She fired the engines. It coughed then roared and knocked out. After three more tries I got all I wanted to Know.
I shut the hood. ” The battery is dead. You’ll have to give it some juice.”
” Oh, hell! Can’t you just use my jumper cables and lend me some of your juice?”
I became startled. ” It doesn’t work that way. You’re going need more juice than that if you want to start a car like that. Besides this isn’t my car and the battery’s not that good for jumper cables.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the Prado. ” Does this means I have to leave it out here alone?”
I realized she was standing in the rain and I was with her umbrella. I immediately gave her the umbrella. ” You can call your mechanic to come over.”
” In this rain,” she laughed. ” Nope. My mechanic is out of town. Well, I’m going to leave it right here. I’ll get someone to look into it tomorrow. I want to get home. Will you give me a lift to New street.”
I wanted to tell her no, that I was on night duty and I needed to report back to the pizza villa before the stroke of one. But u didn’t say no to her. I shrugged. ” I can if you want.”
She locked her car, got into my delivery car.
I climbed in beside her and started the engines. She was showing her knees. They were very pretty knees. I glanced at her from the corner of my eyes. The light from the dashboard wasn’t good enough for me to see much of her. I didn’t know if she was pretty or she was just any ordinary girl you see on a regular basis. But she had a scent of money ozzing out of her. You don’t own a Prado Jeep if you’re not rolling in money.
” So you’re a delivery boy?” She was opening her bag as she spoke. She took out two packet of chocolate candy and offered me one. ” Chocolate?”
I reeled back and stared at the chocolates like someone who’d just saw a mad man vomit. ” No thanks.”
She laughed. ” I bet you must be thinking I’m a freak, right?”
I wanted to take a look at her but I couldn’t take my eyes off the road. ” More or less. It doesn’t matter what I think.”
” Do you often work as far as this late?” She asked, eyeing the time on the dashboard. ” It’s past midnight already.”
” I had to. It’s my job. What about you? A young lady like you shouldn’t be out here in the dark,” I said.
” I suppose so,” she unwrapped the chocolate candy and took a bite. ” But I’m not as helpless as I look. Besides I love going out at night. Lagos is always beautiful at night. The view alone is satisfying. Then the rain started and I got stuck. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be there.”
We drove for a couple minutes of silence before she said: ” You look skinny.”
” Yes,” I said after a long pause. ” But I wasn’t always like this before.”
” I thought all delivery boys were earning good money.”
” Not this delivery boy,” I said. ” I’m just holding on to this job to pass time. I’m ambitious.”
” Wow,” she giggled. ” Are you a graduate?”
” Yes. In business administration,” I said. ” I don’t know why I’m telling you this. It can’t interest you.”
She laughed. She always seemed to be in the habit of laughing in between conversations. ” Well, it might interest you to know that it’s my business. I’m a staff in a High Bonds Incorporated.”
That surprised me. High Bonds Incorporated was one of the biggest stock and bonds company in the state. I shooked my head. ” You don’t say.”
” Ofcourse, I have some good connections in the company,” she said.
” I thought as much, it’s your luck,” I said. ” Getting a job these days is very tough.”
” It is unless you know someone to give you a connect. I’ll tell my boss about you. He might give you a job.”
” How old are you?” I asked not sure if she was going to tell me her age.
” Me? I’m twenty-four years,” she said. ” Why did you ask?”
” You are far too young to be a staff in a company like High Bonds Incorporated. They look for people with ten years of working experience.”
” That’s just an excuse. If you have someone, you’d definitely get the job. I can help you.”
” Thanks a lot,” I said sarcastically.
” Wait you don’t believe I’ll do it, do you?” She asked.
” You’d probably forget about me by tomorrow. Everyone does that.”
” I’m not everyone,” she said, taking another bite on her chocolate. ” I always mean what I say.”
I began to wonder if she was just pulling my legs. Maybe she doesn’t work at High Bonds Incorporated. Maybe she has a rich father or a rich boyfriend. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t see her again after I had dropped her at New street. I decided to play along with her.
” Are you always this nice to strangers?” I asked as I swung the car into New street.
She laughed again. ” I’m nice to everyone. I believe when you do good to people without expecting anything in return, you’ll receive more blessings.”
” Here we are,” I said as I pulled up by a corner.
” Soo soon? We were having such an interesting conversation.”
I grimaced. ” That’s nice to know but unlike you, I’ve got my job to do before heading home.”
” Maybe we should exchange numbers. You have a pen right?” She asked.
” I….I don think that’s necessary,” I stammered.
” Nonsense,” she said and snatched the pen from my breast pocket. ” Then how do I contact you if a vacancy appears at High Bonds?”
Before I knew it, she took my hand and wrote her number on my palm. I stared at her, my mouth half opened in surprise.
When she was done, she looked up to me and laughed. ” Now write yours on mine.”
I hesitated then took the pen and tore a piece of paper from a box of pizza at the back seat. I wrote out my number and gave her.
She nodded, opened the door and got out. ” I don’t know what I could’ve done without you. Thanks a lot.”
” It’s nothing,” I said looking away.
” I’ll call you, I swear I will,” she paused. ” Sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
” Andrew,” I said. ” Call me Andrew. And yours?”
A car was coming at full speed. As soon as she opened her mouth, the car speed past us with a loud roar. She said her name but I didn’t get it.
” Oh, what a nice name,” I lied because I didn’t hear her and I don’t want her to repeat herself.
” Thanks again, Andrew,” she said closing the door as she opened her umbrella. ” So long.”
She crossed that road and headed down the street. I watched her go, knowing I still hadn’t seen her face properly and also knowing I wouldn’t know her again if she wasn’t wearing that outfit.
As she disappeared into the darkness, I engaged gear and drove to the pizza villa. During the drive, I thought about her. I wondered who she was. I wondered if I was going to see her again. I wondered if she’d be as pretty as I imagined her to be. She was a little childish and extroverted. She reminded me of the old me back then when I was a kid. Now I’m an adult with responsibilities. But she was free minded and loose with no worries in her head. I hadn’t thought of a girl this much since I got into Lago.
I was still thinking about her when I arrived at work. Just as I was putting the car away, I saw something shocking. She’d left her handbag and a bar of chocolate where she sat. I opened the bag a little. There was her ATM card, some makeup kits and a total sum of fifty thousand naira in a bundle. I sat back and stared at it for a very long time till the time on my dashboard clocked 1:00 am.
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