JUST BY CHANCE

LIFE

A touch on her right shoulder woke her up from the deep sleep that she had drifted into sitting on the boulder.
"Wetin' you dey do for here?" Came the question. It was a man's voice and that was the Nigerian pidgin English for "What are you doing here?". The question came again and this time, she could tell the voice was rising in anger.

She struggled to open her eyes when she did, she tried recollecting her environment. She was still inside the abandoned church building premises. She saw an old man, who might be in his sixties with a lot of grey hair. Probably a security guard at the old facility which used to be the location of a church.

"I am so sorry I slept off. I assumed this was a church building." She answered.
"Church done pack since last month. Now, na packing store them dey use am do now. Na me dey guard am" came the man's reply.
Looking at the premises, Jenny wondered what he was guarding. The place look deserted and uninhabitable. Who could be storing what inside this sort of place? Wondering why she was thinking along the line, Jenny checked her wristwatch. It has been giving her a consciousness of the time all through the day and by now, she knew it was still midnight.

"Please can I pass the night here?" she asked the old man. " I mean can I sleep here?" She explained when he looked like he could not understand what she was saying.

"Why you wan sleep for this kind place? You nor get house? Abeg dey commot for here! You fit bring armed robbers come here". The old man flared up.

"I am so sorry sir. I am not a thief, neither am I an armed robber. I just came into the town today and I have no one to stay with. I came in search of a good job, sir. I am so sorry to upset you, sir."

"See as you dey speak fine oyibo English. E be like say you go school o? Fine girl! Anyway, job nor dey here and I wan lock the gate. The time na midnight. I wan go inside the gate man house go sleep." He said as he began to walk away.

Not wanting another confrontation, she raised her bag from her lap and began to walk towards the exit of the compound.

"Where you dey go? You get where you wan sleep? Abi you dey go hotel?" He called after her.

"I lack the funds to get hotel accommodation and as I had initially said, I do not have where to lay my head" She answered.

"Come sleep for the gateman house with me na. I like this your beautiful English. You dey talk like all those customer care people when I dey call for phone" He said smiling.

Jenny did not find that invitation trusting at all. But she had no option. It was still very dark and she lacked strength. The time on her watch says 1:30 am. This was the capital city and she had no clue if walking past midnight on the road was a crime. Sluggishly, she turned from the exit towards the security house and approached it.

The man brought out a bench and placed it at the entrance with a torch and a can of water. Her throat seemed dry but she dared not to ask him for water as he was a stranger. Wanting to sit on the bench with him as she assumed that was the reason he brought it out, the man chastised her once again.

"Go inside go sleep for the mat there, this one na my spot. I dey use am dey alert so that those thief boys nor go come carry drinks for my head." He narrated.

Jenny nodded and went inside the well-lit room. It had a mat spread out, with a pillow and a single chair. The place was clean and had no smell. This made her relax. It also had a door with the inscription toilet.
"Can I use the bathroom?" She asked. She wanted to call it a lavatory but she didn't want to offend the man.
"Na toilet dey there o and you fit use am" he responded.

Jenny quickly rushed inside as she had been pressed for so long but had to persevere all through the day. It was a simple toilet with a clean WC and a sink. She washed her hands and face after flushing. She was tempted to drink the water but decided against it as she did not want to fall ill.