Rebellion

17. Paradise

“Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.” – Benjamin Jowett.

•••

“Flight CH-452 this way please. All travelers are encouraged to remain in the specified lounge of the plane before loading in the terminals are announced. Whilst you wait, there is…”

“Ah!” Tiolu inhaled sharply into her lungs – the fresh air of the airport garage and remained static for it to disperse all through her being. The notion of taking the trip was indeed liberating and exhilarating. She couldn’t believe it was just a day ago, that the idea had been suggested to her by a dear friend of hers and that Dayo had also agreed to take her up on the offer.

It still felt surreal in some sense.

“The door is not going to close itself.” Dayo’s voice was audible from behind as she stood motionless by the right door of the taxi cab passenger seat, and she spun around to cast a genuine smile at him. She was indeed grateful and overwhelmed with joy that he had agreed on taking the trip with her. Despite his initial protests, he seemed enthusiastic almost as she was and had totally no facet of regret in his stare or voice. “Neither is the money in your purse going to pay the cab driver itself.”

She chuckled softly, before advancing towards the cab driver who was standing right in front of her – the door upfront acting as a demarcation. “There you go,” She said, outstretching her left arm which had a bundle of Naira notes muddled in them. “And that’s a tip also, for the stress of taking the route you did. I’m pretty sure that’s more than what you earn on a daily basis.”

“Oh, thanks ma’am.” The middle-aged man, retrieved the stash of money gracefully and tucked it into his right pants pocket with a wide grin keeping the edges of his lips apart. “The aids would be here to help you any moment from now. I’d be off, have a safe flight.”

“You too,” Dayo nodded curtly, in her place. Folding his arms and staring amusingly at the driver, whilst striding over to the other side to join her. “You know that’s plausible. Him having a safe flight also. As happy as he is, I won’t be surprised when his car takes off into the air and doesn’t return.”

Tiolu clutched both of her ribs and shook in laughter. “Please, Dayo not early in the morning. I really don’t have the energy to laugh that hard.”

“It’s a good thing, what you did back there.” He continued. “But of course you know, giving him a bonus that is almost times three of our original payment and equivalent to his day’s earn won’t exactly keep him out of work for the rest of the day. If it was a Yoruba guy, I’d have been indifferent. Perhaps, he’d have called his friends and they’d all go to the bar to squander the money. But judging him by appearance and the manner In which he said – ‘Day’ in have a nice day, definitely he is an Igbo guy meaning he is still going to go about with business till the end of the day.”

Tiolu was a bit taken by Dayo’s lengthy analysis, and she could only wonder what motive was behind it.

“Uh, so? I shouldn’t have done it? What’s your point?”

“Nothing,” Dayo’s shoulders slumped as a set of airport aids heading towards them – came into view. “Can’t I just offer my opinion on something funny, anymore? You’re no fun, really.”

All she could do was grin once more, as the aids arrived and set about to helping them transport their luggage into the lounge. As they commenced their short walk there was a short silence that descended between them, and right at that moment she took cognizance of the fact that they had both realized that they were about to embark on a journey which had the potential of altering a lot of things between them.