Black Pride

04.

After thirty minutes had passed, Miss Janet and Ayo walked out of the house and into the street. Miss Janet helped Ayo to carry her heavy duffel bag and walked in front of her. Ayo walked behind her, carrying her own backpack.

In no time, Miss Janet had led Ayo to the bus park. "So, this bus would take you to another bus park close to your University, from where you'll take a cab that would take you to the front gate of the university, is that okay?" Miss Janet said and then handed a hundred and fifty dollars to Ayo. "Use this to settle yourself for now, okay?" she said.

Ayo smiled and thanked her. She then kept the money in her backpack's front pouch.

"I have to go back to work now, my dear. You take good care of yourself," Miss Janet said as Ayo entered the bus, now carrying her duffel bag. It really was heavy. After making sure Ayo had entered the bus, Miss Janet turned around and started walking back to her house.

The bus had a map of the routes it plied stored in a green basket in the front. Ayo took one – it was free for all. The seats in the bus were arranged in twos on each side, while at the back, the seats were conjoined together with no space in between. She picked a seat beside the window and tried to put her duffel bag in the space reserved for people's loads above her. It was too heavy for her, so a man nearby helped her to raise it up and tucked it in neatly. She smiled and thanked him. She then sat down and placed her backpack on her laps.

"Scoot over, blackie, that's space for me and my girlfriend," she heard a girl say. Ayo looked up at the owner of the voice. Two white girls stood before her. She looked at the two girls calmly as she shook her head.

"No, I won't, there's plenty of empty seats on the bus," Ayo said and looked away. Although the bus was partially full, there were still a few empty seats which the white girl and her friend could have sat on.

"Don't be stupid, go pick another seat," the man who had helped Ayo said to the girls when he saw that they were hell bent on causing trouble. The girls both squeezed their faces and gave Ayo mean looks before walking off to find another seat. There were no other double seats so they had to separate and sit with other people. One of the girls scowled when she saw Ayo turning back to look at them. Ayo turned to face forward quickly.

Not too long after, the remaining empty spaces in the bus started getting filled up. Before the bus got filled up, a fat boy entered and sat beside Ayo. She stood up and looked around, checking to see if there were any other empty seats she could switch to as she didn't want to sit near the fat boy because he was entering into her space too. The two white girls laughed spitefully at Ayo when her gaze met theirs. Ayo rolled her eyes and continued with her search. There was no free seat again in the bus. Ayo mumbled in disappointment and sat down again in her seat, making sure she faced the window.

Shortly after, the bus started to move. Ayo looked at the boy through the corners of her eyes without turning her head to him. She didn't want him to know that she was looking at him.

The boy brought out a packet of potato chips and started devouring it greedily as the bus continued its journey.

Ayo frowned deeply. "Why do boys always have to act silly every time?" She thought to herself. After he had finished the potato chips, the fat boy then brought out a canned drink and inserted a straw into the drink. He began sipping the drink rather too loudly in Ayo's assessment. Ayo decided to ignore him and closed her eyes to sleep as the journey seemed to be a long one.

She heard a sudden horrible loud noise which forced her to open her eyes. The fat boy beside her had just belched! He gave a little apologetic laugh when he saw her looking at him with disgust. He then pointed to the canned drink he was drinking, 'Belch-O's' was written on the can. Ayo frowned. "He didn't even say excuse me," Ayo thought in disgust. What is it with all these people she had been meeting since she landed here in California, America?

"Would you mind drinking silently?" she asked her fat companion in a retort and then hissed.

The boy smiled widely at her and shook his soda can. "First the 'Belch-O's', next the belches," he said and laughed.

Ayo, trying hard to let off the heat building up rapidly in her, puffed angrily and looked the other way. She had made up her mind to be of her best behavior but the few people she had met so far, were really driving her nuts.

She looked towards the fat boy again and then noticed that in the other row opposite her, a boy and probably his dad, because they looked alike a lot, sat on the double seats. The dad was sleeping and drooling! Ayo felt sick and felt like she was going to puke. The son caught her looking at them and started grinning broadly at her. He started making weird faces at her, raising his eyebrows and smiling at her, and then winked at her! Ayo gasped in shock. Was he trying to flirt with her?!

She grunted. The fat boy beside her was still belching and laughing. The boy who sat opposite the double seat she was sitting on had woken up his dad and was whispering something to him. The dad whispered back and winked at Ayo also and smiled boldly at her. The son did the same too. They both started making weird faces at Ayo and signaling with their hands. Ayo faced her front, but the belches and weird glares didn't stop. She groaned. "Why can't these people just leave me be?" she thought to herself.

When she heard the final horn of the bus, signaling the end of the journey, she was glad that her living nightmare would come to an end. After pulling down her duffel bag with the help of a woman who sat in front of her, as the man who had helped her at first had alighted at a previous bus station, Ayo rushed out of the bus happily, slightly pushing the people who moved slowly before her out of her way. "Now she would finally have some peace and quiet," she thought.

She walked a few steps forward on the busy street before flagging down a taxi. The taxi driver didn't agree to her putting her duffel bag in the back seat so she had to put it in the boot. "Where to?" he asked when she finally entered the cab.

"Horandle University," she said as she buckled her seatbelt.

The driver started the engines and started driving. Other vehicles were also on the road, going to and fro. People walked on the sidewalks that were paved on each side of the road. There were lots of shops and eateries on each side of the road. Traffic lights and street lamps with cameras on them were everywhere. There were also electronic traffic signs that controlled how people could walk when crossing the roads. It was quite different from Nigeria.

"Not many black people go to Horandle University from here," the cab driver said, trying to start a conversation. Ayo smiled and nodded.

"How long are you staying?" he asked again as he smiled and looked at her in the rearview mirror of the cab.

Ayo hesitated. "Was she supposed to be sharing information like that with strangers?" she thought. She then decided that his knowledge of how long she would stay could not have any effect, whatsoever, on her.

"Maybe four years," she said slightly evasively as she glanced at the meter. It had reached three dollars already. The driver nodded his head as he continued to drive.

"Oh, you don't mind if I play some music, do you?" the driver asked as he slotted a disk into the DVD player of the taxi. Ayo looked at him silently, not knowing whether to agree or disagree. She felt she needed some peaceful music to help her relax better.

"I don't mind," she finally said as the driver pushed the play button. Loud booming gang rap filled the atmosphere as the driver started nodding his head and humming to the beat.

"Uhm, please can you play something softer," Ayo said as she used her palms to cover her ears. She didn't like rap; she hated it. A lot.

"Oh, ok," the driver said and removed the disk. He picked up another disk from the disk rack in front of him and slotted it into the DVD player. Old school rap was what came out. It was soft and cool but that was not what Ayo meant. She shrugged and gave a low grunt, "Anything but rap," she thought to herself. This was going to be a very long ride.