Black Pride

05.

While on their journey, they encountered a traffic light that beamed red, making all the cars to stop. Ayo looked at the meter in the cab, it was still running. She became worried.

"Why is it still reading even though we aren't in motion anymore?" she asked, pointing at the meter, bringing the driver's attention to it. The driver smiled and laughed mildly.

"Well, it's not about the cab being in motion or not, it's designed to keep reading until we get to our destination where I would turn it off and give you your charges," the driver said as he revved the taxi's engine and continued driving as the traffic light had turned green by then.

Ayo chuckled. "If it was in Nigeria now, the meter charges would run wild because of those long strenuous traffic jams," she thought. The traffic jams in her country sometimes lasted for hours. Ayo knew that if they had implemented the meter system into the taxi cabs in her country, the fares would have been outrageously on the high side, no thanks to the frequent traffic hold ups a person would encounter while on the way.

The university had two gates that stood at each entrance in its north and east areas. The driver drove through the east side entrance. Ayo's face lit up and her heart bubbled for joy as she looked through the window of the taxi at the scene before her. Lots of cars were going in and out of the university. Students of different heights and race walked around the university grounds, each going to their different destinations. Some students were carrying large bags, some were split in groups, either sitting under a tree eating or reading a book.

"So this is how the life of a university student is like," Ayo thought within herself. The driver stopped in a space in the parking lot and turned off the meter.

"That's twenty-four dollars and twelve cents," he said as he pointed at the meter. Ayo quickly paid the driver and collected her balance. She then wore her backpack and carried her duffel bag out of the boot of the taxi. The taxi driver zoomed off after closing his cab's boot. Ayo smiled as she looked around her. "This was it, her dream come true," she thought. She picked up her phone and dialed Mrs. Ada's number. Her Nigerian MTN sim could not work in America, so Miss Janet had given her a new sim to use. After calling Mrs. Ada and Miss Janet to let them know she had arrived safely at the university, she started walking rapidly to the registration area.

Ayo looked at the freshers in the university. They were carrying at least three duffel bags, making her look quite unprepared for school. She shuddered slightly and then rapidly made her way to the registration center. She had a map of the school and she knew that she was heading in the right direction because most of the freshers were also heading there.

Ayo noticed that a white girl wearing a yellow t-shirt over red jeans and an odd looking boots was walking behind her, following behind in her footsteps. She was carrying a big travel bag and had on her back a pink backpack. Ayo stopped walking. The girl stopped walking too and looked another way, trying to act as if she was not following Ayo.

Ayo glanced back, and then continued to walk. She stopped and then looked back, she found out that the girl had stopped too and was also looking elsewhere, but Ayo noticed that she was not in the same position as she had been before. Ayo waited for some moments to see if the girl would make a move, but she did not.

Ayo then moved a few steps forward, and then looked back again. The girl's position had changed again. That gave Ayo the jitters so she quickly made her way to the registration site without looking back, even though she knew that the girl was still following her.

Ayo stood in line with the other freshers who were waiting to be registered. The registration site was located outside, on the university grounds because it was always crowded. There were seven canopies arranged in an horizontal position with three university personnel each stationed per canopy. They sat on plastic white chairs behind a big table which had some documents, stamps and ID cards. They arranged the students in threes and attended to them accordingly.