The Last Bus Stop [A Short Story by Tha Naija POET]

Advisory Content:

This poem contains some strong language.

There are two kinds of Evil

The ones that can be seen

And those that cannot be seen

This was something Lanre was aware of

Despite not wanting to think about it as often as he thought about food

But the news broadcast he was watching

Had lured his thoughts

Into the different shades of darkness

The very thing he was consciously trying to avoid

“The suspect turned himself in at the Area F Police Station

…after stabbing his wife a total of 34 times…

“The police would have called for an early autopsy

But the prime suspect; her husband confessed

He told the police he stabbed his dead wife a total of 34 times because

This was the number of love messages he allegedly found

On her mobile phone and laptop…,” said the newscaster.

For a moment

Lanre wondered how a man could meet a woman,

Admire her

Introduce himself to her…

Begin to like her…

…eventually fall in love with her

Propose marriage to her

Marry her

Eat her food everyday

Build a home with her

And then wake up one day

And stab her 34 times…

He knew the Devil was determined not to go down alone

But it also baffled him how many souls he had claimed in the last 100 years

Lanre was a little drowsy from his breakfast

And as he sat on the couch

He slowly reclined

And in a few seconds

The air condition and the food in his belly formed an unbeatable alliance

His eyelids felt unusually heavier

And Lanre had barely shut his eyes for more than two minutes when he found himself looking at a crowd

There was a something very ominous about the crowd

For some strange reason, Lanre knew there was a couple involved in the rancour

He also knew that something very bad had just happened to the woman

He could sense that the man was alright

But the woman was far from being alright

Just as he was about to make out the form of the couple from the crowd

He saw an old man

Just one look at the old man

And Lanre could tell that if the Devil had a badge-wearing agent in human form

The old man was a candid description of what he would look like

He was clearly over 65 years old

And was all clad in black

A black Caftan

Black pants

Black leather slippers and wore black beads on his wrist and neck

He looked very frail

And carried a black bag

All of a sudden, he looked in Lanre’s direction

And when Lanre saw the old man’s face

The first thing he saw was his lips and exposed teeth

Lanre could have sworn that the man was growling at him

For a moment, Lanre felt he was going to scream out in a blend of fright and pain

The old man had fresh blood all over his lips

And was now grinning at Lanre

The way a satisfied predator would…

Lanre shut his eyes for a second and when he opened them again

He almost passed out because the old man was no longer 20 feet away from him

But was directly in front of him

So close, Lanre could feel his hot and foul breathe

Lanre’s eyes suddenly shot open

He was visibly confused

And when he observed his immediate surrounding

He noticed he was in his sitting room

“Goodness! Was I dreaming?”

Images from the dream clung to him vividly

And he was on the verge of recollecting the faces of the couple in the dream when he heard his wife’s voice

“Baby, have you finished?”

Lanre was jolted out of his reflective state of mind

By his wife’s gentle voice

“I’m almost done Honey – Just a second,” he replied

His voice finding his way into the bedroom

Where his wife was

Lanre stuck the last piece of bread into his mouth

Drank some more milk and got off the couch

He picked the remote control off the rug and silenced the newscaster

With the TV screen going completely blank

As he stepped into the bedroom, he saw his wife

She was sitting and facing the huge circle-shaped mirror on the wall

And had her back to him

He smiled both inwardly and outwardly at his wife’s immense beauty

She remained the most beautiful woman he had ever seen

Lanre knew he was not just saying that because he was married to her

He knew the extent of her beauty because

He had seen his fair share of extremely gorgeous ladies

Not just the type with raw beauty

But beauty in its most refined form

He once encountered a lady so beautiful

She gave three of Lanre’s friends what he would call temporary verbal disorder

Or how else could he describe how Obinna, Chidi and Seyi began to stammer

Whenever they had to talk to her

Yet Lanre had never seen anyone of them stammer before

Never!

Not even once

And he had known each of them for 12 years

Lanre’s mind breezed away from thoughts of pretty women

To thoughts of a pretty woman

The one sitting right in front of him

With her back to him

And her face to the mirror

“Goodness! She is dazzling,” he said to himself

And he suddenly remembered how many times he had been sent to the hospital

While he dated her back in college

He had met her 15 days before his 24^th birthday

And Lanre almost giggled out aloud

When he remembered how he had physically bumped into her while hurrying out of a lecture hall

Lanre had almost knocked her over

But was quick enough to hold her and prevent her from falling over completely

How could Lanre ever forget…

He remembered vivid details of the day he met her

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry,” he had said to her after colliding with her”

She still had the look of shock in her eyes

And Lanre just couldn’t stop apologising

After helped her pick up her notes, books, pen and bag

She had looked him straight in the eyes and asked:

“Why are you running around like an automobile with a faulty brake?”

Lanre had only looked back at her and smiled

“I’m genuinely sorry – Please forgive me and I promise to go and fix my brakes right away. Do we have a deal?”

What she did next had stayed fresh in Lanre’s memory for weeks

She smiled

This was not the first time Lanre would watch a lady smile

But there was something about hers that made him feel like a teenager eager to lose his virginity

Lanre couldn’t remember the last time he felt this way

Yet it hit him like a straight punch – fast and unexpected

Lanre almost went into nervous mode

But he quickly collected himself and when he was a little more composed, he said:

“I’ll take that as a yes. My name is Lanre – 300 level - Mechanical Engineering”

The moment he said this, she giggled, smiled and said:

“I’m positive you’ll be able to fix that brake of yours after all”

Lanre had laughed cheerfully at her good humour and said:

“Can I ask for a favour?”

She gave him a look that said he could go ahead and of course he did

“Would you be kind enough to allow me get on your list of new friends? Perhaps if you gave me your number…”

Before he could go on, she spoke:

“You’re beginning to sound like you crashed into me on purpose.”

Lanre’s eyes opened wide and then he looked at his open palms and said:

“Oh no! Why would I do that?”

To this, she simply said:

“Well, if you run into me again, I’ll give you my number but for now…”

She slowly turned around and began walking away

Lanre tried to say something but three of his course-mates came running towards him

“Lanre, the lecturer wants to see you right away,” one of them said

“He asked you to bring the list of those who attended today’s lecture to him,” said another

By the time Lanre would look back at her, she was already gone

And then it occurred to him that he hadn’t even asked for her name

The reality of this cast a very grey cloud over his mood

He looked around but there was no sign of her

As the day progressed, no matter what he did, he kept thinking about her and the power of her beaming smile

He knew he had to see her again but how was he going to accomplish such a feat

He had no information to work with

No name, no faculty, no department; nothing!

Today, he was married to her and just as he was about to fall into another flashback of how he had run into her a second time

She looked back at him; still sitting in front of the mirror and said:

“Look at my baby; looking well fed and healthy”

Lanre could never get tired of having her say that

He loved everything about her

She was damn gorgeous and men were always staring at her

He remembered how he had once taken her to a bar for a drink and some quiet time

After helping her to her seat

He had excused himself to go to the gents

By the time, he returned, he found her being held and protected by a security guard

While another guard tried to separate two men who looked bent on killing each other

Lanre had dashed to the guard holding her

When she saw him, she also ran to him with tears in her eyes

“Baby, what happened? What’s the matter?”

As he held her, he could see that the men who were fighting had blood stains on their shirts

One of them had one of his eyes badly swollen

The other had a bleeding nose

The guards simply asked Lanre to take her home

It was on their way home that she told him what had happened

Lanre could barely believe the words that fell off her lips as he drove her home

It had began with admiration from one of the men

He had walked to her table and told her she was gorgeous

Before she could even focus on the guy’s face and features

Another guy was at the table and said something about her looking familiar

The first guy considered the second guy rude and told him so

“Excuse me, didn’t you see me talking to her?”

“Is she your wife,” the second guy had fired back – with a frown on his face

“That was how it all started baby,” she said to Lanre

“They said some other really unpleasant things to each other

And then, I heard a slap even before I saw it. They just went at each other

I’ve never seen anything like that,” she said

“I’m so sorry love,” Lanre whispered to her

And held one of her hands in his

He was brought back to the present by her voice

“Are you ready Love?”

“Sure I am,” he replied

She rose to her feet and she looked like she just stepped out of a magazine cover

Lanre could not fight the urge to hug her

He hugged her as fiercely as he did the first time he hugged her

When they disengaged, she asked him if he still knew the directions to where they were going

“Sure I do Dear.”

And she asked: “Has the mechanic told you when he would be bringing the car?”

“He said tomorrow by 6pm,” Lanre replied

“Thank God,” she said

“I’m tired of standing at commercial bus queues for hours

Yesterday, can you believe that the bus broke down at Costain

And we had to form another queue to secure standing space in another bus?

It was terrible and the traffic in Lagos these days looks like the Devil is town – Horrible!”

Lanre looked at her and said:

“Let’s take a yellow bus today. Is that okay by you?”

She replied: “Yes Dear – So long as we don’t have to spend an hour at the bus stop”

He smiled at her and said: “We won’t my Dear.”

Fortunately, they successfully boarded a yellow bus after just 3 minutes at the bus stop

She was very excited and Lanre was happy

Her mood usually had an infectious effect on him

Once she was happy, he would also remain in a very excited mood

The commercial bus moved from one bus stop to another

The conductor constantly screaming:

“Ikorodu Garage… Ikorodu Garage – Ikorodu oooooo. Ikorodu Garage...”

As the bus continued to cruise onwards its final destination – the last bus stop...

Lanre had a lot of things on his mind

But one that took prominence was how much he loved his wife

And how he was going to surprise her when they got back home

He had a very big surprise for her

And she was not aware of it

He had been promoted at work

Barely 24 hours ago

He was previously earning N110, 000 a month

But just before the close of work yesterday, his boss had summoned him

And had personally handed him a letter

Upon opening it

Lanre realised it was a letter of promotion

His salary had been jacked up to N280, 000

And it came with a brand new 2008 Toyota Camry

Lanre could already imagine the look in her eyes whenever she was happy

He would have gladly paid for it if he had to

He loved her that much

He already imagined giving her a ride in it on Monday after he returned home

He could barely wait for Monday to come

At the moment, he looked at her and noticed she was composing an SMS

After a while, she hit the send button and Lanre heared his phone vibrate

When he pulled his iphone out of his pocket

He saw an SMS notification

He opened the message and it read:

“Dear God, thank you for giving me the very best husband in the world

He is sitting right beside me as I type these lines and I ask you to keep him safe

Grant me the grace and charm to keep him happy at all times

And please help me understand why he always stares at me like a teenager falling in love for the first time

I love you Lanre and always will

- Your Baby Girl”

Lanre could feel a wave of emotion surge through him

He suddenly realised that he was so happy

That the only thing that could possibly make him happier

Was if he could wind back hands of time and relive every moment with her all over again

He was on the verge of replying the message

When he heard the conductor beckon onto passengers in the bus to pay their fares

“Madam, Oga, where your money – Oga, where your money – Money for back…”

Lanre and his wife were in the middle seat – the one behind the one right behind the driver

And there were three other rows of seats behind them

She opened her purse and handed the conductor a N200 note

Other passengers on their row equally paid

Lanre heard some passengers in the back seats try to hand the conductor their fares

And since they couldn’t reach the conductor because of his distance from them in the bus

They passed their fares to those who were closer to the conductor

“Oga, abeg help me give the conductor – N500 for two,” said one passenger

“Madam, please help me give am…,” said another passenger from behind

He watched his wife collect the fares of two passengers from behind

And hand it over to the conductor

He heard an old man from behind beckon to her to help him hand his fare to the conductor

And she obliged him

She collected his visibly battered N100 note

And handed it over to the conductor

Thereafter, she slowly turned her head to face Lanre

There was so much love and affection in her eyes

And Lanre winked naughtily at her

She moved her lips close to his ears

And said:

“When we get back home, I’m going to dress sexy for you, sing you a love song and then you’re going to please me for two hours!”

With this, she winked at her husband

Lanre’s face lit up like a halogen bulb in the dark

“Really? My heart already trembles with anticipation,” he said.

He was about to say something sweet to her when it all began

Till this very moment, the shock of that split second remained with Lanre

 [To be continued soon...]

If you enjoyed the first part of this story then join us later today as the drama unfolds.

Keep your fingers crossed.

NOTE: Interested individuals should please acknowledge their interest by sending mail to geerach2007@yahoo.com or call: 07055849080, 08123178022,