Fui Can-Tamakloe
“However long the night, the dawn will surely break” – Hausa proverb
The bus inside make cold.
I sit inside VIP buses most of my university years, and the few years wey come after that, but today, for the first time, I no fit sleep for inside. I no fit sleep sekof I dey think. That be the thing nobody dey tell you as you dey grow. Adulthood all be thinking. If you wake up you dey think about how your day go start. If e start, you dey think about how e go end. You dey bed inside, you dey think of job. You dey job side, you dey think of bed. All be thinking. Life be thinking.
Right now, we just commot from Suhum. We dey road top dey go Kumasi. I dey think of my last ten cedi e dey my body. As I giddop this morning-t, the money all e dey me be fifty-five cedis. Forty-five cedis for VIP bus ticket, ten cedis for taxi make I take catch house. That one sef ebi Lanky wey take give me sekof I tell am sey I finish plus Accra, I dey go back to Kumasi. I tell am sey small time I go take send am. I go force take send am. This be time wey I no go fit burn any bridge. Sekof ebi the small small help I dey get wey fit make I survive till now. I no chop since yestee gbeke but I no sheda dey hong too. How you go think of your stomach if you dey bleed?
Yestee, as Lanky dey give me the dough, then e dey tell me say I lose vim too early. I for hold on small. God’s time be the best. I tell am sey I hold on two full years with no support, I no get any strength hold on again. Check like we dey gym wey I dey do pull-ups. My fingers all taya dey hold on. Where I no send my CV go? Wey tweet I no follow-up on? I no dey sleep, I dey use bundle on LinkedIn every minute like I be fraud boy. Wey job agency for Accra here no chop my fifty cedis for registration fee? I taya chale.
Lanky get job wey dey help am small small, but ein sef that no be where he dey get money chop from. As we dey uni dey fool, Lanky always get plan. He learn photography wey rydee ebi the Saturday wedding photos e dey cot wey dey sustain am. But Lanky then me no be the same. I no know how them dey cot photo. I be organised, wey I get Political Science degree, but I no get any talent I fit take make money. So I dey Accra dey bleed nonstop for two years.
Some man dey snore for the back of the bus make we all turn dey watch am. The driver dey play Daddy Lumba ein music. I want tell am sey make he increase the volume sekof I taya the noise. The noise dey commot my head inside. The noise dey my head inside sekof the thinking be too much. I dey sit inside VIP wey make cold pass Kumasi as Harmattan season dey, but I dey sweat like goat wey see aboki ein knife. All sekof I dey think about what I go tell oldgirl. Sey I no fit find anything do for Accra? Sey I try but life just no dey go on better for me? Sey I taya? I sure sey she go ask me how I fit taya? How I go fit taya as she no see the benefits of ein struggles? I no dey do this thing for myself, I dey do for am. The job I dey go job, ebi sekof I want make she relax for Benz inside as she dey go town. I want make she move from the house wey we rent to wona own place. I want make ein mates see am dey shy sekof she dey hold pass them. But I dey inside VIP bus dey think sekof I chop twenty-seven wey I no get one cedi sef for my bank account inside. All I get be dreams. My dreams sef I take some dash. As I start dey search job, if somebody ask me sey what my salary expectations be, I dey tell them 4k after tax. Of course e dey make sense. I be young guy, Political Science degree, this be normal market price. First three months I no dey get call back, I start dey reduce am. 3k after tax. E catch some point them ask me then I want tell them say anything for dema heart them want take give me I go take. Sekof the up-and-down start dey taya me.
E no keep wey we reach Linda Dor. Everybody e dey go Kumasi regularly know Linda Dor. Ebi highway rest-stop. If your bus stop for there e mean sey you finish half the journey. People dey get down from the bus dey buy food then drinks. Some of them too dey go piss. I no comot from the bus, sekof today I no get anything do for Linda Dor. What if I comot wey the bus lef? I never hear sey this thing happen before but I no want test am. I no get money too sey I go buy meatpie or something, so here nor I go sit for.
Fifteen minutes the bus start move again. This driver dey like speed too much. I sure sey we go reach Kumasi before the time wey them talk me sef. I want tell the driver sey make he slow down, some of us no dey in a hurry like that. I get sef I no go go house. I go go base for my paddies demma there. I no want watch oldgirl ein face tell am sey I fail. I no want watch oldboy ein face tell am sey I be useless. I dey think wey I start fall asleep.
I open my eyes then we dey station already. Some passengers already giddown for road top before we reach. The ones wey e lef dey comot one one. I comot wey I go the side of the car. The driver show me the bags e lef. I see my bags wey I take them. I dey hold them wey I hear my name. As I turn I see sey my oldboy dey stand there dey watch me. I no understand sef. Ebi my sister p3 know sey I dey come Kumasi. I tell am sey make she no tell anybody I dey come. But be like she tell my old boy sekof e come plus ein old Opel Astra sey e dey come pick me. I put my bag for boot wey I sit down. As my old boy start the engine, I dey watch outside. More people dey enter bus dey lef Kumasi. The hawker women dey try sell them drinks then other things for the journey. My oldboy tap my thigh wey I turn watch am. E no watch me, e dey watch the road sekof e dey drive. He ask me how the journey dey, wey I tell am sey ebi cool.
How things for Accra dey? I no fit answer sef.
Why e no dey hear from me? I no know what I go tell am.
My whole life my oldboy dey tell me sey by the time e chop fifteen then e dey watch ein siblings all. How I go fit tell am sey I chop twenty-something years, but I no fit watch myself sef? How I go find way talk my oldboy sey e born son wey no be man?
We reach Asafo traffic light wey e turn red. Oldboy turn dey watch me proper. He smile wey e tell me sey my oldgirl prepare soup put down. Everybody for house make happy sey I dey come sekof fufu dey wey I for pound. He take ein hands pass my hair inside like I be kiddie. He laugh small wey e tell me sey, he know sey Accra hard. Life too had. But make I no worry. As for life deɛ e always go hard. But as we no die, morrow always go be another day for trying.
The light turn green wey my old boy start accelerate. I turn my face watch the window.
I no want make e see sey I dey cry.
Fui Can-Tamakloe is a Literature tutor with a little over eight years experience in writing short fiction. He writes in English and Ghanaian pidgin. He likes for his stories to highlight daily struggles or experiences of everyday Ghanaians. When he isn’t writing or teaching, he’s most likely tweeting something ridiculous, or enjoying a cold beer somewhere in the warm Accra night.