Sometimes, when we are at our lowest, the people we never expected to be there for us are people who turn out to stretch their hands of help to us. I experience this in a land where people are fearful of themselves because of how high the crime rate is. You never know who is out there to hurt, steal, or kill you, so most people are very skeptical when it's time to help. You only help those you know, and that is the rule.
On Friday, which was the last day of the month of September, I had no money on me, not in my wallet or in my bank account, but I went to work in the hope of getting paid that day. Everyone was expecting their salary, especially me, because I had no money to get back home. An hour before closing, I kept checking my account balance just to see that nothing had been paid.
I don't want to ask my colleagues because we are all in the same boat and none of us have been paid. I decided to ask the lady I know, who always spends more, if she could lend me a thousand naira until payment day. Her reply was heartbreaking, so I decided not to ask anyone.
After closing hour, I sat in the office waiting for everyone to go before I left because I didn't want them to know I'd be walking an ungodly distance home. "Well, tomorrow is Saturday; I'll sleep until I get all my energy back," I said to myself after stepping out of the office with no sight of any of my work colleagues.
I started walking; I have never walked that distance in my life. I have to take three buses from my office to get home, so imagine the distance from my office to my house. From the office to the national secretariat, I would take another cab to the estate gate. From the estate gate, I would take another cab to my street.
I was walking beside the expressway, praying that no car would lose its brake, when it hit me. I was walking towards the national secretariat. At some point, I was so tired that my speed reduced, and it took me an hour and 45 minutes to get to the national secretariat.
When I got to the National Secretariat, I sat at the bus stop where I was meant to board the next bus. I sat there for a long time trying to catch my breath and, at the same time, thinking about how I was going to continue walking to the estate gate. At some point, I had the thought of asking for arms from anyone who could help.
I thought about it and decided not to ask; I don't want to get embarrassed. I picked up my bag and stood up to continue my journey when this lady walked up to me and said, "Hello."
I turned to look at her face, but it wasn't familiar in any way. We started a conversation, and I lied about how I have been waiting at the bus stop without getting any bus, so I want to do some exercise by walking. She insisted that I wait for some time, hoping that a bus would come soon. I was persistent about walking, then she said, "Don't worry, let's wait a little more."
In a short time, a car came around, and we both rushed in and asked, "How will I pay?" That was all I could think of.
"We work in the same plaza. My office is on the 7th floor. I saw you leaving the company grounds before I did. I left the office one hour after you did, but I was surprised to see you walking beside the road, so I decided to wait for you. Don't worry about the transport; I'll take care of it."
At that point, I felt different emotions that I couldn't understand. We were both surprised to see that we live on the same estate too. She paid for my transport back home too. I collected her number, and we became best friends ever since. Her name is Tomiwa.
Posted using Neoxian City