She walked apace as she extended the distance between her and the office before anyone strolled out and saw her walking away. There was a bus few paces away from where she worked which would take her directly to where she lives for a good tempered fare.
Isoken arrived at the park and as she was about to get on the bus, she realised the envelopes were still in her hand. She shuddered. No one transversed these milieus with a beacon of monetary wealth in hand. Like blood to sharks, it draws out the savagery in man, especially in bus parks where impoverishment is a common status. Isoken looked over her shoulders to check if anyone was following her. Whence she came from seemed as normal as it will ever be. The women still sold things normally and the men still went about their daily business of releasing wraps of amala into nourishing soups and cigarette smokes from their lungs. She felt a feeling of dread at her carelessness as she tucked the envelopes into her bag.
Isoken got into the bus and sat at the third row seat behind a man who wore dreadlocks. She was wonted for sitting beside the window for the sole reason of getting away from the noisomeness of body odour and stale perfume, intertwined with the complexities of mouth's acridity. The only gust of fresh air, came from the window and she wanted to be the first to be watered before it was diffused, sparingly, to the other occupants.
Soon, the bus got filled up and a man collected the fares from the passengers in a mechanical fashion of "Owó dá". A quarrel issued between the man and the driver on the amount for renumeration and settlement. The facts of the squabble was cryptic to Isoken who immersed herself between the grunts and growls outside and the shouts and pleas from the passengers who were clearly in haste. One of them got down to dialogue with the combatants. His contribution was scarcely marginal. After a few shouts and monies exchanging hands, the driver mounted the steering and the journey began.
Thoughts of her current position in the labour market began to stream through her mind. She had not yet decided what will be done with the money. It was cruel enough that Engineer Yahaya had tried to violate her, to be suspended for it was vile.
"All these touts are the problems of this country", an high-pitched voice rang into the enclaves of Isoken's thoughts. She recognised it, it was the peacemaker, the man who had tried to settle the belligerents.
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