THE APOLOGY THAT NEVER HAPPENED

 

2016, I was traveling from Akure to Ila orangun. I had secured the back seat in the 18 seater bus and it was quite comfortable.. My mind was blank and I only stared emptily before two other passengers came to join in. 

It was me going back to PPA seven days after my mum's burial. 

Hawkers dugged their heads through the windshield uninvited with unfitting trays beckoning the passengers to patronize them, but I only had my face the other way and supported my jaw with my hands, lost in thought. 

Soon we were moving. The reviving engine jotted me back to reality. Dry air escaped into the vehicle and went out the openings with a whistling hum. The trees ran past us as we hastened pass the forests. In that instant, I remembered home with a silent grief. "Goodbye forever Mum", my heart sank beneath my breathe as I swallowed my tears together with the saliva in my throat. 

We were barely twenty minutes into the journey when the weather suddenly changed. The burning bright sun vanished into a thick dark cloud that trembled the yellow vegetations and humbled the greens. I knew immediately that it was going to rain cats and dogs- figuratively so. 

A ferocious unnerving wind began to blow and the driver, irritated by the sudden change yelled continously in his native dialect cursing the rain of it uninvited visit. 

He gripped the rickety steering wheel as he manoeuvred agressively past the other vehicles in a forge of swift.. however, while we all were screaming at the top of our voices, cautioning him to take it slow, his main concern was that he desperately needed to arrive at Ila-orangun so that he could return for another trip.

"Money must be made" he persisted. 

A huge downpour started to fall but only to deluge down my head from the rear because the faulty boot wouldn't close properly as a result of the over-occupying luggage. 

The dented roof released good percentage of the water in my direction that funnelled directly onto my head like a corked bottle of champagne filling a tumbler. My ears went temporarily deaf from the impact of its force, I tried to endure but when I couldn't take it no more I started to yell for help. 

Few passengers understood my plight and mumbled a few sympathy but it didn't solve the problem. The driver was not helping matter as he kept asking me to stay quiet so he can concentrate. It was an unforgettable experience- little wonder I'm putting in a post. 

After another twenty grueling minutes, we finally reached our destination, I meander slowly as I alighted, the rain hadn't stopped but had drastically reduced. 

I approached the driver and spoke calmly "I think you need to compensate me for the discomfort", I reinforced painfully, drenched from head to toes while clenching to my bag which contained my documents-I was a corp member. 

It was the least he could do. I wasn't expecting a refund but I was expecting a heartfelt apology, instead he unleashed a barrage of insults on me. I stood there completely mortified. Embarrased. 

When he was done, he jump in his bus, made a U-turn, made a mocking face at me and sped off. I hadn't seen such insolence in a long time! 

God knows I purposely didn't dignify him with words because I wasn't expecting the outcome-besides, I was too shocked to speak.

That was how this man made away with the apology he should have tendered me. 

Looking back now, I feel cheated.