They say those of us who are cab drivers carry ghosts without knowing and some of them know, especially those old taxi drivers that have done juju to see things like that.
I am an uber driver. I carry passengers; men, o, women, o, boys and girls. So long as they have their money for the fare and they know where they are going, it’s, go on soun, for me.
It was raining heavily that day I got hailed for pickup around Victoria Island side. Not far from the beach. You know those offices that have been neglected by their owners because the sea has been reclaiming the area? Yes, that’s where I picked Jane from.
There was no sign in the sky to warn me, “Don’t pick this one o”
Neither did I think anything was wrong with picking her from that isolated place because as you see me so, I have picked people in stranger places and nothing happened to me. I was doing my business jejely.
I asked, her, then I hadn’t known her name was Jane, if she knew where she was heading because the place she named was some remote area inside the mainland, around Ijaiye side. The ride would cost her 5k and we agreed.
I am the type of person who likes to gist with my passengers. Many times when I am just driving around, looking to see if I would be hailed, I would be talking to myself. So when she settled, I began to talk.
“See as this rain is heavy. See as there is flood everywhere, washing up everything…” youknow,just normal gist.
The lady was responded, she said, “It can even remove the dead from their grave.”
We both laughed. There was nothing strange about her, I swear.
She said if I hadn’t come soon, maybe she would have turned to mammy water…
We both laughed again.
That’s how we gisted about many things.
I enjoyed our conversation
She told me about her boss, who made her work till late and drove off in his car without even giving her a lift.
She told me about her landlord who had increased her rent and that she didn’t have money to pay him…as I didn’t know what else to say to that, I said, “Don’t worry, a miracle is on the way.”
I too told her about how I decided to become an uber driver and was saving to travel abroad.
Island to Ijaiye that day took us three and half hours because you know Lagos, small rain, big traffic, not to talk of heavy rain, the traffic was mad.
I eventually dropped her and we exchanged phone numbers, saying that in case she needed an urgent ride and I was available, I would come to pick her.
In the course of three weeks, I picked her from that same spot, three times.
It was always, “I am working late.”
Now, the third time, she told me she wasn’t going to her house because her landlord had finally sent her packing. I said, “This is not done in Lagos, no landlord can just ask you to leave, he has to give you at least 6 months’ notice.”
She began to cry, saying that period was the end of her six months and she didn’t have anywhere to go. “So where do I drop you?”
Said she didn’t know.
I said, “Ha, toh, so what will you do? You don’t have friends or family or people to stay with until you have money for another place?”
She said she didn’t have.
By this time, we were on the third mainland bridge and like I said, we had become, kind of familiar.
I took her home
I said, I have a room and parlour, bring your things and we will figure how to get you another place.
To be sincere, I had been…you know, checking her out. I am a man, na. So she slept at my place that night. She slept on my bed, I slept in the parlour.
Anyway, two days later, I was the one that went to pick her up and get the rest of her things. We went in the evening, so I didn’t even see the rest of her neighbours. Her things were in three Ghana must go bags behind a kiosk at the house I used to drop her.
Back to my house. I vacated my room and began to sleep in the parlour…for almost two weeks before konji set in.
You understand that man and woman that are not related and living in the same house can start catching feelings for each other…body no bi wood, na. That’s how I moved back into my bedroom…we began to “see” each other.
Even though I had no plans for marriage. Marriage costs money, to keep a woman in your house, you must be standing, well, well. There was no talk of marriage. we just did our thing….for maybe 6 or 7 months steady.
Then she got pregnant. A pregnancy that I didn’t want.
But as a gentleman, I knew the pregnancy was mine. E get as you go dey chop something, when e hook, you, you will know it’s because of what you have been chopping, so I said, “Ok, you are pregnant, let us go and see your family.”
Jane said, “Ha no, o, my people are wicked people, o. They will curse you, they will start trouble, let’s just have the baby.”
She refused to take me to her home
She said it wasn’t necessary that she and her parents don’t talk because of one thing, one thing.
I said, “Once they see you pregnant, they will forgive and forget the quarrel and be happy to have a grandchild.”
My babe said, no, she wanted us to have the child first.
Ok, the baby came and after 40 days, I said, “Let’s start planning to go and see your parents.” Shebi I am the one offering to go. I am the one who knows even though he has no money for marriage, I am still saying, let us do the right thing?
She said, we should wait for 6 months then the baby would be strong and she won’t catch any disease in the village. I said ok. When our baby girl turned six months, I told Jane, “Let’s go and see your parents.”
You know what?
Not once did she say, come and meet my parents. I was the one always suggesting it to her and when I did, not once did she remind me that hey, it’s six months o, let’s go and see my parents, not once!
So I noticed she really didn’t want to go see her parents. Then I told her I would have nothing to do with her because this is Nigeria. Where will you find a guy eager to do the right thing, eager to marry you properly, even though he doesn’t have the money? Where would you find such a guy?
I was practically begging her to take me to go meet her parents.
Hummn.
When I saw she was not willing, I said, what’s my own, you won’t accuse me of not trying. At some point, I got so frustrated, I stopped going home and when she called me, I didn’t pick up her calls. Then she called my brother, who spoke to me. He said I should reconcile with her and that he had spoken to her to ensure we go to see her family.
Long story short. We went to her village.
When we got to the garage because we went by public transport, we chartered two okadas. I rode in one, carrying our little girl with me. My girlfriend rode in the other with our load and the things we bought to give to village people. She told the okada I was on, the address of where we were going to. That one took off, even though I wanted to make sure she was ok before we left but you know these riders, he said they would catch up with us.
When we got to the compound, I discovered my wife and the other rider weren’t even close, so I entered the house and asked for her mother. Jane had told me her mother’s name. There was a small boy playing ball, who went in to call her.
An old woman came out.
I introduced myself to her and showed her our little girl. I said, “I am your daughter’s husband, this is our child, now your grandchild.”
Mama was just looking at me as if I was a madman.
She said, “What did you say?”
I repeated myself, “Are you not mama Jane?”
She said yes, I said, “This is Jane’s daughter and I am her husband. Jane is coming, she will soon join us.”
Mama was just staring at me.
I brought out my phone to show her the photo of her daughter, let her not start thinking I am a ritualist or something.
Mama had just seen a ghost
Mama looked and she just staggered back as if someone pushed her.
I was looking up at the house to see who else I could talk to and looking behind to see if Jane and her rider were close by.
Then Mama called out to some people in the house, and they came out, two men and a woman. Mama said, “Oya, repeat ya sef.”
By this time, I was getting angry that Jane and the other okada were taking such a long time. I kept looking at the road to see if they were already approaching because I didn’t like the way everyone was looking at me and my child.
But I had to repeat myself again. After I did. All of them went to check the road to see if anyone was coming on okada, even I checked…there was no one coming.
You know, my mind was already in a turmoil. I was just panting like…because you know, my brain was just going crazy…
Where is this woman!
Then the eldest man among the men spoke. He said, the Jane you are talking about died more than 5 years ago! See where she was buried.
Only then did I notice the burial place. It was done with white tiles.
But I swear to you, my body started shivering. I was just shivering as if they poured me cold water from head to toe…
How can Jane be a dead woman? For close to two years, I lived with this woman and we have a baby girl…how can she be a dead person?
You know, they didn’t even want to touch our daughter. They said we should leave! They said they weren’t even sure my daughter was a real child. The way they reacted, if I didn’t have any liver, I would have dropped the child there and run away!
I took my child and we went back.
I went back to my house.
With my baby girl
We went back to Lagos.
Somehow, I may never know, the neighbours in the house already knew, that my wife was a ghost.
The following morning, everyone in our compound just acted as if I was invisible.
I would greet, they won’t answer. My daughter wanted to play with one of my neighbour’s child and the mother carried her child away….
Maybe this had been going on and I didn’t know, you know I leave home very early in the morning and return late at night. That’s the job of us cab drivers. Jane never said anything like that to me.
So it means they knew my wife was a ghost all along and nobody said anything to me.
Life is now difficult because I have a child nobody wants to take care of for me while I worked. We live in a house everyone is treating us like lepers…I don’t know what to do, even my own family say they can’t take my child.
I wish I can just find somewhere to leave her and run away!
Everything is still running in my head as if I am still dreaming.
(Series written and edited by Peju Akande and based on true stories)