A Lesson…..

Simi was giddy with excitement. She could not wait to get home and share the good news with her mother. She could imagine how over the moon her mother would feel. She had finally gotten a full scholarship to continue her education. It was a dream come true. Ever since her father died, her mother had struggled to make ends meet in fending for her and her two younger siblings. Simi had to drop out of school when she could no longer pay her bills. She got a job as a salesperson at a supermarket to help in raising extra cash for the family. It had always been her mother’s dream for her to get back into school.

She looked at the time. It was 4:30pm. Thirty minutes before her shift ended. She looked round to see if Mr. Peter was still around. Thankfully he was. She would occasionally take a ride with Mr. Peter in his car who would drop her at the bus stop before her house. That always saved her transport fare.

Othuke’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing. It was his boss, Anita again. Anita was a classic example of a boss from hell. He grunted. “Why is this woman just a witch?” He was under immense pressure. His wife, Efe was currently in the labour room to have their first child and all Anita was concerned about was for him to finish a report. A report which could have been done by any other person! He eventually got around to complete it and rushed out of the office without letting her know. She had obviously seen the report hence the call.

He cursed under his breath as he saw the traffic in front. Efe wouldn’t forgive him if he didn’t get to the hospital in time.

His phone rang again. He picked this time

“Who authorized you to leave the office?” Anita’s icy voice was on the other end of the line.

“I’m sorry Anita. But I explained to you that my wife is in labour so I felt I could leave once I was done with the report”

“Are you the doctor or will you help to push out the baby? Look Othuke, I really do not understand this report. Some of these figures don’t jive. I need you to fix this and send it back to me in thirty minutes. Your wife and baby will not run away”

“But, I…..” Othuke stopped when he realized she had ended the call.

He punched his steering in frustration. He should have switched off his phone as soon as sent the report, he thought in frustration. He turned off his phone.

“I’ll deal with whatever comes from this later”. He muttered under his breath as he continued his drive to the hospital.

Sandra could not believe what she was reading on her WhatsApp group. She and her girlfriends were having an argument on a controversial music video released by her favourite artist. Sandra had always been known to be a “fierce keyboard warrior” like her friend Derin had pointed out. She looked at the traffic ahead and picked her phone to respond to the recent message.

“ I can’t believe you can be this judgemental Efua”, she typed

“Oh please, I still believe the video is absolutely STEWPID”. Another friend, Amaka responded.

“If not that I’m driving, I’d have given you a piece of my mind. Let me get home first “

“What?! Driving and texting 😳”That was from Efua

“I’m an expert driver😋” was Sandra’s response

Sandra looked up suddenly and noticed in horror a parked truck on her lane. It was only seconds away from her. She had not noticed that the traffic ahead had cleared and she was moving at top speed. She literally had milliseconds to make a decision. Either to crash into the truck or swerve to the other lane with the possibility of crashing into an oncoming vehicle. Either way she knew there would be a crash. The last thing she saw as she swerved to the other side of the road was a white bus (which looked like a school bus) moving in her direction and that was when she realized she had made a horrible mistake.

Ernest was amazed at the amount of traffic on the highway. He just wanted to get home in good time. His day at the office was extremely frustrating and he had a bad headache. He tuned into Traffic radio to see if there would be any report on the unusual traffic.

“……gridlock on Highway 1 due to a multiple accident involving a school bus and six other vehicles. Two people have been pronounced dead on the scene while several others in critical condition have been taken to the hospital. We urge commuters to be patient as the Emergency services are doing all they can to clear up the scene and attend to those……”

Ernest turned off the radio. He knew he was in for a long ride home.

Efe looked at her baby in adoration. She was now a mother! But beyond her excitement, she was worried. She had not been able to reach her husband, Othuke. The last time they spoke was when he was leaving the office. That was three hours ago. His phone had been switched off ever since.

Simi’s mother looked at the time for the umpteenth time. Simi had still not gotten home. It was so unlike her daughter. She had just got off the phone with Simi’s friend who confirmed that she left the office immediately her shift ended with Mr. Peter. Their numbers were not reachable.

And on Sandra’s WhatsApp group, the argument continued.

“Sandra, are you not home yet?” Amaka queried

“I bet she is. She’s probably just hiding Cos she has nothing more to say 😂”

Those messages were not delivered as Sandra’s phone lay completely shattered by the crash…….

DISTRACTED DRIVING KILLS!

 

Image credit- Pixabay.com