It’s been five months since I lost my job. I resumed work that morning with a song in my heart. At exactly 12 noon, my boss called me into his office and everything changed. I joined the ranks of the unemployed thanks to
‘corporate downsizing’ and ‘falling profit margins’. I shunted from one menial job to the other; hoping that something better would turn up and I would land on my feet but then, it never rains but pours right?
It’s been three months since my girlfriend left me. We had these dreams and plans and.........poof! She was gone faster than vapor trails in the heat of the sun. She said she would always be there for me. She got married not long after we split and I was there to support the happy couple. After all, it is good manners to attend a wedding especially when you have been invited.
It’s been two weeks since my family died in a car accident. The occasion was the celebration of my long-lived maternal grandmother at 99 years of age and she was still going strong. I would have gone but I had an interview scheduled for that Thursday; the Thursday they left for my grandma’s hometown. But they never made it back. Just another headline in the news: “Family of 3 crushed by a trailer.”
My father’s people, God bless them, fought over his properties. They swore they were watching out for me so I won’t have so much to worry about; such a loving clan of selfless people.
So here I stand, at the edge of Carter Bridge in the bustling city of Lagos. I see my family smiling at me from the watery depths of the ocean. Just one step and I will know happiness again.
Niran Sina
Twitter: @NiranNoni
