Highway Merchandising

The tall straggly figure sprinted after the bus as it drove past him. Suddenly the bus swerved sharply as it tried to avoid the ditch in front. The young man too narrowly escaped being knocked down by the bus as he jumped to the other side of the ditch. 

Still, he refused to give up running after the bus. He ran after it as he saw the out-stretched arm protrude out of the bus window willing him to run after it. He stepped up his speed running, imagining himself to be Usain Bolt. And with one final leap, he stretched him arms and placed the bottled water into the waiting hand of the determined passenger who must quench his thirst, a naira note in his right hand, which he let go as soon as the bottled water sat safely in his hand.

Zoom! The bus sped off, leaving a cloud of dust hovering after it. The young man ran after the naira note determined to grab the returns of the sale he just made but the note kept rolling on the buoyancy of the swirling dust.

Finally, he reached it and made a grasp for it just in time before another gust of wind blew his hard earned money into the deep ravine nearby.

This was his regular routine, his only means of survival. But this was not his only skill. He had other mechanical skill as a vulcaniser, but since the road construction began some months back, most of the owners or smaller cars have refused to ply the road except high-end commercial motors and other heavy duty vehicles.

Just then, another bus drove past him and he swiftly ran after it certain he had seen an out-stretched hand. For several intense seconds he pursued the bus only for the hand to wave back at him. The message was clear: ‘Sorry. I’m not buying water. Apologies if you misunderstood my dangling hand.”

The man with the merchandise understood. He stopped running, waved back and smiled. There will be another customer soon.