READING DELE

Dele groaned and got out of bed. There was no clock on the mantelpiece and the room was still dark, but he knew he was already late for work, probably by an hour. He was a commercial bus driver and had to get started as early as 5.00 a.m. and go almost non-stop till about 9.00 p.m. to make the daily returns that the bus owner demanded.

On the previous day, he had attended an all-night party – a late uncle’s burial ceremony – where he had drunk himself almost senseless before crawling home in the early hours of the morning. Now, he got up shakily, splashed water on his face, and hurried off to work, but not before carefully fastening on his upper left arm the amulet he had always worn for protection against accidents.

A similar amulet hung concealed under the steering column of his bus. On his way, still feeling groggy, he caught his left toe against a stump and had some misgiving. It was a bad sign, and he was supposed to go back home and then set out again.

But there was no time for that now, so he hurried on. At the bus station, Dele quickly loaded his bus and sped off with none of the checks on the vehicle. He had to make up for the lost time. It was the rush hour, so it overloaded the bus as it often was, with many passengers hanging on to the doors.

The tyres were threadbare; the brakes were faulty, and the road was wet, but, still feeling a little sleepy, Dele sped on. Many passengers protested about his reckless driving, but he would not listen. After all, didn’t he have protection against accidents?

As the vehicle took the last turn before its destination, Dele saw a broken-down truck blocking his side of the road. Under normal circumstances, he could have brought the bus safely to a halt, but the circumstances were far from normal. The careering bus hit the parked vehicle, swerved wildly across the road, and plunged into a ditch.

Dele’s surprise before he sank into oblivion was the failure of his supposedly protective amulets.