DO DREAMS COME TRUE?

 April T. Adams

It was a sunny day as I spread my umbrella and walked away from the public school where I teach. The heat was so harsh and sweat bathed me like fountain waters. I subsequently checked my handbag to see if my salary worth 10,000naira was still intact.  Then I continued walking towards the market which is a kilometre away from the school. Hailing a cab was out of it, since the crash of naira has caused inflation in everything, even the air we breathe seems to be coming in a bit. Debts on ground have overwhelmed my salary, but hunger cannot be ignored.

At last getting to the big market, I sighed with relief and ordered sugarcane of 10naira from a Hausa man chewing cola nut nearby. And instead of splitting one into two, he gave me the whole stick. I said my thanks, but he replied “mai Gaskiya yaayi”( President Buhari aka mai gaskiya is good). I couldn’t decipher what he said, so I just nodded and continued my random shopping. In the heart of the Big Market, lot of activities were going on. So I looked around searching for where Garri, the first item on my market list is being sold. After some efforts I spotted a fat woman under a big umbrella with bags of Garri displayed on her stall. I went to her and asked for one cup of Garri which she said was 60naira. I thought I didn’t hear her very well, so I asked again. She looked up with a big bulging eye and said slowly, ‘oga, Garri na 60 naira’. I nodded and ordered for 10 cups instead of two cups on my list. Happily, I left for other items like crayfish, wheat, rice, vegetables etc. And after buying everything on the list, I discovered am left with half of my salary. All of the items have been reduced five times their actual prices!

I grabbed my purchase and this time around I hailed a cab home and immediately took a reroute to my bank to check on my shares. Getting to the bank, I met a big crowd, so I queued till I was invited       to the manager’s office, who gave me the status of my shares. Miraculously, a share of 30unit is now 113units. I felt like dancing but I remained sober, thinking of how to strategically spend my ‘awoof ‘, and how to pay the bride price of Aduke, my long time fiance was the first thing that came to my mind, before my good sense reminded me of my debt to neighbors  and friends. I was still in trance when I heard somebody bang on the door. But I ignored it thinking who would knock a banks’ door in that manner. But the knock continued and before I could gather my wit together, I was served with a hot slap! I jumped up covering my face with both hands. And as I try to open one of eye to see who had that guts to assault me like that, the image that met me was unbelievable. It was the landlord angry stare that met my own flaming hot ones.

Then reality came like a thunder, I was no more in the Bank but in my one-room apartment. The entire market and bank ordeal was a dream!! But how could this wicked landlord wake me up to this harsh reality of a poor and hungry man, I thought deeply. Then the landlord who had been sizing me up roared again and told me without blinking an eye that the rent has been increased , adding that I should pay up my rent that has been due since two months ago, or vacate the house. He then hissed then barged out.

I took heart and showered, and exchanged my cloth with a clean one then took a short walk. But the reality is still the same. State governments are still complaining of reduction in state allocations, while still acquiring more debt at the expense of workers’ salaries. And I am yet to be paid my 8month salary ,also foodstuff are still sold thrice their actual price. I sat on the Gossip chair along the street and stared at heaven, the sky was dull compared to the sunny one in my dream.

then it dawn on me that no matter what I do , there is no way of going back to that sweet dreamland, where everything comes easy and hard work pays in seven folds, I decided to hail a cab to my friends’ house. The cab came to a halt and I told him to take me down the junction, but before I could grab the door opened, the cab driver shouted ‘Mr. man, blossom junction na 500naira oooo, pay or waka?....

Please how can I return to the dreamland?