Driven to the city in search of employment, entertainment and luxurious life style might have been achieved if I had some sound and solid education. But life in school wasn't taken seriously. School to me was a meeting point for friends. Once we gather in school, all parental advices fell on deaf ears. To rebel against teachers were stupid heroism as I found out later, but too late. Teenage as I found out later was the most crucial stage of life being the turning point for the better or worst.
Being suspended from school turned me into a rebellious turk. Any far sighted youth would have taken a positive path to repent and to change for the better, accepting punishments as a signal to change. But no, not me. I feared nothing and always thought that the world was under my feet. I quitted school out of retaliation for being suspended, thinking that was the best way to hit back at the teachers. By quitting school, I thought I had the school on their knees and became a hero in the eyes of all the students. That was where i erred. I won the admirations of the village loafers, not knowing that I was lured into the bandwagon of failures. Sadly the hard facts was that dropping out of school was like falling off a ship before reaching the harbour. A sensible person would quickly climb back to the ship and likewise a suspended student should quickly get readmitted to school the sooner the better. But no one told me that. If there was, I wouldn't listen anyway.
I was 19 years old when I walked out of my family's farm house after having wasted years of precious youth loafing. A few shirts and jeans were all I took with me to conquer the world. My parents gave up all hopes on me. As I had mentioned earlier, all parental advices fell on deaf ears. My siblings just watched as I left. I was proud to show to all of them that I could make my own decision and was bold enough to venture into the vast world out there which they have heard of but have never seen.
My very close buddy, came to fetch me on a borrowed bike. As the noise of the bike became inaudible, we disappeared into the horizon. We were both on the road chasing our dreams. A dream we talked about everyday in the village. The city was a place where dreams came true. All the tycoons, all the multi millionaires and all the big shots found their success in the city, not in the village nor in the school. Look at the teachers, all they could afford was a car. So quitting school and heading to the city was the wisest choice. A thought no sensible person would agree with.
The city was bustling even by late evening. We searched for our fellow villager for a place to stay. By 7pm we found him. He was a factory worker staying in the company's hostels. We were told people without worker's id card were not allowed in. So he suggested another friend working at a nearby construction site. We went to the worker's quarters. It looks more like an illegal squatter settlement. Rusted tin sheets for roofs, used and reused boards for walls and one common tap out in the open where they all bathed. Workers of different nationalities worked and stayed here. They were very hostile looking and extremely unfriendly. I felt very uneasy. We were fore warned we wee not welcomed here.
Then we met another fellow villager, he was a bus conductor. He had a roommate both renting at the 3rd floor of a shop. He didn't mind us putting up a night or two with him. We promised to get a place of our own in a day or two. At the same time we'd be looking for employment. So for the first night we were through. Exhausted and without food the whole day, we slept cramped in the small room meant for one tenant.
Next morning we woke up to find everything quiet. The other tenants had all left for work, so were our host. After our morning bath, we descended the stairs into the streets. We both could only afford a cup of coffee each. Longing for cigarettes which we couldn't afford, we were forced to forget about smoking. We decided to a walk and look around. In actual fact we didn't know what we wanted to look for. Aimless roaming brought nothing but sweat and exhaustion. So finally we went back to our friend's lodge.
It was slightly past 6pm, when our village mate the bus conductor appeared. He eagerly asked if we've found ourselves a lodging place and employment. We told him we found nothing. Next he wanted to know if we have taken our meals. No was our honest answer. Let's have dinner then. So we ate at an open air food court. That's the cheapest in the city.
After dinner we had a walk-about. The city burst into life as the neon lights illuminated the night. We stopped outside a pub. A man was seated alone there. Our bus conductor friend introduced us to him. We were told he was the pub's bouncer. As they chatted the bouncer called for a beer each. So 4cans of beer were sent to the outside table. Later the bouncer told us that Madam might need a couple of workers. If we're interested then we need to wait till Madam came. Madam was the pub proprietor. A very rich and influential lady. Our bus conductor friend added that we not only needed employment but we needed a place to stay and were penniless too, Those statements were very helpful but embarrassing and robbed us off our dignity. At least that's how I felt. The idea of conquering the city now brought us to reality. We were actually nothing, hoping to survive another night on the charity of others.
A sporty luxurious car stopped by, in a flash the bouncer was there to open the door. An elegantly dressed Lady exited. The bouncer escorted her into the pub. Our bus conductor friend who frequented this pub told us that the lady was Madam. Everyone here called her madam. The bouncer appeared and told us to follow him in. Our bus conductor village mate bade us good night. We tailed the bouncer to the back of the lounge. There was an office which was decorated with carvings of human figures, a pair of porcelain horses and framed pictures. It was cosy inside.
