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I had just ran away from the orphanage.
I had no money, nowhere to go, and no way to get there. I knew nothing about the ‘outside world’ except that it had to be better than what I was leaving behind. My only possessions were the clothes I was wearing and some I had tied to a stick..
I decided Abuja would be my destination, it looked so good on TV. Didn’t even need a map. All I had to do was keep heading north..After some hours, I was now growing weary, having put a couple hundred miles behind me and the home on foot. On a side street, I found an unlocked van, climbed in the back and shivered myself to a nervous sleep, waking many times in the night. I was twelve.
Where in Abuja was I headed? I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Probably Jabi. Yes, that’s where I would go .
I got out of the van early in the morning — I didn’t want to cause any drama with the owner, should he come out to go to work — and back on..I tried to hitch a ride to Jabi. Occasionally someone would stop to offer a ride, and ask, “How far are you going?”
I’m on my way to Jabi Recreational park.”
“Oh no I’m only goin’ down to wuse”
"That’s alright. Every little bit helps"
He drove three blocks and deposited me on the corner. “Well, this is wuse.”
I’m not going to bore you with all the details; I just wanted to suggest the condition I was in at the time I met that one stranger I never forgot.
That day passed and another was ending, and after a few short rides and a lot of leg work, I found myself stumbling down the road in the pitch black night, half asleep somewhere in Abuja. I was so tired and there was absolutely no traffic in sight, Total darkness.
Then it began to rain. It began as a drizzle but it wasn’t long until it became an angry and relentless torrent.
But there was nothing I could do but keep walking, no place to get out of the rain, and nowhere to rest. Just keep stepping, eventually I notice a light down the road..
After what seemed like an eternity, I found myself standing in a parking lot of an old diner. It had a single light-bulb, protected by a metal hemisphere that would weakly ring out with every strike of a fat raindrop, hanging above the door, and there was only one car in the lot.
I didn’t know what to do. I very much wanted to get out of the cold rain but I had no money. I’m a runaway. If I go in, will I be discovered?
I went in.
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The place was empty. A middle-aged woman appeared from the kitchen and said,”Well, look at you!”
“Yeah, it’s kinda wet out there.”
“What can I get you?”
“Oh, I don’t need anything. I don’t have any money. But please can I use your bathroom?”
“Sure! It’s just around that corner there,” she said pointing
I hurried in and stripped naked, dumped the water out of my shoes, tried to dry my hair and body, then wrung out all my clothes as best I could, and got dressed again. Combed my hair with my fingers.
When I emerged into the dining area looking like a wet dog, there was a plate of rice
I looked at her.
“Go on! Set yourself down and eat your supper.”
“But ma’am, I told you, I don’t have any money. I can’t pay for this.”
“Don’t worry about it, honey. It’s on the house.”
I didn’t know what to make of this. I didn’t even know this lady. Is she trapping me? Will the police soon be here to take me back to the home? Surely, the home doesn’t have that kind of reach from hundreds of miles away.
Between mouthfuls, I asked her why she was doing this for me.
“I have a son about your age somewhere out there,” she said, gesturing at the front door, “and wherever he is, I hope someone is doing the same for him.”