Voices sounded from different seats on the bus, condemning the unscrupulous behavior of the arrogant boy. He was too presumptuous.
The level of embarrassment the boy felt right now, with so many eyes gazing at him in disdain was beyond titanic.
Seeing no way out, he could only stare at the attendant with resentment, forgetting he was the one who had invited the shame upon himself.
" You could do so if it pleases you, Sir " The attendant who had been quiet after hearing his threat finally spoke, refusing to back down.
" You ... " the arrogant boy stammered, wanting to speak but couldn't find the right words.
Seeing he had no replies, the female attendant walked away without letting out a single more word.
Though she had acted tough just now, it was only to save herself a bit of pride. She wasn't really that careless about losing her job. All she wished for at the moment was for the drama to die down before it caused severe consequences for her.
She walked to the staff-reserved area of the bus, which was right after the drivers' seats. Not long after she walked in, a feminine voice resounded from the speakers atop the seats on the bus.
This voice sounded feminine and exactly like the attendant's voice, so everyone could easily tell it was her.
" Hello Everyone. Please, I am here to address everyone who received a glass cup from me. Could you take a look at the back of the seat in your front? If you have, you will find two things there. A red button being shielded by a transparent plastic material..., and then beneath, a glass cup handle that the glass cups in your hands properly fits into.
Please, you are expected to drop the cup in that handle during and after usage to prevent it from breaking or acquiring any form of damage. I will be back in a while to retrieve all the glass cups so you don't have to worry about having them on you for too long. Thank you all for your time " The girl concluded her speech and then no one heard her voice anymore.
Her words were well-received by many, except for the arrogant boy who only viewed her voice as a catalyst fueling his anger.
He fumed within with no one to let it out on. Looking at the glass cup in his hands, he raised it in an attempt to smash it when a voice suddenly sounded by his side.
" I would advise you against that idea. Anything you break here must be paid in full for, and they will definitely hype the price to teach you a lesson. Don't say you weren't warned".
The voice belonged to the tranquil boy sitting beside the arrogant boy.
The arrogant boy immediately dropped the idea. But then, instead of being thankful, he decided to pass on his aggression to the boy who spoke, his supposed benefactor.
" Who do you think you are to tell me what to do ", the arrogant boy shouted, loud enough for the other passengers on the bus to hear his voice.
But..., " ... ", There was no reply. He was snubbed.
" Hahahahaha " A few people on the bus sprang out into laughter immediately, not giving a damn about the emotions of the arrogant boy. It was pretty obvious he had gained numerous haters on the bus.
Their actions rekindled the shame he had been trying to suppress and brought it to an apex level.
Clenching his fist, he solemnly made an oath to himself to never enter this bus ever again, knowing that doing so would only bring about taunting memories of this event.
Suddenly, he remembered something. Turning his head to his right side, he took a quick glance at James who in turn threw him a smirk identical to the one the arrogant not threw at him earlier.
" Damn it. Even he looks down on me now " The arrogant boy thought, clenching his fist even further thus leaving red nail marks on his palm.
James, on the other hand, had a different thought brewing in his mind. It concerned the attendant from earlier.
' How does she live like this? Having to be polite to someone like this scoundrel, to the extent that he could even threaten her.
Just when one thinks he's seen the worst and then something worse pops up.
Does she even have parents? If so, how could they allow this? Are they not scared for her safety?
Mind you, buses like this that constantly travel through states are on an extremely long and difficult-to-predict journey. Numerous unexpected incidents could occur, starting with robbery and other serious cases.
Even situations like traffic and the bus breaking down on the way could lead to a disruption in their plans for the journey, leaving them stranded at places they aren't that familiar with.
They might even have to sleep overnight on the bus if they are unable to find a hotel nearby at night. '
" Sigh ... " With a sigh, James threw behind the thoughts and closed his eyes to take a nap. He understood his thoughts were helpless and useless as he currently had no means to help her. He could only develop pity within, that such a good-mannered girl has to live this way.
' If I could help her someday, I would do my possible best, she's worthy of it ' he thought as his eyes slowly fell closed.
As time flew by with James fast asleep, A voice suddenly resounded throughout the bus from the speakers, " Hello Everyone, we are currently headed to our garage at Bayelsa State. If you are going to alight the bus, then please signify by pressing the alight button. The alight button is the red button above the glass cup handles. That is the handle addressed by my fellow attendant a while ago. " Please open up the plastic cover by sliding it sideways and click on the red button to signify now ". From the words, it belonged to a bus attendant. Albeit, unlike the previous attendant James had dealings with, this one was a male, and quite old also.
James, though fast asleep, was drawn out of the dreamland by the loud voice of the attendant echoing on the speaker.
" Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm " yawned dizzy James, who had just woken up.
" What was the announcement? " He muttered. Though the sound of the speaker did wake him, he was too dizzy to understand what was announced.
' I need to ask somebody ' he thought. He turned to the closest person, who happened to be the arrogant boy.
On seeing his presumptuous face, James immediately shook his head. He knew better than to invite trouble.
Having no choice, he stood up a bit, stretching his body to the seat at the front.
" Good afternoon ma " James greeted. The person being greeted was a middle-aged woman seated on the seat at James's front.
" Good afternoon, how may I help you? " She asked.
" Ma, it seems an announcement was made just now. The thing is, I was asleep when it was made. "Please could you brief me on what the announcement was? " replied James.
" Ohhhh, that. They announced that they would soon arrive at their bus park in Bayelsa, so those who would like to alight the bus should click on the alight button. "The alight button is the red button above your glass cup handle. '' The woman explained in detail.
" Thank you, Ma," he said as he retreated.
After taking his seat, James opened up the plastic cover, the one shielding the red button, and pressed the button.
Not long after, James could feel the car quit its motion. An attendant walked out of their reserve and opened the exit door of the bus, after which a few other attendants got off the bus.
After a few attendants left, a new set of attendants walked out, moving to various seats on the bus. They had a device in their hands that was basically used for tracking seats where the red buttons were pressed.
The sophisticated level of the bus brand was the unique reason a lot of people loved traveling on it.
The receipts of the passengers who pressed the red button were rechecked and after a confirmation of no problems, the passengers were allowed to alight the bus.
If there was a problem, the passenger would have to stay back for more clarification.
The passengers were also informed to take the rechecked receipts to the boot of the bus and pass them on to the attendants there. That was the only way their luggage would be released to them.
James did exactly as he was told, got off the bus, and then went to the booth.
There was a slightly long queue there, so James had no choice but to join the queue from the back.
Thankfully, the queue didn't last long since every passenger coordinated themselves well.
Not long after, it was James' turn, and he too followed the procedures.
One of the attendants, out of goodwill, asked the passengers where they were headed before they left, and directed them to where they would see vehicles headed in that direction and this act of goodwill was especially helpful to James as he didn't know where to head next. He thanked the attendant cheerfully and even offered to give him a small token but was rejected since he was a student. The attendant happened to be a middle-aged man with kids, and so he couldn't bear to accept money from a student.
James' load was fairly heavy, being only a single box and a bag carried on his back, thus, this brought a sense of joy to him as the place the attendant directed him to was a bit far off. It will require a bit of footwork to get there.
He strolled to the park at neither too quick nor too slow a pace, to avoid getting tired quickly, and soon, he got to the vicinity.
Getting there, he could hear different voices shouting the names of different locations to lure passengers to their bus.
" Otuoke, Otuoke, Otuoke " James finally heard the name he was waiting to hear. He immediately walked in that direction and found its source.
The voice belonged to a slightly aged man who was still very vibrant since he could continuously run to people he saw with luggage on the road to lure them into entering his bus.
The man caught sight of James, and on seeing that James was walking directly towards him, he was assured he was a passenger, and so even though James was a few steps away, he still ran towards him.
He quickly snatched James' box from his hands in an attempt to take it to the boot while directing James to the seat beside the driver's seat, but James forcefully stopped and requested his box back. He claimed he would rather hold it.
Seeing James' firm reaction, the man knew he wouldn't be able to convince James otherwise, and so he let him be.
" Never mind, just get on the bus," he said.