The sun was still high over the Lagos skyline when Olivia Amadi woke up from her well-organized bedroom. The warm sun streamed through the blinds to lay lazy stripes on her bed, her well-stacked shoes, and the Ghana Must Go bag obdurately stuck to the corner. It was no average day; this was the National Youth Service Corps programme take-off day for her, that obligatory rite of passage all youth Nigerians feared but secretly cherished.
Her heart pulsed with excitement and pride. She heard the distant bus horns below, the vendors' chatter from the market, the screeching of car brakes. The city was alive, busy, and ostentatiously loud, just like her. She rose out of bed, the cold tiles under her own soles, went to the mirror. Her face greeted her,Olivia Amadi, Lagos girl, born to conquer the universe, or Enugu her destination.
Her mother, Elizabeth, had been by the door for the last ten minutes with arms folded, lips set firm, eyes monitoring all activity. She raised an eyebrow to see Olivia struggling with the over-stuffed suitcase.
"Do you want, take the entire home?," she said silently but stingingly.
Olivia quietly beamed, her noise one carried on the music silently streaming from her phone. She had selected a playlist of songs to play while on the journey. Sort of to calm herself down and give some kind of vibe while on the journey.
"Mummy!, I'm all set". "Don't worry",
Her mother breathed out. "Olivia, do you this as a holiday? This is NYSC, you are not going for a queen slay competition o. "Better carry your sense with you". "You'll see that it is not as easy as you imagine". "The city you are heading to is not Lagos. I hope you are well aware?"
Olivia raised her eyebrow, not giving way to the desire to complain. The idea of needing to leave the security of her room, her city, her friends, and into an unfamiliar environment she had never been aside from photographs or words was both dreadful and exciting to her even if it seemed as though she would gain some kind of freedom from her mom, this feeling made everything seem perfect and exciting.
As much as she had pictured her Enugu trip, the environment was neat, clean, and most definitely away from what was to come.
Her friends arrived soon afterwards, chattering and laughing, as if they were party planning but never goodbyes. Each had tiny packages of wisdom, snacks, and well wishes. One handed Olivia a power bank as if this was some type of scripture. "Charge up that phone, oh. Don't come back without taking at least ten selfies," she said.
Another spoke quietly, "Ensure you make sure that your lodge is good. Those individuals suffer so much worse than we even imagine."
She re-read her poster letter, bending the sheet gently with her palms. Community Secondary School, Enugu . Almost city-good to feel just fine, almost as if she would be able to make out there without sacrificing her Lagos livestyle. Clean rooms, nicely dressed fellow corper's, electricity-driven lodges, and so on.
Her room was a image of neat and disorder. Shoes arranged as though she was a shoe seller, make-up arranged on her table as though her room was a real boutique, clothes folded except for clothes she had loosely dumped into the Ghana Must Go bag. The bag itself had been unforgiving, resisting her all the way she tried to jam it into neat forms.
Olivia's brother, Samuel, came to the door with the bag. "Omo, this one heavy pass human being," he grumbled, attempting to lift the bag as though weighing fifty kilograms.
"Bring it," said Olivia bluntly. "I'll pay you later with ice cream."
Samuel lifted up his eyes but agreed, lifted the bag effortlessly. Outdoors, the driver was blowing the horn, eagerly waiting for them to leave. Olivia's mother followed her out to where the car was, hips set, face set with anguish as well as pride.
"Call me when you get there," said Elizabeth, shaking despite trying to pretend she was fine. "And don't make the same error this is Lagos. Respect the environment, respect yourself"
"I will, Mummy," said Olivia, fastening into the car seat. She offered her mother a swift hug, experiencing the hard squeeze of good-bye stay beyond what she was anticipating. The city appeared to buzz around them, the tones of Lagos traffic merging with her excitement. The car pulled away, and Olivia gazed out the window, taking one final look at the familiar sounds and smells of her hometown. Market stalls, yellow danfo buses, hawkers on the streets, the aroma of roasted plantains and exhaust from cars— all the confusion she loved. She thought about the bus she would take later in Benin, the first step to what she hoped was an easy, reliable process to Enugu. She kind of felt worried due to time but thought she was going to figure it out anyway.She wasn't a kid anymore she said to herself.
She imagined herself alighting from the bus in Enugu, tidy streets, tidy lodges, and her corper friends embracing her with open arms to receive her.
Her mind went to the future, the students, the colleagues she would work among, the work she would perform. She pictured herself as the ideal corper, smart, respectful, disciplined. She chuckled to herself at the picture she made walking around yelling at kids and scolding teachers. It boosted her confidence.
The bus ride from Lagos was silent but awkward. Olivia was busy on her phone, charging the device all the way with the power bank, ensuring all her contacts were current. She went over her notes, checked her papers, even practiced the introduction she was to make during her posting.
The day went by so slowly, each minute filled with expectations. The city dwindled away away from her as she stared out, the highways that appeared to end. She thought of the city she was leaving behind, the next village she was to encounter, the sense of pride she felt as a Lagos girl set for the NYSC adventure.
But by the time the sun had set low and the darkness was descending, she did not take notice of the minute details, the very last bus at the bus-stop in Benin, the conductors yelling out various destinations.
By the time they got to the Benin bus park, it was getting late, and was soon rapidly becoming dark, Olivia checked her phone and was shocked it was almost 6:30 PM. Olivia quickly alighted from the car while dragging her bag behind her, and looked around the busy park. People yelled, vendors hawked their wares, and buses queued calmly in precise rows, set to leave for any point in Nigeria. Her heart was racing.
She caught sight of one final bus leaving for Enugu, the conductor yelling Enugu Enugu Enugu. Dazed from packing, from phrases good bye, from excitement, she heard "Enugu, Enugu direct!"Enugu one chance! Enugu One chance!.Olivia darted towards the bus as she entered into the bus. She felt relieved as she got on the bus for fears that she was going to miss the last bus to Enugu at that time of the day.She looked back from her shoulder and saw her bag being lifted into the boot by the bus conductor, she had actually taken up the space by the window. And then the boot was shut as well as the door of the bus. The bus was ready to move. Many of the other passengers felt some kind of relief as the bus was awakened, and she breathed out as the bus was on ward motion.
She covered her eyes with her palms, allowing the muted shine from the interior lights to wrap around her. So, as the city receded from her and the road lay out before her endlessly, the work of Olivia commenced