The Dictionary At Agege Market.

Going to the market during the rainy season is always a hell of work and if it is ever possible not to visit the market while it is raining, I am surely not going to do that.
Agege market is very rough. The Lagos state government has tried its best but they are still not getting it right. The ground is usually mushy whenever a little amount of rain drops.

I got to the market on that day very early around 10:00 am. The first place I went to was Iya Abdullah’s shop to get the Daniel Jones dictionary and Master Literature book that my lecturer asked us to buy. Those two books will serve as a ticket to her next class which I will be having by 3:00 pm on that day.
Iya Abdullah has the biggest bookshop in the whole of Agege market and that’s why I went there because I knew I will get the book I wanted. It was during the rainy season so I tried to make sure I leave before the rain starts.

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My people, you will give us some minutes to get fuel. We need to print your receipts just as you all know, Iya Abdullah said that to all of us on the queue. I was hopeless because I was the last person on queue. The first thing I looked at was the sky. It was very cloudy. Everywhere was cold and rain was about to fall. Luckily, it took them just five minutes to buy the fuel.
The queue was progressing and I kept moving forward.

You’re not supposed to be on this queue. Your goods are less than twenty thousand naira so that’s your queue, one of her workers said to me when I thought I was about to be attended to.
I felt bad and reluctant to leave that queue. I checked my wristwatch but there was still time so I sadly joined my queue which has over thirty people.

When will I leave here?, I asked myself. I didn’t know when tears dropped out of my eye. I didn’t have a car and it was about to rain. If the rain beats me, my dictionary and the other book will get spoilt.

Unfortunately, that’s what happened. The workers responded to me after an hour on the queue and while going, standing by the road to get a bike, the rain started. There was no form of drizzling. The rain started falling heavily but I had walk past where I bought the books and there was no place to hide. The only hiding spot was filled up.

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Cover those books, they will get wet, a woman under a canopy threw a bigger nylon at me so I can cover the books I went to buy.

I covered them and kept running to check for a hiding spot. Instead of that, I bike sped past me.
Bike!!!!
I screamed. He drove back and I was so lucky that we two were going the same way even though I was going to pay him.

Oga please drive small small, I pleaded with the bike man to be careful because of the mushy floor but that was just a coincidence. While telling him to be careful with how he drives, we both fell into the mud. I was still aiming at holding my books tightly so they don’t get dirty.

Uncle, please lift me up, some homeless guys came to our rescue. I was happy that they helped but I was guiding my properties so they don’t steal it.
It was getting late already and the rain became heavier.
I should have just waited somewhere, I said to myself even though there was nowhere to stay.

What next? I sat on the bike again. The journey continued. I could not afford to sit with those guys because they can be harmful. The bike man dropped me at the bus stop and I found a hiding spot.

Do you have pure water?, I bought from a lady who was also standing in the hiding space. There, I cleaned up my body and checked the books. Some of them were spoilt already. I felt bad! What an unfortunate day!

I thought my tribulations ended already until it took the rain three extra hours for it to stop. By then, it was almost evening and I missed the class already.
Why did I even go out in the first place? I asked myself and laid on my bed.

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I didn’t take off my clothes or try to shower. It was a sad day because I had stressed myself too much and had so many unfortunate incidents.