The Thorny Path to Europe - Episode 12

 

'Where are we on the map?' Tunde asked as Cecilia grabbed it again and began to study it.

'It's not accurate. It says...' Cecilia said and began to trace the map. There wasn't anything on the map that indicated where they were. She shook her head and threw it down again.

'Tie your cloth to mine', Cecilia said.

'Why?'

'In case I fall'.

'But you're the one in the van. You are safe'.

'You're safer . What if the bottom of the van removes?'

Tunde chuckled. He shouldn't laugh. Some people were still mourning their friends. He shouldn't be laughing in this heat. She stared at her bottle of water, shook it and gulped it; then, poured the remaining on her head. She shook her head and rose to refill it.

'Let's watch the way we drink this water. This water will soon finish', Pastor complained.

'And who are you?' Tunde asked.

'Leave him he is the bouncer for the water' Ade said and hissed.

'I was just saying...'

'You don't know the meaning of shut up', Lizzy said and hissed.

'Please, stop entering this brother. He is only trying to guide his birthright'.

Tunde was shocked that he covered his mouth and released it to exclaim.

'That's savage', Lizzy said

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/the-thorny-path-to-europe

. She rose and fell again, but she wouldn't be perturbed by anything. She rose and steadied herself. The van rocked her from side to side, yet she held onto the side of the van and bent towards Cecilia.

'To the queen of the savages'.

Cecilia pretended to blush and she used her hand to fan herself.

'Oh! I'm smelling something', Cecilia said.

'What?'

'Deceit from you people'.

'Are you whining me?' Ade said

'When you're not cassette'.

'Eh', Ade shouted excitedly. 'That just it. That's the height of savagery for today'.

'She breaks her record per time'.

'Boss of Boss'.

'Tees Mar Khan'.

Ade, Lizzy and Tunde laughed hard. Cecilia stared at them. Lizzy threw a scornful look at Tunde, probably for laughing with them but at that point, he was less concerned about what she was feeling. He was going to Europe and nothing would drain him of the joy.

'What does that mean?'

'You've not seen the Indian film, Tees Marr Khan...Argh...You need to be tutored in the ways of life'.

Ade laughed and brushed Lizzy's shoulder.

'I think I have it here on my phone. Let’s watch it together’, Lizzy said and proceeded to bring out her phone, her power bank and her earpieces.

'Good. Something to make me forget this heat'.

'What about the screen and the sun?' Tunde said before he realized he was talking to Lizzy.

'Is it your sun?'

'We can buy shades for it’, Cecilia said and they laughed.

Tunde wanted to hush them that some people were still moaning their friends but if that was a way for them to get over the pain everyone was experiencing at the moment, he wouldn't mind. At that point, he just needed to move about. His legs were terribly aching, but there was nothing he could do at this time.

Cecilia soon became engrossed with her film and he became deep in his thoughts again. He began to build castles for himself in his mind. Tunde tried not to think of Emeka, but he couldn’t resist it. They would have been on that journey together. Emeka would have been throwing some of his proverbs at them. The journey spanned into the night. Then, they got to the third day on the road. That was when the car started coughing, making the van come to a halt. Jude and Leo hurried out of the car and poured water from the last kegs available.

'What?'

'Will this water be enough?'

'What' happening'

People asked numerous questions but Jude and Leo were too engrossed in making the van work that they refused to reply. They all got down to join him when he couldn't bring the van to work, but it was to no avail. Jude placed his hands on his mouths.

'It's all his fault. Simple thing. He should follow the place others were following', Tunde lamented and bit his lower lips. He never bargained for this type of trouble. It took him a great deal to even stand on the ground of the Sahara. It hurt him as if he was standing on fire itself. There was surely no way he could survive the pain that was in him if he stood like that. At that point, he wondered what would happen to the guy that fell off. He grabbed his bottle of water and downed it. Jude stared at them for a while, shook his head, and sat on the hot floor, depressed. 'We're done'.

People edged towards him.

'We're so done', Jude said, rose and dusted off the back of his trousers. He folded his hands and gritted; then, blew air into the hand.

'Can we do anything to help?'

'Help? Yes. You can shut your mouth while I think'.

'Don't even try to go dramatic again', Tunde said. 'I said it that this drunk man would soon cause trouble for us and here we are, troubled.'

'Please', Lizzy said as she rolled her eyes.

'What's...'

'We're are walking', Jude shouted. ‘Everyone grab everything you can use to sustain yourself’.

'Who knows the way?'

'Leo...'

'We are safe than in the hot sand. So safe. So hot', Lizzy said as she clasped her head. Jude hissed and went to his side of the car and brought a water bottle and carried her bag.

'Gather all you can'.

Tunde, mumbling and grumbling, was soon dropping some of his clothes to make his load lighter. He would get better ones when he got to Italy. They all packed their loads and left. Leo stared at the van for a long time and kissed it. They left many things behind. Leo spun round to stare at the van again and did so until it went out of view.

According to Jude, they would soon stop walking. He just wanted them to be as far away from the vehicle as they could because thieves and kidnappers would soon come for it. They settled in a place, where Jude told them that they would proceed on the journey when it was dark. For the first time, Tunde was grateful for Jude’s wisdom, if not they would have spent another day on the road. And if they had done, he would have died of exhaustion.

They all kept quiet most of the time in the day. The sun was hot and they all had to stay put. Their water bottle was becoming empty. Pastor had tried to carry the last keg of water and had rationed it well among all of them, with everyone receiving a cup each, then a bit extra. Then, he threw the keg away. Tunde watched breeze run towards the keg and wondered if that was the way the keg would remain for the rest of its years on the sand.

As soon as the night peeped its head again, they were walking already again. The road, unfortunately, wasn't the regular expressway that one would expect to see a car driving by. Their only companions were the few stars in the sky. Many of them were tired.

Tired, exhausted, they kept going without any event. The tired ones were being helped by those not tired. Nothing happened until the evening of the second day when Kenneth's friend said he had headaches.

'No more water'., Jude declared and asked for anyone with water. Everyone shook their exasperatedly. He didn’t trust them and asked them to reveal their water bottles. Tunde showed the two bottles with him, while Cecilia showed the three bottles with her. All of their bottles were empty. By this time, they managed to stop beside a hole, which had of dead men. Most of the ladies scrambled from the smell. Some of the bones seemed older than the rest. Ade began to mumble some of his superstitions. Nevertheless, Tunde couldn’t help but notice that the place seemed to be a place many people died as if they were expecting death.

'Give him the medicine like that', Leo said.

'Are you for real?' A lady said. Her sweater made her look like she was dumped into it.

'I'm for real...There is no water. He is dying of headache'.

'Give him the tramadol'.

The guy collected it and seemed to be okay. They were still in the sun and couldn't move till night. Just about thirty minutes to the time they would leave, the guy that was given the tramadol began to wriggle and wail, struggling for breath.

'Oh God!’ His other friend cried and tried to hold him. 'Hold him'.

'He won't die', Leo as he tiredly laid on the floor.

'He would die. He would die. Help him'.

Kenneth's friend sprawled and began to convulse. Some people tried to help him but others, Cecilia included could stand up to help him. She sat in the hot sand and had her hands behind her as she stared at them. Tears dropped from her eyes intermittently. They tried to help Kenneth's friend but he was dead before anyone could think of a better way to save him.

'We're so done', Jude said

'Throw him into that whole’, Leo said and forced himself to stand up. ‘We can't leave him here. His spirit will haunt us'.

Jude nodded and they threw him into the hole and his friends sprinkled sand on him. The environment was tensed. Tunde wished the world would be different and he wouldn’t have been a partaker of what was happening. He couldn't himself to cry but he could feel the sting of it in his eyes. Suddenly, the fingers of Kenneth's friend moved. Tunde jumped back.

'His fingers moved', Tunde shouted. 'I saw it'.

He couldn't tell where he got the strength from. The others stared at the corpse.

'It's not...'

'It's moving....' His friend shouted and tried to jump into the hole but Leo held him back.

'What are you doing? He is dead already. Even if his hands move. He will still die. Don't you get me? I don't lie. He will die. The spirit has told me'.

'God will punish this spirit', his friend shouted and wriggled out of Leo's firm hand. Most people were really tired and could only cover their head with clothes despite the cloud that was covering the sun. There, the sun seemed to have a field day. The cloud that crossed over it seemed to dissolve as soon as they came into its view.

The friend of the half-dead man proceeded to take him out of the hole.

'Logically, he will die. We can't help him. We will need to be faster today because all of our water is drained', Jude said.

'We can't leave him'.

'You know what? I'm tired. So tired. You...Bring him out and help him when to get going'.

The friend didn’t heed what he was saying and jumped into the hole.

'You'll just die here'.

'I know'.

'Shut up. Think with your brain and not your heart'.

'I'm thinking and my mind was telling me to go back for my friend'.

'And die with him'.

At this point, people began to pull away, sitting on the floor. The friend sat there in the grave and tried to pull off the sand off his friend, but he was so exhausted that he couldn't help but stare at him.

Tunde sat at the edge of the grave and wondered what would happen to them now that they were without water.

Read " Lost But Satisfied " by the same author ( Akíntayo Akinjide )

. They said that if one had witnessed the death of somebody, one would find it hard to feel bad when another person dies, but he found that theory to be fake because he felt really bad for the guy in the grave and everyone lying there. He wished he could return home. He never booked for this.

The guy stared at his friend whose hand was still shaking. Then he began to cry. He sat there for a while and couldn't stop crying over his friend's body. Pastor crawled to the grave and said a prayer over them. His friend kept nodding to the prayers. After Pastor was gone, Tunde couldn't get himself to live his side. The friend of the dying man crawled over to his neck and strangled him to death. The body shook as it was deprived of oxygen and went still after a while. Still crying, his friend rose and saw the look of horror on Tunde’s face.

‘It was better he died than to be left dying’.

Tunde wished he could agree and wondered which type of death he would have preferred for Emeka- instant death or a slow one.