July 16, 2013 — tOloruntoba
July 16, 2013 — tOloruntoba
We can be like marsupials at times; in the way we humans can bear each other, and each others’ burdens. Sometimes, you’ll even find a hero to tow you from your car’s place of death in the wrong part of town, with 8pm fast approaching. You never thought you’d need those SOS numbers (again)(so soon), but hey… Wouldn’t it have been smarter to get them BEFORE needing them? Not like one plans to make a habit of being towed, but still…
And isn’t it high time you scrapped that tractor-in-all-but-name of yours? Whose alternator and battery croak at the worst possible time?
Remember that, when you serendipitously get a battery from a nearby charger, and find that your locked car won’t open because your key, gingerly held with ten layers of superglue, comes apart just then.
Hahaha.
Hysterical laughter escapes as you consider Mr Murphy’s unique approach to life, tragedy and farce. You’ll get copious amounts of superglue — en route your mangled key — between your phone flap and screen before you can prevent sticking. Ha. Stranger than fiction, these truths. God knows how. You end up ‘burgling ‘ your own car after taping the key’s ruins together, as you jettison the half-dead battery and submit to towing.
Car-tow saviour is anxious, but you realise you haven’t learnt sailors’ or boy-scouts’ knots, or whatever smart guys use when they want strong knots. So you tie one of those ugly things you know you must take a knife to afterward, and stop a thousand times to re-tie as it snaps.
You’ll sit in your car-case, dragging along, feeling ridiculous but more muscular after an hour of heaving the deadweight of your powerless steering wheel and brake. You’ll realise why you should be kind to pedestrians as you whizz past- they’re the ones who’ll sneer as you’re towed back home in your crippled toy.
You’ll be so tired in the morning, but will remember to say prayers everyday now, you muse. Your better-for-worse with this car — the best when it’s better, the absolute worst when it’s worse. But strangers will help. And no, they will not want money. This will be something of a shock. So you’ll find help, and learn preparedness. For the next day or two.
— —
About tOloruntoba: Poet. Medic by day (and many nights). Lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, and on Twitter (@toluOloruntoba)