RENTED LIFE 2

 

Lusaka felt like a dream come true, Aaliyah had spoken so much about it to her best friend Kuni. There was something about the idea of being in Lusaka that felt like a new beginning, Ndola was the place Kuni knew all her life apart from Kitwe where she was schooling. Her father had promised her an opportunity to see the world if all went well but Kuni finished school without seeing that dream come to life, the cooperative was all their family knew as means of survival but the major partners had been ripping off profits from the poor farmers for over a decade. Sometimes, it felt like the Simata’s had a better life as subsistence farmers before the cooperative enticed them to sign off the their land for 15 years with the promise that the cooperative partners would push their farming business to the outside world. However, it was one promise after another with the usual claim that the western market was not fully impressed with the grade of soya beans thereby choosing to pay little. For these years Kuni saw her father barely manage.

 

The bus was quiet and cold, everybody seemed to be catching up on their sleep but Kuni was anxious. All this felt like a dream and the thought of catching up on her sleep scared her, what if all this was a dream? what if none of this was real? It had taken about an hour for her to finally pay attention to the person next to her, the lady next to her remained cuddled in her fleece with her AirPods plugged in.She looked like an overly spoilt brat but it was too soon to judge.The cold was piercing and Kuni decided to cover herself and take a much needed nap, it was a short night with many thoughts of what the future would look like.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are stopping in Kabwe for just 10 minutes. Ensure that your hand luggage is secure or carry any valuables you might have….”

 

Kuni looked around and noticed everyone was eager to drop off, she had been well informed by her father that the bus would pull over in Kabwe and if she wanted to, she could stop over and buy some food or proceed to use the restroom. Although she did not feel an urgent need to use the bathroom, Kuni alighted. There was a long queue in the ablution but it seemed people were in a hurry so the queue moved very fast. Her heart was racing as her mind was entirely fixated on getting back to the bus. It seemed she had enough time on her hands to grab a snack but as she was waiting for her change, the bus left. Kuni was positive her bus was still parked outside not knowing it was a similar bus and she only realized upon getting in to the bus that the faces were not familiar. In total disbelief, Kuni alighted and stood staring at the road leading to Lusaka, her bus was nowhere in sight.

 

“Lord, how foolish am i?” She said as tears lingered in her eyes

 

She did not want to call her parents as this would make them worried, she had enough money and believed she could board another bus. Her luggage was her concern. Luckily, there was s ticket office for her bus and she rushed to inform them of the unfortunate incidence. The man in the office was very polite, it seemed he was used to these incidences and he offered to call the bus, he had however mentioned that he could not get the bus to stop or retreat but he could have them secure her luggage until she could collect it.

 

“You are a life saver, I can’t thank you enough”

 

“No problem dear, just leave your contact details so I can follow up with you,.. our next bus is passing in two hours time, if you don’t mind waiting you can take a sit as your luggage is definitely safe whatever time you get there”

 

“Uhm…” Kuni hesitated

 

“I would love to but my friend is working in the afternoon that’s why I need to get to Lusaka on time, she has to pick me”

 

The gentleman who she now knew as Henry understood and offered to accompany her to put her on another bus as he was familiar with most drivers, it wasn’t long before another bus pulled over and Henry negotiated with the driver before putting her on the bus. Kuni didn’t need to pay anything

 

“Travel safely” Henry waved by the door

 

Kuni quickly pulled out a K50 from her bag to thank him but he declined.

 

“No my lady, buy talk time to inform me how you travel. Safe journey”

 

The bus started reversing and Kuni rushed in to search for her seat. The ride was going to be smooth sailing with gospel music playing in the background. Kuni did not hesitate to fall asleep again. She was alone on the two seats with nobody to complain about her leaning over to fill the seat. Lusaka was no longer far away, Kuni was awake just in time to bypass Mandevu and and she was excited to get a clear view of the stadium that she had only seen on television. The roads had tripled in one lane and it seemed like a whole different world. The city was definitely beautiful and with skyscrapers and unique buildings, a sense of scare filled her. How would she keep up with the trends? People’s powders were soon out of their bags and everybody seemed to be retouching their face except her. She did not even own a makeup kit.