JESSE
It was a bright and beautiful Saturday morning in the capital city of Port Harcourt, when Jesse left his house at Trans-Amadi with Yenagoa as his primary destination via the Mile one park.
He had just started a new job in Port Harcourt just five months ago and had pleaded vigorously with his boss for permission to enable him to embark on a trip to Bayelsa to retrieve his only Sibling, Tricia who was reportedly having pregnancy complications amidst the flood ravaging some parts of the nation. He had heard about the rising flood in some parts the state and was intent on bringing her back with him.
He still remembered how their late mother had been entrapped in the village and subsequently drowned during the flood that came ten years ago.
Tricia had also been taken advantage of by the brother of a friend she had gone to squat with after being driven out of her house because of the flood. This had resulted to getting her pregnant with a baby girl whom Jesse adopted because the responsible fella refused to take responsibility for the pregnancy.
He wasn’t willing to lose his sister or the new baby, so he was willing to embark on the trip to Yenagoa to ensure the happenings of 2012 flood and the subsequent floods don’t repeat itself.
His trip was successful until halfway into the trip where they were told to alight at a place called Ahoada. That was the furthest the bus could go. The rest of the journey was to be taken either on foot, a boat or aboard a truck, with the first option being the most dangerous because of the current of the overflowing water on the road and the current depth of the water being a little short of two feet.
After a long wait for the next available boat, his attempt to board it proved futile for some swifter and brisk passengers got ahead of him.
In the company of a handful of other passengers tired of waiting, he started on foot. The trip of three and half kilometers under heavy current started on high notes and cheers as they tried to take things on a lighter note.
With a little over one kilometer, about an hour into their stressed but cheerful walk, under the scorching heat of the sun, one of the merry filled passengers, a middle aged man, suddenly slipped and was almost washed into the nearby bush but for the quick intervention of two of the guys next him. Due to the force of the current, others had to assist because it looked as though the two helpers might loose their balance anytime soon. After much effort, there was stability with much of the cheers replaced caution and gloom.
As though affected by their mood, the weather began to frown and heavy showers followed almost immediately. With over two hours estimated time left, the heavy current flowing underneath them, the rising water level and the heavy downpour of rain on them began making the sojourners weary, but occasionally meeting cluster of people on the way gathered because of loved ones and friend who had been washed, some still visible whilst others were long gone, gave Jesse and his compatriot the needed strength to pull through.
It was almost a successful trip to the other motorable end of the road when Jesse slipped off, taking his fellows by surprise. It suddenly became a gloomier site for his companion as he battled for his life.
Despite being an elite swimmer (One of the advantages of growing up in the Niger Delta region), the force of the current had the upper hand in his situation as he tried to let go of all he had on him to enable him swim lighter. Due to the force of the current, Jesse was quickly washed out of sight and it seemed like all hopes where lost till a little boy in one of the boats sighted him clinging on to a huge tree, with his grip fainting by the minute.
Concerned citizens eventually called on for a rescue boat that got him just as his grip on the tree finally failed.
Jesse’s gratitude at that point knew no bounds as he couldn’t help but wonder how Tracy and her daughter Elsie would take his death if rescue hadn’t come when they did. He had also witnessed others like himself being swept away while clinging to the tree for his dear life. There and then he promised himself to never try such an adventure in his lifetime, having had a close contact with death.
It was at this point that it dawn on him that he had embarked on this trip to bring his pregnant sister back with him. So he had the huge question in his head of how he was going to carry out the said tax in front of him.
The rain was still pouring down rhythmically but at a much reduced frequency when he was dropped off at Mbiama, the other end of his destination. Having lost his phone and all the physical currency notes he had on him to the water. He had to plead the indulgence of a mini bank operator (commonly known as POS) with whom he was able to log in to his Internet banking account and made withdrawal to enable him complete his transit to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
He eventually arrived at his sister’s residence at nightfall and was informed that she had been rushed to the Federal Medical Center after being bitten by a snake from the flooded water. He was just about heading for the hospital when he noticed one of the windows open and went into the house to check it, with hopes that maybe her husband had found a way back from his office offshore.
Jesse wasn’t so surprised to find the front door unlocked. Despite the whole environs being flooded, the house had in a way escaped being invaded, probably the reason she was adamant about leaving.
Immediately the door opened, the air around the house suddenly felt hushed. Out of curiosity and fear, he called her husband’s name repeatedly almost like a whisper, but no response was gotten. Just when he was about to exit the house, he heard fast-paced footsteps from different directions which startled him as he made his way backwards towards the door.
In an attempt to get hold of the wall for directions due to the darkness in the house, Jesse got hold of a human who was in a hurry to exit the house.
In a split moment of confusion, both parties were engrossed with fear, not knowing what to do. Different thoughts ran through Jesse’s head at the moment, just only realizing that the house was being burgled.
The young chap of only about seventeen years of age, on his very first heist, overwhelmed with fear, subconsciously pulled out the dagger he had been given for emergency and thrust it at the fella holding on to him. It all happened in a space of thirty seconds.
Attracted to the scene by Jesse’s scream, concerned neighbours came in to his aid, just to discover he had taken a stab to the heart and had passed on seconds before rescue arrived.
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About the Writer
Rex Dogood is a prolific writer from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A literary enthusiast and a content creator.
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