Rainy Day
Ayerite had just relocated to Akwa Ibom; he was transferred from Makurdi to Uyo as a public servant. Before leaving he carried out a research on the new city he would be living in. He found a lot of things to be excited about: his research showed him that the foods were diverse and great; there were economic opportunities and reports showed it was a safe place. He also learnt that Akwa Ibom experienced massive rains. Put all these together, Ayerite was ready for Uyo.
What he didn’t know about the Akwa Ibom rain was that many times it gave no warning or signal; it would just start. Ayerite was used to rain coming after a cloudy weather but he was to be shocked in Uyo. The sun could be burning scalps and the next minute, abruptly it disappears for the rain to take over in a resemblance of substitution in sports.
Ayerite had settled in well with the environment. The only difficulty he found was in dealing with agents and landlords. Well, that’s a story for a sunny day. On the day of these events, Ayerite was set to resume/start work. He’s excited about meeting with his new colleagues, and especially the females. “Man no go marry?” he inspired himself. As he stepped out of the house, he was met by a sunny day. “Beautiful sunlight” he remarked as he enjoyed nature. One of his neighbours, Mrs. Taiwo, said to him “You no go carry umbrella? Rain for here no dey announce o.”
Ayerite didn’t understand what that meant. Of course he understood the Nigerian Pidgin English. He didn’t understand the concept of rain announcing itself, so he trashed the advice. As he was stepping out of the gate, he heard a man’s voice from a shop “Thank God I didn’t forget my umbrella today.” Ayerite was surprised why people needed an umbrella on a day that there won’t be any drop of water from the sky. Even if it was going to rain, he believed that “big men don’t carry umbrellas.” But the real big men actually owned cars, he didn’t.
Before he could think of any other thing, the rain came. He was shocked. But no other person on the road was. They brought out their umbrellas from places he couldn’t understand. All those people who walked without an umbrella suddenly had one. Ayerite looked for shelter. It would be better to go late for work than let the first impression of him at work be that of a soaked new colleague. He branched to a veranda of a shopping outlet for relief.
He stood there and watched people walk by in the rain with their umbrellas unperturbed by the weather, as if water will not finish in heaven with such a heavy downpour. He also saw the real big men driving by. Then he heard a male voice from the shop, “Oga, come sidon inside.” He obliged and thanked the man for his kind gesture. The man went on “You wear your fine wristwatch waka for rain? E no go spoil?” Ayerite smiled and responded “Na PRODA wristwatch. Water no dey affect am.”
