Chike and the River

15 Chike Is in Trouble

At last the ferryboat arrived in Asaba and the passengers rushed out. Chike looked around him. He could not believe his eyes. Was this Asaba about which he had heard so much? There was nothing to see except a few miserable-looking houses. He was really disappointed. He joined the other passengers and climbed the steep ascent to the market. Things brightened up there. But he had expected more. The market could not be compared to the one in Onitsha. There was nothing here like Bright Street where the noise of highlife records drowned the noise of cars. He walked beyond the market with his hands in his pockets, looking this way and that like a European inspector of schools.

From the stories his friends told Chike expected Asaba to be better than any place he had seen. And he expected the Midwestern region to be very different from the East. But now the air felt the same, the soil had the same look, and the people went about their business in the same manner. As Chike went farther inland he saw better houses. But still they were nothing to write home about; they were all inferior to the fine buildings on New Market Road at Onitsha.

Anyhow, Chike was happy about one thing. He could now talk like the rest of his companions.

Evening was setting in. Chike thought he had seen enough of Asaba and must now go back. He felt in his pocket for his sixpence and found it. He turned round and began to walk back to the riverside. The distance seemed to have increased. Chike began to run. But when he got to the bank the boat was gone. He could see it in the distance. It was already halfway to Onitsha. Chike was in a panic. He saw a marine official closing up his office. He ran to him and said with a shaking voice, “Please, sir, I want to return to Onitsha.”

“You want to return to Onitsha?” asked the man, searching his pocket for keys. He sounded helpful and kind. Chike’s hopes returned.

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

“I am sorry but you cannot return to Onitsha today,” said the man. “The last boat has gone. Come back tomorrow morning.”

“But I live in Onitsha,” cried Chike. “I know nobody here.”

“I am sorry,” said the man as he locked the door of his office and walked away.

Chike stood there weeping. Then one man who had been bathing in the river came up with a towel around his waist and said, “To come Asaba no hard but to return.” He looked very dangerous and wicked; Chike became really afraid and decided to go away from the riverside. With his head bowed and tears in his eyes he returned to the Asaba market. There he leaned against one of the old lorries and wept silently. He wished he had obeyed his mother and never gone near the river. Then he remembered another thing his mother always said. She told her children that crying does not solve any problem. So instead of crying Chike began to think and plan.

His first thought was to go to the owner of one of the shops and ask if he could sleep there. But then it occurred to him that the man might be a thief and kidnapper. Finally Chike decided to hide inside one of the old lorries until morning. He inspected them and saw that one was called S.M.O.G. no. 1. He decided to sleep in it because of its good and friendly name.