The bus didn't leave immediately. Instead, the driver chose to wait and hustle for more passengers.
They spent quite a few minutes in the park as the driver insisted on waiting for the bus to get filled up before he would start the journey.
His action made a lot of the passengers furious and a few got off the bus in anger, but he ignored them. The rest just kept spilling threats of leaving the bus without actually doing so.
But even with all this, the driver still refused to give in. It wasn't that he was being unnecessarily stubborn, but that he had been in this job for a long while, and so he knew if he didn't carry enough passengers, it would be a loss rather than a gain for him.
This wasn't like a short-distance journey where drivers could easily find more passengers while on the way. He knew he wouldn't be stopping anywhere until he got to Otuoke. Thus, he had to carry enough passengers to make up for the money spent on fuel and still gain some profits or the aim of his hustle would be void.
More and more passengers boarded the bus and the bus was soon filled. But there was a particular passenger that sparked a reaction from James.
An extravagantly dressed boy with an arrogant expression. The face wasn't one James really remembered, but that expression coupled with the dressing, James knew he couldn't be wrong. Then the cold and resentful look the boy gave him, he was sure it was him.
They weren't staring at each other directly. Instead, it was through the mirror of the car used by the driver to watch the passengers.
The boy sat in the seat behind the driver's seat which was also behind James' seat.
James, getting tired of the fruitless stare battle, looked away, occupying himself with something else.
The boy in question was actually the arrogant boy from the previous bus.
' Is he also going to college? Could he be my senior or what, or did he just get admission like me? Afterall he doesn't look older than me ' James thought, while trying to occupy himself with something else.
The boy also had his own thoughts. ' How come we are on the same bus? Could he also be going to college? Damn it, what if he gets there and spills the beans about the events on that bus? Doesn't that mean my image will be tarnished in my first year in college? '. After a short while, he also looked away, deciding to cross the bridge when he got to the edge.
Seeing the bus was full, the driver scanned through the exterior of the bus to make sure everything was in place, then he sat on his driver's seat and turned on the bus engine.
" Are we good to go " he quickly asked the passengers. That was his normal procedure, in case any passenger forgot something so that he wouldn't be blamed later on when it was found out.