I picked up a 5K UGX note right outside our gate this morning, on my way to work. I can’t remember the last time I picked money off the street. I feel like this is my lucky day. Maybe I should skip work and call a land broker.
Should I buy a lotto ticket?
The taxi pulls to a stop, and the conductor slides the door open for another passenger to get on. The passenger proceeds to sit next to me, and I hold my breath; perhaps they haven’t showered in a few days? Ugh. So much for a lucky day. Good thing I don’t have much longer until I arrive at my destination, so I give them space.
I pull the window wide open and cautiously stick my nose out. I watch the neighbourhood rush by. Shops are opening, mannequins are carried out. The kids are walking to school. Should they be walking without adult supervision? What am I even thinking? I used to go to school on my own. I just worry that there are more dangers now than there used to be, but also, kids today are a lot smarter than we were, than I was…
My stop is coming up, so I tap the taxi right above my head to let the driver know I need to get out, and the conductor snaps at me for not using my words. I stay quiet, reach for my wallet, and pull out the 5k note I found this morning. I can’t help smiling as I run the note between my thumb and forefinger to confirm it’s indeed legal tender. The conductor reaches back for the fare, and the taxi comes to a stop. My neighbour asks me if I am getting out; I nod because their breath is trying to murder me. They get out so I can get out. The conductor gives me my change, and off they go.
First order of business: buy packs of chewing gum with the rest of the change, mostly because I spent the last 20 minutes sitting next to someone with questionable hygiene, and I don’t want to catch it.
My phone buzzes, and I reach into my pocket for it when someone bumps into me, and it falls to the ground.
Screen first.
The person doesn’t even stop to check.
I hate people.
I try to put off the inevitable, confirming that the screen is broken; I heard it break. I take 2 deep breaths and pick it up. It’s worse. The screen is cracked, and it has gone black. It won’t turn back on.
I want to go back to the start of this day and not pick up that 5k.
But it is what it is.
I cross the road and head for our office building. A slight nod to the askari at the gate, and I enter our building. I take the stairs to the office on the third floor because I need to lose the tension in my body. I take my time.
I reach our door and place my middle finger into the fingerprint scanner because that’s the energy I bring every morning.
I shove the packs of gum into the sides of the backpack still on my back, leave the dead phone and my wallet on my desk, and do a quick bathroom run to wash my hands.
After drying my hands with a paper towel and dumping it into the bin, I open the bathroom door to step back into the office. The door opens to a very busy, unfamiliar market street, instead of our office.
The street is abuzz with human traffic, spices in hot, humid air, tuk-tuks, motor horns, and engines; I stand there in a daze as I take it all in, the bathroom door still ajar, the door handle in my hand; I can still hear the hum and the flickering of the tube light.
I turn back into the bathroom to close the door so I can reopen it, only to find that the bathroom isn’t a bathroom anymore. It’s a path that leads to what looks like a mountainous area. The air is cool and smells of eucalyptus and pine. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and open them again. Yep. That’s definitely a hiking trail, complete with bird calls and cricket songs.
Something tells me that whichever path I choose will have consequences.
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