Tales on Wheels – I Thought He Wanted To Violate Me

February 5, 2019

I ordered a taxi at about 4:30 am from Victoria island, Lagos to UNILAG. I had been to a party and couldn’t accompany any friend home or crash with my host because I had series of work engagements later that day. It was a Taxify cab, and my driver arrived at my location within 7 minutes.

The car was a black Toyota Camry with cozy leather interior and the AC was working perfectly, so a few minutes after I got in, I dozed off. I think my hangover, from having two full glasses of vodka, a glass of champagne and a glass of Bailey’s at the party, added to my tiredness.

There was no traffic at that hour, and after we got past the third mainland bridge and started out on Adekunle road, I noticed the cab man slowed down and started texting. He then proceeded to take the right turn instead of going straight, as soon as he got around the bend. He parked the car, alighted and opened the back seat. By this time I was fully awake but didn’t stir, even though I was scared and thought he wanted to rape me.

He touched my laps and tapped me twice. I think he meant to wake me up, so I pretended to yawn and stretch before opening my eyes. He apologized for stopping before the destination and told me he ended the trip because wife had just been delivered of a baby girl. He told me I’d have to order another Taxify, and offered to wait for some minutes so I could stay in the cab while awaiting the replacement cab. Thankfully another cab arrived within 3 minutes. I heaved a sigh of relief; being semi drunk and alone with a random stranger of the opposite sex at that time of the morning is a risky position to be in.

We humans all have different backgrounds and experiences that shape our actions., and as a service provider, maybe he felt the humblest way was to wake me up gently rather than shouting. I felt bad for my cynicism, but it’s not entirely my fault, after all with the stories that fly around, it’s only natural that I expected the worst.