Every Day Is for the Thief

The narrator waits for a shipping container full of supplies and a car at a schoolyard outside of his family’s neighborhood. He’s there with his aunt and uncle, the owner of the school (Mr. Wuraola), and some workers. The goods are destined for a school that Aunty Folake started in the 1980s, and they’re being unpacked here and loaded into buses to avoid the attention of thieves. Getting the goods into the country was already an ordeal, involving bribes, conflicts with customs officers, and more delays.

The container arrives, and they begin unloading. Midway through the job, three men accost them. The men have opened the gate and are demanding payment. The narrator says that they’re area boys, local gangs that are out of control (except when they’re periodically murdered by the police). Wuraola’s men give them a bribe, but it’s not enough. The men threaten them further, saying that if they’d met them on the road they would’ve killed them for their goods.

The men continue to demand a large sum while the group deliberates and tries to ignore them. The narrator feels ready to do violence to these men, but they leave without further incident. The group finishes unloading and caravans back to town in the buses with the goods, and the narrator feels sad about how close his family lives to everyday violence.