The Adventures Of Oko Ashawo The Uber Driver - 4

Oko Ashawo na wah oh...........

I picked up Tomi, a makeup artist from her shop and we got talking while taking her home. In the course of our conversation, she told me that any guy who does not beat his girlfriend does not love her.



I was shocked because I was hearing this for the first time. How could someone have such a warped mentality? Can I really blame her? Could she have grown up in an environment filled with abuse? Is it possible she witnessed her dad beat her mum and saw it as a normal sign of love? What do I know? I tried correcting that impression but she was unwavering in her belief. I dropped her off at her house shortly afterwards and she asked me to pick her up later that night by 11pm for an outing.



Later that evening, I got a call from Jude, one of my regular male clients. He told me that he would need my service that night but will call when he has confirmed that the girl he will be sending me to is available. He had just returned from Malaysia 2 weeks earlier and had lots of money to spend. He loved to shine at the clubs and he had lots of girls at his beck and call. I had picked up different girls for him at various intervals and I was always excited to work for him because he was exceptionally generous. He stayed in a hotel all
through that period and sometimes, I wondered why he was so carefree
in his spending when he could have just stayed in his apartment and saved his money.


By 10:30pm, I set out to Tomi’s place to pick her up but along the way to her house, I noticed that a car was following me. When I slowed down, the car trailing me also decelerated and didn’t overtake me. I was curious. I suspected I was being followed but I was not too sure.

When I got the last turning before Tomi’s house, the car continued straight and that was when I heaved a sigh of relief thinking that I probably was just imagining things.


I called Tomi at exactly 10:55pm and told her that I was waiting for her outside. She came out about 10 minutes later in a very short revealing gown and I almost did not recognize her. As soon as she entered the car, she told me to speed up and leave that environment quickly since she was suspecting that her boyfriend could come and look for her. She said she had lied to him that she wasn’t feeling well hence could not go out with him that Friday night.


As I came out of her street and took the turn to the major road, a car sped up, blocked us and two guys came out. I was scared stiff and wondered what their mission was. As they came closer, I immediately recognized Jude. I wondered what was going on. Tomi started shaking and said she knows Jude will beat her silly that night. I was confused. I asked … You know Jude? She said he’s her boyfriend and the one she lied to that she is not feeling well and could not go out that night.



This was when I realised that Tomi is the one Jude was planning to send me to bring over that night. I told her I was going to reverse right away and escape from the wrath of her boyfriend. She pleaded with me not to do that but stay and wait for Jude to meet us up in the car.


Jude walked with fury to her side and asked her to wind down the glass. The next thing I heard was a big blow on her face followed by another one in a swift succession. I quickly rushed down from the car,ran to him and held him. He pushed me off and continued raining blows on her. I couldn’t take this anymore. I faced him and told him I was going to fight him. He then told me to respect myself that this matter does not concern me. He said that he was trailing me while I was on the major road but guessed that I may have noticed that someone was following me because of the way I was slowing down. So, he decided to make a detour to confuse me since he was suspecting I may be on the way to pick his girlfriend.


Meanwhile, the friend that he came with was just watching.



I stood my ground and while we struggled, my side mirror broke. I then started making noise to attract people from the vicinity.

Unfortunately, it was only the security guards in the area that came out and they couldn’t do anything because he was well known to them and he also settled them with money regularly whenever he came to visit. Eventually, he retreated to his car and left with his friend after calling her ashawo and other unprintable names.


I then faced Tomi, who by now was bleeding from the mouth and had a swollen face. I now remembered the statement she made earlier … “any guy who does not beat his girlfriend does not love her”. I asked her a few questions but she kept mute. At that moment, she asked me to take her back home. I dropped her off and I couldn’t even ask her for money because of what just happened.



As I drove away, in less than 5 minutes, I got a call from Tomi. She said I should turn back and pick her up from home that she must go out that night. Being a makeup artist, she expertly concealed her swollen face and also wore a longer wig. On our way, she then told me of how much she loves him and believes that he loves her too. I got to know from our conversations later that night that the beating was a regular occurrence. I didn’t have any advice for her. In fact, I couldn’t advise her because I dropped her off in the house of another guy.