A Day At The Beach...

"Amie, I think you should learn how to drive." Dan, my friend who meant well to me, persuaded me to learn a transformative life skill, but I treated it with levity because I always had people who could drive me to wherever I wanted to go. "I'll learn later". I'd always reply.

He'd always come by with his ride, insisting that he teach me how to drive. Dan was ready to nurture me from scratch as he was such a proficient driver, and most times I fancied how he drove so well, but I felt there was always time, so I wasn't moved to learn so fast, even though I knew someday I'd eventually learn how to.

Two years ago, on January 4th, a beach hangout was organized by a friend's family, and I got invited to join in the fun.

Each member was to support the hangout with food, drinks, liquor, or whatever to make the day enjoyable, and I chose to sponsor the drinks.

My friend's dad, Mr. Joseph, promised to drive us to the venue, but something came up that disorganized the plan. Sade, her daughter, who invited me, called me to inform me of the change in plan. "Hey Amie, plans have changed; I think we'll have to charter a vehicle to the beach as Dad won't be available to drive us down there." It wasn't a big deal for me, so I made plans to pay my quota of the money. "That's not much of a problem; I'll pay," I responded, and so we were all set to go.

I wore a black dress, a beach hat, and black sneakers, and my friend wore a kimono jacket and palazzo pants, as did other members of her family, who wore beautiful casual outfits perfect for the occasion.

The bus arrived on time to pick us up, and so we headed to the beach. On getting there, we paid a gate fee to access the beach, and then the fun began.

We ate all we brought—gizzard, peppered meat, fried rice, chips, and drinks—and we took a lot of pictures. "Sade, it's getting late; have you tried to reach the driver to come pick us up?" I asked her, as our bodies were wet from swimming on the seashore and the dude in our midst was tipsy already.

"Hello, sir, we are ready to leave now." She spoke with the driver on the phone. I noticed how her facial expression changed as soon as the driver responded, but she kept her cool.

"What did he say?" I asked her. "He said he's not available now, but he'd send his son to come pick us up," she replied immediately.

"Whoever he is sending should come ASAP," I whispered immediately. About an hour later, the young lad, who was dark in complexion and tall in height, arrived and introduced himself as the driver's son, who was sent to take us back home. I was still in my swimsuit; I just wore bum shorts on it, and since it was a private bus, we all didn't mind or bother changing the clothes we wore initially.

We hopped in the vehicle, still basking in the euphoria of the moment and flipping through the beautiful pictures we had taken on the beach while the vehicle was in motion.

"Where is your driver's license?" An inspector asked, and immediately he halted our vehicle. The driver's son couldn't provide a driver's license as he was too young to drive. I guess his stature deceived us because he was so big and tall.

"I am afraid I'll have to tow this vehicle to the station," the inspector continued. "Or can anyone on the vehicle drive? I'll write a short note for you just because I see you all went out to have fun. I do not want to ruin your fun and keep you stranded. He was so considerate to suggest it, and then the saga began. "Sade, can you drive?" I asked my friend. "No, Amie, how about you, can you?" She asked, and immediately my mind raced to how Dan had always wanted me to learn to drive. Had I allowed Dan to influence me, I would have saved the day.

It was sad that no one in the vehicle could drive, so we alighted and looked for public transport. It was so annoying because we had coolers, and the outfits we wore weren't decent enough to join in on the public transport. I had to look for a way to dress properly.

That incident influenced my outlook on learning to drive faster than I imagined, and then I knew that I was going to learn to drive any time I laid my hands on Dan's car because if there's anybody I want to drive like, it's surely Dan and nobody else. His driving skills are amazing, and I didn't realize he had a big impact on me until after that incident.

Not long after, I stumbled on Dan, and I watched him carefully take the wheel and do his thing effortlessly. I watched him gently change the gear and accelerate smoothly. In time, I began to follow his lead, steer, change gears, and navigate properly. I just wanted to drive like him, as he was not just a proficient driver but a very good teacher who took each step gradually. "I don't want what happened last month to repeat itself," I told him as I narrated my ordeal the other day at the beach to him. We laughed it off and focused on my acquiring the driving skill.