Segun and Adeleke Coming Home

The two small boys had to fight their way through the crowds to find a lorry. They couldn't even say goodbye to their friends as everyone just scattered. At last the found a lorry, but the conductor looked very unfriendly, with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Where's your money?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

They show him and he allowed them to enter. They sat on one of the front benches, wedged between a fat woman carrying market goods and a huge min in a flowing gown. The man entertain the other passengers with jokes, and his waving arms often knocked poor Adeleke. As for Segun, the market woman had a child on her back, and when she wanted to feed it she would put her goods on poor Segun's lap. Adeleke tried to think of home, where he would soon be seeing his father, mother, grandmothers, sisters and his many relatives. He would visit his former school friends and in particular, the retired Head Teacher, Baba Onitan, who was the great story teller of the village. He was the friend of many chiefs and his stories could make all school books seem dull.

With a jolt the lorry lurched forward, then stopped to collect more passengers. Then it jolted and lurched forward and stopped again. It did this three times before with a sudden jolt, jog and bump they were out of the lorry park and speeding along the road towards Okutu and Ibaboh. The passengers were swayed and shaken from side to side, and silence fell inside the lorry. Only the raucous voice of the driver talking to the first-class passengers by his side could be heard to shout at other drivers, whom he always thought to be in the wrong.

Despite the speed, it was good to feel the freshness of the air outside Lagos. Up and up and up they went towards Okutu, Relerele and Ibaboh. On either side they saw the deep swamps of the Ogun River and the river houses on stilts on part of it. Then at last they came to Okutu.

At Okutu, Segun and Adeleke ate some food, but they did not feel they had traveled one hundred and forty-three kilometres. It was not getting darker, but they felt on familiar grounds as they neared Iwoku. The road became narrow, with many farms on either side and hidden villages. Iwo was passed, then Ede, and then the road began to twist and turn until the lorry lurched into the one main street Oshogbo.

Adeleke looked out of the lorry. The "Big One", the eldest of his father's sons, would be there to meet him with their lorry. Yes, there he was, a tall, dark man who looked huge in white agbada, sokoto and fila.

Brother, brother. here i am!" called Adeleke. His brother smiled and helped them out of the lorry. Segun lived in Oshogbo, so he was soon in a taxi and waving to them. "Goodbye, see you next term!"

QUESTION

• Why did the boys have difficulty in finding a lorry?
• Where did the two boys sit?
• Why did Adeleke begin to think of home immediately he got into the lorry?
• Why did he become silence in the lorry soon after they left?
• Why were the bus on the lorry.