Part 17

One of the five soldier smiled and spat into the river. He said something in bad English. The others laughed. Then it occurred to Ibinabo that it was possible the other men had gone without noticing the gift money Soldier Gani had given her. These men are untrustworthy and are to blame, she thought. They are to blame for the hike in fuel prices. They are to blame for the restrictions hindering travellers. They are to blame for everything. She mumbled an ungrateful discontent at everything; the weather, the speed of the boat and the insects. Just when it seemed things could not be any worse than it was, the engine of the boat stopped guzzling. Dagogo assured them, that they need not panic. It was obvious he had encountered a similar situation with the boat’s engines before.