The thought of finding his purpose in life has always been on Edekis mind. He had tried his hands on few jobs but couldn’t last long. He thought he could be happy as a fisherman, but only lasted for three days when his net couldn’t catch a fish. He went to work as a lumber but discovered how hectic it was cutting a tree all day. He thought of abandoning everything and decided to leave Evbiamen, his village for Benin to find a collar job. He has little education, because his father couldn’t care for his family. He was a drunkard and debtor before his death.
That morning, he told his mother he would go to the city to look for a job. But her fear was there are so many criminals in the city that could exploit him. But he convinced her.
He packed his luggage containing few clothes and shoes. He was certain to find a job that will make him happy. When he arrived Benin, there was noise everywhere. Buses humming, loud music from speakers, people selling different stuffs.
He tried to find a place to spend the night. He thought of pushing a wheel barrow to help carry traders goods. He could see how so many young people struggles to help traders carry their goods.
“It's fun.” He thought.
He approached one of the boys to tell him his travail. He told him he came to look for job. The boy asked if he could join their business. He accepted.
He helped him get a wheel barrow and told him to start the next day. He was very happy. He spent the night with them in the market stall. Though, he could barely sleep from the humming and bites of mosquitoes. His first day was so challenging and stressful that he thought he would die under the scorching sun.
Altogether, he thought of quitting but still persevered. After the third day, he wasn’t seen again. He applied for a security guard. He was housed in a boy’s quarter and given free food. He thought, he would be happy without paying for food and shelter but his master’s wife was tempting. She had tempted him severally but he resisted. One evening when her husband returned from a journey, she cooked a story to implicate him. She told him how Edeki broke into her room to almost rape her.
He believed and arrested him. Edeki spent a month in prison before his release. He was sacked and continued to search for job. He found another job as a clerk in a post office. All day, he was busy attending to one file or the other. He stayed a month on the job and sought for a teaching job. He was employed by a private school to teach nurseries. At first, he loved the job until he became stressful of marking scripts and writing notes. He abandoned it after a term.
Thereafter, he applied as a cashier in a gambling shop. He thought he could make money from gambling. At the end of the month, he had exhausted his money. He became so depressed. Without a room of his own but sleeping in market stalls, he felt his life was over. He never found happiness.
Altogether, he packed his luggage and returned to his village. At the end he picked up a pen and book to begin writing. And, he finally found his happiness.