It was about 8pm in a late autumn season in Galway, a couple of years back. Everyone happily took their seats in the car as I got ready with the steering and all, trying to get used to the car we picked up that afternoon for our rental over the weekend. Awkward that was, to be driving a car not my own but the choice wasn't there I'm afraid.
After reciting the travel prayers, I delivered a signal to our friend's car in front driven by a lad to get going. The two cars decided to form like a convoy for the trip up to the north knowing that we would be departing after the dusk where the impending darkness feared us of getting off the right track. It was a journey to attend a programme organised by an Islamic society too bad to be missed, commencing the next morning. We didn't want to miss any part of it so to be able to do so we had to leave Galway that night itself after everyone were finished with their lectures and attachments.
I didn't tell my passengers that I actually had never driven a car during night time realising that that wouldn't bring any benefit other than risking myself of losing their confidence in me. And that obviously carries a poor prognosis. After all we had no other female driver anyway and I thought this would be a great time to give it a go, as everything must have its first time isn't it?
The first few hours were uneventful. We told stories until our throats ached that we resorted to listening to the the Quran recitation and the nasheeds. A CD after another was being played while I kept my vision fixed to the car in front. I never thought it would give so much of a strain to my eyeballs to be doing that throughout as I didn't have the chance to look to the sides afraid if I'd lose the car from my sight. It grabbed from me my freedom of taking a glimpse at other things, be it the signboards or whatever and I had to purely lay my trust on my friend. If off the cliff he was bringing me to, off the cliff would I go.
Anyhow it was a very dark night and the road that we were on was narrow and adorned with trees alongside branching over roofing the whole length of the avenue. It felt as if we were treading a path in the woods of the Arizona crowned with a dull, starless sky. Although I got the nerves as to how long more was this going to take, I kept that to my own self so as not to worry my car-mates. We already expected the journey to take around 5 to 6 hours or so in the dark so the relentless hope second after second of ending the whole sweat was unfortunately a waste of an effort.
Although I might prefer to drive a bit slower so as to be more cautious yet I had to keep up with the speed the car ahead was at. And you know how fast guys drive in general. I believe they are as well more opportunistic or perhaps optimistic when overtaking a car. I don't really have that much of a confidence to do that what more if it's during the night time where it could be more difficult to estimate the distance between our car and the one on the opposite direction. Anyhow so far I thought I had made a good job at that that night.
Suddenly the sound of siren went off into the air. Having lived in a house just a few steps away from the hospital for good few years now I have gotten used to the typical sound of the ambulance being driven off to discover the in-needs. I was positively thinking that it was after all an ambulance at the rear without getting the idea how illogical it would be to have an ambulance in such an isolated place I was in.
The sound went off for a couple of minutes and it progressively came closer to our eardrums. I only realised that my assumption was a huge mistake when the Gardai car (police) overtook our car. I had never been in such a situation but I pulled up aside. Two Gardai officers walked out of the car and I winded my window down to allow conversation with them.
I was anxious but I pretended to be cool. Not too cool though, I put on that innocent face to imply that if there was any wrongdoing that I did (which I didn't notice), that was absolutely a silly mistake which didn't need to be bothered too much. The palpitations in my chest were mainly due to the fact that my driving license was actually overdue so at the outset I actually gambled to still drive the car although I knew it was unlawful by the legislation. But my license was the Malaysian driving license, and it ain't a fake. No one else to get the car on the road anyway. Desperado!
A female Garda came close, bent her head over through my window to see the faces of people in the car and subsequently laid her elbows on the window frame. It was a complete silence in the car as the lady looked in, like the silence created as a family of mice hide themselves in a mouse hole from a hungry cat.
Our fate was difficult to ascertain. Will we reach the north at all?
[To be continued]
