07:02 am, August 29
Osun State, Nigeria.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXVRX4yU2b
Eniiyi woke up to something tickling her nose and she sneezed, opening her eyes. Her mom, Eartha, was sitting at the edge of her bed with one hand poised in the air. Eartha made a guilty smile, as though she hadn't expected to get caught.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8i70MWDNsC
She glanced at the alarm clock then propped up a pillow behind her and sat up, eyebrows raised. What was the occasion?
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGZNE41SZC
'Mommy, good morning,' she said, still confused. 'Am I missing something?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhe2XSokNg0
'Good morning, Adekunbi. If you were to be missing anything, it'd be your smile.' She tweaked her nose.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpXE9Sou1k
Eniiyi smiled. Mommy was being Mommy today. She was extremely funny most times. She watched as she bent over her, her thick mass of onyx-black hair falling forward to cover her face.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLL3CxNrtkg
'If you keep smiling at me like that, I think I'd have to pay a visit to the salon.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡee8HN1L5xJ
Eniiyi smiled again and threw over the covers, swinging her legs to the side of the bed.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFF0uRTOTyU
Mommy stood up too then sat back down, wringing her hands. Eniiyi thought she looked nervous. Strange.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QlAppUeqO
She stretched and yawned. 'Mommy, do you want to tell me something?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiefuRBw5Y
'Well,' her mom said after a moment of hesitation. 'Maybe you should go take your bath first.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dA9svJZHv
Eniiyi quickly scrambled back on to the bed. She wasn't ready to get up yet to bath. 'I've still got some sleep left in me, let me sleep them out.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bnHOi85b2
'Adekunbi,' her mom said.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKhY4L5OTH
Eniiyi glanced at her and blinked, the covers now covering up to her neck. What was Mommy going to tell her? It sure did seem like something serious. She couldn't come up with any answer except work. But then they had to go to work before and she'd be home alone again. That was the daily routine for most holidays except third term. It was third term holiday now and she should have gone for children's camp like she did every third term holiday but, for some reasons she wasn't sure she understood, the summer camp for that year had been cancelled. So what could it be now?
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzDRvhtky4
'Mommy, what . . .' she started to say.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hLiSzSsXf
'Adekunbi, we're traveling.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3y9zLdsgc
She aspirated a sigh. Nothing much. 'Mommy, it's no problem. I've stayed at home for more than a day before.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfAriM3kjq
Eartha's cheeks slightly tinted at that statement. She always felt guilty at the mention of the incidence that happened a year ago although it'd been partly her and Mide's faults; external factors had also contributed to it, but it's their fault all the same. They'd left an eight year old girl all by herself in the house for almost two days.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLJiNwlWJy
'Adekunbi,' she started to explain, 'We are all traveling.' She sucked in her lips. 'You're going to stay at your grandma's for the duration of our trip to Japan.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyM8oBULrFm
Eniiyi was speechless for a long time. Poor girl, she didn't know what to say.
Of all news she hadn't been expecting that. Staying at Grandma's? The grandmother she hadn't met since she was five months old. And to top it all off, she lived in a village!
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLfuADhJ0Y
'You're only joking, right?' she said in a strained voice, afraid of what she'd hear.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQ6nDoAWew
Eartha exhaled and tried to look less nervous. 'No, I'm not. We're leaving early tomorrow morning for Kogi State.' She added.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hi1zbQDfv
'No! Mommy, no! No, no, no, no. I don't want to go to G.ma's village. I'm going to die there. Can't I go with you to Japan, please?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInOZrFBfTC
'No, it's a business trip. We were nominated together because we're a couple, and, I'm really sorry, Adekunbi. This project in Japan is very crucial to our company.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeJEy6x0PI
Both her parents worked in Pengine, a feted company where they manufactured motor vehicles of the same name. Everybody knew their products, Pengine was the shit. Their headquarters was up in the North in Kaduna, where the Hausa* CEO lived. They had their branch offices at Osogbo — where she was —, Ikeja, Jos and Owerri, where they assembled the vehicles.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZgLEFWmio
'Mommy, can't I go to your own parents in Somalia?' At least she'd met them thrice. Twice when they were still in Nigeria and once when they came visiting from Somalia. They were Somali but had at one point moved to Nigeria where they had her mother and then gone back a few years ago.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZp0Qv575k7
'You know we don't have time to start arranging that,' Mommy said, trying to explain.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMqttx4k5X
'What of Uncle Felix's place?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrRjbV13ua
Her mother smiled apologetically. 'Uncle Femi recently had his wife's relatives join them and we didn't want to burden him more. It must be a full house already.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxeoOehzNaT
Eniiyi scowled, feeling her hopes dashed against the wall.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PDL6Lxq5W
Eartha tucked a wayward strand behind her left ear. She tried to press down the guilt that was eating it's way up to her heart. If she had her way she'd have had their daughter come with them, but as it was she knew it was better she stayed. The project was going to be needing all of their attention and the poor girl was just going to be stuck in the middle.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLYcEr4aEf
Little did she know that the decision was going to change their lives forever.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2l1x0hizo
'Mommy, why didn't you tell me this earlier, so I could have planned my escape?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4h4Ra1RNHJ
'We too just got the message this morning. I'd have arranged for you to stay with family friends but most are unavailable.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrxOzSsaAT
'Probably went on vacation. Adeayo's and Adanma's family are on vacation. That's what families do during the long holiday.' She gave her mom a pointed stare. The pointedness of her criticism was impossible to miss.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQMuOp4pDE
Her mother flinched at the stare and looked away, blinking her eyes once, twice, thrice. 'Adekunbi, you know how important our jobs are. Me and your dad have to work hard to earn money so you can live a comfortable life.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6wEqmJUn3
Eniiyi scoffed inside. As if! She didn't know just how rich they were but she knew for a fact that they were one of the richest in the estate and was aware the school kids called her rich brat behind her back (the brat part wasn't true).
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNK5psG4tg
She pursed her lips and gave her best scowl. There was nothing she could do about it, even if she tried. She knew it was just for show that she was being asked for her opinion, so it wouldn't seem like she'd been forced when in truth their minds were already made up on the matter.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmeSrT3Hr3
It goes without saying that her parents didn't work for the money, no, they had that already in overflowing abundance, it was because of the thrills and spills of their damned job. Eniiyi accounted this to the fact that they worked together, 'But then I'd never have met your mom if not,' as Daddy had put it. They'd have thrown her into boarding school long since if not for the fact that Mommy had phobia of them. It had something to do with the bad experiences she had while she had gone to boarding school in her days which had left a scar on her and she had vowed that no child of hers would go to boarding school. Eniiyi didn't know what it was or how bad it had been, Mommy always avoided that subject whenever it was asked about.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWaYV6IOKB
'But I don't want to go, Mommy. I'm not going,' she still demurred, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling some more till her face muscles started to ache.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5ydrQs3g0
Eartha closed her eyes for a second and aspirated a sigh. 'I can't deal with this now, Adekunbi. Please, try to understand. There's no time to arrange for you to go anywhere else and you know that, so just stop trying to make things more difficult. You're going to your father's mother, whether you like it or not.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf80mX3mEnJ
Eniiyi looked away bitterly, feeling something die inside her. 'Okay,' she said in a small voice. It had taken her all to utter that one word and her heart filled with bitterness at it.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZN18NtMtj
'That's a good girl.' Eartha smiled at her daughter and pat her head. Her hair was looking rough and needed fresh braiding but that would be another time. She could even have it done at Mide's mother's place. She felt that stab of guilt again but numbed it out. Everything would be okay.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAq9DzheDyA
'Now, how about you get up and go have your bath?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXypBocmp0
Eniiyi continued to stare off, unresponsive.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtX4AsKf8hR
'I'm serious. And come say hello to your father after that.' Eartha started to stand up.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQznBGKcFs
After a while, Eniiyi flung back the covers for the second time that morning and got off the bed. Getting angry wasn't going to do anything. She might as well play along and try to be on her best behaviour, maybe that would make them change their minds. Besides, she was sure going to the village was all Mommy's idea, if she talked to Daddy he'd listen to her.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrjl6t0Mlv
'When are you leaving for work today? What are you even going to do, anyways?' she asked, although she didn't really care.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Kc0Yxbg1M
'Oh. We're not exactly going to work today. We'll just go get the necessary documents and the likes for our trip. And it's about extending the company to Eastern Asia . . .' she was reluctant to go on, since she didn't want to start boring the girl with the details.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlyoyP52MI
'Then are you going to learn how to play shogi?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XlS2z2P44
Eartha smirked. 'So, you still haven't forgotten. We're going for strictly business and nothing else.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70Ap8MipJ7
In one of their rare family moments together, they'd gone to the cinema and watched this movie where they played shogi. Eniiyi had been fascinated about another form of chess and had asked her parents if they could go learn it together. The question had been asked flippantly, for she knew what the answer would be. Work.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPErOsBgDTM
Eniiyi scowled back. 'That's very boring, you're very boring.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bW2rxvEjk
'Ìwo lo mò,' her mother said in Yoruba** and headed to the door. 'Freshen up and come downstairs.' She shut the door behind her.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNn8XnjucV
Eniiyi slumped dejectedly unto the bed. Was there really anything she could do? She was just a small girl, no one would listen to her.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4fmZWeoLw
She sighed and reached for the remote control on the bedside table to turn on the flat screen TV mounted on the wall but remembered what she'd been posting on her website yesterday and dropped it, reaching for her fire-engine red Samsung tablet instead. The colour of the tablet was actually black but had a red pouch.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtv27aKAdB4
She wasn't gone on ten minutes when her mom popped open the door.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupMZPLgn20
'Are you . . .?' she froze.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuloqcALae
Eniiyi stared at her mother, frowning.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFM79EZqrhw
'Adekunbi, I'm closing my eyes now—' her mom shut her eyes '—if by the time I open them I still find you sitting in this room, I promise you, you will find more cause to keep frowning at me,' she threatened.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvNgzLwD6A
She wanted to object, to show she was still angry at her, at them, but she dropped the tablet, anyway, and dragged her feet to the ensuite.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lLpLifsgF
Later when she had changed out of her nightdress she picked up her tablet and slid down the banister to the lounge room. Daddy was sitting in front of the TV which was on but his full attention was on the laptop balanced on his thighs as he typed away.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgbzerYg4C
Not good enough for her, but she was going to make the most of it and try to convince him to let her go anywhere that wasn't her grandmother's.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IDQ2XK62A
'Morning, Daddy,' she said in greeting, hugging him from the side.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwm4dnAgBa7
'Morning, Adekunbi,' said her father. He suffered two seconds away from the screen of his laptop to kiss his daughter on the cheek.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qnP3Fwo1B
She stared the computer screen. She didn't comprehend jack of what she saw. 'Daddy, what're you doing?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTd21znBI50
Her dad threw her a how-could-you-be-so-dumb look. 'Typing.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynDFyjvCgc
She turned down the corner of her lips. 'Daddy . . .'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTi15XTYNQ
'Work,' Daddy finally said. 'Has your mommy told you of tomorrow's schedule?'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9v5dJT26y
Of course, everything was a schedule to Daddy. Even getting off the bed and brushing his teeth.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjCmbGkhj2
'Yes, sir,' she replied. 'But, Daddy, I don't want to go,' she countered.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MsBg16o55
'And where do you want to go?' her dad asked, not looking away from the computer.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIOGuwF36y
The crashed hope in her started to stir. She could really talk Daddy out of the idea of going to the village.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkCDkedCZd
' I don't know, anywhere that's not G.ma's. Uncle Felix's?' she provided.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWf1Fozewi
'Femi has his hands full,' her dad said of his brother. 'I don't know why you're so worked up about the idea. Mother is very nice and you'd love her at once.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg96aMqotQg
She scowled. 'I seriously doubt that.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczaWa6B7W6
'You go on and do all your doubting till you meet her.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPNDljm9rY
Eniiyi wanted to reply but then Eartha arrived, a steel tray balanced on her palms. 'Breakfast,' she announced. 'I thought since we're all here we could as well have our meal here.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvm6ijOfki
'Mide, did you manage to get through to the agency?' Mommy said to Daddy.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJtVS7EH3J
'Oh, I booked for the 11:15. I figured we'd be at Zik*** by past ten, all else the same.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOj8BzAtvs
The young girl glanced from her Daddy to her Mommy and sighed sadly. Anger and hurt married in a quick ceremony in her heart, her stomach, her head, her soul. It was now very obvious that whatever she did wasn't going to stop them, their minds were made up.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVmM7mcB0b
She tried to mask her anger and disappointment as she stood up and picked her tablet from the couch.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuZ7K3Kcq3
'Where are you going?' Her dad glanced at her.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0ul7FlOaJ
'I'm going to brush my teeth,' she replied, although her mouth still smelled freshly of the Close Up**** she'd used not long ago, and stormed off to her room, slamming the door as loud as she could.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1bxwBIAzT
She knelt by the bed and buried her face into the sheets, her body shaking in anger.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJauKDiKELm
She was doomed to go to the village, after all, she was just a small girl, her decisions didn't matter.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIX6OZb26A
When Eartha made to go after the girl Mide put a hand out to stop her.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFcPc2WVEk
'Let her be. She'll get over it, soon and realize going to the village is the best decision we could make for her.'
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHu0BpwRsPR
Eartha sighed and went to sit beside her husband. He was right. Going to the village was the best decision.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xpDtnNa5R
Little did they know that this decision was later going to change their lives forever.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzvn9A9ioJ
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUPwMmufPq
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykHiqY6fdz
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0aqBCSpGN
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIzHD7ZUUV
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9KUDGAowJ
Eniiyi – a Yoruba name which means 'person of prestige'.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmTndEAARH
* An ethnic group living mainly in Northern Nigeria.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OaoYh9laG
** An ethnic group living mainly in Southwestern Nigeria as well as in communities elsewhere in West Africa, Brazil and Cuba.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9XQPdFVoS
*** Shortened name of airport at Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhUoTSksm4
**** A popular toothpaste brand made by a plc in West Africa.
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jAXXFnn3V
860Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQBKgABFoz
and then Add to home screen.