ONE
** Olive **
"Olive! Olive!!" I woke up with a start as my mom yelled
I had just started enjoying my sleep and my precious dream with my prince, charming in it.
I got up from the bed and walked to open the door with a frown.
It was still dark outside . I looked at my mom.
" Good evening, mom."
" Good evening? It's almost 4 o'clock Olive and you are still sleeping like a pregnant woman.
" pregnant women sleep till daybreak" I replied.
She eyed me angrily.
" you are young Olive, you should always wake up early"
" I'm already up mom"
" change up, we are going to the farm with your aunt" she informed me
" farm again! I'm tired of this village already, we should return to Lagos already" I voiced out.
" you are right dear it's just that I promised your own that will help her finish that particular farm and I think two more times will do the magic" my mom replied smoothly
" Just wait till I get admission. You will look for me, shey you are stressing me now that I am available?" I threatened.
My mom ignored me and went to get hoe and cutlass, murmuring I rushed to change my clothing and follow her as I didn't know the way.
As I walked behind my mom on the narrow bus truck I cleared my throat
" mom"
"Hmmm"
" Let us hire laborers, I'll pay for the work" I offered.
She did not answer me.
" Mom, I think we should hire laborers…"
" I heard you the first time, Olivia, Steven, so because of the chicken change you were earning at my fast food, you are showing off? Or do you think I am senseless for deciding we should go to the farm ourselves?" She asked.
" But why do we have to when we can afford to pay laborers?" I asked.
" my daughter, sometimes throwing money around, no matter how much you have it doesn't send the right message across" she told me
" I still do not understand"
" Just imagine giving Aunty Oby money for laborers and spending two weeks in the village without going to farm with her, she will think we are rubbing the fact that your dad is in a better financial position than she is on her" she explained.
I understood perfectly, but still I didn't want to go to the farm.
" but…"
" one word from you and I will squeeze your mouth"
I closed my mouth and waited till we reached the farm. I dropped the bearing I was carrying and stood up.
" Mom, the laborers around here accept transfers, right?" I asked.
" this girl kilode eh?"
" sorry ma'am" I replied, and she continued murmuring as she started weeding
' children of nowadays, during my time we used to wake up before the hen every day, we will go to the stream that was kilometers away and fetch water at leat two to three times each, then sweep the compound before going to school and on farm days, we will wait from 6 AM to 6 PM and still come back to house chores'
" but this is not your own time, this is our own time and…"
" and what?"
" nothing Ma "
I quickly bent and started pulling grass.
After some time, I got a call on my button phone that I brought along to farm, I clean my hands on my shorts and retrieved the phone from my short pocket
" I give you 60 seconds to finish with the call and return to work"
" it is dad on the line" I informed her before pressing the receive button
For over an hour, my dad and I talked about nothing in particular. I was My Father's daughter so it was always like this sweet
Mom soon walked over and I handed the phone to her.
" Honey, you decided not to let Olivia work today Abi" mom asked
Dad said something I didn't hear. My mom laughed loudly.
***
Once we got home, we freshened up and I prepared lunch for three. Aunt Oby was my dad's other sister she had married, but her husband died during the first year of their marriage, the trauma made her lose her six months old pregnancy. My dad told me that after the burial, my aunt returned to stay in her own father's house and refused to remarry.
I served my mom and Aunty and took my own food to the room.
After eating, I turned on my iPhone XR. I went on WhatsApp to chat with my people.
The phone battery went low and I brought out my power bank only to see my mom's phone plugged in and the power bank battery dead.
Hissing, I turned off my data, connected my headset and started playing and singing along to again and again by Tatiana Manaois
* it's been about four months and I swear
Baby I'm doing just fine.
And every time I try to write woah oh oh
You make your way back into my head.
Oh and when you said that I'm your one and only friend
But every time you walked away
You told me that I just wasn't enough
It's so strange how we are strangers now
I miss you…
I heard a faint knock on the door and I quickly removed my headset.
I am officially in deep trouble. My mom was banging my door and calling my name.
I quickly rushed and opened the door.
Mom was glaring at me." Do I have to break the door for you to wake up? How can a woman be sleeping like a dead dog?
" The door is still intact though" I commented.
My mom and I are always like cats and rats, but we are very close.
Mom just hissed and brought out money. There were 2000 naira notes and 500 naira notes.
I just knew that she wanted me to go on an errand and I didn't have the strength for that.
" mom, you are I know that I don't know my way around the village, do you want me to get lost?" I asked.
" that's true I forgot"
I looked at her suspiciously as she turned to leave.
" I have no intentions of letting my own child get lost in the village so I better manage my 68 battery percentage, and forget about buying fuel"
I rushed and smashed the money from her hand.
" give me my 5K you this girl"
" the other day, we went out with Aunty Oby, I saw a petrol station so I think I can get there" I quickly said.
My mom laughed at me.
" you forget the headmaster was once a student Abi? Go and buy fuel jare"
*****
Once my phone reached 75%, I turned it on.
I had three notifications .
The first was from my best friend Mary.
.. Madame come online, I get gist… I smiled.
The second was a message from MTN.
… get amazing data deals from my MTN app…
I deleted it quickly with a hiss
The third was an email.
I reluctantly opened my Gmail app and what I saw made me forget to breathe for seconds.
Harlene university, California.
Congratulations, you have been awarded a fully funded scholarship to study literature. Registration Commences on 5 March visit the school website using the link to accept or reject this offer.
I screamed!!!