Antonia had just moved into her boss' house, she was given a one room apartment in the boys quarters of the palatial building.
It was one of the most desired places to live in the city of Lagos.
Anyone familiar with Lagos Island knows Osbourne estate, Ikoyi is home
to the wealthy and influential. The estate had well tarred roads and
beautiful scenery.
It seemed immune to all the craziness and pollution the city of Lagos is known for.
It is a beautiful place to live, with houses well laid out and
numbered, flowers and green lawns, beautiful and exotic cars plying the
streets. It was definitely Tonia's dream home.
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Tonia came to Lagos from her hometown in Kwara state in search of a
better life. Her friends had told her so many stories about Lagos.
It was the city of her dreams.
The city where dreams come true, the city that never sleeps.
All you need was to be hardworking, beautiful and resourceful.
She came with very high hopes.
She was going to get rich in this city.
Living the Nigerian dream.
On arriving Lagos, she traced the address her friend, Damilola had given to her. It was in Mushin, Lagos.
Damilola had left their village three years earlier and seemed to be
doing well for herself. She even boasted on one of her visits that she
would be buying a car very soon.
Whenever Damilola came home, she would wear expensive looking dresses with high heeled shoes.
She would makeup her face with different colours and shades of cosmetics.
She was a Lagos big girl. Or was she?
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"What are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were coming." Damilola
asked as she was called out to see the lady asking after her outside
the old, storey building.
"You said I could come and live with
you anytime in Lagos, the woman that operates a call centre in the
village died last week so I couldn't call you." Tonia replied, looking
around the rusty building.
The house was an old building with
peeling paint everywhere, broken windows, rusty burglary proof, and
there were children running all over the compound.
Lots of people were coming in and going out.
When the bike man told her she had gotten to her destination, she
argued and told him there was no way her friend lived in this kind of
house.
As she gazed up at the balcony upstairs, she was scared. The
rails were filled with clothing and they looked ready to drop at any
time.
She didn't believe Damilola, "the Lagos big girl" lived in
this neighbourhood not to talk of this building. This building that
looked like it could collapse at anytime.
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Damilola took her in. Even though Tonia was disappointed, she had no choice.
To her chagrin, the room her friend stayed was upstairs, and the stairs were as shaky as the rest of the building.
On getting to the room, there were two ladies sitting on the bed. They looked ready for an outing.
"Good evening ma." Tonia greets them.
"Who is this one calling ma?" The one standing by the window, holding her mirror retorts.
"Take it easy na, she's my guest." Damilola answers, almost angry.
"And so what? Because she be your guest, we no go fit talk again? You
no even tell us say you dey expect visitor." The same lady answers.
"Ok, make una take things easy, we can talk about this later, Chichi,
dress up and stop talking or we would be late." The lady seated on the
bed intervenes as Tonia looks on and struggles to find a place to put
her legs.
"Thanks jare Biola, I no know wetin her problem be." Damilola responds.
In the midst of all the arguments, Tonia looks around the room, there
are loads of bags on the right hand corner of the room. Above the bags
is a hanger nailed to the wall. It also holds tons of cloths.
There are two mattresses on the floor, and a two chairs, one a two
seater and the other a single seater.
There's a cupboard on the far left
corner of the room with a plate rack in top of it.
Was this the Lagos of her dreams?
Would she survive here?
What would she do?
Should she go back home?
So many questions begging for answers.
Tonia had run away from home against her mother's wish and advice, so
there was no way she would go back home now and allow her mother say: "I
told you so."
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"Are you not coming with us? Biola asked Damilola.
"You know I told you I had a headache earlier, I thought I could manage
but with my friend's arrival, I can't leave her alone here tonight."
#fiction
#girlchild
#girlchild
All rights reserved
Written By Tolulope Fakayode-Faniran
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