They both got into the mini bus and made their way to the restaurant and Ray apologized to Nelly and promised to give her a very handsome reward if she agreed to his proposal. Nelly who had come from a very poor background and who had this strong passion for dance couldn't reject the offer, although she was hiding it deep inside her mind because of the way her father had told her to forget about dance, that it would lead her nowhere, but still she couldn't stop the burning urge in her to start dancing immediately.
Time passed as Ray stared at her wondering what she was thinking at the moment. For the past few minutes, he stopped talking, she had been in deep thoughts although Ray couldn't make out what she was thinking, he secretly prayed that she would accept his proposal, a lot of things and questions of doubt were still going through his mind, when he heard, "when are we starting practice" the excitement that surged through him when he heard this was more than he could contain that he ran to where she sat, drew her up and gave her something that was meant to be a long lasting hug, but of course, she cut it short by pushing him away.
"You haven't answered my question" she said again
"Oh we start on Saturday, at the school gymnasium hall" he finally said
"Noted" she replied and took her bag and went out not minding how many times he called her back so that they could go together.
Nelly got to her lodge exhausted; she slumped on the bed without removing even her shoes. She rolled to the other side of the bed while checking the time. It was almost five pm and Ella was not yet back. "Where could she be?" she mumbled under her breath before drifting to sleep
"Wake up sleeping beauty" Ella said as she tapped her.
"Hey Ella, you are back, what is the time"? she asked as she pushed herself up from the bed,
"it's 5.49 pm" Ella said
"Oh shit, I'm late for prep" she exclaimed as she got to her feed and found her way to he bathroom where she cleaned up and took her text books without looking back and ran straight to the library where Johnson was already waiting for her. They had assignments to do together and they had to prepare for the oncoming semester exams. They read till eight pm and she decided to head back to her lodge when she got a call from her sister
"Hello sis" she said
"Hello sister chi" her sister addressed her by her Ibo name at home because that was what she grew up with, but at school she was known as Nelly.
"Sister Chi mom was rushed to the hospital"
"Jesus Christ! What happened?" she asked as her heart began to beat faster
"She fainted while working, sister Chi, I will call you back later, I need to tell the others" her sister said as she ended the call.
"Hello, hello" Nelly said that was when she noticed that her sister was already off the line.
She was confused on what to do, but somehow deep down, she knew that a day would come when she would hear this news because of the nature of her mothers work.
Her mom wasn't educated to the level that can earn you the position of a government worker and due to the harassment and type of treated she got from her father. She vowed to get a job that would pay her even if its 10 kobo, as far as she was earning something every month, it was fine by her.
That was when she decided to join the force which she finally got. The nature of the job entails staying on busy roads controlling traffic 24 hours 7 days was too much for her mom to handle which Nelly had tried telling her but she wouldn't listen and now it has finally happened.
It was because of the harsh treatment her father gave her mother that made Nelly vow to become an independent young lady so that no man would treat her the way her father treats her mother.
Nelly finally got to her lodge. She was going to cancel all of her programs and lectures for the following day because she needed to see her mom. Ella helped her pack her little stuff and gave her a little money for her mom. The following day, she set out to see her mother.