I arrived Abuja. The heart of the country, and the capital city of Nigeria. We arrived at night and the road seemed busy. People clearing their shops, and hawkers counting their sweat for the day. I walked down the street and met a pretty young girl.
"Hello!" I greeted. She turned and gave me a quick glance.
"Hi, who are you?"
"Um... I am Florence Smart. Nice to meet you".
"Nice to meet you too. My name is Sandra. What are you doing here, standing with traveling bags this night?" She asked, as she stood up with a bowl in her hands and a purse under her armpit.
"I am coming from Lagos. Please, do you know where I can sleep at least for the night?"
"You don't have a home?" she asked in a surprised tone. I shook my head sadly.
"No I don't." She immediately took pity on me.
"Okay, follow me." Sandra led me across the road, and into an open space where we met others preparing for the night as that was their home. We walked passed them into a room.
"This is where I live."
"Do you rent this place?"
"Yes. My brother is a tiler. That's the means by which he makes money and we survive greatly on that."
"Wow that's nice. So... am I allowed to stay here for the night?"
"Yeah sure. Don't worry I will talk to my brother about it. Please feel free."
"Thank you so much Sandra. I do appreciate."
"You are welcome." She dropped the bowl she held on the floor, beside the curtain.
Sandra arranged the room and changed her cloth for the night.
I just starred at an empty space,and thought of the next step to take. Later, Sandra's brother; Great, came back from work. She explained things to him. He understood and even opted to sleep in the open space, leaving the room for the ladies.
* * *
Next morning, I woke up and met Sandra already up and prepared for her business.
"So early? Good morning." I greeted as I rubbed sleep off my eyes.
"Morning. How was your night? You see, this is Abuja. In this city, you don't have to wait for someone to tell you its time to make money. If not by dear sister, hunger will finish you."
"Yes I know. It's the same in Lagos
By the way, can I follow you to your business place?"
"But... I thought you were leaving this morning to seek for greener pastures?". Sandra asked in surprise.
" Em Sandra... I think I will have to be staying here for the while. Its a long story..."
I sighed.
"Do you mind if we sit and discuss these". Sandra smiled in understanding.
"Alright then, let's go to my shop. There, we can talk. I followed Sandra to her shop, which was a container.
" What business do you do? " I asked, as she opened the shop.
"Well I make hair. And I back it up by selling snacks and soft drinks." I assisted her in cleaning and dusting the shop. She then brought out goods for display. Shortly afterwards, customers trooped in to buy snacks, but there was non yet that came to braid hair. We sat and began to talk.
"Now, do you mind telling me why a good looking girl with well spoken English, does not have a home?" Sandra began. I explained my story to her, and she was silent for some time. She sighed and then spoke.
"Hey I am sorry about that. I actually share similar situation with you."
"I am an orphan. My dad in his blessed memory was a nice, honest,hospitable and generous man. This actually made him his dad's favourite among three sons. Being the third son, this attracted jealously from his brethren. When his father finally died years later, His WILL stated that half of his property, be given to my dad. While the rest, be shared among other sons. His brethren were angry and jealous all the more. They planned to kill him and finally succeed in poisoning him. So he passed on. My family and I were driven from the house and denied the properties of my father. My mum died some months later of tuberculosis. So that's how my brother and I have been struggling with life." She concluded sadly and struggled to fight back tears. I placed a hand over her shoulders.
"I vow that some day, I will revenge all my enemies!" I said aloud in anger. Sandra held my hands tight and said;
"Yes! They will never go scot free." We were visibly mad at our oppressors.
"Sandra, for the mean time. Do you know of any work I can live on?"
"Well.. I suggest one thing. You can start up a 'Mama Put' business close to me here. Don't worry about the finances. I will talk to my brother about it." I smiled in gratitude.
"Oh thank you so much Sandra. You are truly like a sister to me. May God reward you."
I hugged her.
"Amen." We chatted and got to know more about ourselves. Customers stopped by to braid their hair, so we ended our conversation.