"I'm sor-ry" Charles stammered, "she's probably just having a bad day. I'll go speak with her" he said, getting up immediately to catch up with his wife.
"I told you this was a bad idea" Deji hissed when Charles was out of sight, "I don't see how" Ama replied rolling her eyes, "I told you that we should stay in a hotel while we look for a suitable house to rent but you insisted we should squat with friends" Deji said,
"but that's because I wanted us to save money, just a 10 night stay in a hotel is about the same cost as our potential rent for a month, we don't have any source of income besides our savings so we can't afford to throw money away" Ama replied, "if you had just landed alone and settled down before bringing us along, we'd have saved way more money" Deji replied, rolling his eyes. "Well, it's too late to be having that conversation," Ama responded as they began to hear two footsteps hurriedly coming down the stairs.
"They're leaving this house tonight" they could hear Charles's wife saying, "no you can't do that" Charles argued as they reached the dining area.
"I'm sorry but you have to leave now" his wife announced to Deji and Ama, "this house doesn't have the bandwidth to accommodate another family" she added sternly. "Guys, I'm really sorry about this, please just ignore her," Charles interjected, "If you remain in this house for more than an hour more, I swear to God, I'll call the police" Charles's wife threatened, "and I mean it" she added tapping the table. "Amaka you can't do that" Charles replied looking livid.
"59 minutes left" Amaka announced, looking at the clock and ignoring Charles, "I'll be in my room counting down" she added, leaving to go upstairs.
"Charles, don't worry about this. Luckily, we haven't unpacked. Please just take us to the nearest hotel" Deji said, "by this time of the night?" Ama interjected looking angry, "Mummy is the police going to get us?" their older daughter asked, looking frightened, their kids had been sitting quietly all this time, watching the drama unfold. "No sweety, they're not" Ama replied, "Aunty was just playing" she added with a fake smile.
"I'm going to get our bags" Deji said, getting up to leave the dining table, "I'm really sorry about this man" Charles apologized, following him behind, "I didn't want to mention this to you, but this is what I've been facing ever since she got her nursing job. She pays the mortgage and most of the bills so she's been calling the shots. You now see why I had to settle for a taxi job? Imagine having to beg her for pocket money" he added, "Mehn! You're really trying" Deji replied looking pitiful, "I would have gone crazy if I had to go through that everyday, sincerely, I don't wish it on my worst enemy" Charles said as they picked the suitcases and headed back downstairs.
Few minutes later, they arrived at a hotel which was about 20 minutes away. "Can we get a room for a family of four? 2 adults and 2 kids under 5 years old" Deji asked, "hmm! We're currently almost booked to full capacity," the receptionist answered, looking at her computer screen and scrolling with her mouse, we have just about 5 rooms left, the lowest one is going for £250 while our most expensive suite is £800 a night" she announced with a smile, "£800 what?" Deji screamed, "we're not here on a luxury vacation, please give us the room for £250" he replied, "Even £250 a night is a lot, 10 days here and we've spent our rent for 1 month" Ama whispered to him looking shocked, "Do you have a better alternative?" Deji asked, rolling his eyes. "I thought so too" he said sarcastically when she remained silent.
The next morning, Charles picked them up early to start house hunting. They had seen a couple of apartments that they were interested in while they were back in Nigeria, but the landlords were not interested in having any further discussions without first meeting them in person.
They spent their whole day going from house to house. The first landlord rejected them because according to him, their kids were too young and it was an adult-only apartment building. The second said he needed proof of employment to accept them as his tenants. Another one they met said he was looking for Caucasian tenants only and a couple more turned them down because they were not citizens or permanent residents.
Deji was already getting frustrated when finally they met a Landlord who agreed to rent his apartment to them on the condition that they paid 3 months rent upfront plus a security deposit of one month's rent.
"That's crazy" Ama blurted out, "I have other interested tenants, it's up to you" the landlord said, looking from Ama to Deji, "we'll take it" Deji agreed. At that point, he was already frustrated and tired.
"That's almost half of our money gone" Ama cried, "this place is not even close to my school, I still have to take an hour on the underground to get to school" she added.
"You need to stop this," Deji whispered, "don't let the Landlord hear this, before you render us homeless." "If you say so" Ama replied, folding her arms across her chest and sulking. They signed the contracts and paid the landlord in full in exchange for the keys to the apartment.
Ama was beginning to suffer from insomnia after their first week of staying in the apartment as the reality that they would soon have a pile of bills to pay and they had to get jobs as a matter of urgency suddenly dawned on her. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that can make it difficult for you to fall asleep, stay asleep or cause you to wake up too early. It can be caused by stress for example if you're worried about something like finances, work or school just like in Ama's case or travelling between different time zones, or poor sleep habits. It can also be caused by taking certain medications or taking caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea or Cola as these drinks are stimulants. Insomnia is more common in older people and can be treated with behavioural therapy and certain medications.
Ama was lying on the bed, lost in thought about whether her decision for them to relocate had been a wise one and what they needed to do to survive going forward, when Deji suddenly burst into the room interrupting her thoughts.
"Can you please put these kids to bed? They are running everywhere and making so much noise" Deji said, "why can't you do that? They're your kids too" Ama snapped, "well, for your information, that's what I've been trying to do for the last 30 minutes without success. Would you pleassse come and put them to sleep?" Deji begged as both kids began stamping their feet and singing at the top of their lungs.
"I'm busy," Ama replied, facing the opposite direction and turning her back towards Deji.
Just as they were busy arguing, there was a knock on the door.
"A knock on the door by this time? Are you expecting anyone?" Deji asked, "You must be dreaming if you think I'd invite anyone to visit me in this cupboard" Ama replied, rolling her eyes as Deji shook his head and went to answer the door.
"Who is it?" He shouted as he approached the door, "Open up, it's the police," a male voice in a British accent responded, "the police?" Deji repeated looking puzzled and wondering what his crime was as he opened the door to see two policemen standing there with stern looks on their faces.