"It's been three months since Bassy arrived in Abuja. It wasn't such an easy task but compared to the suffering she and her son went through in the village, it was nothing.
Bassy woke up at 4:30 a.m. to start getting her boss's kids ready for school. After preparing the meal they'll take to school as lunch, she made their breakfast before going to wake them up one after the other to give them a shower.
When she was done getting them ready for school, she called Nsisong, the driver, to come and take them to school while they all left together.
It was a few minutes past 8 a.m. before Bassy came back from the school where she went to drop her boss's children. She sneaked into her boys' quarter to give Gabriel, who was already awake, a shower and food to eat.
She ordered him to remain in the room and not come out as usual. Bassy bought a tablet of forty thousand naira, which was her entire first salary, so that her son wouldn't die of boredom. That was a way of keeping him company as he is always locked up in the room.
She promptly went to tidy up the six-bedroom duplex by sweeping, dusting and mopping every corner of the house.
It was already a few minutes past 11 a.m. before she was done cleaning. She promptly went to get her boss ready for work after cleaning the house. Her boss normally goes to work by 12 p.m., so it was a usual daily routine for her.
After her boss had left for work, she dashed to the city market to buy some foodstuffs. After she was back from the market, she started making the second lunch for her boss's children in school.
It was a few minutes past 2 p.m. before she was done making lunch. She went to Nsisong, and they went back to the school to pick the children up since they close by 3 p.m.
It was a few minutes past four before they arrived from the school.
To and fro from their house to the school was an hour and thirty minutes drive in their private car.
Bassy promptly went to give the children a quick shower before serving them the meal she had made already. She took some to her son, who was sitting in the room watching children's movies on the tablet she had bought for him.
before going back to the house to help her boss's children with their assignments and took them to the playground to have some fun.
She brought them back from the playground when it was a few minutes past 7 p.m. After giving them a quick shower, she put them to bed as soon as it was 8 p.m. to take a nap.
Her boss returned from the office a few minutes after 9 p.m. She made her dinner and tidied up everywhere before she finally went to meet her son Gabriel, who was already sleeping with the cartoon he was watching on. She thanked goodness she had already given him dinner to eat and wished she had the chance to give him a shower as at the time she brought him dinner. She went to take a shower herself before wincing backwards to lay down on the bed to take a nap. Thank you lord for today she whispered before closing her eyes abd dozed off.
This is Bassy's daily routine from Mondays to Fridays. On Saturdays, she wakes up by 6 a.m. to resume work and closes by 10 p.m. after everyone had gone to bed. The only day she had for herself and her son was on Sundays. On Sundays, it was her off day, so she uses that opportunity to tidy the cozy apartment they've given to her.
Her boss warned her strictly from the day she resumed work never to allow her son Gabriel to mingle with her children, else she'll send her back to the village. She gave that reason because she believed firmly that Bassy's son was too poor and of a low class to mingle with her children.
Bassy didn't have a problem with it cause her children were three and six years older than her son. Her son was nine years old while her daughter was six years old.
According to what Nsisong had told her, the woman divorced her husband a year ago, but he didn't tell her the reasons behind their divorce.
It was the beginning of a new term, and Bassy has been looking for the right way to ask her madam if she can let her send her son to a nearby low-class private school. But she didn't find the courage to, fearing that it might lead to her madam sending her back to the village. She talked to Nsisong about it, and he encouraged her to tell her madam, but she still couldn't say it.
The next day, while Nsisong was driving Bassy back home after they dropped the children off at school, he reminded Bassy to tell their boss about Gabriel's school. He also added that he discussed it with her yesterday while he was bringing her back from work, and their boss said okay, no problem.
Bassy thanked him so much for taking the intrepid action on her behalf.
Nsisong acknowledged her appreciation, saying that he has children and he doesn't like seeing little kids sit at home during school days.
Bassy confided in her boss herself to grant her the permission of letting her register her son in a nearby low-budget primary school.
She agonized for a while before asking her if she's sure it won't affect the job she's doing in her house. Bassy assured her it won't affect her job, reassuring her that she'll never let that happen cause the job she's doing here is very important to her.
Bassy was extremely delighted when her boss bought her request. She immediately went to the school Nsisong had suggested for her. The school fee was more than half of her salary, but she was sure she could afford it since she doesn't buy food with her money, and perhaps, a term conveys three months. She was pretty sure she'll be able to have some money to use for their actual upkeep and save some before the three months run out.
A month after Gabriel had resumed school, Bassy was still doing well with her job without any issues. All she did was a little adjustment in her time schedule to enable her never to make her boss's children go to school late and to also help make her own son get to school on time.
She bumped into one of her secondary school senior students while she was in the market buying foodstuffs one faithful afternoon. He was just a step higher than her back then in Abudu Modern Secondary School. He was in Edu's class and one of Edu's closest friends.
"Nathan!" she called out in shock.
Nathan glanced back, wondering who's going in so firmly in this market he's just visiting for the first time. A wave of astonishment gripped him upon sighting Bassy from afar. He was amid puzzle and bewilderment. Seeing Bassy walking towards him with a warm smile.
"You live around here?" Bassy asked with a pleasant smile after they've exchanged warm greetings.
"Yeah, I'm doing my final year in the University of Abuja," he replied with a lip smile. "What about you? What are you doing here?" He poured out his confusion.
Hearing that Nathan is now a final year student gave Bassy an overwhelming surge of sadness. All his peer groups back then are now turning into graduates and here she is struggling with her life to survive living.