My Mornining

 It was one of those days you wake up and look beautiful.

 Susan looked in the mirror after taking her bath that morning, smiled to the mirror and quickly dashed out of the room to avoid missing the staff bus.

I’m Susan, a twenty five year old Human Resource Personnel in a multi-national company. I stay at 45, Dipeolu Street off Allen Junction Ikeja, Lagos. Tuesday is a day you wake up and look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself ‘Omo I fine’ oo’. I have to dash out of the house in10mins in order not to miss the staff bus. 

I saw it coming and I feel good because the early morning sun has not risen yet. The bus pulled over at its usual spot, the doors opened and with a smile they all said good morning to me and I replied them and said hello to others too.

 Approaching my regular sit; right beside the window, where no one usually sits because it’s like a permanent sit for me, sited there is a young man in a lovely piece, right on my seat, working on some kind of gadget, I looked closely to see who he is and if he knows he is in the wrong place. He looked up with a smile and quickly said good morning, he offered to stand up but I objected and moved to the sit at the back, the driver started off the bus and moved. I just could not get my mind off the fact that a young man could have that sort of breath- taking smile, his dentition were in place and yes he has a very charming look.

Mr Patrick, our new unit head that was brought in some weeks back sent for me few minutes after settling in to start up the day’s job. He is used to calling me ‘SU’ as I walked in; he got up and said to the young man sitting to the left of his office, ‘this is the woman that makes things run smoothly around here. Susan Ariyo is her name; I smiled as I said; ‘with the help of others’. To my surprise it was the young man who was in my sit earlier today. Here is Adedayo Davies, the new Human Resource Personnel, you asked for more hands, so you guys should go meet each other. That is all for now. 

Mr Davies, she’ll show you around,

Do have a good day.

We headed for the office we both have to share, for some technical reasons; his office had not been set up so we had to work together in mine for now.

 My office can accommodate both of us, I turned to him and smiled saying we meet again. Am Susan once again and I am the Head of Human Resource, I do most of the job around here and I really didn’t have a problem with it until lately.

He was easy to talk to and we got along well. It was past two weeks and his office is now complete. I was given the opportunity to make the final touches to the office. To my surprise I got it right and he really was grateful.

He asked me out on a lunch date the following afternoon, I complied and that was how we became friends. We spent most free times together; it went on like that for over a month.

On one of our evenings together, a call came in it was a lady from the way they spoke, the call lasted for some minutes and he ended the call saying  ‘I love you’ to the person on the other line. He came back to where he sat before the call came in, I was shocked and jealous in a way but I didn’t say anything. That was my fiancée she is coming into the country soon she is done with her program in Ukraine. I looked up at him and he said oh! Am sorry I have not mentioned her since we met, let’s talk about her later.

I went home thinking about the mess I had gotten myself into because admit it or not, I had started falling for Dee as I fondly called him. He felt like a piece of me that I didn’t know of. He’s heart melting smile, he’s sense of humour, awesome voice….. waow!!!  I said to myself, “Susan you don enter one chance”,

  We met in the office the following Monday we had a unit meeting with our boss Mr Patrick. It lasted for about two hours after which Adedayo and I were meant to meet for another short meeting. We went into my office to start the other part of the meeting, we sat and Adebayo spoke

 ‘ am sorry if I lead you on wrongly her name is Salewa we dated for three years before we started having frictions, 

 I didn’t want to cut him off so I sat down and listened to him......

Things went perfectly until she was set to go do her second degree in Ukraine I felt she could do it here but she refused so I told her that was a selfish decision and she left without a word. She contacted me two months ago she brought in a couple of people and I had no choice than to agree plus the fact that my heart still yearns out for her and I remained single during her absence.

Jayeola!!! 2

Bip!.... Bip!.... Bip!....  I had been knocked down by a vehicle due to my carelessness. I couldn’t see well due to the bandage on my head stroke face but is still could see Mr & Mrs Oni alongside Adebisi  talking to the doctor I couldn’t hear them but Mrs Oni looked soo sad………….. And that was all.

The next time I woke up, I saw my Mum, Bamidele my little brother, Adeola Oni, Mr Oni looking like a lost puppy and Tunde the driver all setting in the room. Tunde got up to call the doctor who was already on his way there “She’s awake” he said. I had been out for 16hrs and I had lost a lot of blood. They were all there because I needed blood and none matched not even my brothers’. Dr Pascal said it to my hearing. I felt bad, oooo it was the end, but I had only started I said to myself I felt life less couldn’t really feel any part of my body and my sight was blur.

The nurse came in and asked if she could talk to the doctor in private, he came back in few minutes later with a smile and said “a match has been found” apparently the blood bank didn’t have a match. The source oh! Shouted my mother, its from a young man and the blood as been tested.

I felt a bit better and could move my hands. I had been sleeping for the past 48hrs. I wondered what had been happening. I saw Bisco, Mrs Oni, and my mother looking a bit happier than the last time I saw them. The transfusion had been done, adebisi gave his blood for me.

I was getting better, I moved in with the Oni’s again. My left arm was still in its recovery mood, and I felt soo much love from them including Mr Oni who couldn’t stop blaming himself for the accident.

After the accident Adebisi and I became unusually close, he got me stuffs when he was coming home from school, spent more time with me in the kitchen and most times sat with me in my room. And somemimes he jokingly called me his “little wife”.

 No one saw anything wrong with this not even dad, only on one occasion did Mr Oni mention to everyone in the house while we were having dinner that “bisco and Jaye are very close these days” everyone laughed over it and Adebisi said “ We share same blood now, so what do you expect”……. There was great silence after that and no one went back to it.

He was serving now and I had almost gotten through with my studies, didn’t date anyone in school because I was ashamed of who I was or more or less what I was doing to get sustained. But with a friend like Adebisi I didn’t really bother at some times. I had started feeling something for him that was beyond me. I wasn’t sure it was right because I knew he was in a relationship and they seem like they are heading places. I continued to be friends but after sometime I couldn’t do it any more I started stay at a distance even if it was not easy. He complained and kept asking if he had done something wrong and one occasion he asked Adeola and stev his friend to talk to me, I told them nothing was wrong that I just wanted to be by myself for some time and Adeola with a sad smile on his face looked me in the eye and said “jayeola…… I think I know what the problem is”. He obviously knew what the problem was. It wasn’t too easy on him and I could see him struggling to stay out of my way. So he spent more time out of the house and didn’t spend some nights at home.

I just had my bath and was trying to apply cream on my back, didn’t usually lock the door has I seldom had any visitors.  

Jayeola!

The era of parents staying at home to watch over there kids is long gone………….

I was employed by the Oni’s to look over there two boys Adeola and Adebisi of age fifteen (15) and nineteen (19) respectively and help keep the house tidy. I on the other hand was seventeen (17) I had no strong financial back up from the scratch so its been a struggle all the way from primary school I had learn to hawk and get involved in petty trade as it was the only way my mother Iya jaye as popularly know provided for us, “my brother bamidele and I”. I learnt my father died in a motor accident on his way back from Ibadan. I was about 2 and bamidele was in the womb. His family blamed my mother for His death, threw us out and took all that we had. That was how our struggle for survival started.

The oni’s promised to help me finish my secondary education which I had by then dropped out at J.S.S 3 to enable bamidele school a bit too. That was the only condition at which Iya jaye was willing to let me go on. They fulfilled there end of the bargain as I was immediately enrolled into a secondary school in Benin on my arrival.

My job wasn’t much Dishes, cooking, cleaning and running little errands in the house. The cooking was mostly done by Mrs Oni has her husband didn’t eat from any other. The Laundry was done by Isa to make my work load lighter as it was that I had school and I had to do well.

Adebisi who was also known as Bisco was a young man of self respect even at that young age, he stayed out of my way and helped with my home-work whenever he was around as he was in a university outside Nigeria. Adeola was a very cheerful individual and always engaged in talks and always wanted me around we were both in same class but in different schools. He also helped with the writing of notes when I didn’t have time. In short the Oni’s had lovely boys.

 

It was june and we were getting prepared to write our final exams. Adeola was moved into the boarding house a year to finals to enable him make good grades. I on the other hand was enrolled into an evening after school class. It ranged from 5-7, but had to live at 6:30 to enable me get home on time to my original duties.

The Oni’s were lovely people except for the times daddy came home un-happy and made every one share in his woes, I was always at the receiving end because Mrs Oni goes straight to bed when she senses things like that. I get to serve dinner to him, so I came face to face with the lion. There where days he simply said “can’t she cook better than this”? or he could say “ I wonder when you’re going to finish your service to this family” and all other things.

 

Weac result was out and I made six credits mathematics and English inclusive. Adeola on the other hand made his as well.

Jayeola! Jayeola! Does  the university make one deaf!?  I was at the back yard and couldn’t hear Mr Oni calling me. I stepped into the house and I was landed a hard slap, I wondered what I had done wrong this time ever since I had gotten into the university Mr Oni had seriously changed and I had kept wondering what had gone wrong.

He handed me a list and told me to go to the store with the driver and get this stuffs for him and if you like spend the entire day there were the last words he said I quickly wiped my face and ran of to my room to have a change of clothes…………

All through the ride I couldn’t help but wonder what had happen to my way of doing things, or was God punishing me for something I did by making Mr Oni hate me this much in this few months. Tuned called me out of my thought and sing we were at the mart already. Still trying to shake of my thought and about crossing the road I didn’t notice an on-coming car.

Screeeeeee Gbam! Was the last thing i heard.