𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐒: 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐋 1 [ON HOLD]

CHAPTER ONE💜

     

    DEDICATED TO _Aasa_

  April huffs as she drags her luggage outside. She hisses in frustration as she walks out of the room, placing the box on the floor. When she hears her mother's voice, she tries to support herself by leaning against the wall.

"April, sleep there okay, " Her mother's voice echoes in her ears. Typical of Nigerian mothers, they use the opposite to tell you what they want. Most of the time, it is hilarious. April hisses as she drags herself downstairs to the sitting room. When she arrived, one thing led to another, causing her to miss her step. Before she knew it, she had landed on her buttocks.

   Wunmi's laughter fills the sitting room, making April furious.

"Your eyes are always up; you can never let them drop to the ground," Mrs Kuti frowns, making April angrier. Nigerian mothers for you.

"Her body is just itching her. If you like go to school and start misbehaving," Wunmi says, irritating April, who knew better than to argue with her. She knew her older sister was a pain in the ass.

Will you please get off the ground? Why not use your butt to wipe the floor? Given that you are now a mop." Mrs. Kuti scowls as April tentatively stands up.

With a mocking smile, Wunmi says, "Be a good girl and remember the family you came from."

"She shouldn't, na," Mrs. Kuti remarks.

"You understand that you are able to attend such a school due to your scholarship. Improve and maintain your grades so that you can outperform me and improve our lives." Wunmi says it honestly for the first time.

"April, you know our condition," Mrs Kuti says, while April's face goes blank. She despised it when her mother brought up the past. She felt weak thinking about how their lives could have been better if it had not been for the tragic situation.

       Aprils, Dad. Mr Kuti died ten years ago; at the time, she was seven years old and could only accumulate and understand a few things. Her father died of a heart attack caused by the sinking of his multimillion-dollar ship. He could not handle it emotionally, and he had hypertension.

Her father's family and relations did not waste time throwing them out on the street. She was not sure if it was because her father did not marry a Yoruba woman as his parents wanted, or because her mother did not have a son. No one intervened for them. They had no one to help them, and her mother had no brother or sister.

Her mother's parents were also late. Since then, they have been able to manage independently. Mrs Kuti had been selling fresh tomatoes and peppers at Rumuokoro market with the help of her daughters, particularly Wunmi. They never progressed because Wunmi had sickle cell anemia. Everything her mother sold always ended up in the hospital; they were just relieved she survived to this age and hoped she would not die.

Wunmi completed secondary school two years ago and has not been able to continue her education due to a lack of funds. So she had been helping her mother ever since. April, on the other hand, had been attending a government-run school.

The organization that gave her the scholarship will cover her tuition and all other school-related expenses. Since it is a boarding school. She only needed some provisions and pocket money for her comfort.

Mrs. Kuti had already squeezed out what little she could, despite the fact that she was not earning much due to the Rumuokoro Construction, His Excellency Nyesom Wike, the current governor, was planning a flyover in Rumuokoro, and the task force assigned to him was doing their job while also taking advantage of the situation, extorting money from poor market women and drivers. People like Mrs Kuti, who had no shop and sold near the road, had to pay a price. They were constantly on the run.