After her bags were carried in and Uchechi settled down in the room she was directed to, the children gave her a tour around the house as well as the rules that apply since she would be staying with them for only God knew how long.
Seven 'o clock, everyone raced downstairs, sitting at the dining table, waiting for dinner, as well as awaiting the arrival of their mother, Mrs. Ima-Abasi Emeka. The food was prepared down by Mrs. Emeka in the morning and it only needed to be microwaved. Shortly after they began eating, there was a knock at the door. While Mr. Emeka attended to the door, the children whispered to one another, knowing it was their mother because they had understood the pattern at which she knocked; the best thing a child should differentiate strangers from family.
"Mummy!!" the children chorused while they ran towards her then embracing her tightly. "Are you two trying to crush my organs? Stop it, it hurts!" she said. Uchechi arose from her chair, proceeded towards her then said, "Good evening, Ma, how was your day?" while genuflecting as a sign of respect. "Good evening my dear, how was the journey? Hope it was great? Well, you don't have to worry, you would enjoy Lagos".
Mrs. Emeka rushed upstairs to freshen up so she could join them for dinner. "I don't mean to intrude but I would like to ask, what do you do for a living?" Uchechi inquired once she realized everyone had settled down. "Well I am a seamstress and I own a boutique in Ikeja, I go to check up on things from time-to-time and I also get bored f staying home" Mrs. Emeka said and Mr. Emeka responded "I am an entrepreneur, I own companies and I buy and sell dying companies but I work from home since I have people who handle things for me". "Wow that is wonderful, I pray to be great someday" she said with a smile. The conversation went on for an hour and it was finally time for the children to go to sleep. Uchechi cleared the dining table, washed the plates and bided goodnight to everyone, retreating to her room for her beauty sleep.
The cock crowed a new day had begun; Mrs. Emeka already in the kitchen wiping up a breakfast fit for kings on a beautiful Saturday morning. The mouthwatering aroma escaped from the kitchen, found its way to Uchechi's room and began to play tricks on her in her dreams. It woke her up with a jolt and she sprang up from her bed without knowing what was going on. She rushed downstairs to know where the aroma that caused commotion in her dreams came from.
On getting to the kitchen, she found everyone astonished and dumfounded. She peeped into the kitchen through a tiny whole that remained after everyone had blocked the entrance. She was amazed to see the variety of dishes prepared by Mrs. Emeka, dishes like; pancake, French toast with scrambled egg and backed beans, sandwiches filled with a variety of vegetables, egg, and a sausage. Theyall drooled as they watched her hands move from the pot to the chopping board,back to pot and how she slowly and steadily stirred, the food all with love and a smile on her face.
Still unaware of their presence, Mrs. Emeka turns around. She is shocked to see everyone behind her, she nearly drops the pot, and everyone screams. "Go take a shower all of you and come back down, breakfast is ready" she says, and everyone rushes up in an instant.
At the dining table, after everyone had been served their desired dish and began to eat, Mrs. Emeka said "Uchechi we would be going shopping so I need you to make a list of the things you need, don't worry about your books, after your matriculation, your lecturers would tell you the books you need or just sell their handouts to you" "Okay Aunty" she answered. "Wow mummy! This food is delicious" the twins shouted "thank you my darlings, love you both" their mother responded.
Mr. Emeka, already feeling a little jealous interrupted "meh the food is alright, but I think I can make better, he sighed"
"oh is that so. Don't worry, next week Saturday is your turn" Mrs. Emeka said with a smirk across her face.
"No!!" The children screamed. We don't like daddy's cooking at all, don't do this mummy!"
"No darling, don't worry about it, I was just joking, the food is wonderful, I can never be compared to you when it comes to cooking" Mr. Emeka begged.
Everyone began to laugh while Uchechi smiled as she watched the family get along well and this gave her some kind of relief that she was now able to escape the pain she had been used to.
'Clank' Mrs. Emeka called the attention of everyone, and the laughter ceased immediately. She proceeded to say "alright, children you have the responsibility of clearing the table and washing the dishes, I and Uchechi has some shopping to do, take care my lovelies" as she pecked the children on their foreheads and embraced her husband warmly while caressing his back. She grabbed her keys from the table, and they left for Arena in Oshodi, a shopping complex.
The drive was peaceful as they listened to some R'n'B in the absence of any conversation. On getting to Arena, Uchechi was amazed to see such a big, organized yet rowdy shopping complex. They drove in and scavenged for an empty spot to park. Once they alighted from the car, Mrs. Emeka requested to see Uchechi's' list. She handed it over. It had written on it; a phone, a SIM card, clothes and shoes. They walked round the shopping complex searching for stores that sold their desired goods. "Madam come here! I get wetin you de look for" countless vendors shouted as they passed them by.
Some grabbed their hands attempting to drag them back. Some tagged along saying they wanted to show them the way but Mrs. Emeka refused to comply.
She finally stopped to check if Uchechi was following and thankfully, she was. Taking notice of the men disturbing her, she shooed them away as if she was dealing with pests. After perambulating the market in the scotching hot sun, Mrs. Emeka finally brought down her walls and decided to ask for directions. they finally found what they were looking for. It was a bloody battle when it came to pricing.
Mrs. Emeka charged at the man selling as she lowered the prices like her life depended on it. Finally, they got all they needed and headed back home. After settling in and having dinner, they all had an early night in order to wake up early for Sunday morning mass and as well as drop Uchechi at her school
