Chapter Thirteen

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While most of my classmates began the normal and expected extra mural classes to prepare them for our upcoming WAEC exams, I was busy cutting grasses, fetching endless water and running errands. To add salt to injury, aunt Oby initiated a new business idea. Apparently mama has began complaining of feeding her and her boyfriend, and since they both had nothing doing, she decided to make a living no matter how. She first of all started a call center where she turned her mobile phone into a commercial one. This alone wasn't paying their bills. She then told mama I would have to start hawking sachet water popularly known as pure water for her. Mama agreed halfheartedly after much pressure and she kicked off the business instantly.
She would buy bags of water and ice blocks from a local distributor, and with coolers she would chill them. Once it was one thirty pm, aunty will walk down to her friend's shop with my clothes to wait for me. While coming from school, I will stop at this friend's shop, change my clothes and then proceed to sell the chilled water at the junction on empty stomach. Most of the times, I would hide away in an enclosed spot until my school mates where all gone before I would come out to sell her wares.
As my exams drew closer, I became more scared of failing. All the while I've lived with my guardians, I can remember only few times I was opportune to study my books. Most times I do my readings while pounding in the kitchen. Some times I would sneak into the toilet in the guise of easing myself to study. When faced with very difficult situation at home, I would hide my book inside my blouse while going to fetch water. Once I get there, I will make out time to study at least three pages before bringing the water home. This way, I get to study and avoid punishments.

I know I was always free at night say from eleven pm, but I would be so tired at this time to study so I mostly sleep like a log of wood. This poor reading routine affected my grades so badly that I once took the tenth, eighteenth and sadly thirty first position in my class. As usual I would tuck them away somewhere hidden and would refuse showing it to anybody. I didn't want to perform this poorly in my WAEC so I started a new plan to help me study.

Mama and my aunts never knew I had my dad's phone number. As usual they had ransacked my bag to check if I had any hidden number and money in it. It was their own silly way of preventing me from reaching out to my family in times of distress, but I already knew this step so I took a proactive measure. The first thing I did when I got home was to copy out my dad and brother's number and crammed them. But then I needed to make this plan fool proof so while returning, I still wrote down the numbers in a piece of paper and hid it in a secret pouch in my bag. Happily aunt Oby saw it while carrying out her routine search and exclaimed in happiness. She showed Mama the paper and pointed out specifically where I hid it. Mama opened it and realised it was my emergency phone numbers and then tore it.

"Come and call them let me see" she said with a sigh. I pretended I was pained but burst out laughing when I went in to keep my bag. I did all this because I wanted to keep their suspicion away from me. I needed to be smarter than them.

Back to my plan.

One day I had finished selling aunty's sachet water and luckily it wasn't yet six o'clock, so I decided to do my own mini business. I went to another distributor and bought half a bag of water with part of the money I made from my earlier sales. I sold all of them and realised fifty naira as my profit. I used thirty naira to make a call to my dad from a commercial phonebooth where I explained my worries to him. We spoke for about two minutes. A minute call then was fifteen naira. At the end of the call, I requested that he ensures he never mentions that I called him. I didn't need to explain the consequences, he agreed. I hid the remaining twenty naira in my panties while walking home.

Aunty was very pleased with me that I sold all. She kept dancing and praising me. She then rushed off with the money to go book extra bags with her distributor. On the other hand, mama came home angry. She was acting all pissed off with me and I knew instantly that dad had made the call. Mama later told me to choose a day I would love to read my books. I chose Wednesday but she refused. She insisted it must not be a weekday and also not on a Saturday as I would have to assist her in her shop. Well my free day ended up being on a Sunday. However this free day never worked out as all of them were always home, and ended up sending me on different and numerous errands. I still continued with my awkward way of studying and subsequently started my side business within my aunt's business.

I would always buy half a bag of water everyday to sell. If I didn't finish my sales, I would add the remaining ones to aunty's stock while I withdraw my profit from her money. This way I never lost out. To keep my profits safe, I dug a hole just outside the house and placed a metal plate in it. I sneaked out a rubber cover from the house which I used to cover my piggy bank. Then I gently covered it with sand and dry leaves. Never in this world will you guess there was something there. My new hobby became my source of happiness. I realized I needed money if I ever plan on going home.

Then surprisingly I was glad doing her business.....

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