STRUGGLES FOR SURVIVAL

Chapter eight

First of all, I want to dedicate this chapter to tentimileyin thanks for your support.
Ok, that's all, you can go ahead and read now.

(Rachael Okeke)

It was good to see Uche opening up more. She wasn't as silent as when she first came to me. I guess I had the kids to thank for that. They were really friendly to her and she became more outspoken with them. She was also hardworking and luckily, she didn't steal. Though she could be rude at times but I guess that's what to expect after she's stayed on the streets for a long time and even at that, she's not as troublesome as my two teenage daughters.

I was standing in front of Uche's mother's house with Bola and Ejiro on Tuesday at around 12.30pm. It had taken a while to locate the house. Uche had looked at me weirdly when I asked her for her mother's address. Then she just shrugged and told me without asking any question. She probably guessed why I asked for it.

We had almost walked around the whole of Iyara area before we saw a compound that looked like what Uche described. We asked a woman sitting in front of the first house to the left if any Ms. Okafor was staying there, the woman shook her head, no. Then I remembered that Uche said her mother liked to be called Angela, so I asked the woman for Angela. The woman told us that Angela was in the last room to the right.

We followed her directions and knocked on the door of the room. No one answered. I knocked again, louder but still no answer. I went back to the woman that gave us the direction and asked if no one was at home. She told me that Angela was at home but didn't like opening the door to strangers. I went back again and knocked, very loudly this time.

"Angela, please open the door. We're here to talk to you about your daughter, Uche." I said hoping it'll make her open the door.

Luckily, I heard the sound of the door unlocking and then it opened slightly, showing us only a face.

"Who are you?" The woman asked.

"My name is Rachael and these are Ejiro and Bola. We are from the organisation that is taking care of your daughter." I replied.

"Do you work with the police?" She asked.

"No we don't."

Uche's mother looked at us for she time, then opened the door wider and asked us to cone in.

The room was a mess, clothes were scattered everywhere and it stank of urine. I had to suppress the urge to get out of there fast. Three little children with torn clothing were playing at one corner. A man was sitting on the bed, shirtless. When he saw us he immediately put on his shirt, nodded at us and walked out of the room. I didn't need a fortunate teller to tell me that wasn't Uche's father.

"I don't have any chair to give you, as you can see but you can sit on the bed." Uche's mother said.

We nodded and sat on the bed.

"You see those children over there? I'm struggling to feed them everyday. They can't even go to school because I don't have the money to send them to school." Uche's mother said pointing at the little children. I was confused, why was she telling us this?

"You see the dress I'm wearing, see how torn and old it is? I can't even afford to buy a new one. These children and I have not eaten anything since last night. So I don't know how you think Uche can come back..."