Black Pride

01.

Ayo looked at her little room. Clothes, shoes and books were scattered everywhere, especially on her bed and her big duffel bag sat on the heap of them all. She was finally going to the school of her dreams, Horandle University in California, United States of America. Her secondary school had affiliations with the university, and every year, they gave scholarship to the two students who had the highest scores in the Senior Secondary 3 (SS3) exams to further their studies abroad.

Ayo, in order to be the best, made sure that she always used most of her time to read. Eventually, it had paid off, as she was one of the two students that was picked for the scholarship that year. She came hotly on the heels of Jonathan, the boy who took the first position by surpassing her with only eight marks, but that was enough to qualify her for the scholarship. She smiled happily as she looked around her messy room. "Not all sixteen year olds have this opportunity," she thought to herself.

She squealed in delight as she folded her best hoodie neatly and tucked it into the duffel bag which was getting filled up because of the many clothes already in it, so she pushed it down forcefully and carefully closed the zippers so that it wouldn't plunge open again.

Jojo, her pet dog, ran into her room. He ran towards her and jumped on her, licking her with his soft tongue while wagging his tail. He didn't know what she was happy about, but he was happy that she was happy. Ayo patted his head fondly. She would miss her dear Jojo, but she was comforted by the fact that he would be well taken care of.

"Don't forget to pack your toothbrushes also," her grandma called out from the sitting room.

"Yes mama. I've already packed them," Ayo said as she scratched Jojo's tummy playfully. Her toothbrushes were among the very first things that she had packed. She sat there daydreaming and her hand slightly drifted off from Jojo's tummy. Jojo looked at her and then gave off a small bark.

The bark brought her back to reality. "Oh, Jojo, I'm going to miss you very much," she said as she looked at him and petted his nose. Jojo shivered a little and then jumped on her. She hung her backpack, which contained a few of her books and writing materials, on her left shoulder, then carrying Jojo in one hand, and her duffel bag on the other, she struggled to go to the sitting room.

Jojo, seeing her struggling to carry the heavy duffel bag, jumped down from her arm and started tugging at the duffel bag in his owner's other arm with his teeth, pulling it slowly but determinedly towards the sitting room. Ayo smiled as she shook her head, amused at her pet's ingenuity. "Jojo is such a wonder," she thought with a nostalgic feeling.

"The scholarship agent is waiting for you outside, kunle, je kin gbadura fun e (kneel down, let me pray for you)," her grandma said and stretched out her arms towards her granddaughter.

Ayo knelt down and Jojo lay beside her. Her grandma began to pray for her. The prayer lasted for almost ten minutes.

"May God be with you and keep you safe," her grandma finally said, ending the prayers.

"Amin, mama (amen)," Ayo said and stood up. She carried her duffel bag and looked back at where her grandma sat.

"Are you sure you are going to be okay alone, mama?" Ayo asked with tears in her eyes. Even though she was so happy that she was finally going overseas to study, she did not want to leave her mama and Jojo behind because they were the only close family she had. Mama had only two children, a daughter and a son. Her son, and his wife, who were Ayo's parents had died in a car crash when returning back home from a function one day. Ever since then, mama had been the one taking care of Ayo. Tola, mama's daughter had offered to help raise Ayo but mama had politely refused, insisting that she needed the company.