My Corona Roommate

✨Chapter Twelve-Going behind her

Emily's POV

Life in Nigeria was bittersweet. The country itself was beautiful with different people, diverse cultures and languages but the sour aspect was I felt alone. Several calls and messages to both Dad and James still didn't fill that void.

I arrived in Nigeria on exactly October 28th. I missed this year's Halloween celebration. Unfortunately, they don't celebrate it in Nigeria.

I'm sure Lucy must have thrown a party as usual. The pain hasn't completely healed but I hope Tyler and Lucy work out.

Constantly, I find myself checking Lucy's Instagram page. All I see are mostly pictures of Lucy and Tyler together #Lercy. They look cute together. Sometimes I feel it's my fault that our friendship ended. I let a guy come between us. So what if he chose Lucy, I didn't have to overreact. We didn't have a commitment and nothing had happened between us. Maybe I wouldn't have lost my best friend.

Putting that behind, Grandma and Chioma were not making matters any better. Grandma's chauffeur, Okon did not cause much disturbance to me but he occasionally winked and flirted with me. I didn't give him attention but I didn't shun him either. A part of me wanted to report to grandma. I was not comfortable with him but I just used him to pass time.

Chioma on the other hand removed her mask. She was such a terrible person. Occasionally, she would try to incite grandma against me. She succeeded a lot in this.

One morning, I just asked her if she could toast bread for me with little cheese and just egg and she started yelling at me that I was an insolent girl. She made sure that grandma came to the kitchen and they both rained down insults on me.

According to them, I am "onye nzuzu". I don't know what that means but they said it so frequently so I guess it's something bad. Grandma declared that I will be preparing breakfast from that day on for everyone no matter what the dish was. I didn't get it at all. I was here for something like a holiday.  My entire life was not literally put on hold just so I could become anyone's maid. It was really frustrating.

Mr Okon stayed at his security quarter near the gate but he came into the house to eat breakfast and dinner only. Grandma allowed two meals for him except when she was angry with him.

Chioma would intentionally convince grandma that they have complicated meals for breakfast. They rarely ate bread, tea and egg or pancakes. Grandma did not consider any of that as a proper breakfast. She saw it as an appetizer. If it wasn't porridge or a variety of yam delicacy, it would be beans which I disliked or even rice, potatoes or plantain.

I was not a great cook so I could only turn to the internet and sometimes Mr Okon for help. He would come by the window in the kitchen and help me a bit. Chioma only came to the kitchen to taunt me about how I was not good at cooking and then she would make Mr Okon not help me. She was so irritating and I just wanted her to let me be.

The internet was not so helpful. It would be like this portion is for four servings. They didn't have some of the measuring spoons and utensils. I always had to improvise. Sometimes the food was salty, tasteless, plain, peppery or in the worst-case scenario undone. That gave Chioma so much pleasure and grandma would keep saying that when she was my age, she could cook very well and was already getting ready to marry. I was so pissed off. Back home, most girls my age can't cook and no one cares or disturbs them about it but here, I was constantly lectured and made to fuss over it.

Mr Okon always compliments my dress, accent and everything about me. He made me smile whenever I was down with his thick Calabar accent laced with weird English and hilarious tales. I was about to consider being his friend when I discovered that he was 34 years old and was married too. Grandma was scolding him because he had dented her car again. Then she revealed his age and marital status. She was all like, "How can a 34-year-old married man be so careless, this is coming out of your salary." I was quite happy that I had not gotten involved with him.