Thou shall not steal

3.

~CHOP HOT SLAP~

Dennis and Dexter always went to Laurels International private High school in the early hours of the morning.

In a bid to show off and earn his wife the seat of the Chairlady of the P.T.A Committee at the school, their father had paid their schools fees from the nursery school down to the secondary school.

No parent had ever dared that before so she was immediately sworn in as the chairman of PTA committee. His actions had also made sure that his children would receive elementary to secondary school education in his absence.

I didn't go to school.

I stopped going to school in Grade 4 because my parents could no longer afford it. I spent most of my days at home doing chores or running errands and when all that was done, I would play by the roadside while waiting for Uche.

Uche parents were able to afford the fees of a cheap public school in the area. We used to attend the same school till I dropped out so, sometimes I would go over and wait by the gate so we could walk home together. He usually shared his notes with me, teaching me all he learnt in school. To be honest, he would make a fine teacher but considering the number of fails he had in most of his classwork, I was sure he was teaching me nonsense.

But, I loved reading his notes. He had nice handwriting, something I could only dream of.

"Come wey you?"

"Ma?" I answer immediately. I quickly spread the cloth on the line before rushing inside to see her.

"Where that your papa?" She asked.

"He has gone out," I replied.

She hissed loudly. "Useless man," she opened a container of powder and after pouring some on her palm, she applied it on her face. "you don chop?"

"Yes ma, I bought one cabin biscuit."

"Oya nah," she threw on her handbag and ironed out her ankle-length black skirt with her palms, "I dey go work—"

"Can I come with you?" I smiled.

Mother is a cook at a roadside restaurant owned by one of our neighbours. I loved visiting her workplace because her colleague and boss were very friendly. They always served me food whenever I visited and that was something I really wanted right now.

She eyed me from head to toe before saying, "Follow me go work to do Wetin?"

"Nothing. I was just asking if I could come." I mumbled.

She took a deep breath and said, "You don bath?"

"Yes, ma!" I said nodding vehemently.

She chuckled, "Oya nah, may we dey go."

With that said, she grabbed my hand and we started out of the house. She locked the front door and hid the key behind a broom at the back of the house where she knew her 'useless man' would be able to find on his return since I will not be around.

Then we walked down to the main road, we crossed the road together after she had looked both ways five times—trust Nigerian mothers, they had to be very, very sure before they ever did anything. We walked down three different streets before finally arriving at my mother's workplace at a corner of the road.