MOVING

Jenny regularly wakes up at 4am each day, be it a week day or a weekend. She had taken life very seriously from a young age. With 6 other siblings behind her, she knew she had to be extremely responsible. It was her routine and the household had gotten used to it.

Every morning, when she wakes by 4am, she usually lights up their local light because they couldn't afford candles or many lanterns. It was a local light which was made of a little thick thread in a bottle and a liquid substance usually kerosene to power the thread which gives light. She had about 4 of the bottled light as she calls it. They lived in a mud house which was plastered with concrete. It has four rooms,a toilet, bathroom and a kitchen in it. Jenny considered herself lucky that she has a room to herself. Her step mother slept with two of her sisters, While her younger brother slept with the last born. Her other sisters slept together.

She would use this light until she finishes cleaning the living room, kitchen, toilets and sweeping the entire family compound. The Uchenna's lived in a large family settlement consisting of six compounds put together. Her grand father and his brothers owned the land.They were farmers and they built their clay houses for their sons and families.

Jenny goes to the next compound and fetches water from the well for which she uses to fills six drums each day. Her siblings uses the water to bath, drink and toilet each day. She preferred fetching the water as she was scared they may fall into the well. For a 23 year old, she was 5'8 ft tall and in most case, taller than her peers. She had 4 younger sisters and two younger brothers. Her immediate younger brother was Nonso and he was reckless. Hence, Jenny takes on more responsibilities to fill in the family gap.

After fetching the water, she usually makes breakfast and pours it into coolers for her step mom and her younger ones. Breakfast often consists of pap and akara (bean cake) or Oil rice laced with crayfrish. From her little poultry, she either fries eggs or boils it for them as snacks. She would proceed to make the snacks she intend to sell for the day quietly.

All these she would do while they slept. A thoughtful personality!!

When they awake, all they do is eat, clean the rooms where they slept, go to school. She had made them promise her that they would be outstanding in their book work and indeed they were!

Chioma her step mum knows that Jennifer is very hard-working and she never ceases to praise her. She had married Mr Amaechi Uchenna when Jennifer was 5 years old. Jennifer was often told that her mother ran away from the marriage when she was 2 years old and no one spoke about her.

Chioma's first child who is 18 years of age was nothing like Jennifer and she wished he would change.He was not interested in doing anything for his siblings unlike his elder sister. Chioma wished in her heart to see Jennifer go very far in her educational career but she needed the money to raise her children and who could blame her.

After going to pray in the church that early morning as she usually does, Jenny packaged 3 dresses which was probably the only dresses she had that were very presentable. She took the little savings she had which was 15,000 naira and left 7,500 of the money on the table in the living room with a note. She had planned to be on the first bus out of the village. She was also determined to get to the central motor park and take the first bus to Abuja.

Her mentor would always say that this is 2014 and Abuja was a city filled with potentials where all dreams come true. "You know the capital streets are paved with gold" Mrs Jemima would usually say. Just be focused, be strong and daring. Jennifer with that notion was fired up to get there and succeed. She desired to prove to Chioma and everyone else that she doesn't need to get married to become that successful person she always talked about.

The motor park that Saturday morning was scanty with passengers, however, the first bus was already filled. She begged the little motor boy that she would pay to seat at a tiny corner popularly called attachment. The boy told her the journey was too long from Agbor to Abuja but Jenny was determined she would get there.

After pleading severely, a lady in the back of the bus decided to adjust for Jenny to fit in with her luggage as she had paid for three seats. And so the journey to the city of Abuja began.