Chapter 10

The events that happened in my six years of secondary school were climatic.The way I had to work at home to the shop then go to school, created in me a high level of endurance and strong survival instincts. In life, difficult moments cannot be avoided because life isn't a bed of roses.When it seemed I would be broken, I was hopeful, when I needed a sense of belonging, I held myself strong knowing that someday I could be my own river, flowing across destinations.

I never heared from my mother even though I later heard she still lived in Lagos. I saw how my friend's mothers loved them and always showed up for them in everything. I also knew friends who lived with their extended family and their mothers even though poor, always checked on them to know how they were doing, but I never saw my mom.I felt abandoned and then I got mad,I decided to continue to live as an orphan. I told myself that even if she eventually showed up some day, I didn't want to have anything to do with her. I just wanted to grow up and build my own family , I hoped that I would have to built a solid foundation for my own generations to come.

While I was waiting for my results, my Aunty called me on a Saturday morning to inform me that, a new boy Daniel would be coming from Deacon's extended family to take over her business from me. She briefed me that Daniel was going to start the secondary school, so I had to put him through all that he had to do when he arrives. She went further by saying that, she had been speaking with Madam Caroline about how I was going to start working with her in order to start earning a living and contribute to the house upkeep.

Madam Caroline owned a cold room where she sold frozen fish in cartons across the street from where we lived. I grew up in the neighborhood with her children. She usually employed hefty guys to do her heavy lifting , so I was wondered why she would have agreed to employ a seventeen years old boy like me who barely weighed forty kilograms. Aunty Mary told me that once I started working and earning, I would be saving for all the things that I needed like clothing and other personal stuffs that I needed for myself. She said I was going to be keep some of my salary with her as savings for my university tuition.Having my own money sounded like a good idea but the job at Madam Caroline's store wasn't going to be an easy one. I had seen how her employees lifted three to four cartons of fish, each carton weighing twenty to thirty kilograms and still had to be inside the cold room which was usually at subzero degrees , I thought such a job wasn't meant for someone like me. But my Aunty insisted on it, saying that she could no longer continue to provide for my needs.

The results of WAEC got released and all graduating students were asked to report to their various schools to pick up our results. I had the opportunity to see my friends and classmates again because we hadn't seen each other since we left school. It was nice to be together again for the last time. We spent few hours together before we were called in, one after the other to collect our results. I collected my results and sadly for me I only made four credits. I went home feeling disappointed but I had it in my that all hope was not lost because I could still write the external examinations to add up my credits. A man is great, not because he had not failed but because failure hasn't stopped him.

I went home to present the result to Aunty Mary but she wasn't surprised. She told me, she and her late husband already did their best,and it was time for me to start planning my future on my own. I didn't see that coming from her, I had always thought that since I was instrumental to the growth of her business,I would in turn get the necessary support until I completed the university but I was wrong. After hearing those things, I was totally confused, because even if I worked with Madam Caroline, it would never have been enough for me to pay my tuition through the University,as I obviously couldn't earn so much money with only a secondary school certificate. I felt, if Deacon James was still alive, the story would have been different, but at the same time I thought, whatever the case may be, I would get a tertiary education.

I started working for Madam Caroline in 2002. I woke up as early as 6am every morning to get ready for work. The job was mainly to unload cartons of frozen fish from the cold room to the customers who sold at retail prices at their various shops and markets. Twice a week we offloaded from big lorries into the storage room. To my surprise, I didn't have any difficulty at this job, I later realized it was because I was used to lifting heavy loads when I worked for Aunty Mary.

In my first six months of working, I had saved some money with Aunty Mary against the Christmas celebrations in December. I had planned to use this money to buy clothes for myself. When I asked her about it, she gave me a bad news that all the money I had toiled to save with her had been stolen by one of her children and she couldn't do anything about it. I was so angry,I thought the least she could have done was to replace the money since she knew the thief. I therefore decided to stop saving my money with her. I decided to open a bank account from Magum bank where I began to save my money.

The moment I started saving money in the bank marked the moment I gained my freedom. It was the beginning of the year 2003, when I just turned eighteen years old. Being financially independent gave me the opportunity to discover the things I loved to do to make myself happy. For years I had been wearing well worn hand-me-downs from my cousins,my shoes were always patched and re-patched that I could feel stones from the pavement on the soles of my feet.I decided to go shopping at the popular second-hand cloths market at Yaba. I had seen American rap stars on TV and posters so I knew the hip designers worn by young people. I found a shop ran by a light skinned Igbo man who sold fairly clean used clothes and sneakers.I was able to buy Nike,Tommy Hilfiger and Addidas t-shirts and a few jean trousers. By the time I finished buying those, I wasn't left with enough money to buy a pair of sneakers,so I picked up a fairly used Birkenstock pair then went back home.

I also discovered my love for music. I never listened to music previously because I was never allowed to touch the sound system at home, so the following month when I got paid I bought myself a mini DVD player and compact discs of different genres. I had some gospel , Michael Bolton , Westlife Celine Dion and other indigenous music from the Yoruba dialect which was my first language. I also made sure I was buying two newspapers once a week to ensure I kept myself informed with what was happening in the country and the world at large. I also had the chance to hang out with my friends after work before I go home because I had a 9pm curfew.

I started buying myself everything that I needed like underwear , tooth brush and food although a few times Aunty Mary would decide to provide me with dinner. I continued to save my money in the bank.I decided to write the external WASSCE exams popularly called GCE so I could make up my credits which was a step towards achieving a place in the tertiary institutions.