Get A Handiwork First

Lanre apologised for coming late. For the first time since her clients knew her, this was the first time she had arrived late. So they easily forgave her. But one thing that was odd was that Lanre had to get one of her workers to assist her while she worked her little magic on the face of her clients.

They were just three of them. So it didn’t take much time. Once Lanre was done, she took her bag and ready to leave. She only told them she was going for work outside. Her makeup box was in her hand. But they had no clue where she was going. Chidinma tried to follow her.

“Please stay here, you will get bored where I’m going”. Lanre said to Chidinma.

“I don’t care! You are sick and need someone to be close to you”. Chidinma said. Lanre smiled at her and told her she was fine. While the rest of the workers looked at one another. They did not notice that Lanre was sick. She seemed strong. While some of them started making sense of the fact that she called for assistance while working and had also came late, Uduak was busy thinking if Lanre was sick or the both of them were demonstrating their love for each other. Her mind still wanted to believe what Sharon told her that Lanre was a lesbian.

And just as Lanre had walked out of the door, she collapsed on the floor. Aaron and Chidinma were the first ti run outside when they heard someone shout, “This woman don faint o! (This woman has fainted)”. They found Lanre unconscious on the floor right in front of the beauty parlour.

Chidinma could not help but cry.

“Aisha bring water!” Aaron tapped at the nearest person to him who was also a worker. Aisha immediately ran in and brought water. Aaron sprinkled some water on Lanre’s face but she did wake up.

“We should take her to the hospital”. Chidinma cried. Sharon frowned. She hugged Chidinma to herself. She was trying to console Chidinma as she was not used to seeing her cry even though they were not so close.

“We have to look for a taxi!” Pascal said and immediately ran towards the road to look for taxi. Everyone could hear Chidinma’s cries.

“I told her we should go to the hospital this morning she refused. She is allergic to cold and yet left the air conditioner on through the night. She was freezing in her room when I saw her”. Chidinma would not stop talking. She was visibly shaking. She would not be able to bare the shock if anything bad was to happen to Lanre. Lanre was like her only card in a world of cards. This is somebody that is not related to her but took her in and had promised that once she was able to secure a skill, she would go to school.

According to Lanre, most times when life seem too hard for her in school and her mother would not respond to her needs on time, her handiwork always provided her with the cash she needed. And it would help Chidinma if she gets a handwork first before going to school.