https://penastory.com/2017/01/04/diary-of-a-lagos-housegirl/

I swear I didn’t mean to do it. It was all his fault. Look at how he is fidgeting now like he didn’t know it would get to this level or even something worse. Believe me, it’s not what you think…I am not pregnant and I’m not talking about my madam’s husband. Hmmnnn! My story sef! How and where do I start from? *inhales deeply*

My name is Itoro, a very quiet and hardworking girl from Akwa Ibom. All my life, I have always had a passion for children, for keeping the home tidy and for taking care of people. So when Papa and Mama died from a gas explosion leaving me alone with my younger siblings, I had a smooth switch from being a child like them to becoming a guardian. I would work tirelessly and only retire to bed when the house was sparkling. Two years down the line, I realised that caring for my siblings had gone beyond keeping them and our surroundings clean. They were hungry and about to become drop outs. How stupid could we have been? How could we have thought that Papa’s little savings from fishing and farming could last us a life time?

Life they say is in phases and people are in sizes. At this stage of my life, I knew I needed someone physically and financially big to get me out of this particular phase and behold I found that someone. It wasn’t hard finding Mama Enobong. She was the queen of our village night life and usually had the big men patronising her local bar on a daily basis. I liked her realness. She had no time for back and forth talk, she simply hit the nail on the head. “Fine girl, they talk say you dey find work?” She asked with her baz voice.

“Yes ma! I can do anything ma,” I quickly answered sheepishly.

What followed was a wild mocking laughter. “Nah so unah dey always talk, if work come now, una go dey run”. It was pointless replying again. The next thing I saw in front of me was a form in form of a contract and it had three kinds of job clearly stated there:
1) Sales girl

2) Runz girl

3) Housegirl

Number two was a no go area for me because of my Christian upbringing. Without thinking too much, I went for number three even though it meant leaving my siblings in Akwa Ibom and travelling to Lagos according to Mama E. I know you feel that was a stupid move by me but trust me, I saw the way the big men ruff handled and touched sensitive parts of the other sales girls and they dare not complain else Mama E fired on the spot. In silence and fear of losing their only means of survival, they take all the rubbish. As for me, that was a “never do”.
Filling that form changed my entire life. I was to leave for Lagos to a family in Lekki in two days which meant I had just 48 hours to figure where to keep my siblings. The pay was impressive only that I had to split it equally with Mama Eno. The clock ran at its peak and the two days arrived like I had just been told a while back. As I sat in the bus headed to Lagos, I wept bitterly for two reasons. First, I was going to miss my siblings and I only prayed our father’s only sister treat them like her own. Second, I was scared of what Lagos had in stock for me.

To be continued…

Source: PenAStory - www.Penastory.com

All eyes open...sharp sharp abeg

Hmm!

Is Dis D End Of D Story?