YTmami:
Chapter 2
Kemi usually enjoyed the leisure night, but tonight things were different. She reached into her bag for her almost worn-out headset, scrolled through her playlist and settled for Sia.
Her strong, powerful voice just seems to resonate with her mood.
She hummed the tune to herself, nodding her head and ignoring the stares of people as she walked by. She was home within minutes and resorted to having her remaining coke and sausage roll for dinner.
The sausage roll tasted sweeter than usual in her mouth and she silently thanked Sandra for her kindness.
She recollected the events of that evening and how Sandra had tried to get be less laconic with their conversations.
"That bridge can't be crossed in a day, but I'll be more open onwards, meanwhile I have to take my leave now, I still have some chores to do at home" Kemi had told her
"And here I was thinking we were starting to make progress" Sandra shaked her head in disbelief
"I'm sorry, we'll continue this conversation tomorrow" Kemi tried to placate her. She reached for a hug that was rejected.
"Don't patronise me" She mused
Kemi had left shortly after.
She thought of the disappointing look on Sandra's face. She's nice and friendly and seemed genuinely interested in being her friend, but Kemi still had some reservations.
She pondered a little bit more till she drifted asleep.
Waking up in a sour mood was starting to become a daily routine for Kemi.
She always wished she was getting up for work.
"Be more optimistic" her mom had told her on her last visit home "you can move back in with us if you're struggling" Kemi had rebuffed that idea, but her rent was due in a few months and she had no source of income to renew her rent for another year.
She was starting to consider moving back in with her parents,
She had moved to Lagos for better chances of acquiring a job which has proven difficult for her.
She grudgingly got out of bed and decided on a walk outside her compound for a breath of fresh air. She could feel her legs resisting the task, but she wasn't about to succumb to its demand.
She made her way outside and almost tripped on an empty bottle on the floor, she mumbled to herself and kicked the bottle aside.
"Why did you do that?!! are you by any chance myopic?"
Kemi heard someone yell out,she turned towards the voice and it was her neighbour looking furious.
She's referred to as "Oreke" by most people which means "Beautiful and graceful" but her attitude was far from graceful.
"Good morning to you too and that's not only offensive, but also incorrect, I think the word you're looking for hyperopic" Kemi said calmly.
She was in no mood for the early morning exchange of words
"What does that have to do with anything?" Oreke asked
"Are you usually this slow in the morning?" Kemi retorted
Oreke's face went from furious to disgruntled
"Why....! you..." Oreke stammered angrily
Kemi wasn't having none of her antics and she wasted no time walking away from Oreke.
Behind her she could hear her mutter incoherently, words Kemi couldn't decipher.
"What a character" Kemi thought to herself.
The feel of the early morning breeze on her skin was a slight relief for her already sour mood.
She reflected on her early years in the university, she has set so many targets for herself.
Her plan was to graduate, finish her youth service and work in a communications company as a presenter, radio or television, she didn't mind either. Most of her schoolmates were gainfully employed or had one or two things going for them.
She was always asked the resented question by her mates "got a job now?" She got tired of saying no each time and explaining to them how she toils round for job interviews that either end up being a scam or they give her the usual "we'll get back to you" response and they never get back to her.
Kemi would anticipate and refresh her emails tons of times, eager for a positive response that she never gets.
Thinking of it was starting to make her head spin. Those disappointing moments when she eventually stops waiting for that email to come through, bringing herself to come to terms with the fact that what she had anticipated severely wasn't going to be.
Those memories made her gloomy, she decided on a quick shower to soothe her spinning head.
She was going to have to come up with a solution for her plight soon.
She caught a wisp of soap bubbles and blew like a child. She smiled to herself, remembering a few of her childhood memories, those were fun times , growing up with no care in the world, now she was a grumpy adult. She frowned at that realization, it was time for an actual chance in her life.
The water was colder than usual, making her shower quicker.
She ran to her room quickly, eager for warmth.
She picked up her phone and saw she had missed some calls. It was her friend Tolani, from the same collegiate background as her. She had no airtime no call her back, while pondering on what to do next, her phone rang again and she picked it up quickly.
"Hello, runaway friend. You finally picked up, I was starting to worry about you" Tolani said at the other end of the line
"Na you sabi oooh... I dey. It's been a while yeah, haven't seen you in a long while, we should change that. What do you think?" Kemi responded
"Yeah yeah, it's going to happen sooner than you think, where are you at the moment?" Tolani asked
"Home, anything?" Kemi inquired
"I just need you to get dressed and come to the address I'll text to you now. You surely won't regret it" Tolani sounded ecstatic
"What's going on? Full details please" If she was going to spend the little amount she had left on transportation, then it be worthwhile.
"Tolani, I'm waiting" Kemi said when she got no answer
"Sorry,got distracted. Ok I have a job for you, you'll be interviewed, so I need you to come down here as soon as possible" Tolani said
Kemi was thrilled at the prospect of a possible job, but she has gotten her hopes dashed countless times, so this time around she didn't want to jinx it by having too much expectations. She was going to be neutral about the whole thing.
"What are you waiting for? Address please!" Kemi screamed out, she was surprised at her own voice.
"I just sent you a text, check and get back to me and do hurry"
Kemi was already on her way to bathroom when she remembered she already had a shower, punctuality was second nature to her. In a few minutes she was ready to leave.
Shortly after she left home, she realized in her haste she had forgotten to switch off the socket in her room. "The power holding company rarely bring light anyway" she thought to herself, nonetheless what if she had left her iron on, or her electric cooker.
She tried not to focus on those negative thoughts and instead diverted her thoughts to impressing the interviewer and landing herself the job.

Taniaa:
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Thanks

cyndy1000:
More updates plssssssssss

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Come Update

YTmami:
Chapter 7
Like magic it was unreal.
The almajiri girl stormed off, picked up a bowl and walked back towards Kemi.
Kemi noticed the content of the bowl was yellowish in colour and wondered what the girl was doing with it.
The girl moved closer to Kemi and she saw that the pale yellowish liquid in the bowl was pee.
Kemi took a step backward and the almajiri girl charged at her with the bowl of pee.
Kemi ran as fast as her as her legs could carry her and the almajiri girl followed suit.
It was a frantic chase and Kemi fell into a small gutter. She quickly got up and looked back, the girl had stopped chasing after her with the bowl of pee thankfully.
Kemi had little strength to go any further, so she sat on a stool she found, trying to catch her breath. She was a pitiful sight, soaked in a pool of her own sweat and gutter water.
She had misplaced one of the fifty naira notes while running away from the bowl of pee.
She would have to walk halfway before she can get a bus that'll accept fifty naira from her.
When she felt slightly better she started her journey on foot, ignoring the judgy looks of some people she walked past. She quickened her pace when she saw the lightning in the sky.
It might start to rain anytime now.
When she was halfway, she stopped a bus that was going in her direction
"You get change?" The conductor asked
"Na fifty naira I get oh" Kemi told him pronto
"Oya enter" He told her
She boarded the bus and sat on the nearest empty seat, she remembered the almajiri girl and wondered why she ran away from her when she could have just kicked the bowl of pee aside or cautioned her sternly not to pour it. What if the girl had refused and poured it? She made up many scenarios in her head that could have been better than her taking to her heels. The thought of someone or many people's pee on her body repulsed her so she came to a conclusion that running from her was the best thing she could have done in that unexpected moment.
She sighed heavily and stared out the window.
She heard someone clearing throat and noticed a passenger had taken a seat beside her. After a while he held his nose intermittently and Kemi knew she was the reason. She had fallen into a gutter earlier and couldn't wait to get home and get cleaned up. She was too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
"Sister nawa for you oo, only you dey smell soakaway and gutter at the same time"
Kemi uttered no statement to that. She could only imagine how much she was stinking. She was sorry someone beside her had to endure that smell.
The passenger went on and on about the discomfort he was facing.
"Conductor, abeg I wan change seat" He complained
The conductor obliged his request and the driver parked so he could have a change of seat.
Kemi was glad his ordeal was over, he would stop complaining.
To kemi's chagrin, he turned to the person seated beside and narrated what he had to deal with, the whole time he was seated beside Kemi. They chatted like she wasn't there and she heard them laugh and tried not to focus on their conversation.
She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around . It was the person that's been making a mockery of her, same person that was formerly seated beside her.
"Aunty I dey sell perfume, cheap ones wey you fit afford, if you want" He chuckled
"Why don't you try using it for your breath first" Kemi hissed
There was a few muffled laughter which Kemi ignored. She just couldn't wait to get down, but the evening traffic wasn't easing up.
While staring out the window, she saw a billboard that read "Stop choosing what isn't choosing you"
She tried to apply that to her situation, remembering how Tolani had called her out of the blue that morning, giving light to her dark tunnel.
Everything had gone downhill, making Kemi ponder if she was choosing something that wasn't choosing her or maybe she was just overthinking things. She chose to go with the latter. It was more logical.
The rain started suddenly with force and she was slightly happy she was still in the bus which provided shelter from the rain.
She watched the rain drops slid down the window and immediately felt shriveled inside of her.

YTmami:
Done

dawno2008:
Weldone,place don't stay too long for next update

Adeola25:
Wonderful story. Thanks for the update