Chapter 1: The stranger

"You are a piece of trash! Where on earth am I going to get the money from now? Did you say you gambled it? How could you?"

That angry voice belongs to my mummy, she and my daddy had been quarreling for the past two hours now and I don't think they would stop any moment soon. My daddy has once again used the money mummy had struggled to save for gambling. I don't know the full details as they won't tell me anything but I overheard her earlier saying they were supposed to use the money to pay for something, I have no idea what it is though. He must have stolen her ATM card somehow and withdrew the money again.

"It's not gamble honey, I invested the money, just wait for a little while, and I will really get it back, big"

I sigh hearing my daddy say that, he's only making matters worse; it would be better if he doesn't say anything. I couldn't bear watching them fight any longer so l stand up to my feet to leave the sitting room. Ayomide and Shola would be back from school soon so need to go and prepare something for them to eat when they come.

"And where are you going?" I hear my mummy's voice ask sharply behind me and I pauses before turning to her.

"To the kitchen, I want to go and prepare food for Ayo and Shola."I reply quickly.

"There's nothing in the kitchen to cook but only small garri. They will make that when they come."

I heave a sigh before saying. "They had the same thing yesterday and a day before, they shouldn't eat that today again, mummy."

"I don't like it either my dear, but what can I do? You guys should manage it first,ehn jowo(please). I will get something later."

"mo ni owo(l have some money)..." I reply in Yoruba dialect. " Let me use it and get some stuffs to prepare." My mummy looks at me with concern.

"Are you sure you have enough? You can just go and meet mama Folake to give you on credit instead, I will pay later."

I bit my bottom lips to prevent myself from crying as tears are already whelming up in my eyes. Just when will this end? Owing money, buying things on credit, fighting and quarreling about the same money... Just.....just when will it all stop? I am already 21 years old and still haven't taken JAMB (Joint Admission Matriculation Board) examination to further my education to a university. After I finished from Secondary school few years ago, my mummy asked me to hold on for a while and do other things first because there is no money to send me to the university. I attended a public secondary school here in Ajegunle, as they couldn't afford to put me in a private school.

My daddy doesn't have any good job other than gambling and drinking, although he claims to invest and not gamble, but what would you call it when he doesn't get anything back in return? 1 know he's my father but he's still part of the problem we have in the family. He never makes things easy but just add to our problems. He used to be different before though but he suddenly changed. Back when I was in Secondary school, he was working as a vulcanizer to support the family but all of a sudden, he turned to a drunk and does no other thing than gambling and causing trouble.

We live in a small house in a ghetto environment here in Ajegunle, in Lagos. Since the houses here are cheaper; we rented a two bedroom flat house here not minding if the place is unsafe and unhealthy. We couldn't afford going to town, that's the place for only the rich. Ajegunle is one of those places in Lagos where you would hear robbery, fights and the roads are really terrible.

My mummy sells secondhand clothes in a small shade at the market and she makes small sales from it but that's not enough to meet all the house needs. To support my family, I do part time jobs like, waitress and salesperson. I do waitress in the morning and salesperson in the evening, while at my free time, I assist my mummy at the market to sell.

My part-time jobs don't pay much but that's all I can do for now with my level of education. I don't want my siblings to face same issues like me, so l am trying to look for a good job or...anything...just anything to make sure they get good education and good life. Ayomide is only 10 years old and Shola is three years older, they are still young and need all the support they can get. I'm still trying hard to find a good job that can at least pay well, but that has been very hard because it's not easy to get a job in this country; even those with good qualifications find it tough to get a good job.

"Kemi! I said you should go and meet her to give you, so you can start cooking." My mummy's voice jolts me back to reality. I could see her still holding my daddy's shirt firmly:I guess she isn't done with him yet.

I sigh, "I have some money mummy, I will buy them with it instead, don't worry." I say before leaving the house. I hope she doesn't kill daddy before I return, I wonder how much he had collected this time.

When I got back, I didn't meet anyone in the house. I haven't been gone for long so where could they possibly have gone? They were both at each other's neck before I left, so where could they have gone all of a sudden?

"Mummy? Daddy?" But there is no answer; the door is even left opened.

I know they're both adults but ľm still having a weird feeling about this. They wouldn't just leave the house like that all of a sudden, where could they have gone? I heave a sigh and walk into the kitchen to start preparing something; I'm sure they only went somewhere and would be back very soon or probably, mummy has dragged daddy out over to the casino he gambles but could they have gone all the way to Dankaka? Because that's where the biggest casino is and that's definitely where he gambles since there's no casino in Ajegunle. The ones functioning before had already been raided by the police.

The rice I am preparing is almost ready; it's just remaining for the water to evaporate a little more and it would be ready in the next fifteen minutes. As I open the fridge to keep the remaining groceries, I start hearing deep loud voices from the sitting room and they definitely don't belong to my parents.

Whose voices could they be? I quickly rush out of the kitchen to see what's going on in the sitting room and my eyes grow wide at the sight.

My parents are on their kneels trembling in fear as three huge men, all in black suits are standing around them with guns to their hands. As I take a step closer to them in confusion, in shock about the present situation, one of them turns to me and points the gun to my head. I freeze on the spot in fear and bow my head.

Oh Jesus! What's going on here? Who are these people?

"And who is she, your daughter?" I hear a husky unfamiliar voice ask and I raise my head to see who it belongs to.

A young man, who should be in his early or mid 30s I think, stands up from the sofa and walks closer; he raise his right hand up, gesturing for the man to lower his gun. The man obeys at once and gives way for him. He walks towards me and dips his hands into his pocket staring at me.

Who is this man? I have never seen him before, he's wearing an exquisite white suit which spares no doubt that he's really rich.

What business does he have with my family? Why is he here with armed men?

"I believe I asked a question." The man says again, his eyes not leaving mine.

"She..She's our daughter." My daddy manages to reply still trembling in fear.

"I see, but there's no resemblance at all, she doesn't even look like you; where did you get your ugly face from? Huh?" The man says laughing.

"Who... Who are you and why are you in our house armed? Have we offended you?"I manage to find my voice.

He looks at me from head to toe, "Oh, my bad. I didn't introduce myself properly.." He smiles before adding on, "Your father owes me money, and I have simply come to collect it."

I shut my eyes in shame as I hear him say that. Great! My daddy has succeeded in bringing trouble to us. How on earth did he end up owing money to someone.. someone like this? It's no doubt that he's dangerous.

I turn to my daddy, "Why did you borrow money daddy? What for?"

My daddy didn't say anything but simply bow his head to the ground in shame. I can hear sniffles and I know its coming from my mummy. ľm sure she's not aware about this either, she must have been shocked too.

"Let me break it down for you darling..." The man says moving closer to me. I take a step back to move away from him but he grabs my waist abruptly and I gasp at him in shock before wiggling out of his hold quickly.

"Why would he grab me like that? But well, I can't simply say anything but frown.

He grins, "Darling, your father came to my casino to gamble, and well, my stupid brother agreed to gamble with him and the result? Your father ran away after he lost to my brother. And you see, my brother could have killed him that day for he's not the patient type but I intervened and that's why your father is still with you today.... "He pauses and turns to my daddy.

Kill? Did he just say kill? Who on earth has my daddy messed with? Oh Jesus!

"Hey! Old man, do I have to do all the talking? Come on, explain to your daughter." He glares at my daddy.

Daddy trembles on his kneels and manage to raise his head.

"K.Kemi, I...I'm really sorry. I went too

gamble at Dankaka some time ago after...after taking the money your mother saved, hoping to win and get more so that we could have enough...but..... but I ended up losing everything and....and..and also ended up owing some amount of money..."

He couldn't finish whatever he has to say before mummy slaps him hard on the face.

"You trash!! I thought you only gambled the money! What? You also owe? What have you done you useless man?"

Mummy's eyes are already tearing up as she stares at daddy in disappointment. I stare at my daddy in disappointment also. How could he gamble the money mummy suffered to save? And....And it was meant for my school?

"Please sir, how much does he owe your brother?" I ask the man.

He smirks, "20,000..."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "Wait, 20,000 naira?"

He stares at me with a disbelief expression before bursting into a loud laughter.

"Hey, old man, you have a funny daughter, she thinks the money you owe is 20,000 naira, how stupid." He continues laughing and I stare at him in puzzle. What's funny? He said 20,000, didn't he?

"Hey darling, it's 20,000 dollars. You can do the little math to know the amount in naira."

Wait, 20,000 dollars? I don't need to do the math to know that would be huge in naira. How did daddy owe such amount of money! I'm sure the money he collected from money is not much, how did he gamble it to this extent?

"That is 8.3 m in naira darling. It's a small amount though but I can't just leave it right?" He smiles at me before going back to sit on the sofa.

I turn to my daddy in bewilderment, "Da.. daddy, how...how could you gamble to the point you owe 8.3 million...."

"Relax darling, you can fight with your father later, but for now, let's discuss how I'm getting the money." The man says turning serious as he cross his right leg over the other.

I sigh before saying in a pleading voice, "Sir, could...could you give us more time? The money is very huge for us and it would take time for us to get it..."I pause when I hear him scoff.

"More time? Darling. your father had pleaded for the same favor and I already did that. I let him be for a whole week, what else do you want me to do? Haven't I been patient enough?" He shrugs.

I bit my lips as 1 didn't know what else to say. We are already struggling enough and my daddy just keeps making life harder. Where on earth are we going to get 8.3 million from now? Even if I and my mummy work from now till five years, our earnings would never be able to raise the money.

These people are dangerous, ľm not sure they would hesitate to kill us if we don't pay up.

"Oh come on darling, it isn't the end of the world, don't have that look on your face." He grins before standing up.

My siblings would soon be back from school, if they meet such scene, it won't be good at all.

"I'm sure your reason for coming here isn't just to get the money because you're very much aware that my family's poor and won't be able to pay the money back any moment from now. So what is it that you want?"

He stares at me for while as if taken aback before turning to my daddy with a smile on his face.

"You have a very smart daughter old man, are you sure she's really your daughter? It's hard to believe since you're stupid." He shrugs and shakes his head before turning to me.

"You're correct; I know very well that your father cannot provide that money, that's why I came with a very nice proposal."

Wait, what proposal?

"I think you should pay the price for your family darling...." He smirks beforegrabbing my waist again, "What do you think?"

XOXO