Margins of change

CHAPTER ONE Arya's POV "Wake up, dear. We're here," my mom said, her voice sounding distant. I tried to force my eyelids open as I had been asleep for nearly three hours. I'm pretty sure I've spent more than half of the journey sleeping. It was all because I spent the whole of last night awake, twisting and turning, desperately trying to find the colder part of the bed. Several images of my school, friends, and neighbors kept popping up in my head, even though I'd said goodbye to them a million times already. I don't like change. I prefer the way our life was before this extreme and dramatic shift occurred. I'm not trying to sound ungrateful or closed off to new things, but... I liked my old school, our apartment, and my friends. However, it doesn't change the course of events. I'm sure my mom isn't completely in love with the idea of change either, but ever since my father died a year ago, things haven't been easy for us. My mum is a hard worker, even though she didn't use her nursing certificate at all throughout her life until now. My dad and his family believed that she was better off as a housewife than a working wife, saying it granted her more time to take care of the house, please her husband, and be a fulfilled mom. After two years of marriage to my father, my mom had me. However, she was told by the doctor that she couldn't have any more kids as it could lead to complications. Over the years, my mom had shown constant fear and worry of being replaced by another wife since she couldn't bear my father more children, but he always assured her that he would do no such thing because he loved her dearly. Unfortunately, we lost my father to a car accident on his way home from his workshop when I was only 14 years old. My mum was devastated, and so was I, because I loved my father very much. I was sure my mum was also greatly disturbed and worried about how she was going to take care of me alone, having no job. I offered to do odd jobs and even tried applying for meager jobs behind her back, but I always got caught. Alas, she banned me from finding any work until I was eighteen years old. She also made me promise to always focus on my studies and do my very best to become successful in life. A few months after my father's death, my mum and I were still thriving... barely. My mum launched her cleaning business by rendering cleaning services to hotels, bars, schools, etc. My mum refused to let me switch to a government-owned school even though we could barely afford a private institution with our financial status. She did this because she believed a child is better off being educated at a private school than a public school. I was very touched by this, and I made a promise to myself to honor my mother's wishes and do my absolute best in my studies. After a lot of hard work, I made it to the top of the class. My parents always believed that I was a bright kid. Seeing all their hopes and dreams come true makes me happy, although, I wish my father was here to witness it. A few weeks later, the results of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Junior Secondary School Three were released, and I passed with flying colors. When I got back from school that day, I met my mom sitting in the living room, sorting the beans we were having for dinner later that night. I greeted her and told her how my day went in school, and she said she had pleasant news. I told her about my BECE result, and we both screamed with joy while she enveloped me in a tight hug and told me she was very proud of me. When I told her it was her turn to share some news, I noticed her smile fell a bit, and I sensed the news might not be as pleasant as she had claimed. Then she dropped the bombshell that she was offered a job as a nurse by one of her father's friends at a private hospital in Lagos. My heart fell to my stomach at the thought of moving, but I masked it with the brightest smile I could offer and told her how excited I was for her. Then she went on to tell me that she was worried I wouldn't support her initially and that she was very glad that I was okay with it. Her confession made me feel bad for wanting less for her when she would have given me the world on a silver platter if she could. Dinner went on that night with my mom expressing how happy this new opportunity made her and how she thought her nursing certificate would have been of no use without this privilege. I went to sleep that night with one side of me thinking about how this new job would benefit us both, but the other side couldn't shrug off the feeling of being thrown into an entirely new environment. I made a mental note to never let my nerves cloud the amazing benefits that come with this opportunity.