Chapter One - Episode Three: The Decision
704 Words
Until one day, her father simply looked at her and said,
“If you’re going, then you have to understand that you’re responsible for yourself too.”
She nodded quickly.
“I understand.”
“You have to listen to advice.”
“I will.”
“You have to remember where you’re coming from.”
“I will.”
“And don’t let the city change the things we taught you.”
She swallowed.
“I won’t.”
Her mother watched the two of them quietly.
Then she said,
“If you’re going, go with your head correct. Don’t be in a hurry to become like everybody else.”
Those words stayed with her.
She didn’t know then how often she would remember them.
She didn’t know how many times she would need to remind herself who she was.
She only knew that she had finally been given permission to leave.
And suddenly, leaving became real.
The last few days at home felt different.
Everything looked normal.
The same walls.
The same rooms.
The same familiar sounds.
The same people.
But she looked at everything differently because she knew she wouldn’t wake up there the next morning.
She began packing.
She didn’t have much.
She folded her clothes carefully and placed them into her bag.
She checked the bag again.
Then again.
She removed a few things.
Added some.
Removed them again.
At one point, she laughed at herself.
Why was she packing like she was moving to another country?
But Lagos felt like another world.
She had never lived there.
She didn’t know what awaited her.
She didn’t know what kind of person she would become there.
She didn’t know whether she would succeed quickly or struggle for a long time.
She didn’t know if she would love the city or hate it.
She didn’t know that some of the hardest moments of her life were waiting for her.
She only knew that she needed to go.
On the last night before she left, her mother came to her.
She had something in her hands.
A small Bible.
She held it out.
“Keep this with you.”
She looked at it.
Then at her mother.
“Thank you.”
Her mother nodded.
“It may not solve everything, but remember God wherever you go.”
She held the Bible tightly.
Those words sounded simple.
But that little book would become more than something she carried in a bag.
It would become a reminder of home.
A reminder of her mother’s voice.
A reminder that even when she felt alone, she had not been completely forgotten.
Later that night, both her parents called her into the sitting room.
She knew immediately what was coming.
A final conversation.
A final warning.
A final prayer.
She sat between them.
Her parents held her hands.
Her mother squeezed hers.
Her father bowed his head.
And they prayed for her.
They prayed for protection.
They prayed for wisdom.
They prayed that she would find her way.
They prayed that wherever she went, she would not lose herself.
She listened quietly.
There were moments when she wanted to cry, but she held herself together.
She didn’t want them to see how afraid she was.
Her father eventually looked at her.
“Go,” he said.
She looked at him.
“But don’t forget home.”
She nodded.
“And call us.”
“I will.”
Her mother pulled her closer.
“Take care of yourself.”
“I will, Mum.”
“Don’t be too trusting.”
She smiled through the emotion.
“I won’t.”
“Listen to your instincts.”
“I will.”
Her mother looked at her for a few seconds before saying,
“And remember who you are.”
That sentence settled somewhere deep inside her.
Remember who you are.
At the time, she didn’t understand how important those words would become.
She thought she already knew who she was.
She was their daughter.
She was a girl from home with dreams.
She was someone who wanted more for herself.
What she didn’t know was that life was about to introduce her to versions of herself she had never met before.
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