Anna's hustle

Mrs Adeniyi

Anna had just returned from work on Friday night and she met her mum sitting with Tobe and was carrying Rose.

"Mummy, good evening," Anna said.

"Madam, look at the time," said her mum. "What kind of work keeps you out till this time?"

"Mummy, you know I'm a hustler," she replied. "I do a lot of things."

"Anna I did not give birth to you so you can become a hustler," her mum said.

"Mum, I haven't gotten a stable job yet."

"Then come back to Lagos. Your dad and I will help you get a job."

"How was your journey?" Anna asks trying to change the conversation.

"Do not use that trick for me. Are you trying to change the subject?" Her mum snapped.

"Mummy, Anna just returned from work, let her go in and freshen up," said Robert joining them. Anna did not hesitate to go to her room and thanked Robert in her heart for rescuing her from her mum.

"Anna, why don't you dress up and follow me to this wedding?" Her mum asks the following morning.

"I do not want to attend the wedding besides I wasn't invited," Anna replied.

"It doesn't matter. You do not know who you will meet there and my friend has single sons."

"Mummy, I'm not looking for a husband."

"Foolish girl. You do not know anything. Do you know where your sister met Tunde?" Her mum asks. "It's at a wedding and now she already telling me he wants to marry her. You are older than Rachel with two years and it's obvious she is smarter."

"Mummy, I'm not Rachel and if she wants to get married tomorrow then good for her but I'm not ready and I'm not accompanying you to the wedding."

Mrs Adeniyi shakes her head and leaves.

"Is this how you and your mum always act?" Tobe asks joining her.

"Yeah. And I'm used to her. The key is resistance. If I give her a little yard, she will just take a mile," Anna replied.

"When she goes out, you will help me loose my hair," Tobe said.

"No problem," she replies.

When Mrs Adeniyi returned from the wedding, Anna was not at home and Robert was relaxing with his daughter watching TV.

"Robert, where does your sister work?" She asks. "That she comes back late."

"She works in a supermarket," he lied.

"Is that what she wants to be doing when there are better jobs out there?"

"Mummy, Anna has gone for a lot of interviews, she is only doing this because she hasn't gotten a better job. Give her time."

"Are you sure because I feel her dreams and ambitions are even bigger than her," Mrs Adeniyi said.

Robert sighs. "She is just twenty four and does not need pressure. She only needs time."

"Okay o, if you say so before you will say I talk too much."

"Anna, aren't you ready to go home?" Janet asks.

"No," Anna replies.

"Is everything alright?" Her friend asks.

"No, my mum is around," she replied.

"I don't understand. What is wrong with your mum?"

"She just worries me a lot. I can't wait for her to go back and the funny thing is that she came yesterday."

"Come on and stop acting like a baby. Let's go," Janet said dragging her along.

"Can I sleep in your house today?"

"Anna, don't be silly!" Janet replied.