Smile for me

* CHAPTER NINETEEN *

UCHE'S POV

It's been over a week since Emeka sent me that very disturbing link, over a week since I read that headline and over a week since Dede dropped that suggestion of me applying for a scholarship outside the country.

I tried not to think about it all through out the week but it's not something that I can push away. It came creeping back into my mind even when I tried to bury myself in my work, I took hectic jobs, I even accepted to clear Mr Linus's big plot of land that he has been bothering me about, I refused to earlier because that plot is too large for one person to work on but when he brought it up in the market when I bumped into him while running errands for mom I decided to just do it because I thought it would get my mind off it but it didn't.

I was still upset for the first few days but Dede helped soothe some of my anger, her just being there was enough for me. When I asked her to come to the house, I knew she would come I just knew it. I sounded like a whiny little boy but I didn't care, when I opened the door and saw her waiting there for me that was enough to whisk some of my anger into the air. Her suggestion did blow me off a little bit because I've never thought about that, I find it extremely funny in a way because applying for a scholarship has never crossed my mind before. I was angry about her suggestion the second she brought it up but I knew she only did that because she cares about me and my well-being

When mama came back home that evening I could still see the worry in her face and I caused that. I knew she already had an idea about what was going on, her salon is the center for gossip in this part of town, someone must have raised the topic there. She knows how I get about school and how distraught I was when the first 2 strikes happened, she must have figured out the reason for my mood.

I spent the whole week thinking about this whole scholarship thing and the possibility of me getting in. Getting a scholarship is a big deal for any struggling Nigerian student right now especially if it's in a private university and an opportunity to even study abroad is like the icing on the cake. A part of me is excited about it but another part of me is scared, scared that I'll raise my family's hopes and then crush it again if I don't get in. Overthinking everything is killing me and I decide to just talk to my mom about it, like Dede said, they will accept anything that concerns me bettering my future. I decide to just talk to her this evening when she comes back from work that is if she even comes home early.

A little after 5pm and I'm already sitting in the parlor waiting for her to come, Kelechi is not back yet so she probably just picked him up from school and made him stay with her at the shop. I'm sitting on the same spot Dede sat on when I called her the first day I heard about the news, i feel warm inside when I remember how she tried to comfort me, I find it ironic because I'm usually the one giving her advice about her personal issues.

6pm and I'm already ready to just move back to my room and throw myself on the bed when I hear Kelechi's voice from outside. He knocks on the door in the obnoxious and annoying way he usually does before I open the door, he walks in first before mama walks in behind him

"Welcome ma" I greet her before collecting the things she brought with her

"Thank you Uche, 𝒌𝒆𝒅𝒖?" (How are you?)

"I'm fine mama" I answer her and walk into the kitchen to keep the food items she bought, she follows me inside too

"Are you sure you're fine?" I nod my head at her and pull a smile for her for assurance

"Have you eaten?" She asks me, she's being extremely nice and careful not to annoy me now and I just know that she has found out about the strike

"Yes, I had noodles before you guys got home" she nods her head at me