My alarm clock rang again.

At this point, my mum would scream out my name... let's wait for it.

1, 2, 3—here it goes:

“Chilota! I don’t know what you’re still doing in bed. Are we not going to Aba again?”

Yes, that’s true. Today we will be going to the city of Aba. This was my first time traveling out of Asaba. I’ve lived all my life in Asaba. But recently, life hasn’t been fair to us—we can hardly feed. We were struggling and surviving. My mum lost her job a year ago, and it has been tough for us.

You might be wondering why I’ve not said anything about my dad. The thing is, he doesn’t exist—he abandoned us when I was still a baby.

I quickly rushed to the bathroom to take my 2-minute bath. I hurriedly brushed my teeth. I heard my mum mumbling in the room. I didn’t give that a thought—I was fantasizing about the look on my sister’s face on our arrival. I’ve really missed her, and I’m now an “Aunty.” The mental picture I was painting was very funny.

I rushed out from the bathroom, wore my jeans and my favorite polo. I didn’t bother to rub cream or smell nice as a lady. Thank God we packed our bags last night. I headed to the kitchen to eat my mum’s special homemade akara and pap.

Hmmmm! This meal should definitely be in the Guinness Book of Records. I didn’t take my time to savor the taste of my akara—I had to put the remaining akara in a black nylon. I could finish it up in the bus.

Exactly 9:00 a.m., we were at the park. I held onto my phone, and my favorite person was seated beside me. Mum and I bade farewell to the city that welcomed and made us who we are today. In less than 2 hours, we were in Aba. I literally slept throughout the whole journey.

PRESENT DAY

I knew my world was over. She meant the world to me, but why then is she no longer breathing? Why is she not calling out my name? Why is she lifeless? She promised to stay with me through it all, but she didn’t love to keep her promise?

She is gone!

Who will I call mum again?

I had a million and one questions going on in my head.