Chapter 1b

Ure lay in bed for the next few minutes trying not to rehash the dream that had woke her and instead reviewed her activities for the day in detail. She was meeting two of her more difficult customers later in the day and she wasn't looking forward to presenting the proposals she had prepared for them. Luckily her manager was going with her along with her usual partner. They were looking to increase the customers portfolio by a few more millions. If they got it, she were halfway to her target and that was no mean feat seeing it was still the first month of the quarter.

The same thoughts occupied her as she took her bath and dressed up but now she sat at the kitchen table glaring at the invoice for her son’s school fees for the term that had just begun. He attended The Regent Schools Abuja and the fees had just been hiked by almost 20 percent. If she had thought the cost had been through the roof at the admission two years ago, now they were in the stratosphere. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Well she liked their mixed curriculum and being that Anthony had just stabilised during the year after their recent trauma, she couldn’t think of withdrawing him. Well not while she could still afford it, who knew what would happen in future? The events of three years ago had thought her to take each new day as it dawned. Wasn’t it the bible that said sufficient unto the day was the evil thereof or something along those lines?
“What’s for breakfast mom?” Tony asked as he bounded into the kitchen? He was big for his eight years with a full head of hair and light coloured eyes.
“What would you prefer?
“Pancakes”? He asked hopefully knowing his mom didn’t like making those on school mornings. That was why he just loved weekends. He got as much as he wanted.
“No pancakes today as I’m sure you already know”, Ure smiled as she moved to the cereal cupboard. “I bought your favourite rice crispies yesterday”.
“Yay”, Tony exalted his head stuffed halfway down his man-sized backpack. “But mom, you didn’t tell me you went shopping, I would have gone with you”.
“I went to Grand Square from the bank yesterday since I also had to pick up some other stuff quickly, we’ll go properly on Saturday”. She poured some cereal in a bowl and placed it with the milk before him as she back before her breakfast.
“Good, I want to have a look at the Xbox again,” he looked at her with his puppy eyes as he began to eat, “Mom…”
“No, no, no! No momming me this time. We are not getting the Xbox till you’re ten young man, isn’t that what we agreed?”
“But mom that’s still two years away,” he grumbled.
“A year and one month,” Ure corrected. Your birthday is in November…”
“Can I get it for this birthday then? Tony asked hopefully
Ure looked at him in silence as she munched on her toast, till he looked away and focused on his crispies. “We’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes, have you got all your homework and stuff?”
“Yes mom, but can I take out these oranges from my lunch?”
Ure threw back the last of her tea and stood up, “Only if you will take a banana. You need fruits, Tone, not just biscuits.”
He made a face and went back to his breakfast. Ure went into her room, still thinking of the Xbox. It wasn’t just that the game box was out of their budget, she also worried that if she got one, he would soon be demanding or bringing home some age-inappropriate games to play on it. Well, she’ll see how the year ended and may surprise him at Christmas. They both needed cheering up.
It was eight thirty on the dot when they left the apartment in Jabi enroute to Tony’s school and onwards to the bank where Ure worked. Tony was dressed in the white short sleeves and black shorts of his school uniform and his shoes shone with polish in the morning sun. He was logging along the heavy bag and Ure frowned.
“What’s in that bag?”
“Books and stuff” he muttered getting into the passenger seat after dumping the backpack in the back seat. “We have music lessons today and I want to show Taiye how the new Lego set works”.
“Be sure not to lose any of the pieces OK?”
“Sure mom,” he replied beaming.
Ure smiled back and drove out of the gated compound made up of four apartments. Musa held open the gates and one of her neighbours was right behind her with his two children in the back seat. She waved to them as she turned the corner. When they got to his school, Tony bounded in like a large puppy calling out to one of his numerous friends. Then he turned with a grin to wave at his mom, as she remained parked for a minute. She blew him a kiss, waved but waited till he had gone inside before she drove away. The smile on her face masked the swirling emotion within her. Looking on her son everyday stirred deep feelings, he reminded her so much of his father. This was usually not a wholly bad thing but today it was like a knife to her heart. God why? She wiped her mind of the painful memories as she drove into the bank.