1 Chapter 1

Enitan was born into a poor family,

Lost her father during an inter-community war when she was six then she and her mother moved to Lagos where she lost her mother to cancer exactly ten years after that her father's death.

She was the only child and being orphaned at that age,

She'd to do so many odd jobs to manage,

She was in her second year in Senior Secondary school when her mother passed on after years of battling with cancer.

After her mother's death,

She fled an early marriage,orchestrated my her uncles and she came back to Lagos to live alone.

Enitan began to sell sachet water around the streets of Lagos to fend for herself,

They'd spent all they'd to ensure that her mother survived but fate had other plans for her,

So she was left with almost nothing after the woman's death.

She would sell sachet water in the morning to people eating at the local restaurants around the bus stop and after that she would go back home and prepare for school.

Afternoon,when she must have returned from school,

She would go into the market and seek for people who she would help and carry their goods,

In turn they pay her for her service.

While at home during weekends,

She goes around helping people do house chores and run errands for them and after the day's job,

They pay her and she returns home.

Being an smart and intelligent child,

She didn't joke with her education,

She wanted to be a business woman and wanted to go to school to achieve that,

She wanted to study Business Administration,Accounting or Economics.

To study that,

She knew she'd to be serious with her education,

She barely had time to play around and she kept no friends,

Almost everyone in their neighborhood loves her and would admonish their child to be like her.

Several times, she went for school competitions like Essay writing,debates,maths competition and she always comes out with the first position for her school,

Teachers were fond of her and so was other serious students who wanted to be like her.

Even in all her intelligence,

She was still the reserve,naive and innocent young girl and many loved her for that,

While her mates were busy keeping boyfriends or getting wasted,

She buried her head in her books cause she knows that was the one thing her mother held to great importance before she died,

Education.

When Enitan got to her final class in secondary school,

It became hard for her,

She'd to enroll for WAEC exams but the money was too much for her,

She redoubled her effort in working and would work from morning to night just to make sure she gets the money before the time given to them elapse.

She got support from many people even without asking and in no time,

Most of her teacher and the people she worked for,

They helped her with the money and she enrolled for her WAEC exams,

That didn't stop her because now she'd to work harder and read harder,

Went to class from Monday to Friday,

Worked from Monday to Saturday and buried her head with books from Sunday dawn till dusk.

She was able to get past questions from people she knew and she would read with them,

Give herself tough questions and would solve them herself.

Since she'd no money for a private tutor or going to an extra lesson,

She appealed to one of the woman she works for,

Mrs Okawe was a lecture in University of Benin in Edo State before she quitted to join her husband in Lagos,

She'd five kids,three in secondary school and the last two in primary school,

Her husband is a banker and works as an accountant in one of the banks in Lagos State.

Seeing how zealous Enitan was,

She went all out to help the young girl,

She even went ahead and enrolled her for Jamb.

"You're very intelligent,

i don't think I can watch such talent and intelligence go to waste."

She told Enitan the day she took her to Jamb office for her registration.

Seeing the privilege she was given,

Enitan took it a mental note not to waste it,

She read and read till her book even got tired of her,

Mrs Okawe asked her to concentrate fully on her exams and she would take it to herself that she lacks nothing,

That was what she did,

She buried herself with books.

The day before her Jamb exam,

Enitan was at home that evening,

Like always she was reading when she heard a knock on her wooden door,

She didn't want to be disturbed,

So she ignored the knock,

But when it came again,

She stood up and went to the door to see who it was,

It was Folake,

Their neighbor's daughter.

Folake attended the same government school with Enitan till her father got promoted to Chief Security Officer in the company he works and she was taken to another school with her two younger siblings,

She has an older brother who lives in Kano and he's serving a Yoruba man who does importation of shoes.

Enitan was surprised seeing Folake at her door and it was already evening,

Not that they were having a beef or anything but Folake doesn't talk to her,

Not when they were in the same school and not even after she left the school.

Folake and her family lives in one of the self-contained apartments in the the front,

While Enitan has the one room in the back,

So both girls hardly cross path but seeing Folake in her door step,

She wasn't comfortable.

"Are you busy?" Folake asked her,

"Yes,I'm reading." She answered politely,

"Okay,

I want you to help me with something,

A few of my friends would be coming to study with me,

Not really to study but we need someone to help us with some particular question for tomorrow exam and I told them about you,

Can you help us?" She asked Enitan who was leaning on the door.

Enitan thought for awhile,

"Don't worry,

They won't bite and it's just for today." Folake added,

"Okay,I'll try."

Immediately she accepted,

Folake let out an excited smile,

"Oh thank you Enitan,

You just don't know how much you've saved me."

"It's nothing."

"Okay,

I'll call you when they come." Folake said and turned to leave,

"Plus you would have to come to my house,

We won't stay here."

Enitan didn't argue,

If Folake was serious it's for the exam,

She would be glad to help.

Folake's friends came as expected and she came and called Enitan,

She changed into a pair of old jeans and wore a red T-shirt,

Then they went to Folake's.

Coming inside the living room,

Enitan was met with unfamiliar faces,

Three girls and two boys and they were all smiling at her.

"Guys,this is the girl I talked to you about,

She can help us solve those problems." Folake said to them,

"Her name is Enitan." She also introduced her to them,

Enitan who was getting pretty uncomfortable the way the two boys were looking at her just nodded and went to sit on the empty space on the other chair.

"Dayo,bring the questions." Folake said one of the boys and he brought out the question paper,

Gave it to Enitan while she took it without looking at him,

She spread it on the table and went through it before raising her head up.

"The maths is simultaneous equation and chemistry here,

I don't take Chemistry but with what I know,

This one should be practical cause it's qualitative analysis and all that..."

"But you can solve it right?" One of the girls asked,

She nodded,

"Get me a calculator and a book and pen," she turned to Folake,

"I will need a Chemistry textbook too."

Folake stood up and rushed inside to bring what Enitan asked for while she did the numbers in her head on how to solve the questions easily.

When she finished with them,

It was pretty late but she finished the entire questions,

Folake's friends were surprised,

"Men! That girl is very intelligent.

Ah!

I wish I was half intelligent as her." One of the guys said when Enitan finally left and Folake chuckled.

"She's,

When I told you I'm sure she would do it,you thought I was lying,

Now see,

She aced it all."

The rest smiled,

"And she's very beautiful too

Omo,the girl bam." He said again,

"Ah Dayo!

You no dey use eye see fine girl sef?" The other guy asked in pidgin and everyone laughed.

The next morning,

Enitan woke up early,prayed and did all she was supposed to do,

The exam starts by eleven and Mrs Okawe had promise to take her to the exam center herself.

So she finished her chores,

Had a little breakfast and she headed to Mrs Okawe's house.

The woman was having breakfast when Enitan came,

So she asked her to join her,

After breakfast,

She did the dishes and waited for the woman to finish so they would leave.

The exam center was in Ikorodu and Mrs Okawe who knew the area cause she'd a friend who lived around there dropped Enitan right on time,

The exam would last about one hour and forty five minutes,

So she left promising to come back when they're done.

Enitan who'd cone all prepared said a few words of prayers before she entered the hall and was surprised to see Folake and her friends,

The same ones she'd met in her house last night.

She pretended not to have seen them but one of the boys saw her and called out to her,

She turned,gave them a smile and left before they would come for any discussions.

The exam began a few minutes later and everywhere went dead silent,

Enitan was sitting in the second row and had all her attention to the paper in front of her,

Right before she started,

She said a few prayers and opened the booklet.

She was quite surprised when the first question she saw in maths turned out to be same question she'd solved last night,

She felt maybe it was a coincidence,

But solving the rest,

She found out that she was solving the same question she'd solve with Folake and her friends and that kinda baffled her.

After the exams,

Enitan stayed outside and waited for Mrs Okawe to come back,

While she was waiting,someone tapped her from behind,

She turned to see Dayo,

One of the boys who'd came to Folake's house last night.

"Hey," He smiled at her,

She smiled back but it was short lived,

"Remember me,

I'm Dayo..."

"I know you Dayo,

How can I help you?" She asked him,

Not ready to hear whatever he was about to say,

Dayo felt intimidated at her cold attitude.

"Nothing,just wanted to say hi." She nodded and turned away from him,facing the main road in front of them,

He stood there and watched her for awhile before he left.

Mrs Okawe arrived a few minutes later and Enitan joined her in the car and they drove home.

Whilst Enitan was working and waiting for WAEC to come,

Mrs Okawe informed her about a scholarship program and asked her to apply for it.

"You would do just well plus you're very intelligent." She told Enitan that evening as she was about heading home,

"But what if I don..."

"See Enitan,

You're very intelligent and I'm a hundred percent sure you would get this scholarship.

You can do anything,

Anything as long as you set your mind to it." Mrs Okawe assured her,

She thanked the woman and went home happy,

She mapped out her plans that night.

If she wins the scholarship,

She would go to the University and would study Business Administration and after that,

She would graduate then start working,

If she gets enough money,

She would start up her own business.

Anything,any business at all,

Her mother use to tell her she would make a good business woman and it's no lie,

She definitely will.