What are your qualifications?” he asked in an impatient voice.
He waa so tall, oh my, this is Lola’ s husband my heart was racing for. Stop it! Stop it my stupid heart!
” Are you alright? I don’t have all day! My God! ”
Where was Lola? sh*t! i should have given her a call before coming, but what would i have said? that i was coming for tea?! We heard a loud crashing sound, Mr tall dark and handsome swore under his breath. Why wasn’t he rushing up the stairs to find out what was wrong? Another loud thud and a crashing sound had the dark Greek God loosening his tie in frustration, he sat down on the sofa obviously weary.
” Monkey keep it down!” He hollered.
My God! they named the child Monkey!
” Are you alright? ……..shall we start?”
A chubby little girl with hair dyed red came tumbling down the stairs. I rushed to help her but she brushed me off.
” Is this the nanny?” She asked
” Go back upstairs!” he shouted. ” Miss please am running late! ”
The girl rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue before dashing up the stairs. Oh my child. Do i even have the right to call her my child? what manner of parents allows a little girl dye her hair red! and they had named her monkey!.Where was Lola?
” What is your name?”
” Ebere”
” See am running late and Monkey is a handful so i need to know if you can handle her and i want to see references too! I need to know am not entrusting my daughter into the care of a maniac! God forbid! Lola would have my head for that!”
The name Lola had my heart racing, where was she?
” Are we clear?”
I nodded.
” Can i see them?”
Oh my God! What was he asking for?
” Your CV”
His phone rang and he excused himself. He came back minutes later full of apologies.
” Ebere i have to go, give me your contact address and if you don’t have the references with you now no problem…… but i will have to instruct the security not to allow you out of this building until i get back……in the mean time you are hired. Let me introduce you to Monkey”
My heart was racing fast. I felt like a burglar caught red_handed.
” The little girl that came in before isn’t she your daughter?”
” The one that came crashing down the stairs?. No. That one is for my brother. ”
I sighed in relief.
” Monkey come and meet your nanny!”
We heard loud thudding sounds and a loud bang before two rihanna wannabe sailed down the banister. My God! She was worse! Her hair was dyed blue, her lips were lined with dark pencils, there were three ear rings on each of her ears. She had on a crazy jean and crazy top with one arm cut off. This couldn’t be!
” Monkey come on! am late please! meet your nanny Ebere, say hello to her”
The little devil stood defiantly, mischief shinning in her eyes.
” Hello Monkey ”
” I don’t like this one! Get another one!” She spat out.
Tall and dark ignored her. ” Ebere meet my daughter Constance……. She is a sweet angel when you get to know her and please don’t let her get to you.”
” Uncle You didn’t introduce me too” red hair grumbled.
” Sorry angel, Ebere meet my niece Liz, Liz meet Constance’ s new nanny”.
” I don’t like this one too! ” miss red hair announced and they both ran up the stairs.
” Please don’t let them get to you.i will be back by four and remember you are not allowed to leave until i get back.” He breezed out of the room hastily not waiting for my reply.
I sagged down on the sofa in exhaustion.
” Miss! miss! Constance is no longer breathing! ”
I rushed up the stairs with the red hair girl, What happened? why did i leave them by themselves! the blue haired girl, lay very still in the middle of the pink princess theme room. I placed my ear on her chest and she jerked up laughing. She gave her partner in crime a high five as they screamed ” gotcha!”
I couldn’t help laughing with them. They had gotten me real good.
” Why does your dad call you monkey? ”
” Wow she thinks that was funny, cool!” Liz said.
” The last nanny went running out of the house ” Monkey said laughing. ” Can i have a chocolate bar?”
” Me too”
” I guess”
” Cool” they screamed running out of the house.
My phone vibrated in my jean pocket. ” Hello Ify…..how are you?”
” Am okay” she replied at the other end.
I knew she wasn’t OK. ” What are you up to?”
” Am in the hospital”
I could hear my blood pounding in my ears. ” Why are you in the hospital?”
” Am having a bronchoscopy”
i wondered what that means. ” But are you okay?”
” They said i have to get a bronchoscopy to see if am infected with pneumocystis before i have the sysmptoms”.
It was always They said this, they said that! Ify was going through a lot and there was nothing i could do .
“But are you alright? do you have the… Psy……py…do you have it?”
” No. Not yet.”
I hate seeing her so helpless. Chiboy’ s mother was forever forcing something down her throat. How someone could drink two bottles of annointing oil in a day was terrible. I wanted to speak out, i wanted to tell her to go to hell with the so called holy oils but what if Ify could truly get her healing by drinking them?.
” Are you there Ebere?”
” Yes i am” i said wiping away my tears.
” I want to join an AIDS Survivor’s Support group” her breathing was laboured.
” Sweetie i will be home shortly, we will talk. I love you”
” Love you too”.
The mischievous duo were staring intently at me. I felt no connection with the little blue haired girl. She was ebony and chubby while i was light skinned and slim. No resemblance. No emotional connection. Maybe she favored Dayo, but i couldn’t tell. She and little red riding hood looked alike. Same ebony skin, same rosy dimpled cheeks. Is this even the child i brought into this world?
” That was your boyfriend? ” blue asked.
” No. My Sister”
” Mind if we have some Pizza?” Red asked.
” Yea i guess”
” Cool! i wish you were my nanny!”
They raced out of the room once again, their laughter twitttered in the house. I followed them down the stairs, they had four slices of pizza on their plates. I pulled out a chair smiling at them.
” Are you sure you are a real nanny? you are supposed to say we should eat our veggies and fruit. and no junk food before dinner ”
I blinked. What do i know about kids? ” Today is world international kids day, tomorrow i can be a proper nanny to you” i lied smoothly.
They traded looks and grinned happily. They were both adorable.
” Where is your mommy?”
They both went silent.
” She’s in heaven ” Red answered. ” And she is now our guidance angel”
I felt a thick lump in my throat. Lola.
” Are you alright ?” red had asked.
Dark and handsome arrived after five pm and apologized for being late. The duo flew into his arms gisting him about their day, he sat down settling each one on his thigh. He listened to them, kissed their cheeks before sending them back upstairs. I had already forced them to eat the spaghetti and meatballs i made for dinner.
” Hope you didn’t leave any for me? How did you find your first day of work?”
” Exciting”
He laughed. ” I know they can be a hand full but am glad you are still here. I know you must be tired, let’s discuss the terms of the job.”
” Please can we do that tomorrow? i will be here by 8am”
” OK that is fair enough. Thank you ” he stood up.
I declined the money he offered me and drove back home. I had seen my daughter. She had a blue hair and her name was monkey.
To be continued
