Standing in the bathroom with Nancy supporting me, I took my surroundings in. The bathtub was in the middle of the bathroom and it was huge, the counter which had a huge mirror placed on the wall with the washing sink was to the left, underneath it was a cabinet where I think toiletries were kept.

The shower was right at the end of the bathroom and it looked like four to six people could fit in it. The toilet was beside the shower and the whole bathroom was tiled (white tiles). Nancy also looked around with me, once I was done she asked,

‘’so do you like’’?, I looked at her like she was insane, do I like?, I mean who wouldn’t like it?. I could practically sleep in here, I shared my thoughts with her.

“Nancy this bathroom is amazing, really amazing, I could sleep in here.” She smiled at me and said,

“I know I thought exactly the same thing the first time I walked in here.”

” How long have you been working here I asked?

“Well for about 2 years now. She led me to the bathtub, I took off my towel and gave it to her, got rid of my underwear while holding her for support . She held my waist once again to support me and helped me get into the tub, the water felt amazing not too hot not too cold.

After she helped me get into the tub, she went to the cabinet and got out a new sponge and body wash, came back to me and knelt beside the tub, dipped the sponge into the water and then poured some body wash on it, then she helped wash me up, I tried collecting the sponge from her but she refused.

“It’s ok Fola, let me do this”. Well I had nothing to say to that. We were quiet for a few minutes, and the atmosphere was a bit boring so I decided to get to know Ada a little. I asked my first question and I’m not sure if that was the best question to ask.

“So Ada tell me more about yourself, where are your family, are they here in Lagos?” Immediately I asked the question she stopped what she was doing, I looked at her and saw the look on her face, realizing what I had done I quickly tried to change the look on her face,.” Ada you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. I just felt like we should have a conversation while in here instead of just being so quiet”. Ada gave me a wobbly smile, she looked like she was about to cry. “Oh my God Ada I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you about your family,” I had no idea why she was about to cry but I had to do something to stop her from crying. I tried changing the subject but Ada got there before me.

“It’s ok Fola, you haven’t done anything wrong, I feel so sad because I killed my parents”. Wow, ok that’s a shock. She killed her parents? We both kept quiet. A few seconds later I asked,

‘’you killed your parents’’? She nodded her head in a yes gesture. Ok. How did you kill your parents? She dipped the sponge into the tub and started to wash me up once more. Then she said,

‘’well Fola the only way I can explain is by telling you what happened’’. I didnt know what she was about to tell me, but the look on her face said it was going to be very bad. She was quiet for a few minutes, I thought she wasn’t going to talk anymore, but then she suddenly started to speak and this is what she said.

”I lost my family to a fire”. Went out with my girlfriends to a bar, an hour after spending time with them laughing and talking about all the fun things girls talk about, I got a call from the police saying I had to head home immediately, I tried asking if there was any problem but he wouldn’t answer so I rushed out after telling my girls I had an emergency at home. Getting to the junction of my street I saw police cars everywhere and the fire department, everyone on my street and neighboring streets were out looking towards my house, I parked the car somewhere”…. She stopped talking at that point, it looked like she was no longer in the bathroom with me anymore, her eyes looked like she was in another place.

Telling Fola the story of how I lost my family was very hard, but I had to do it, for the last 2 years I have felt nothing but pain and guilt, I feel like if I had stayed at home with them maybe this fire wouldn’t have occurred and my family will still be alive today, I felt like I could tell Fola my story because she has gone through some bad things in life looking at her I know, I see pain and doubt, kneeling beside the tub I told Fola my story because I knew she would understand, everyone keeps telling me it wasn’t my fault but I know Fola will tell me the truth, she would tell me I shouldn’t have left my family that evening. I should have stayed at home with them. Yes. Telling Fola will be a good for me I’ll know how stupid and careless I was that day, and that it is my fault that my family are dead.

Just like it was yesterday I remembered and I told my story. I could feel my heart pounding like a base drum from the fear and terror of what I was seeing, all I could think about was my parents, my two brother who were twins and just 16 years old peter and paul, and my little sister Amaka

Cars and people were everywhere, I pushed through the throng of people to get to my house, as I did this I heard murmurings, my neighbors saying how sad it is to lose a whole family in one night, saying why I didn’t come home on time, saying I shouldn’t have left the house at all. I got more scared I didn’t want to believe what i heard, my family were not dead, no! They are alive; I have to believe that they are.

I got to the front and what I saw made my knees weak, I felt my heart drop down into my gut, I felt like my whole world had ended. My house, my family house, was burned to the ground, everything destroyed. Ok, its all good we can always get a new house.

I started to look around for a police man to ask where my family were, I needed to see them. A police man approached me and asked.

“You are Miss Ada right”

” Yes sir, I’m Ada, please where are my family? The police man looked at me and I could tell what he was about to tell me would be bad news. I just didn’t know how bad it was going to be.

“Miss Ada, I’m very sorry to say this, but no one survived. Everyone in that house got killed by the fire, I am so sorry.” No he didn’t just say that, no my family are not dead, they are alive and well. I won’t believe a word he is saying, no they are not dead. I looked at him nodded my head and said

” ok sir thank you I have heard what you’ve said but I think you didn’t understand my question so i’ll repeat myself, (I cleared my throat once) then asked, where are my family, I need to see them now.?” The police man placed his hand on my shoulder and said,

“Ada I just told you no one in that house survived the fire, I am sorry to say this but your family is no more, do you have anyone that we can call? Grandparents, aunties, uncles, Cousins?” I shook my head in a No gesture. The police man held me by the hand and led me to another police man, at this time I was in shock, couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, felt no emotion, I just felt empty. I heard a police man tell one of the paramedics that he thinks I’m in shock, seeing as I was not screaming or crying.

The paramedic came to me looked me over and asked, Ada do you have anyone that we should call? I shook my head once more in a No gesture. The police man sighed turned around and left me. I told him I had no one to call because I really didn’t have anyone. Both families of my parents didn’t agree to the joining of their children, so my parents ran away, got married and started a new life of their own. Because of this my mother and my fathers family deserted them, disowned them. I have never met my grandparents and I am 22 years old, the oldest child.

I was in shock, I couldn’t believe they were all gone, just like that. I didn’t cry then, I didn’t cry when my best friend chi chi came and picked me up and took me to her house, she wanted to make sure I wouldn’t do anything drastic and she wanted to comfort me. But I cried at the funeral, because it was then it dawned on me that they were really dead and I would never ever see them again, I cried so hard that I felt my chest contract it felt painful to breathe, it felt painful to live, I tried jumping into their graves so I could die with them.

Friends held me back; they took me to chi chi’s house and sedated me. I left my town which is in Abia and came here to Lagos to start a new life. One day, I was walking down the road looking for any job vacancy when mr smiths car stopped beside me, he asked me for directions and I told him I didn’t really know the city well, he didn’t leave instead he asked me a bunch of questions trying to figure out who I was and what I was doing, I told him i was looking for a job, any job at all, I was a bit desperate because I had been in that city for 2 weeks without enough money to take care of myself, I needed money asap.

Mr. smith looked at me for a bit and said, Ada I have a job for you. It’s quite easy. All you have to do is clean my house and cook for me. That’s all. I looked at him , thought about it and decided it was the best for now, so I told him yes that I will work for him. And that’s how my life has been, losing my family, then meeting Mr smith.

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I looked at Fola, and noticed she was crying, I gave her a broken smile, she really shouldn’t cry for me . She isn’t suppose to cry for me.

“Fola stop crying please. She nodded her head but replied,

“Ada that is a very sad story, I’m sorry for your loss I really am, you spoke as if your family loved you and you loved them too, that’s why it’s so sad”. I bowed my head and said,

” yes we both loved each other, and it was because of my selfishness that they are all dead, its all my fault that they are dead.” I was surprised she would say a thing like that.

“No Ada, don’t say that. Why would you say that? none of it was your fault, stop blaming yourself please, you went out to have fun with your friends, you had no idea that your house was going to burn down that night, so please stop. Don’t blame yourself, please ok?” Ada nodded her head and smiled.

“Ok Fola if you say so”. Then she smiled and it was a really good smile, but still had some sadness in it. She told me to relax more in the tub that she wants to wash my hair. I moved forward a bit and placed my head on the head of the tub, she got a bathing bowl fetched water from the tub and told me to sit up a bit, I did, then she told me to bend my neck a bit to the back, I did that too. Then she poured water on my head and helped to wash my hair.

Once she was done she asked if I was ok or if i wanted to stay some more in the tub . I told her I was ok, the water was getting cold anyway. She helped me get out of the tub, gave me my towel and helped me towel off. Then led me to the room and to the bed. I sat down while she went to a wardrobe at the left side of the room close to a window, opened it and got out a really nice pygamas. They were brown and had white stripes on it. She gave me the pj’s to wear, and then sat down beside me. Once I was done putting on the pj’s she looked at me and asked,

“Are you ready to eat?” Of course I said yes. She smiled then said,

“good I’ll bring something for you to eat then give you some medicine to stop the pain in your leg.” I gave her a grateful smile and said,

“thank you Ada, thank you.” She got up from the bed, turned to walk out of the room, when she got to the door I called,

‘’Ada,’’ She turned around to look at me, she didn’t say anything, she just waited for me to speak. I looked at her and said with complete honesty, ‘’ you are not to blame for what happened to your family, none of it was your fault.’’ She smiled again but this time the smile reached her eyes ,she looked a little teary then she nodded her head just once and said,

“let me get you your food, I will be right back.”

Authors note:

wow, this chapter has a lot to say; Ada the maid opened up to Fola a homeless girl someone she is older than in years, not caring about her age she told Fola about the tragedy that be fell her. Ada blames herself for what happened to her family but Fola is trying to convince her that none of it was her fault.

Do you think Fola will be able truly convince her?. Yes?, no? let me know what you think. Some of us are like Ada, we are filled with guilt, shame, pain and hopelessness, but let me tell you this, God in heaven cares for you. He doesn’t care about your past he just wants you. Give all your pain, all your burden and let him take care of, trust me you wont regret it.

To be continued