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Nana’s mother always said Lagos had a way of making people forget who they are, she used to think it was just another one of the old adages her mother threw around to justify them living in abject poverty until she moved to Lagos herself, she could barely recognize herself anymore.
When she first came to Lagos she was a decent girl with a conscience, the two friends she stayed with were legendary small girls with big God but she truly believed that if she put in her honest hard work everyday she would soon lift her family out of poverty. Her mother fell ill shortly after and her younger brother desperate to raise money to help their mom had gone to see some friends to beg for money, unfortunately the house he was at got raided by policemen and he was carted away with all the other boys and charged with money laundering and internet fraud.
“ I told the judge that with mama’s conditions I was actually desperate enough to do the yahoo but I haven’t done it yet!!! I only came to beg for money, why are they charging me for a crime I’m yet to commit Nana” he cried when she went to see him in the cell.
Seeing her brother behind bars broke something in Nana, her innocent brother who was so intelligent that she had disciplined herself to saving 20k every month out of her meager salary towards his university education. Her hardworking mother who had given her all as a teacher in a government primary school, reduced to a helpless woman on a hospital bed with nothing to show for her years of hard work.
Nana became a big girl with a big God and an even larger clientele overnight. Unlike most other girls in the business she was truly intelligent, articulate and understood public relations enough to convince her clients to move from one night stands into monthly subscriptions.
She took care of herself and was always impeccably dressed, she took care of her mom who had recovered eventually thanks to the availability of money and the best health care money could buy or so she thought. She was working tirelessly to get her brother out of detention and she was saving enough money to ensure that she never needed to beg again.
She didn’t expect to fall for Tunde but even when she did, the Nana she let him see was different from the real Nana. He thought she was just a con woman and assumed she only made money from her percentage in the scams they pulled off together, she laughed at the thought that she needed him to make money, she who could easily reach into her account and clear all his gbese but she had seen love burn people before including her mother so she knew that as much as she loved him she needed to love herself more.
She knew who Zik was, Tunde trusted her too much and she found it both foolish and endearing, she even knew exactly how much he owed Zik, it was a lot of money but she could still take care of a huge percentage of it without completely breaking the bank. She was getting tired of being involved in his little scams that were always badly planned and never went well, she let him think he was the brains of the operation but since he wouldn’t ask her opinion she also let him take every loss he was handed.
She thought about breaking off their little Bonnie and Clyde partnership and focusing on her business, she organized girls for almost all the strip clubs and bars and hotels in Eko and even in Ghana, she earned a percentage of whatever they made and so even if she didn’t service her clientele she was still making money every day.
“Babe can I get some water please” Tunde’s weak voice interrupted her thoughts, as she brought the water to him she wondered why she didn’t just pick up her hand bag and leave, there was something about him that drew her to him. She knew she didn’t need him, but she wanted him. This love thing is just mad.
Ziks parents were panicking back home, they hadn’t heard from him in two days and he hadn’t offered any insight into his plans in Lagos. “Azikiwe I understand that you’re settling into a new environment but it has been two days, your father is threatening to cancel your cards biko just call us as soon as you can “ his mother said to his voicemail for the umpteenth time.
“That boy doesn’t know me, I have eyes everywhere. I can have people follow and report his every move to me, he doesn’t know.” His father muttered angrily. He was trying hard to pretend that he didn’t care what the boy did but he couldn’t wait for this Lagos madness to be over so that Zik could come home and take over the family businesses. “Keep your thugs away from my boy, he left here because of you constantly micro managing his entire life!!! Leave him alone o” his mother said all the while wishing she had eyes in Lagos who could make sure her son was getting along fine. “You made him into the pathetic dreamer he is Ada, you people only know how to dream and then use my money to make your dreams happen. My hard earned money, but I’m still the bad guy. If he ran away from only me has he called you?” His father retorted with an evil grin on his face, he walked away before his wife could recover from the blow.
He sent a message to his most trusted soldier in Lagos state, “My son is in your state, send him home”.