Root
'I hate you!! I hate both of you so much, 'April screamed and slammed the door hard, her father knocked on the door and said, 'we are doing this for your own good and you won't understand until you're older now open the door young woman before I put my foot down.
April screamed in frustration and threw the antique bedside lamp against the wall, watched it scatter to pieces and for a moment she felt calm, she crawled into her bed and wept into her pillow not wanting to give her family the pleasure of hearing her cry.
She is a 21 year old half cast born to a Nigerian father and a British mom, her unruly curly black hair and hazel eyes gave away her origin but she considers herself white. Now her parents have ganged up against her with a propostrous decision "she is to travel to Nigeria and learn about about her culture and language since she is now an adult" and that's the last thing she wants to do. She is no racist but her plan is to travel to Paris and try to get into a fashion design school , now she is being forced to go to an under developed country with no stable electricity. Argh! She grunt, 'I hate my life.
April grumbled and muttered under her breath as she carelessly threw her clothes into the suitcase, it was a tough battle with her parents ,which she lost.
Her flight to Nigeria will leave in 3 hours.
April you will miss your flight, quit being a snail and get ready, your father is almost done, ' her mom said.
She trudged down the stairs with her luggage in one hand and her phone in the other, are you sure you took every necessary thing? What about your passport?, 'her mom inquired. Mom quit hounding me, ' she said and stormed out the door.
They got to the airport on time, April's dad decided to talk some senses into her, Nigeria is not as bad as you assume and you won't be staying there forever, I just want to share my root with you too, is it that bad?, 'he asked.
April muttered under her breath but gave a fake smile and said, 'fine dad, I will go to your country but I won't like it. That's my girl, have a safe flight, 'her dad said happily and hugged her. Mr fashina will be waiting for you at the airport, 'he concluded and watched as his 21year old daughter walked towards departure and was almost in tears.
The plane finally touched down at the Murtala Muhammad airport in Lagos after 10 hours in the air, April casually strolled out hoping to see a middle age man holding a paper with her name written on it but she couldn't find any, she was still impatiently scanning around when someone tapped her from behind, she turned round and saw a young man in his early twenties, are you April Balogun?, 'he asked while looking at his phone, 'the picture looks like you, 'he concluded.
I am April and who are you?, 'she asked cautiously, I am Jide fashina, my dad couldn't make it so he asked me to come pick you up, 'he said.
Is that all the luggage you have?, 'he asked and pointed to the pink suitcase beside her, she said yes and he grabbed the suitcase and walked away gesturing her to follow, he is so tall that it was hard to Match his strides so she ended up jogging to keep up .
He gently put her luggage in the back seat of his car and opened the passenger's door for her to enter, soon they are on their way to the island where they reside. They got stuck in the predictable mainland traffic and April was amazed by how her host completely ignored her like she is not sitting beside him in the car, she felt offended because she is not used to the male gender not acknowledging her presence, she might not be drop dead gorgeous but she is totally a head turner and this young man right here is certainly strange.
They finally escape the traffic and were on their way to the island, April rolled down the window to get a better view and she love what she is seeing, they eventually got to the fashina's house and the warm welcome she got made her really happy, Mr fashina hounded her with questions about her father and her mom and reassured her short stay in Nigeria will be memorable.
Jide ignored her at dinner also, devoting his entire attention to his phone like she wasn't seated right beside him again, she doesn't understand why she felt offended by that though ,but she was boiling. Mrs fashina told her about their family, they have two boys, Dami, Jide's elder brother is married and resides in Abuja, Jide is a law student at lagos state university.
Mr and Mrs fashina are always at work during the week so she was stuck with Jide in the house, Jide is on a break and he seems to make obvious that he doesn't care about her existence, he leaves the sitting room once she walks in, plugs in his ear piece whenever she tries to start a conversation with him or just leaves her alone at home most times. Her temper got the best of her the following week and she confronted him, 'I don't know what's up with you but I'm a guest here and I don't think I have done anything to deserve the way you've been treating me, 'she said annoyingly, his over 6 feet height tower over her 5'9 and she almost felt intimidated by his stare for a moment but she stood her ground and wait for his to give a sarcastic reply. 'Ain't you the little British princess that hate her dad's country and was practically forced to come down here?, 'he said and she froze in shock wondering what her dad has told the fashinas'.
She regained her composure and fired back, 'I do not hate Nigeria, I just don't want to have anything to do with it, his face wrinkled up in annoyance, 'then go back because we don't need people like you who assume without actually seeing with their eyes, if you don't like my country then you don't like me so I don't have to acknowledge you, 'he said.
April was deeply hurt by that, 'then show me what is good about Nigeria, educate me, all I hear on the news about Nigeria is always negative but dad always said home is home flaws and all, so make me change my perspective, 'she said calmly.
Jide eyed her and said impatiently , 'I have to be your chaperone and tour guide? She nodded in reply, he rolled his eyes and gave in, 'fine I will be your your guide and take you to all the amazing places in Nigeria only because I want you to go back and tell others like you that Nigeria isn't so bad as you all picture it in your head, 'he said
April was over the moon that she won't be ignored anymore, Jide was amused by how much his behavior seemed to affect her so he asked her the question that has been bothering him, 'why April? Your father is Yoruba so don't you have a yoruba name?', he asked
April fidgeted showing how uncomfortable she is with the question but she answered anyway, 'I was bullied because of my name in elementary school so I begged mom to let me use my English name instead ,hoping things will change, 'she responded.
Jide almost lost it but kept calm, smiled and asked for the name, Atinuke ', she said he was surprised that she gave up such a beautiful name but he didn't push any further ,he didn't want upset her so he changed the topic, well pack your bags because we are going on 21 day trip around Nigeria to learn about your roots young lady.
April ran off gleefully to get ready and Jide smiled, as he watched her till she entered her room and thought to himself, 'its going to be an interesting three weeks.
To Be Continued