Crystal woke up from the chirps of the birds; she had long accepted that they would always disturb her sleep in this rural part of the country. Glancing over, she looked at her friend and roommate Emilia, whose given name is Chidinma; she is from the eastern part of Nigeria, just like her. They had been friends since they were ten; they had met on the playground and had been friends since then.

  Although, as of then, Crystal was living with her dad, who later died when she was sixteen. Of course, she wouldn't be able to pay house rent, and no family was willing to take her in because they tagged her as bad luck since she lost her mom just immediately after her mom gave birth to her, according to what she was told.

  Her dad told her that both families did not want them to get married for reasons best known to them, but out of love they refused and still got married. She believed her dad knew the reason, but he just did not want to tell her, and she did not bother to pester him about the truth. There was even a time that her dad wanted to travel, and he took her to her mom’s sister’s place; she wasn’t well received there; her dad had to really beg before they accepted her on the premise that it wouldn’t be more than three days. She had felt very much unloved during those three days, and she vowed never to go back to any of her family’s places.

  So, as a young girl, she hadn’t felt any love because the only person who loved her was her dad, who had later passed on when she was 16. When her dad died, she had felt she would pass on, at the latest 7 days after her dad’s death, but her friend had taken her in, and that was how she felt loved again. She knew for someone to take in a classmate whom she barely knows, then it had to be that the person had an ounce of love and concern for her.

  They were only seatmates at secondary school; she usually helped Emilia to do her assignments, and when Emilia had seen that a week had gone since her seatmate’s father’s demise and she hadn’t gone to school, she decided to visit her, and that was how she found out about her living predicament, and she had offered to help even when she herself was an orphan, but then she had a sister who always supported her.

  Emilia had been living with her sister Patricia (whose given name is Chioma) when she lost her dad, and they were so kind to let her live with them. She admired Patricia so much because she was a hardworking lady. She goes out in the afternoon and comes back the next morning, and she does that every day. Crystal had made up her mind to be more hardworking than Patricia because she was tired of living as she was.

  Crystal snapped out of her reminiscence when Emilia pinched her.

  She glanced back at her friend; the bird's chirps never disturbed her, probably because she does not get enough sleep since she took over her sister's work since her sister traveled to the United States of America.

  "Good afternoon, Emilia. How was your sleep?"

  "Fine, although it wasn't enough," Emilia replied.

  "Your sleep is never enough," Crystal said sarcastically.

  Emilia laughs out loud. "You know how demanding my work is."

  "Yeah, I know. Can't you find something for me there? You know this bookshop does not pay me well."

  "My dear, manage it; after all, it's for a while," Emilia told her with a smile on her face.

  Crystal recognizes the smile; she understands it as good news. "Emilia, tell me, have you found a better job for me?"

  "Look at you, all serious; you will need to guess harder because this is much better." Happiness is now very obvious on her face.

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  "Emilia, this suspense is too much; please tell me what it is." Crystal gave her friend a lovely pout.

  "Well, in case you don't know, we are going to travel to meet my sister …"

  Crystal cut her short. "You mean I am going to America? Wait, me?" She asked, gently tapping her chest.

  "Yeah, and me."

  "Don't play pranks on me; I do not like how that sounds if it's false."

  "Babe, our permanent visa has been granted."

  Crystal shouts; from shouting, she starts singing her praises, which usually gets Emilia annoyed.

  She realized her friend's countenance had changed. "Okay, I will not sing praises, but this is a great thing the Lord has done, so I am going to leave this country…" She turned to her friend, who cut her off: “It is not the lord who has done this.”

  Crystal cuts her off. "...God really did send you to me; some people would have left their friend, but you decided to cajole your sister to help me too. You are a wonderful friend indeed." Happy tears were already falling down her face.

  "Stop it, please. You have been a wonderful friend too, so you deserve this and more…" Emilia comes down from the bed they share. I have to prepare for work. Today's your day off, while I never get off."

  Crystal stood up and sat again, obviously confused. She doesn't know what she has done for the universe to give her a great friend like Emilia. The month is almost ending, so in the next few months she will be outside the country. "Or is this a dream ?" she muttered while pinching herself. So this is reality, she thought.

  The work Patricia does must really be paying off for her to be able to work out two permanent visas, she thought to herself.

  She does not know the work, though; neither does she know the one Emilia is doing. It brings in cool cash, and Emilia does not talk about it, and I feel it stresses her out. So she usually does not bother her about how work went.

  "I need to start living like an American, eating like one and doing things like them." She kept muttering to herself; she did not even know when Patricia went off to work.

  Her thoughts started wandering: Of course I will be rich. Once I go outside the country and get a job, I will be rich.

  She was jubilating; this is the best news ever. Once she collects her salary, she will go shopping with her little salary and her little savings so she will fit into the new society.

  She thought about her family, who had written her off; they believed nothing good could come from her; she would surely disappoint them and make her dead parents proud of her.

  During her childhood, her family did not allow her to come for holidays, and they hardly visited; even the one time they visited, she was denied a relationship with her cousins. She never knew what she had done wrong to them, and the worst part was this cruel act came from her family from both sides, both the maternal and the paternal.

  She had learned to live with the attitude; she heard of them once in a while. When she was fifteen, shortly before her dad's death, she insisted that her dad should tell her the reason her family hates her since she believes her dad must know why.

  Her dad made her understand that when he and her late mother were dating, none of the families agreed to their relationship, but because they were very much in love and stubborn, they decided pregnancy would make them reconsider.

  Still they did not, so when her mother gave birth and died, her mother's family accused her and her dad, even with the fact that she was an infant then; they never accepted her.

  On her father's side, they did not accept her because they never accepted her mother. What havoc her life is !

  When her dad died, none of the family members agreed to cater for her, thanks to Emilia and Patricia.

  Her life with her dad had been the best; to be truthful, she knew her dad had done his best for her. He made sure she went to the best school, made sure she ate her 3 square meals, and made sure she could stand out among her peers. Her dad did much more for her, but there was just not enough money for him to spend on her and himself. He always worked hard; still, there was not enough money, and that was where the little family lacked.

  Her father had once confessed to her that the reason he did not remarry was because he didn't want her to have a stepmother who would likely mistreat her.

  How she wishes her dad were still alive; she would have strived harder to make him proud and to make her family stable.

  Her dad had always been her source of inspiration.

  She looked towards heaven. "Father, I know you are resting in peace, and there's no suffering for you over there."

  Her cheeks were wet; she wiped them off.

  Bygones are bygones, she told herself as she let her thoughts drift back to her journey to America. She would make her father proud wherever he is, and her family would regret abandoning her.

  Once she gathers a lot of money over there, she will further her studies, which will enable her to do better over there.

  'I just hope things work better for me over there.'

  She was still thinking when she drifted off to sleep.