Nana's Story: The Charming Young Lady

Nana was the 10th child out of 11 children from her mother's side. Her mother had 8 boys and 3 girls; Nana was the 2nd girl. Nana and her family lived in a rural area called Ntongo.

Nana was loved by all her siblings; she was such a jolly child. Everyone around her loved her. She smiled all the time, even when life seemed to be hard. Almost all villagers knew who she was because of her happy character and the big beautiful smile she had.

Nana's mother was a farmer during the daytime and a bartender during the evenings. She loved her children so much. Through farming and selling alcohol, she managed to take care of her children.

Nana's mother's 11 children were from the 3 marriages she had. Her first marriage was when she was 18 years old. She had 3 sons in her first marriage, 3 sons and a daughter in her second marriage, and in her last marriage, she had 2 sons and 2 daughters. All her marriages were informal, not church marriages.

None of her three husbands helped her out with her children. She decided to build her house on her father's land and raised her 11 children there. Nana's father was a businessman who happened to have lots of money; unfortunately, he never cared about the children from his first informal marriage. When he found a beautiful young lady, he abandoned Nana's mother with her children and got married. Nana's mother had to work hard to look after her 11 children.

Her children used to help her on the farm during holidays and on weekends. Most of her older sons dropped out of school due to an inability to pay school fees. They started fending for themselves and also helping their mother on the farm. They also started giving Nana's mother some grandchildren.

Nana was very talkative, and she hated to see the sadness in her mother's eyes. She would sing or recite poems for her mother in an attempt to put a smile on her mother's face. She loved to play with her friends; she would roam around the whole village playing with them. Nana loved school a lot, although sometimes she had to miss school due to an inability to pay school fees.

One Saturday morning, Nana's father paid them a visit; he brought lots of goodies to his former wife and her children. He apologized for not taking care of his children, and he promised to change that by taking them back to school. His 2 sons from Nana's mother had already dropped out of school, and Nana's little sister was born with disabilities so she never went to school.

He, therefore, told Nana's mother that he would take Nana to his home in the capital so that she could go to a good school. It was not an easy decision for Nana's mother to make, but she did know that Nana loved school and it would do her good to go to a good school. Nana's mother agreed to let Nana go with her father.

Nana was extremely happy to be able to go with her father and to go to school again. That afternoon, Nana packed her bags and bid farewell to everybody around the village. She told them how her father had come to pick her up and take her to a town school since he lived in the capital. The excitement on her face was so obvious, although she felt a bit sad to leave all her friends, siblings, and her mother behind.

Nana left with her father that evening. She kept on looking outside the car window, and she saw a new world. She saw beautiful houses, cars, and many more good things. She also kept her father entertained with her tales of her village.

The journey was quite long, and she couldn't help but sleep in the car. She was woken up by her father's hoot at the gate of his house. A young boy, almost Nana's age, opened the gate. She grabbed her bag and jumped out of the car. Her father parked the car inside the garage. She was amazed at the house; it was huge and beautiful compared to her mother's house.

They arrived home when it was a bit dark. Her father's children ran towards him to welcome him back from his journey. They hugged him and shook hands with him. To her surprise, no one came towards her or helped her with her luggage.

Nana stood there with her luggage in her hands, looking lost as she witnessed her siblings embracing her father. She finally looked around the lounge, grabbed a mat, and she sat down. After a few minutes passed, her stepmother came out of the kitchen. She welcomed back her husband, greeted him, and said, "Thank God, you finally brought us a maid."

Nana was amazed by her stepmother's words, but fortunately, Nana's father interrupted by introducing Nana to everyone in the house. He said, "This is Nana. She is my third child from my first wife. As you know, I have four children from my first wife: Jake, Bobby, Nana, and Tina." This introduction didn't go well with the stepmother and her children.

Nana's stepbrothers Jelly, Donny, and Marcus and her step sister Altie welcomed her, so did the stepmother. Nana sensed that her arrival was not welcomed and she wondered why her father decided to bring her into such a house, she realized that her stay will not be easy as she hopped.

When dinner time came, all the children, stepmother, and Nana's father gathered around the table to have their meal. Nana's father invited her to join them at the dining table. The poor girl never sat on the dining or using folks and knives before.

It was quite an experience for Nana to sit and eat from a dining table but being a bright child, she managed to go through it. After dinner, all the children went to bed but Nana was told by her stepmother to wash the dishes. She did it with ease and afterward, she was shown where to sleep.

All the children had their bedrooms in the main house but Nana was given a room in the boy's quarters. Though Nana was not sleeping in the main house, she was happy with her new room; it was better than what she had at her mother's house.

It was a big room with a good bed and wired with electricity. It was bittersweet for Nana, she was happy that she has this new family and that she will be able to go to school yet she was sad that this family felt weird for her. They were not too friendly to her and they even mistook her for a maid. She unpacked her luggage, took a bath, and then slept.

Early in the morning, Nana's father knocked on her door. She opened the door, knelt down, and greeted her father.

Father was happy to see her and he asked her how she slept. She answered him and thanked him for bringing her to his home. He told her that he is rushing to work, that he will talk to her when he comes back. She bid him farewell and went back to her room. She bathed, brushed her teeth, and made her bed; she then came out of her room and looked around for a broom.

She swept the yard and the kitchen. Afterward, she sat on the veranda and waited for the rest of the family to wake up. While seated on a veranda, someone knocked at the gate. She didn't know what to do, she ran to the house calling for someone to open the gate. None of the family members woke up to help.

Nana went to the gate and she asked who was knocking. A lady answered that "I'm Linda the maid, sorry I didn't come back for a month but I had some family problems." Nana opened the gate and she introduced herself to Linda.

Linda was very happy to meet Nana; she saw her as beautiful and a friendly child. Linda went inside and started on her chores immediately. Since Nana's mother taught her well on how to do house chores, she joined Linda and they worked together. They prepared a delicious breakfast for everybody and put it on the dining table.

When everybody woke up, they were so happy to smell a delicious breakfast. They all came to the dining table and enjoyed the breakfast. Nana’s stepmother was happy to see Linda because she hated cooking and doing house chores; seeing Linda meant more free time for her to go meet with her friends. Nana came from outside to join them for breakfast. Her stepmother asked her to serve herself and then go eat from outside.

Nana served her breakfast and went into the kitchen where she ate her breakfast with Linda. The whole day Nana helped Linda with all household chores. They enjoyed each other’s company, Nana told stories about her life in the village, about her mother, siblings and about all her friends.

Later that day, Nana's father came back from work. Everyone greeted him including Linda. Nana's father was so happy to see Linda, he even hugged her. He said…

"Linda, I'm so glad that you came back to this house, I noticed it immediately when I stepped into the house. At least now I will have to enjoy some good food and a clean house." Stepmother looked like she didn't like father's comments but she just swallowed her pain.

After dinner, while everybody was still around the dining table, Nana's father said that Nana will be joining his other children’s school next term. Nana's stepmother stood up and she said, "No, no, and no, this village girl is not attending my children's school. If you want this child of yours to go to school, you will have to put her in a Day school. Only my children will be going to a Boarding school."

Nana just sat down quietly.

Nana's father became furious and he said that it is my money and it is my child, I can send her to any school I want. Nana's stepmother replied by saying "over my dead body" and she immediately stood up and left the table. Her children followed her.

Nana stayed at the dining table with her father. After a minute or two of silence, Nana stood up and moved close to her father, she knelt down and said "Father, I'm happy that you brought me here to live with you. Father, all I want is to go to school. It doesn't matter whether it’s a day or boarding school. Since my stepmother doesn't want me to go into a Boarding school, it’s okay with me to join a nearby Day school. I know how to wake up early and walk to school, I will be able to do it Father."

Nana's father looked surprised by his daughter's words. He seemed at a loss of what to say! Nana gave her father a hug and she said good night to him.