Image was designed by me.
Ella got into an argument with her father the moment he declined her proposal to visit Nigeria for the Summer holiday while returning from the dentist appointment, it has always been her dream to meet grandma someday rather than through video calls but her father, Mr. George wouldn't just make that happened.
She was a baby when they left Nigeria and she hasn't set her feet on African soil since then, she was anxious and wants to explore a new world.
The discussion went on throughout the journey to their home
"You can't go to Nigeria, I paid a lot for your dance class just as you requested and you have to attend during the summer holidays as well," Mr. George said to his daughter as he opened the pack of juice for some refreshment after they returned home.
"Dad, but you have been there twice in the last five years but you keep saying it is not safe for me, I know the dance class is just an excuse and it is not fair" Ella left for her room with tears in her eyes.
She wasn't happy about the dance issue her father started, Ella had a passion for it but she is not close to good with it. Ella's mates teased her at school for including dancing in her hobbies on her social profile, she loved it but can't do much with it. She hates herself for that, she has promised herself to do away with dancing but it wouldn't just work.
Her tiktok dance videos barely got more than four views, the viewer includes her best friend, dad, mom, and grandma but she seldomly thinks about that.
The summer dance class started on Monday, Mrs. George dropped her off at the dance studio and she was looking like a veteran teenage dancer. She had an overall coat on and beneath it was leggings and a crop top, her sneaker was new and specially made for dancers.
Everyone loved her swag but it didn't take long before the unexpected happened, everyone was told to show what they got and when it got to her turn, she did below everyone's expectations and in the end, she slipped.
The laughter that swept through the hall as she landed on the ground made her nervous, she picked up her bag and left the hall immediately.
She was shaking while dialing her mom's number, Ella heard "hello" from the speaker, and all she could say while sobbing was "mom, please come pick me up". She refused to tell her mom anything, Mrs. George was completely lost and she made up her mind to return to the dance studio so she would know what happened.
Ella got home to see the biggest shock of her life, one of the dance students actually recorded her and posted it online with the caption, "Alien dancer".
Mr. George returned home from work and asked how the dance class went but Ella didn't respond, he went closer to her and was surprised to see her with swollen eyeballs.
"What's wrong?", he asked and Ella narrated what happened, she begged her father to allow her to visit Grandma for the holiday.
He turned her down again but that night, Mrs. George convinced her husband to allow her to travel to Nigeria for the holiday. Ella woke up to the news and started packing immediately, she was excited about it.
The day came and Mr. George drove her to the airport, he gave her lectures about Nigeria and she claimed to understand everything.
"You must be of your best behavior else I won't allow you to visit Nigeria next holiday" were his last words as she entered the departure area of the airport.
He stood from a distance watching Ella as she dragged her bag with her, he left when the departure of her plane was announced. He informed mama when the plane was going to land and they had to be at the airport earlier since she doesn't know anything about Nigeria.
Mama was there earlier the next day, she was there for hours even before the plane would arrive. The plane arrived and it wasn't difficult for her to identify Ella among the crowd trooping out of the airport arrival section, she is tall and beautiful, the fair complexion she got from her mother wouldn't just make her invisible among people.
Ella brought her camera along, she asked tons of questions as they travel 3 hours back to grandma's community.
She settled in well, mama prepared the house to be very comfortable for her even though it wasn't 100%, she enjoyed the new environment. She was really into grandma's stories, she spent most of the day cuddling with grandma and listening to stories, her only problem she had was the Nigerian spicy food.
She was been referred to as a half-cast by people, she soon got the name "oyinbo" which means a white person from people in the community where grandma lived, everyone was always eager to see her whenever she went for a walk with grandma in the evening.
On her first weekend, grandma decided to take her to see the biggest river in the community, Ella was excited and she captured lots of images. They got to the river and she was surprised to see lots of people including fishermen, fish buyers, and many others.
She went snapping pictures while mama was busy negotiating for some prawn, Ella saw a narrow path and she followed it to see where it leads, hopefully, she would able to snap more pictures.
Mama finished negotiations and turned around to see that Ella was gone, she quickly raised an alarm, and people who saw her pointed in the direction she went.
Grandma rushed through the path and she was shocked to see the crowd gathered around but she couldn't see Ella from the distance and feared something bad might have happened to her.
To be continued....
