The first thing Amaka heard that morning was the sound of someone knocking hard on her door, not the gentle type of knock that says, "Good morning, are you awake?"
No...., this one sounded like the person was about to remove the door from its hinges.
“Amaka!”
She opened her eyes slowly.
“Who is that?”
“Open this door!”
Amaka sat up immediately.
It was Kemi.
Her younger sister.
“What is it?” Amaka asked, still half asleep.
“Just open the door!”
Amaka dragged herself out of bed and opened it.
Kemi stood there breathing heavily.
“What happened?”
“Where is Daddy?”
Amaka frowned.
“Daddy? He should be in the sitting room.”
“He's not there.”
“What do you mean he's not there?”
“I woke up and checked his room. His bed is empty.”
Amaka stared at her.
“So?”
“So what? Where is he?”
“I don't know. Maybe he went outside.”
“At 5:30 in the morning?”
Amaka looked at the time.
5:32 a.m.
“Maybe he went to buy bread.”
Kemi rolled her eyes.
“Bread? This early?”
“Okay, I don't know. Let's check outside.”
They both walked into the sitting room.
Their mother's door opened.
“What is happening?” she asked.
“Mummy, have you seen Daddy?”
Their mother looked confused.
“No. Why?”
“He isn't in his room.”
Before their mother could answer, they heard the sound of the gate opening.
Everybody turned.
Their father walked in carrying a small nylon bag.
“What is all this noise?” he asked.
Kemi almost shouted.
“Daddy!”
Their father looked at her.
“What?”
“We thought something happened to you!”
He laughed.
“Something happened to me because I went outside?”
“You disappeared!”
“I went to get bread.”
Amaka sighed.
“I told you.”
Kemi folded her arms.
“You should have told somebody.”
Their father looked at all three women standing there.
“So I now need permission to go and buy bread?”
Nobody answered.
He shook his head and walked towards the kitchen.
“People cannot even buy bread in peace again.”
Everybody laughed.
But that morning did not end there.
By 8 a.m., Amaka was dressed and preparing to leave for work.
She worked at a small marketing company in town and had been there for almost three years.
She liked the job, but recently she had started feeling too comfortable.
She had been late several times.
She had ignored some responsibilities because she knew her boss liked her.
She had even turned down opportunities to learn new things because, in her mind, she already had a job.
I am fine, she kept telling herself.
Until she walked into the office that morning.
Her colleague, Tunde, looked at her strangely.
“What?”
“Boss asked me to tell you to see him immediately.”
Amaka froze.
“Now?”
“Now.”
She walked into the manager's office.
“Good morning, sir.”
Her boss looked up.
“Sit down.”
She sat.
He placed a file on the table.
“Do you know what this is?”
Amaka shook her head.
“Your performance report.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Sir?”
“You've been late twelve times in the last two months.”
Amaka opened her mouth.
“Sir, I—”
“You have missed three deadlines.”
She became quiet.
“And last week, you submitted a client's report with mistakes that should never have passed through you.”
“I'm sorry, sir.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“I know you're sorry. But being sorry doesn't change the fact that your performance has dropped.”
Amaka stared at the file.
For the first time, she realised that nobody at work was as impressed by her as she thought they were.
Her boss leaned back.
“You've been here for three years, Amaka. That doesn't mean the company owes you your position forever.”
That sentence hit her harder than anything else.
She swallowed.
“Yes, sir.”
“You're getting a warning. You have one month to improve.”
She nodded.
“Thank you, sir.”
She walked out of the office quietly.
Tunde looked at her.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You're lying.”
Amaka dropped into her chair.
“I almost lost my job.”
Tunde's eyes widened.
“Ah.”
“Exactly.”
For the rest of the day, Amaka couldn't concentrate.
She kept thinking about how comfortable she had become.
She had mistaken familiarity for security.
She had convinced herself that because she had survived three years in the company, nothing could happen to her.
That was her rude awakening.
That evening, she got home and found her father sitting outside.
“You're home early,” he said.
“Yeah.”
He looked at her.
“What happened?”
Amaka smiled.
“Why does everybody know when something is wrong with me?”
Her father laughed.
“Because your face talks too much.”
She sat beside him.
“I nearly lost my job today.”
He became quiet.
“What happened?”
She told him everything.
When she finished, he nodded.
“You know something?”
“What?”
“Sometimes life has to shake you before you realise you are sleeping.”
Amaka smiled.
“That sounds like something Mummy would say.”
“Your mother has stolen all my good lines.”
They both laughed.
Then he became serious.
“Don't wait until you lose something before you appreciate it. And don't become so comfortable that you stop growing.”
Amaka nodded.
That night, she sat on her bed and opened her laptop.
She started learning again.
She updated her CV.
She searched for courses.
She wrote down things she had been postponing.
For the first time in months, she wasn't just working because she was afraid of losing her job.
She was working because she had finally remembered that her life could not remain in one place forever, and sometimes, a rude awakening is exactly what you need.
Not because it feels good.
But because sometimes you need life to knock loudly enough for you to finally open the door.
Image Is Generate With Chatgpt.