Someday you'll possess and conquer this thing called money

Money makes the world go round. I had heard this statement regularly while I was a child but didn't understand it until I was 14.
I received a scholarship to attend a French summer school at L'institute Français, Abuja sometime in 2015. Since it was summer school, not much was required of me. I was asked to be at my sponsor's house every morning at 7 a.m. so she could meet up by dropping me off at the institute and head down to work.

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I woke up to incessant tappings on my calf.

"You're going to be late on your first day" I threw my arms around my mom's neck, thanking her excitedly then jumped off the mattress to dash into the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, I was out trying to fit the small gown into my small body while also trying to send some tea and toast down my throat. 30 minutes later, I was on my way to the institute.

My mouth hung open. I stared at the scenery from the car window as Big Mummy, my sponsor, wheeled over to the parking lot. The building itself was adorned with exceptionally beautiful murals, the well-mowed greenery giving a lush effect. The foyer contained a rich gallery of artistic exhibitions both of local and international artists.

We were ushered into a well-furnished office by a French chaperone, given some documents to fill in my details and get on with registration, then I was made to bid Big Mummy goodbye and was ushered into class.

The first thing I heard was the endless chattering of what seemed to be a colony of kids. The sight was amazing. I didn't know I had stood at the door to stare until the first tutor who arrived a couple of seconds before I did, asked me to take a seat. About 20 pairs of eyes fell on me. I took time to look at a couple of them back, these kids were dressed in various designer brands, with well-made braids and healthy-looking appearances. I suddenly wished that the earth would open up and swallow me because I had the simple cornrow weave my mom had made for me 2 days before, my jean was old and faded and I had worn a pair of worn flip-flops, a paper bag containing my writing materials in hand.

I walked sheepishly to lower myself behind two tall guys at the back but the tutor headed straight towards me with a big, convincing smile and asked me politely to come sit in front because, well, I was petite.
After the first few classes, we went on a short recess and I joyfully headed over to the cafeteria to purchase lunch but the extra 100 naira my mom had squeezed into my palm that morning could not even afford a bottle of table water. I trudged back down intending to head over and check out the library with La Bibliothéque boldly inscribed on it when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Hi" he was a lanky boy in glasses

"Hi" When I tried a smile and he returned it, I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"I'm Collins. You hungry?"

My head bobbed up and down without remembering the stern warning my mother had always sounded in the ears of my siblings and me "Don't collect anything from strangers and even if you do, do not eat or open it till you show it to me".

We headed back to the cafeteria where he got us hamburgers and soda.

"So what's your name?"

"Dunni" I replied, mouth filled with a healthy bite from the hamburger.

"Maybe you could be my friend?" My mouth hung open for a few seconds but then I remembered I still had food in it so I closed it and began to chew rapidly. "Look I'm not into this summer school stuff but I see the way you answered those questions in class and I think if I make friends with you, you can help me make my parents not be mad this year."

I wasn't even listening. I was elated. After the embarrassing moment where the entire class assessed my outfit, I didn't think I would be making any friends that summer.

"Of course, I would be delighted."

I was dropped off by Big Mummy's driver by past 7 p.m. My mom was patiently waiting for me with some wraps of starch and a steaming bowl of Afang soup. While I ate, I filled her in

"You needed to see that place mummy. It's like heaven…"

She made occasional "mmm" and "ahh" sounds to show she was following every detail of the story.

"...and Collins ehn, that boy is rich! If you see his iPad mummy, the pictures he took at Dubai…."

"Dunni?" I didn't realize I had started rattling off about Collins. My mother's expression said it all. "You're making friends with boys now?"

I gave a shallow explanation of why we were friends and headed over to do the dishes immediately afterward to avoid further probing. As I lay in bed that night, all the events of the day replayed in my small head. I had gotten a peek into what it looked like to be rich, to have money, to associate with the influential. As I closed my eyes and drifted off to a dream world on my mat and bedsheet bedding, I made a vow to myself that I would possess and conquer this thing called money. Someday.

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