#1 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

🧸¹

'Precious?'

My head jerked up in response. I locked eyes with the woman who held the register and was frantically looking around, over the heads of the  youngsters before her. A fraction of an inch above six feet, she easily towered over everyone.

Sighing in relief, I made to move to the front. I nudged the kid in front of me, politely asking him and his group of friends to let me pass.

'The woman called my name' I told them. I was roughly shoved aside by someone behind me before I could even take a step.

'Comot for road, animal.'

A grumpy, dark-skinned girl in a black  T-shirt brushed past me impatiently, bulldozing everyone in her path. She ignored the ones who tried to or successfully hit her in anger of being pushed and even returned the ones she could, blurting out expletives that were alarming, coming from someone who could barely be above fifteen.

The woman in front made no attempt to control the situation, and simply watched the unfolding scene stoically. The grumbling grew louder and it seemed they were glad for the opportunity to speak loudly since it had been so solemn earlier.

For the first time since I got here this morning, I was afraid. I was amongst savages and in very unfamiliar territory. Not like I hadn't seen worse in Ogudu grammar school, the primary school I attended. This only frightened me because the adults here: the stocky woman and the other tall woman with the register didn't try to stop the hullabaloo as was usual at my school.

How many boys and girls are in this room? I wondered. I decided we couldn't be up to fifty.

By now, a fight had ensued between two girls, one of whom was now barely clothed. My heart thudded in my chest and I began to pray. I thought I was a baddie, but compared to this craze, I was a joke.

Back home I was a nuisance. I gave my aunty Lara a hard time. On several occasions she had threatened to throw me out of the house, accusing me of being a demon sent by my mother's enemies to torment her.

However, I only grew worse, hating her even more everyday until I eventually ran away. I had hoped she would regret every moment she had scolded me, and would come searching for me. But she never found me, and I never went back.

Even better, I had found Father Christmas. He had promised me the best things my aunty Lara could never. He'd invited me to his office, where I would probably work and soon become my own boss.

It turned out to be a small but decent home with a clean compound in a very remote area of town. The thought of how exciting it would be to live in such a comfortable house pleased me instantly. It was much better than the tin can aunty Lara rented.

However, I was met by a stocky woman who wasn't as kind as Father Christmas. She had simply told me to wait and soon more boys and girls my age were coming in. They looked just as unkempt as me. We were instructed to be quiet, but the excitement in their eyes spoke volumes.

We would make our own money. Imagine all the things we could buy for Christmas.

We wrote down our names and what we would like to be in future. I thought this place was just like school, but with better promises. With these thoughts, I sat in the quiet room we had been ushered into and resolved to be brave for a great future. I put today's date at the back of my mind: December 22, 2022.

The quiet was the calm before the storm. The tall woman had stepped in, my name had been called, but some crazy girl had made her way forward instead.

She had gotten to the front and stood brazenly before the woman with the register, unbothered by the commotion she had caused in her wake. The woman blinked at her.

'Precious?' she asked.

'That's my name, yes' the girl responded.

'Me too!' I called out, to which the others snorted derisively. 'I am Precious!' At this, they burst into laughter.

The crazy girl turned around and gave me a look of disgust. Anger welled up in my chest until I was about to choke. Fuelled by my anger, I shoved my way to the front like she had done, yelling at the top of my voice. "You this stupid girl! How dare you--' I began.

The stocky woman who stood at the exit shook her head. 'They're barbarians.'

Triggered, the woman with the register hissed and pulled out a gun. There were gasps of surprise and everyone fell silent abruptly. She turned off safety and pointed the gun at me. I think I heard the gunshot before I blacked out.