“So how’d you intend to raise the money to purchase the cloths?” she asked.

She’d gone a little darker, with her straight and thick eyebrows looking slightly unkempt.

It’s not because of what may have happened before. If I were in a position to help, you know I would, walahi,” she said.

With the logo ‘U&L’ boldly embossed at the front of the uniforms, they became a spectacle in the village, and by the second month, she had rented a bigger house. A large white signpost with black inscription of ‘USMAN & LABARAN’ hung from the roof of the bungalow. She bought power generating sets and moved her equipment and staff from her house to the new location.

“What!” Amuebie broke in, “You’ll now be junior to Afam in school. Lai lai! Never! Count me out of that kind of arrangement,” she said.