Resilience

As the shrill sound of her alarm pierced the early morning silence, Bassy stirred from her slumber, her mind already churning with plans and schemes. With a resigned sigh, she reached out to silence the intrusive noise from the alarm before it woke Gabriel up, her muscles protesting the early hour.

As a maiden, Bassy's days began long before the sun rose, her duties as a domestic worker demanding her attention from the crack of dawn until well past nightfall. It was never easy, but she preferred it to living in the village. Despite the exhaustion threatening to weigh her down every morning, she knew she couldn't afford to rest, not when her future hung in the balance.

With a sense of determination burning in her chest, Bassy dragged herself out of bed and went through her morning routine with practiced efficiency. She washed her face with cool water, the chill helping to wake her up from the fog of sleep. Then, she tiptoed into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, the familiar tasks soothing in their familiarity.

When Bassy finished her usual daily tasks that morning, she took a few minutes to scroll through her social media feed after sending her son Gabriel to school. Her eyes caught a fleeting mention of a mysterious shrine hidden deep within the trenches of Abuja. The post, shared by a mutual online friend, spoke of the shrine's legendary powers to fulfill any spiritual request with just a small sacrifice, no matter how dire.

The memory of how Edu walked out on her last Sunday evening flashed back into her mind upon seeing the post, intriguing her with the possibility of finding a solution to her predicament. Bassy delved deeper into the comments section, where others shared their own experiences and whispered tales of the shrine's power. Some claimed to have witnessed miracles firsthand, while others spoke of the potent rituals performed by the shrine's resident priestess.

As she read through the testimonials, a spark of hope ignited within Bassy's heart. Could this be the answer she had been searching for, the key to finally putting an end to Edu's reign of terror? With each passing moment, her resolve grew stronger, until she knew with absolute certainty that she had to seek out the shrine and enlist the aid of the spirits.

But she also knew that she couldn't risk drawing attention to her plans, not with her job and livelihood at risk. So she made a silent vow to wait until the weekend when she would have the freedom to pursue her quest without fear of interference or getting fired since she had already received her last warning.

With the knowledge of the shrine burning brightly in her mind, Bassy set out to bide her time until the right moment to check it out, ready to seize her chance at justice no matter the cost.

The idea took root in her mind like a stubborn weed, growing stronger with each passing moment and day. She imagined herself standing before the ancient altar, surrounded by flickering candlelight and the faint scent of incense, as the powerful priestess chanted incantations to summon the spirits to seek revenge against whoever had turned her life into jeopardy.

The thought sent a shiver down her spine as the image of Edu pleading for mercy on his knees flashed in her mind, causing a smirk to form on her face. She pushed aside her fear of the consequences of going to a spiritualist, fueled by the burning desire for vengeance. With the realization that she had to act fast before Edu could inflict any more pain upon her and unable to bear seeing herself suffer like this while he thrived, she resolved that they would both go down together instead.

With trembling hands, Bassy saved the number tagged along the post, her fingers flying across the screen as she searched for information on the mysterious shrine. The more she read, the more convinced she became that this was her only hope of putting an end to the great Edual's tyranny once and for all since she stood no chance of facing him physically.

As the days crawled by, each one heavier than the last with the burden of her rage and desperation, Bassy found herself counting down the hours until Sunday would finally arrive. Sundays, being the only day of the week she normally had time for herself as a human, offered a glimmer of hope amidst the chaos of her life. At some point, she felt it wasn't right to take the law into her own hands, but she knew for a fact that there was nothing she could do to bring Edu down aside from this. She had no other choice but to plan to take matters into her own hands, to seek out the mysterious shrine. She had already chatted with the poster, and they sent her the location. She wasn't familiar with the place, but she knew she would definitely find her way around when the time came.

the weight of her decision bore down upon her shoulders, threatening to crush her resolve. But she refused to yield to doubt or fear, knowing that it was her only chance of reclaiming her power, perhaps her dignity lay within the decision.

As Sunday dawned, Bassy rose with the sun, her heart pounding with anticipation. She stole a glance at her son Gabriel, sleeping peacefully beside her, his innocent face a stark reminder of the stakes of her mission. She couldn't bear the thought of him growing up in a world where injustice went unpunished, where monsters like his father roamed free.

Nsisong knew that convincing his boss to fire Bassy would require a more subtle approach within the household. He decided to focus on making Bassy appear unreliable and untrustworthy in her daily tasks as a way of making his boss fire her since he had already regretted ever bringing Bassy to Abuja. He set out to undo his mistake diligently in such a way that wouldn't affect his own job.

He deliberately created situations where Bassy seemed negligent or careless in her duties. He would leave messes for her to clean up or claim to forget informing her of important tasks that their boss asked him to tell her, making it appear as though she was not attentive to her responsibilities.

Nsisong manipulated his boss's perception of Bassy by highlighting any minor mistakes she made whenever he had the opportunity to, mostly while driving her to work. He exaggerated these errors, making them seem like major flaws in her character and work ethic.

Bassy noticed how Nsisong started reporting any minor mistakes she made to their boss within the week and decided to be careful with him. She knew deep down that he was looking for a way to get rid of her in the house because after Edu ignored them completely that night, he stopped talking to her. Deep down, she knew it was because Nsisong no longer believed her that Edu was Gabriel's father for real. But she ignored it, knowing fully well that there was nothing she could do about it even if she chose to confront him; it would only make matters worse.

She continued to pay him her respect as usual but decided to be mindful of the information she shared with him.

She found out how Nsisong had been manipulating her boss to sack her because whenever Nsisong said something bad about Bassy to their boss, she never hesitated to scold Bassy for it, warning her to be careful not to get fired anytime soon. The rate at which her boss began to threaten her about sending her out of her house made her even more uncomfortable at work, her mind always preoccupied with her presence. Her boss's children no longer gave her any sign of respect due to the fact that their mom was always reminding her that she was just a mere stranger in the house even in the presence of the children causing them to disrespect Bassy in all aspects.

This was as a result of Nsisong always reporting any perceived infractions or misconduct by Bassy to their boss, framing her in the worst possible light. He would manipulate situations to make it seem like Bassy was unfit for the job, ultimately leading their boss to reconsider that Nsisong brought the wrong person to her house.

The only reason why Bassy was still in the house was because of how hardworking and obedient she was. She was extremely diligent in all her tasks, doing them with all her mind due to how much she loved the job and how desperate she was to keep it.

But because Nsisong had plans in motion, he set out to subtly sabotage Bassy's reputation, all while reducing the appearance of her loyalty gradually. He did it one after the other to sabotage Bassy because he knew it would take a while to get his boss's mind off the kind of hardworking person Bassy truly seemed. He carefully maneuvered her, but he was determined to see his plan through to fruition as soon as possible."