He Promised Me Work In Lagos, Na Trap I Enter (EPISODE 11)

EPISODE 11 – “Soon” Wey No Ever Come

The first day passed quietly.

I woke up early, bathed, and dressed like someone who was about to start work. I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for instructions that never came. When I asked him about the job, he smiled and said,
“Soon.”

The second day passed the same way.

I started noticing things. He was never in a hurry. He left the house when he wanted and returned when he pleased. Each time I asked, the answer remained the same.
“They never confirm yet.”
“HR no dey office today.”
“Make you relax small.”

By the third day, the word soon had started sounding like a lie wearing patience as a disguise.

Still, he provided.

Food appeared every morning. He paid the rent without complaint. My phone never ran out of credit. Sometimes he dropped money on the table casually, like it meant nothing.

“You don’t need to stress,” he told me. “I brought you here to help you.”

And I wanted to believe him.

After years of being unwanted, ignored, whispered about, this felt like care. Someone was finally taking responsibility for me.

But slowly, without asking my permission, my life started shrinking.

I stopped going out. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t have anywhere to go. Agege became my whole world, and that small room became my universe.

Whenever I hinted about finding something else to do, his face changed.
“Why you dey rush?” he asked. “You no trust me?”

I felt guilty for even asking.

By the end of the week, I realized something frightening:
I had no money of my own.
No job.
No contacts.

Everything I used came from him.

Dependence didn’t arrive like a storm.
It came like comfort.

And comfort can be dangerous when it slowly teaches you that you cannot survive on your own.

Episode 12 Coming Soon
The first night he entered my room without knocking, I understood the real cost of “soon.”