The Maya project: Olayemi's redemption.

-only that everything felt like a bad dream she couldn't wake up from. She was left with the sobering reality of living without the one person who

than she had imagined. She had stood by his bedside, holding his hand, watching as his chest rose and fell slower with each passing minute, until finally, he was gone. She

d already come to take whatever they could sell, and the rest was abandoned. Her mother, silent and distant, had no words to say about leaving the place th

emi hated it. The walls were thin, and they could hear the conversations of their neighbors through the paper-thin walls. The apartment was cr

her eyes never seemed to fade, and every day, she grew more distant. Olayemi could no longer be the c

e, and with her university schedule, there was no time for a full-time job. Sometimes, Olayemi would walk past cafés or shops and think about how nice it would be to work in one of those p

falling apart. Every day felt like an uphill battle. She couldn't sleep without thoughts of what her father would have wanted for her. He had always pushed her

he could define anything when it felt l

ny living room, staring at the television. The screen was static, but her mother was lost in thought. Olayemi knew that h

e breaking the silence. "I'll find a

. She gave her daughter a weak smile, her lips trembli

tried to hold it all together, but the weight of everything-her

on, Olayemi felt a sense of despair settle over her. She knew she had to do

could help. Her friends at school had their own lives, their own struggles. There was

a notorious figure on campus. But he had also shown an interest in her before. Olayemi had always dismissed him, seeing h

tating. This wasn't the path she wanted t

-