Tayo is a fashion designer who had his work studio at the front of my friend, Flora's compound. He started really small with a sewing machine. As time passed, he got more sewing machines and then went to the village to bring in some apprentices. Amongst the apprentice he brought was a young girl called Ayo. Ayo only knew the basis of sewing when she was brought to the city by Tayo. Tayo was the one who taught her the advanced stage of the craft so she could fit into trendy styles. Time passed and we all saw Tayo start a family with Ayo, they were blessed with three children and business was booming too. They needed a bigger space so they left Flora's compound and moved to a newly built shopping complex still in my area. I do not patronise their services as I had my own designer then. Personally, I did not think that they would be just as good as the lady who makes my clothes so I just observed them from afar.
One day, my friend Mary had an impromptu event and the event had an outfit for the attendees. She got the fabric to sew the outfit but couldn't get any designer to make it. So she called me to ask if my designer could do express for her, I called my designer but she was fully booked. I got back to Mary with the feedback and she sought to know if I was home and could accompany her to Tayo's place. I wasn't really doing anything so I agreed.
I met her at the junction of my street and we went to Tayo's together. Luckily, Tayo had a lot of workers and he could squeeze her in. He gave us a date for pick up which was a day before the event. We saw the outfit on the day of pick up and we couldn't help but gush over it as it was too beautiful for words. The person who made the dress really paid attention to details and given how impressed I was, I started patronising Tayo. Not just me, but I got my siblings and mom to patronise them as well. From then on, Tayo became our family designer and my mom, after finding out that Ayo is from the community that she grew up in, started being close to her.
Everything was going well but then all of a sudden, we stopped seeing them open their fashion house. We tried reaching out to them but we could not get a hold of Tayo nor could we get through to Ayo. Not like they were owning us or we had any fabric with them, we were just worried as to how they just disappeared. After several futile efforts to communicate, we let the whole thing be and went about our lives.
One day, I was headed home and noticed that Tayo's fashion house was opened. I rushed there in excitement and when I got to the shop, I saw Ayo and I gripped her, hugging her really tight. I was not only happy that she's safe at least, I was glad that she came back because my fashion designer had to quit the craft due to motherhood and I was almost stranded. I got home that day and Ayo’s return was the first thing that I greeted my mother with. It was a thing of Joy for us all and in no time, Ayo started making our outfits again.
While we thought that Ayo just travelled with her family for a while, we or rather, I started to think differently when I noticed that she was living in her shop with her children. At first, I had assumed that her husband Tayo travelled overseas and she was trying to make ends meet in his absence.
I assumed so many things but it was all laid to rest when my mom visited Ayo with some fabric and saw her living condition. My mom immediately aired her displeasure and questioned why she's living in her shop with her children and even cooking in it. Given how close she and my mom were, she did not hesitate to pour out her heart and narrated her ordeal to my mom. This time around, my mom was the one who came back to narrate to me.
“Do you know that Tayo left his wife for another woman?” My mom dropped the bombshell as soon as she entered the house.
Dropping all what I was doing as my mom broke the news to me, I screamed, “It's a lie! How come? since when?”
“Hmmm… it's not small thing o. Ayo said Tayo left her for another woman and abandoned her with their children. Luckily, he left their fashion house and everything in it for her to start up life with.”
“Wow! This life. Well she's lucky at least he didn't leave her stranded with no source of earning. Let her pick up herself and focus on her craft. She's good and I'm sure she will make it.”
“That's the only hope she has. It could have been worse.” My mom concluded and we went about our evening.
After hearing about Ayo's predicament, I made sure to always give her fashion jobs. I took it upon myself to be sourcing for her from my friends. Since her prices were fair and she makes unisex clothing, she had business booming for her and in no time, she had some apprentices and she was back on her feet.
Trouble started again in paradise when I had my friends and siblings complain bitterly how Ayo is ruining their outfit and barely meeting up with deadlines. Already, my mom gave her some outfits for amendment and she kept coming up with stories on why my mom couldn't pick them up as at the deadline.
It got really frustrating dealing with Ayo and due to sentiment, I didn't want to be brutal with the situation, all I could do was plead with my friends to pardon her and when it got worse, they just stopped giving her jobs. Seeing how the situation was going, my mom decided to go have a talk with her. That was when she noticed something really unusual. First, Ayo was not the one making the outfits but her apprentices. There's a woman who runs a restaurant in the shop before Ayo's, which became Ayo's new spot as she would be seen with different men who come to buy her food and take her out.
My mom was disappointed, I was even more disappointed because I was seriously rooting for her. Due to the likeness my mom had for her, she invited her to our home one evening and spoke to her like a mother would.
I could hear all that they were talking about because my room was close.
After my mom had advised her to take her business seriously and not be carried away by the men coming around her, Ayo thanked my mom for her concern but insisted she can't remain single and expressed her desire to be married. When Ayo left, I heard my mom say to herself, "no one would accuse me of not advising you when your life was going south". We let Ayo be and was no longer concerned with her life.
Recently, Ayo paid us a visit heavily pregnant. She came to inform us that she was back at her business again and she would not mind us giving her some jobs. My mom gave her a stern look, in my mom I could sense disappointment. Ayo could not even look my mom in the face as she had her head down the whole time.
My mom asked her about the pregnancy and it was obvious that Ayo was lying. According to Ayo, she said the man responsible asked her to remain in her shop and give birth while he put the necessary things in place to marry her afterwards. Looking at Ayo, it was obvious she's been abandoned again. She looked unkempt with her tangled hair barely hidden in the scarf she had on. For a fashion designer, she had the worst outfit on as it was faded and barely her size due to the pregnancy.
Quite unfortunately, Ayo didn't turn out as we had expected but this time around, I felt no pity for her because she was warned.