LOST
Episode Thirteen
I was able to sell all the water for the day, and as Dad suggested.
I left the junction, got back to the house, and carried more water to sell.
I was tired, but I didn’t mind because I’ll do anything to go back to school.
I’m turning eighteen next week and I’m excited about it.
They say eighteen is the age of independence and freedom, but for me, it’s the opposite.
When John spotted me, I don’t know why I couldn’t call him David, even when he told me to.
He asked, “Catherine, aren’t you tired?
Why are you working tirelessly? What if you break down?”
He looked at me with pitiful eyes.
“You won’t understand, I said. ‘I need to make sales so I can do something with my life.
I want to go back to school. It’s the middle of the term, and if I don’t sell, I might not go back or even write my WAEC.”
John folded his hands as if something bad had happened.
I noticed his lips moving like he wanted to say something.
Finally, he said, “See Catherine, I don’t mean to be rude, but your father is wickēd.
What kind of father would allow his only daughter to hawk just to gather money for school?
It’s the middle of the term, and you’re missing out on a lot of things.”
I was completely silent. There was no need to defend my father.
He wasn’t worth it.
I ignored what John said and ran to the other side of the road, pretending like someone was in need of water.
Meanwhile, I was thinking about my fate that I almost slipped and fell.
John noticed my actions and came a bit closer, patting me on the shoulder.
“It is well,” he said. “In the end, we will be just fine.”
He had this optimism like Mom, but Mom’s own didn’t work out well for her.
Even though she always saw a better life and future, it changed my mindset.
I had to face reality and stop dreaming of a trouble-free life.
I made sales yet again, improving as a pro hawker on the road with John’s help.
I don’t even know why my heart skips a beat when I see him.
It’s like a fairytale where I have a Prince Charming.
After the day’s sales, I was extremely tired.
To avoid what happened the previous day, I had to buy food on the road. I was left with 4,000 naira, which wasn’t even enough for my fees.
I felt like Dad just wanted to punish me, blaming me if I didn’t sell enough water.
He wanted using the fact that I wasn’t selling enough water as an excuse of me not going to school.
I felt I might not even go to school again with the way everything was going.
I bid goodbye to John and the other hawkers as I headed back home.
When I got there, I realized the gate was locked.
I peeped through it, but there was no one inside. Dad’s car was outside, but I couldn’t spot him in the house.
I sat outside, waiting for them to open the gate. After an hour, Dad finally opened it.
“Where were you?” he asked, holding a belt in his hands.
I started shivering. “I went back to sell pure water, Dad, and I’m done.
That’s why I came back,” I responded in a low tone.
He asked me to come inside and lock the gate.
I became even more scared.
I didn’t even know what I did this time to make Dad extremely furious, as if I had stolēn something.
I did everything he asked me to do without complaining, so what did I do wrong?
I kept asking myself.
I locked the gate like he said, but then he raised the belt and hīt me twice on my body.
Leaving two slanted marks on my hand.
I just looked at the marks, I couldn’t cry, it was as if tears had dried up in my eyes.
He said, “Catherine, did I tell you to go out and sell water?” I nodded.
He continued, “What were you doing with that boy on the road?
That wasn’t the first time I’ve seen you together. Are you seeing boys now?
You better speak up before I do something to you.”
He screamed at me. I pleaded, “Daddy, please don’t hīt me anymore.
I don’t go out with boys. John is just a fellow hawker on the street, like the other hawkers.
We talk and play.” He didn’t even let me finish.
He hīt me on the head with the belt and said,
“Is that why you’ve been dressing differently lately?
Catherine, you’re lying. When I find out the truth, I’ll pūnish you so severely that you’ll have to beg God for help.”
After he was done, he pushed me out of his way and went inside.
I sat on the floor, feeling scared for John.
I didn’t know what my dad was capable of.
I went inside to sleep, planning to wake up early and ask John to run away or go somewhere else for a while.
The next morning, I didn’t even brush my teeth or bath.
I got up, packed the water, and ran out to find John.
But he was nowhere to be found.
When I asked the other hawkers, they all said the same thing.
“Someone came here and dragged him into a car.”
My fear grew even worse.
