ABUSED…
Episode 15
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I followed Ella to her place since she said she got plans for two of us and having no where to go I am left with no option, since mother said I am not coming under her roof that I am old enough to carter for myself😩.
We both arrived at an uncompleted building down a busy part. I never knew people could leave in such place; Ella’s siblings were full of joy when they saw her, tears were flowing as they held unto their elder sister and recall how their brother died without her being around
” It’s ok. Everything is going to fine I promise you all🥺🤎.
Our parents are no more but I am here and I vow that we won’t go through this rocky part anymore” Ella swore as she assured her siblings.
” Ella who is she?” the youngest I presumed asked, as they all looked malnourished
” Oh. She is Ruth, my friend😊”
They greeted me then offered us something to eat, I don’t know what to make of the concoction we were served; I ate anyways after all, we ate worse in the prison.
The joy of seeing their sisters lit the dirty room as catch on lost times and shared with us how they suffered to survival; how their uncle refused helping them out calling her a criminal.
Ella listened with rapt attention, her siblings worked as labourers at building site and also hawked drinks to make end meet
” Sister Ella, my master flogged me each time break something at the site. He calls me all sorts of name” Oliver said
It seems Ella is the only family they know and life without her has been terrible I could tell as they narrate their ordeal. They converse through the night that Ella had to put them to bed forcefully.
” If you leave them, we will end up having a vigil” she said jokingly
” They miss you greatly. You are the parent they know ”
” I know. I have done a lot of jobs to make them comfortable. My boss turned me to his s*x slave just because I needed the job to sustain my family. I couldn’t do anything to keep up. Our parents died in ghastly accident and his family took everything from us. They said our mother is OSU she was warned not to marry into the family but insisted and so we were thrown out of our own house, I dropped out of school to fend for my siblings” she recount
” OSU? What’s meaning of that?”
” An outcast plus she is an orphan too. So we had no where to go”
” Too bad! I feel your pain”
” No you don’t! I’m barely 22 but I have a heavy weight to bare. I suffered in the hands of those terrible uncles. My boss refused paying at some point because I couldn’t keep up warming his bed at his will, I pleaded with him to pay me what he owes me including an up front so I could sort out my brother’s medical bills but he bluntly refused. So I carted away with his money but unfortunately for me he found me out on time and had me thrown in jail”
I inhaled deeply as I focused on the patched lantern standing in middle of the room casting it light partly in the room.
” So, what’s your plan?”
” Ruth, my friend that visits me in prison has a connection with a big lady who runs hmmm well, a modernized form of brothel kinda ”
” What?”
” See, she is highly connected with top politicians and wealth business men. It’s not the kind of dirty…”
” Ella! That’s prostitution😳”
” Shshsh🤫🤫. Lower voice, you are not even a virgin so why act innocence. We are meeting clean men. All we need do is agreed to her terms, 30% for her and 70% to us. Nike my friend is living big. ”
” I .I can’t do that”
” Ruth, what options have you got. You have no roof over your head, no place to call home, your family rejected you and you got no savings. What have you?”
” We can look for something worthwhile to do like get a job and earn something decent”
” Sis Ruth, the world out there is wicked. No descent job out there will foot your bills completely. I have pondered on this while in prison, I have lost my brother I won’t wait loose another before I act. I have mouths to carter for. Look how malnourished my siblings look. This place is not safe at all nor conducive for living”
” Ella! I can’t do that”
” To your tent Oh Israel. I have made up my mind. I leave you to yours just so you know here can’t accommodate us all Ruth. I’m offering you a slot to change your life and build yourself up” she said with a note to finality signalling end of our discussion.
She left me and joined her siblings on the tattered mat to sleep.
Looking around me wondering what to do and where to go from here I felt lost. Navigating through life is never easy. I understand Ella’s pain and decision but I couldn’t bring myself to agree into harlotry😩😩. But I have got no place to go as she rightly pointed out, mother won’t accept me now she’s married to Reuben.
I thought of Mr Hassan my boss, I wondered if he would be willing to accept me as a worker for him. I weighed in different options but I couldn’t come up with something reasonable so I slept on the cold floor covering myself up.
To be continued.
