Dear Anita
Episode Five
I refused listening to her by going out with the politician and because of this, she threw me out of the house that night.
I didn’t have anywhere to go and I didn’t know anyone that could be of help.
The night was freezing, and when everyone had gone to bed, I stumbled upon a shop along the street and crashed there for the night.
“Common get up,” shouted a man standing close to me.
I woke up to someone tapping me, a guy dressed in tattered jeans with his cap facing the back and smelling of alcohol.
I didn’t know the place was a hideout for bad boys in the street.
He screamed, “Who you be and why you dey lie down here?
You no sabi say na we get this place?”
Then he landed a heavy slāp on me that took sleep away from me.
Some guys came running from the other side of the road after they heard him scream.
They shouted, “Wetin dey happen?” when they arrived.
He smiled and said, “Na small pikin, we go get small joy.”
“Common lie down, if you struggle I go just waste you for this road”, he said.
I had to do as I was commanded. He forced himself on me and when he was done, the others ganged up and took turns on me until I was weak and could barely breath.
They left me there to dīe vanishing into the dark.
I lied there like a log of wood,unable to move any part of my body.
A car stopped where I lay lifeless, and two people got out of the car dressed in all black.
They carried me into the car and drove off. I felt like it was the end, and I fainted.
I woke up in the hospital and asked, “Where am I? And why should I be in the hospital?”
The doctor asked, “How are you? I hope you’re feeling better?”.
He reassured me that it’s normal not to remember anything, and he didn’t want to remind me of the traumatic experience I went through.
Don’t worry the good man paid your bills, we need to run some tests to find out if you have contacted any infēction before you are discharged.
I glanced at him and asked, “Which good man?”
He smiled at me and responded swiftly, “Don’t worry, you will get to see him soon.”
I was so curious to find out who the good man was that decided to save my life.
After staying in the hospital for three more days, the day I was discharged I finally got to meet the good man.
Mr. Bentley, the divorcee in his late forties with wrinkles on his face, introduced himself to me.
It seems like he’s had his fair share of life’s ups and downs.
“I’m Anita, I replied, that was all I felt I could say. Until he asked more questions.
“What were you doing so late at night, do you know you almost got yourself kilłēd?
I didn’t want to remind myself of the ugly experience that happened, I ignored the question then he asked the second time and I had no other choice but to respond.
” My mom sent me out of the house because I disobeyed her”, he didn’t even let me finish he interrupted “come, I will help you apologize to her”.
He got up and asked me to get into the car, leading the way back to our house.
When we arrived, I saw my mother standing outside with our belongings.
It turns out the landlord had kīcked then out of the house.
I went closer to her and she noticed that I was with a man. She rushed to hug me and asked why I ran away from home.
In that moment, I felt so much bitterness in my heart that I even had thoughts of wanting to strangle her.
Our things were outside and Mr. Bently noticed. He asked why, and my mom sighed.
She pretended to wipe a tear from her face and explained that the landlord kickēd them out of the house.
She was such a drama queen.
In a kind gesture, Mr. Bently asked his guards to pack our things into the car. He offered to take us somewhere else and even pay for our stay.
We went around the city, and the only apartment we could find was a one-room apartment.
Mr. Bently paid the rent, and his guards helped us pack in.
Then they left, but not before Mr. Bently gave me his business card and asked me to call whenever I needed help.
He didn’t even get to the door when mom held to the corner of the room”.
“These are the kinds of men you should be with,” she said.
“Now you are my daughter because you have made me proud.
You should thank me for thrōwing you out.”
If only she knew, I grew to hātē her each day of my life, and every word she said made me want to chōkē her to dēath.
Thessycute Ekene
