CHINYERE GRABBED THE towel that she hung on the door of her room.
Her mother had scolded her about keeping her used towel inside the house but Chinyere had refused to listen.
She grabbed a pair of black, high waisted jeans with a fitting grey T-shirt.
Upon opening the door, she saw Ikechukwu standing outside the door with a toy gun in his hands.
Ikechukwu was her eleven year old brother – the second of her mother's three children.
"Where are you going?" Ikechukwu asked.
Unlike eight year old Onyedikachi – her father's second wife's only son – Chinyere liked Ikechukwu.
Ikechukwu was home schooled like most of Chinyere's others siblings.
Only Onyedikachi and Chinyere had the desire to go to a real school.
"What are you doing here?" Chinyere asked her younger brother.
"Daddy said I should watch over you and make sure you don't leave your room."
"Well, I have to wash my school uniform," Chinyere said. "Unless you want me to go to school with a dirty uniform tomorrow."
"Fine," Ikechukwu shrugged and walked away.
Chinyere made her way to the bathroom to take her bath.
She and Mystery Boy had agreed to meet at eight thirty. He wanted to meet at ten but Chinyere found it odd for them to meet that late and they settled for eight thirty.
They were to meet at Shoprite's parking lot. Mystery Boy would be leaning against a truck.
Chinyere made sure to scrub her body well to get rid of any foul stench.
After drying her body, she changed into her change of clothes and brushed her teeth then snuck her way back to her room.
Her parents were strict and didn't allow for any of the children below eighteen years of age to wear makeup so Chinyere just applied lip gloss to her lips.
Chinyere tied her hair up in a bun and posed in front of the mirror. She was satisfied with how she looked.
She chose to wear her sandals that were kept under her bed.
She used her phone to check the time and it read: 08:03.
Shoprite was only fifteen minutes away from her home but there was no harm in being early.
The earlier the better.
Chinyere snuck through the passage way to the kitchen. The kitchen was linked to the backyard, through which she would leave the house.
From the kitchen she could hear the clattering of plates and laughter. Her family was having their dinner. Happily, without her.
Chinyere snuck out of the house without any guilt in her heart.
On her way there, she texted Rachel, Amanda and Tunde, telling them that she was going to meet her mystery boy at Shoprite.
Chinyere put a smile on her face as she entered Shoprite's parking lot.
The store was not closed yet but the parking lot was nearly empty. Only a few cars here and there and the street lights were off.
Chinyere craned her head as she walked through the parking lot in search of a boy leaning against a truck.
"Eh'm," she heard someone clear their throat from behind her and she turned around to meet her Mystery Boy.
"Are you Mystery Boy?" Chinyere walked up to him. He was indeed leaning against a truck with his arms crossed.
He was dressed in all black from head to toe but his looks did not disappoint.
Chinyere couldn't see his face well because it was dark but the little she saw satisfied her enough. He looked like a real model.
"That's what I'm known by," Mystery Boy took Chinyere's hand and placed his soft lips on them. "And you must be Chinyere Awaziem."
"I am," Chinyere said, "can we hurry up with this meeting? I have to get home before nine fifteen."
"A-about the meeting," Mystery Boy said at the same time a stranger's voice said, "But we just got started."
Chinyere jumped and turned around. The hairs on her neck standing up as the man who had spoken stared at her with a large grin on his face.
"W-who are you?" Chinyere asked.
The man slammed Chinyere against the truck and used his thumb to stroke her chin, "Tobi, you've attracted a really pretty one here."
Chinyere moved her head to look at Tobi who had his own head down but the man who was currently holding her against the truck forcefully grabbed her jaw and forced her to look at him.
"Get the ropes," the man told Tobi and Tobi climbed into the truck to do as he was told.
"Who are you?!" Chinyere yelled as she tried to pull herself out of the man's grip and run away but the man grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground, her head making impact with the cold, hard ground.
Chinyere shook her head slowly as she looked into the darkness. Everything seemed so blurry to her and she couldn't see clearly.
It didn't take long for her to go into complete darkness.
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Chinyere groaned as she opened her eyes.
Her head was aching badly and her body felt weak.
She looked around only to see wooden boxes and sad faces of girls and boys who were her age.
She kept looking until she saw the face of the person who she was supposed to meet the previous night: Mystery Boy (Tobi).
That wasn't all. She was in a vehicle, and it was moving.
TUNDE UNPLUGGED HIS phone from the charger and turned it on.He had stayed up studying all night and had left his phone off.Tunde wanted to pass his final examinations and make his parents proud. He still had two years before his final examinations but his father could not tolerate having his son fail at anything, not even a simple class test.His phone buzzed immediately he unlocked it. It was a message from Chinyere.Tunde opened the messaging app and saw that it had been sent the previous night.I'm going to meet Mystery Boy. Wish me luck. Chi Chi 08:07 pmThere was no use in respondi
CHINYERE FELT STUPID. She felt foolish. She felt like an idiot. No amount of insults could describe how she felt about herself.Her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were tied as well. Her hair was all over the place but that was the least of her worries.Where was she? Was she far away from home? Where were they taking her?Chinyere huffed as she struggled to sit up. She had faked being asleep for the past three hours and not only her head, but her entire body, was aching."Look who's finally awake," the man who had knocked her to the ground said and walked up to her.The truck was large and it hadn't stopped moving since she had woken up.She wasn't the only person in the truck. There were other several kids and teenagers, both boys and girls.Some were crying, others were sleeping, while others were shaking with fear.There were two benches on both sides of the truck. Muscul
CHINYERE'S HEART BEAT faster as the old man walked up to her. He grabbed hold of her arm and looked at Tobi. "I want her.""Ah, that one," Tobi's father climbed into the truck with help from Tobi. "She's our newest. She's a golden egg, so we're picking the price.""But I'm your most loyal customer," the old man said, "at least let me choose the price.""Sorry," Tobi's father said, "but that is impossible. Eight million Naira.""Eight million?!" the old man yelled. "All that money? The last one I bought wasn't this expensive!"The last one? Chinyere pulled her arm out of the old man's grip. Chinyere could feel the ropes around her wrist dig into her skin.The old man didn't seem to mind. He rather focused all his attention on Tobi and his father."This one is even thirty five percent off, oh," Tobi said without looking the man in the eye. "Take it or leave it."The old man was not pleased. Chinyere could tell from the frown
CHINYERE COULD NOT believe what she had just heard.Her wedding ceremony?She wasn't ready for marriage. She was only sixteen for God's sake.Chinyere saw her world come crashing down right before her eyes."What are you waiting for?" the woman holding the makeup kit asked, "Go and bathe."Chinyere dragged her body to the bathroom. No sooner had she entered the bathroom than she started crying.She wanted to go home.Loud sobs escaped from her mouth as she shut the door.She lowered the toilet seat, sat on it and continued to sob.A soft knock came from the other side of the door, followed by a woman's voice, "Are you alright in there?"Chinyere buried her head in her hands and continued to sob but she managed to choke out, "Y-yes."Her response was a lie but if there was anything she had learnt in her entire sixteen years of living, is that it was better to lie about her feelin
Chinyere sobbed as she wiped the blood off her lower lip with a face towel.The punch her husband had given her didn't hurt as much as what he did to her on their wedding night.The monster had raped her. She'd tried as much as she could to get away from him but the doors had been locked.It was Friday and she'd been a married woman for two days now.She'd avoided entering the room whenever her husband was around because she didn't want to be alone with him.She tried to plead with Esther to let her sleep in the servants' quarters but Esther rejected her pleas.She wished she could just call out to God or her mother and have them help her but she couldn't, there was no way either of them would come to her aid.It was her fault that she was in such a position and she had to deal with it herself.A soft knock on the door dragged Chinyere out of her thoughts.She rinsed the towel and h
I WANT TO GO HOME, Chinyere thought as she looked outside the bedroom window.Her husband wasn't around, he hadn't come home the previous night. Not like Chinyere cared. He could die for all she cared.Tears pooled her eyes and she dried them with the back of her hand.She missed home. She missed her siblings and her parents, even her father's first wife who always seemed to be against everything she did.She missed bickering with her siblings and fighting for the remote control with them.She sniffed as fresh tears filled her eyes.Why didn't she listen to Tunde?Chinyere was so occupied in her thoughts that she did not realise someone enter the bedroom."Are you alright?"Chinyere nearly jumped off her chair in surprise.She balanced herself on the chair before she looked at the person who had entered her room.It was her sister-in-law, the wife to her brot
AFTER CHINYERE TOOK a long bath, she made her way back to her room.Chibinobim was no longer in the room but the room still smelled of alcohol and cigarettes.Chinyere used her towel to dry her wet hair and threw the towel on the bed.She didn't bother to comb her hair and exited the room.The only places she had been to in the house were the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom and the dining room. She had never stepped her foot in the living room and other parts of the house.She planned to go to the kitchen to help Esther and the other maids prepare breakfast.On her way to the kitchen she met Mr. Oko.She bowed her head, "Good morning, Sir.""Why so formal?" Mr. Oko smiled, "call me father."Chinyere nodded but did not say anything. She tried to walk past him but he blocked the passage by jumping in front of her."I need to tell you something," Mr
"WHAT?" CHINYERE ASKED."You heard me," Amanda said. "Your father was the cause of my mother's death and I'm just collecting the debts which my father never did.""What debts?" Chinyere asked.Amanda was about to say something but a knock on the door interrupted their conversation."Who is it?!" Amanda yelled."Mary," the person from behind the door answered.Mary was Amanda's personal maid. She responded to Amanda's every call."What is it?" Amanda asked.Mary opened the door slightly and said, "The driver is here for you."Amanda nodded her head and Mary silently shut the door before leaving."As you heard Mary say," Amanda smirked, "the driver is here for me. I have to get back to school before my absence becomes suspicious."It was then that Chinyere noticed the suitcases standing by the dresser in the room."Why are you going back?" Chinyere held Amanda's hand as sh