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 he had on his face.
He stood for a while, deep in thought before answering, "I'll take her. But just know that I am not pleased!"
The old man stomped and climbed out of the truck. Tobi tried to help him get off the truck but he refused his help.
Chinyere watched as the old man jumped down and stumbled. He would have fallen down if it wasn't for the other customer who held him up.
At normal circumstances, Chinyere would have laughed but this wasn't the time for laughing.
She had just been bought, by an old man, for eight million Naira. She thought she was worth more than that, maybe three hundred million Naira.
"Adam," Tobi said, "take her out."
Chinyere's eyes widened and she tried to move away from the muscular man who had just stood up but there was no place to move to.
Adam carried Chinyere over his shoulder, as though she was a sack of rice.
Chinyere tried her best to kick her tied legs and screamed, "Help! Help!"
Warm tears ran down her cheeks when the man jumped out of the truck without letting go of her.
Her head and body ached and her throat was parched. She gave up screaming and took to hitting Adam on the back but he tightened his grip.
"If you don't behave, I'll kill you, bury and no one will ever find your body," Adam said.
Chinyere stopped what she was doing and studied her surroundings.
She didn't know where they were at all. They were being sold behind an abandoned house, but she just didn't know where.
Her thoughts came to a stop when Adam threw her into the backseat of a jeep.
There was a young man sitting in the driver's seat and the old man who had bought her was riding shotgun.
There was a man at the right hand side of Chinyere and Adam entered the jeep.
Chinyere felt like a slice of cheese in between two slices of bread as the men squeezed her between them.
No words were spoken as the car started.
Chinyere couldn't see where they were going because the windows were up and the men squeezed her so tight that she could not see through the windshield.
She wanted to cry for help but she couldn't. Even if she did, no one would hear her.
Chinyere didn't know how long they drove but by the time the sun went down, she knew that they had been driving for several hours.
The young man who was driving the car beeped the horn and instantly, Chinyere knew that they had reached their destination.
The car stopped outside a house with gates the same colour as the Nigerian flag; green, white, green.
The electric gate opened and the driver drove the car into the compound.
When the car came to a halt, everyone, except Chinyere, got out.
Adam helped Chinyere out of the car and untied the ropes around her hands and feet.
"Thank you, Adam," the old man said and pulled out his wallet from his suit pocket. He brought out a large sum of money and placed it in Adam's right hand, "That's three hundred thousand for you. Your boss' money will be given to you by my driver."
The old man turned to the driver and said, "Go to Solomon and tell him to bring eight million Naira, packed neatly in a suitcase."
The driver ran into the mansion.
Chinyere took the moment to look around. Outside the gate, cars were passing by and a gateman was standing right beside the gate.
The house was large and painted white and yellow but Chinyere had seen several houses like it. Large houses were all over Nigeria. Her father, too, had a large house.
"I'm sorry," the old man put his arm around Chinyere's shoulder, "if it wasn't for the traffic, we'd have been here sooner. Esther! Esther!"
A woman in maid's outfit came running out of the house. "Yes, Sir?" she asked with a bow.
"Take Chinyere inside and let her rest," the old man said and Esther nodded.
She led Chinyere into the house and Chinyere didn't object. She had no choice. She couldn't run away. Adam was still there and so was the gateman, they would catch her before she even got past the gate.
Chinyere followed Esther up a trail of stairs and into a room.
The room was green and very neat. A bed in the corner, a closet just beside the bed, a door leading to another room, probably a toilet.
There was a tray of food lying on the bed.
"Here is your bedroom," Esther said, "the bathroom is over there. You will find clothes in the closet and towels in the bathroom, as well as a toothbrush, soap and toothpaste. Freshen up, eat and when you're done just leave your tray outside the door and then you can go to sleep."
Chinyere nodded and Esther walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Chinyere watched her leave and once she was gone, she cried her eyes out.
Why didn't she just reject the meeting with Mysteryboy4life?
She cried and she lifted up the plate covering her food. It was rice. Jollof rice.
Her mother loved Jollof rice. Were her parents looking for her? What about Amanda, Rachel and Tunde?
Chinyere ate the food in silence. She had trouble swallowing the food because she had lost all appetite.
After eating, she downed her glass of water placed the tray outside her door.
She turned off the lights and lay on the bed and continued to cry.
She curled herself into foetus position and cried even more.
Her thoughts went back to her friends and the text she had sent them.
Her phone!
Chinyere sat up and checked her pockets but nothing. Her phone was no longer with her.
She lay back down and cried. She didn't know how she did it but she managed to cry herself to bed.
CHINYERE WOKE UP due to someone knocking on the bedroom door.
She groggily got up and opened the door and several women barged into the room.
"Did you just wake up?" one of the women asked. She was rummaging through Chinyere's clothes in the closet, "Why haven't you taken a shower yet?"
Chinyere didn't know where the confidence came from but she managed to ask, "Can I go, please? I won't tell anyone about your boss' business. My parents must be looking for me. I'm only here by mistake."
"I'm sorry but that is impossible," another woman said. She was holding a makeup kit, "With the amount of money Boss paid for you, it's impossible. Now, be quick. You have to get ready for the event."
"W-what event?" Chinyere asked with fresh tears brimming in her eyes.
"Your wedding ceremony, of course," the first woman said with a smile.
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
CHINYERE LOOKED AT the phone on the table and ran to it without a second thought.She turned on the phone and fortunately for her, there was no password.She unlocked the phone by swiping upwards and clicked on the phone call app.The phone was only nine percent and she knew she had to hurry.Mom's number or Amanda's number? Chinyere asked herself."Chinyere, open the door," Mr. Oko said from behind the door. His voice snapped her back to reality and she knew she didn't have all the time in the world.Eight percent.She punched in her mother's phone number and brought the phone to her ear.Her mother immediately answered the phone. It was as though she had already been waiting for a phone call."Hello?" her mom said. "Chọtala ya? Please tell me you have found my daughter. Sh–""Mommy," Chinyere interrupted her mother. She wanted to cry at the sound of her mother's voice and po
Chinyere looked at Tina, dumbfounded.Just a few days ago the girl said that she couldn't run away because of her two month old son and now she suddenly wanted to run away."Excuse me?" Chinyere asked."I want to run away with you," Tina replied.Chinyere stood up and paced about the room, "What about your son?""I'll take him with me.""But you said that he's not safe to be on the road," Chinyere stood still."I'll do anything to get him away from that devil," Tina answered with a bitter look on her face."I thought you loved him," Chinyere said."Love who?" Tina asked. "I've hated that man from the time I met him."Chinyere was confused. Why would anyone have a child with someone who they despised?"Then why did you birth his child?" she asked.Tina sighed and massaged her temples, "It wasn't my choice. It was either I gave him a child or my life.""Do you mean t
CHINYERE DID NOT know what to say after what Tina had told her.She wondered why Amanda was after her family and claimed that it was her father who had killed her mother when Mr. Oko had killed her himself.Chinyere opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.Just then, Nnena, one of the maids, entered the kitchen.Nnena greeted them by bowing her head and then she spoke up, "Mr. Oko said that you should start preparing dinner.""Okay, thank you," Tina said and Nnena walked out of the kitchen."Isn't Esther around?" Chinyere asked.Esther was normally the one who started preparing dinner and Chinyere had realised that Esther had not stepped into the kitchen after breakfast was made."I don't know, but when I came this morning she was sick," Tina said. "I know that she's had a week immune system from the time I started living here."Chinyere nodded, "What are we going to cook?""