Broken Destiny

Part Three

Everyone was pleased for me... after all, they were assured that I was going to be well taken care of.
In fact, most of the kids were jealous and honestly it was understandable, I mean, who wouldn’t want to live with rich folks and have everything they could possibly want? Of course no one! But I wasn’t too keen on living with another set of parents again and well could you blame me?

My experience with foster homes hadn't  exactly been pleasant.
I met my new parents and amazingly enough, no manner of rebellion or childish behaviour could dissuade them from agreeing to have me stay with them.

As a matter of fact, the wife... Mrs Amoah claimed I was utterly perfect. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach... It felt just like when grandma died but there was nothing more I could do. One would argue that I could have escaped the orphanage, and true... I really could have but here was the thing... I was afraid of the unknown.

The streets of Accra were dangerous... grandma's death alone was enough confirmation for me, and I was actually hoping that for the first time, I would be wrong... that maybe the perfect couple, Mr and Mrs Amoah would actually turn out to be everything I was looking for in a family and even more but boy, was I wrong.

I was illegally smuggled to a house I later got to know was somewhere in Cape Coast in the Central region just two days after I had moved into my new home. TWO DAYS!! It turned out that the couple were rather involved in child trafficking and prostitution and worked with social workers all over the country to get new  recruits.

I was devastated... seeing how men old enough to be our great grandfathers came in to play with our bodies, it was utterly disgusting, and now I was wishing I had run away when I had the chance. I wasn’t the only girl in the opulent building where we were kept... we were about fifty in total, some older than me, some younger. The place was heavily guarded, and clients were thoroughly searched before they entered the rooms we were to meet them in. This was done to prevent any one of us access to any form of technology we could use to ask for help.

Each girl had her own room, this was to discourage friendships as this could foster togetherness which would go against them. Everything had been thought of it seemed, but one thing I had learnt from my binge-watching of CSI, was that, no plan was always foolproof... that there was always a loophole, and I was determined to discover it, to set myself and the other girls free.
Almost a year came by without success... and it seemed my hope and determination had slowly run out. In fact, every time we had our meals, (the only time we all got to see one another,) I realised that everyone had resigned themselves to their fate a long time ago, and now I was giving up too.

But one day, new recruits were brought in, and I chanced on my younger sister, Edina among them and just like that, my hope was renewed. I was more determined now to get us both out of this situation and I believed that if fate had made me see her again, then I was definitely going to see Kwame and Pamela again.

Edina had grown taller now, more beautiful and just beginning to develop womanly features.... there was no way I could talk to her but the sight of her at the dining hall during meals and the knowledge that she was here with me gave me some comfort, and I could tell it did same for her too. Even though it pained me greatly to see her subjected to the same gross, inhumane, disgusting experiences I had had to endure, there was really nothing I could do about it that wouldn’t get me killed and so I waited.

It was the hardest thing I had ever done, bidding my time, but I had to do it. For my sake, for her sake, for all our sakes.