It was midnight. I ripped my jeans into bump shorts, tucked the blouse straps into my strapless bra and stood with the other girls hoping to get a meal. I could only imagine the amount of trouble I spared Pastor Man and the rest by leaving.
It was my conscience against survival instincts and those darn instincts where winning. I didn’t really want this but I hadn’t a choice did I?
Soon a car stopped by me.
“Pretty girl…” The man tilted his head out the window. His dark skin and neatly carved chin beard resonated with the image of Pastor Man.
“You working or what?” He said. I snapped from my wandering thoughts and cat walked to his window, threw a glance at the back to make sure it wasn’t another of Prince’s set up.
“Chubby Sir.” I said. Before I could make another move, a girl pushed me to the side. I almost knocked of my ankle.
“Boss, see this pikin, she lack experience. Take me; I have the password to heaven. I’ll take you there safely and roughly.” She winked blowing gum seductively.
“Heaven kill you there.” I scoffed. “For person wey get experience you slow pass snail.” I got into the car, tickled his ears and off we went.
The hotel room looked like a zone of no return. I leaned on the door as I watched the guy take off his clothes. The hairs on his chest were like flames of hell and I was a fallen angel.
“Why aren’t you taking off your clothes?”
“I could be your daughter, don’t you feel remorseful?”
“Remorse what? I can’t have a cheap and insensible girl like you for a daughter. Take off those clothes. I don’t have all night.” He glared.
“It’s men like you that made me this insensible girl.”
“Which kind wahala is this? Are you doing or not?”
“You know what? I can’t do.” I wore my shoes.
“Then return my money; you witch.”
“I never planned on keeping it; you wizard.” I threw it on him.
“If I ever see you again, I’ll make your life miserable.”
“Shut your mouth. You can do nothing; stupid man.” I slammed the door and left to God knows where.
My entire existence was pointless. Since birth, I only brought pain and disgrace. I wandered the narrow street with only the moonlight to guide and remembered the warmth of my blanket in Pastor Man’s house, his stern but compassionate look, Ma’am Veronica’s laughter and Jacobs’s goofiness…
Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t go back. Even if I did, they wouldn’t want to have anything to do with a prostitute. I collapsed, the sand pierced my skin and the ticklish grass had a sense of sarcasm.
There was only one person at that time—God. I wondered if he could hear me.
“God…” I heaved. “I think I still like you… I didn’t sleep with that man.” I rolled into a ball.
“Go Home!”
I skipped. “Who’s there?” The silence and the crickets’ chirping left me appalled. I lay back on the ground.
“Go Home!”
“I don’t have a home. Nobody wants me.” I blurted.
“Karma has caught up to you. You deserve it; after destroying so many families. Kill yourself and rest.” The voice was so audible it felt like whoever it was stood inches away.
“I don’t want to die like this.”
“I can also make you run mad; you’ll forget everything. Die or be mad, die or be mad, die or...”
“Get out of my head.” I screamed.
“I can’t get out. I am you. I am what you really want.”
“No!”
“You’ve been tough for so long; it’s time to rest. Die now, rest early.”
“But Pastor Man…”
“Has abandoned you; you’ve caused him enough pain.”
A wave of knowing came over me.
“You’re right. He has abandoned me…I don’t have a daddy and neither do I have friends.”
I stood and walked on till I got to a bridge. The strong water currents had a voice—my dad’s voice. He called me to come…I saw his smiling face in the water and his hands opened wide, ready to embrace me. I climbed the railing.
“Ophelia…” It sounded like Pastor Man. “Don’t do it… Let’s go home.”
“You abandoned me.”
“I didn’t…it’s a misunderstanding.”
“I’m tired… I want to rest. My father is waiting for me in the water.”
The running water made me dizzy; my gaze was locked in its rhythm.
“That’s not your father…”
“Then where is he?”
“Right here! I’m right here.”
I turned to him unsure of who it was. I burst into laughter.
“You? You abandoned me...” I sat on the railing. “You just told me you can’t have a cheap and insensible girl like me for a daughter. You died and left mom. You let that idiot take my innocence. Why? Where were you then? Do you know that I have AIDS?...”
My voice broke. “I’ll never be able to bear my own children. No child would want a mother like me because I killed all my children…”
I laughed hysterically. “I killed them all…” I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Come down please.”
“I killed them all… and it’s your fault. If you had just listened to me when I begged you not to travel, you would still be alive and I never would have left mom and Joshua…it’s your fault.”
“Yes, yes it’s my fault I should have listened to you. See, I came back for you. Let’s go home okay? Come down. It’s dangerous.”
“Pastor Man…is that you?”
“Yes it’s me. Jacob is here too…come down; let’s go home. Everyone is waiting for you.”
“Don’t lie to me. You all hate me. You never believed that I could change. I want you to have peace of mind."
“No! we love you… we’ve been searching all night. I am coming to get you...”
“If you take another step I’ll jump off. You abandoned me Dad. I was all alone.”
“I’ll never do that.”
“Prove it.”
“How?... You…”
“Come after me.”
I jumped off the railing. As my body hit the water, it felt like the current ripped my skin apart. It entered my ears, my nostrils, my mouth; the burning sensation in my eyes was relieving.
“Ophelia…” Oh No. He did not… “Where are you?”
He grabbed my hand before my body sank further. I coughed uncontrollably as we swam to the banks.
********
God bless you 😇 🔥 Jesus is Lord!
YOU ARE READING
OPHELIA
General FictionThe seed of revenge in OPHELIA TEGAH blossoms as she unexpectedly found her self in the hands of the ghetto after a traumatic childhood. Can she find the satisfaction she desires or how many more people have to suffer?
