GOD'S RAINBOW

Chapter 1: The Struggle

Chapter 1: The Struggle

Omoshola coughed hard, her body wracked with pain and spat out the blood she had been holding in her mouth. The metallic taste lingered as she stared at the basin before dumping it back on the table beside her bed. It had become a daily routine - the relentless cycle of losing more blood than she could retain in her frail body. Every day felt like a battle for survival, and each night she found herself somehow prepared for the possibility it might be her last.

She forced a smile as her best friend, Laila Sukanmi, stepped into the room. Laila was talking incessantly on her phone, her voice a mix of frustration and energy, swinging a pink basket in the air. Omoshola wondered who had riled her up this time. But then again, Laila always had a short fuse. She was quick to anger and always ready to fight. She had nicknamed herself Omo's Goliath, and it was a fitting name. Laila was tall, huge, and well-endowed, with the softest and kindest heart anyone could possess, but she never allowed herself to be intimidated.

With over twenty years of friendship, they were more like sisters than friends who had shared their fair share of struggles and disappointments.

Laila ended her call with an exasperated huff and tossed her phone into her handbag, letting it drop to the floor without a care. "Are you okay?" Omoshola asked, noticing the tension in her friend's expression.

"Nope, but I will be fine," Laila responded, forcing a smile as she started to tidy up the mess beside the bed. It was her usual tactic to avoid discussing why she was upset.

Omoshola knew this all too well. "Was it your mother-in-law again?" she guessed, trying to offer some understanding.

Laila sighed deeply, her shoulders slumping. "Yes. She never stops, you know? Five years of marriage and still, she finds a reason to criticize everything I do."

Omoshola reached out and squeezed Laila's hand gently. "I'm sorry, Laila. I wish there was something I could do."

Laila's eyes softened, and she patted Omoshola's hand. "You're dealing with enough, Shola. How are you feeling today?"

"Better than yesterday," Omoshola replied, understanding fully well that the other conversation was over.

Laila grabbed some tissue on her way out of the restroom and wiped her hands. "Have the doctors come around for their rounds?" she asked.

"Not yet. I hope they have good news and can discharge me soon. I've been here too long."

Laila rubbed Omoshola's arm reassuringly. "I hope so too. Moremi misses you. I promised to bring her for a visit as soon as I could."

A smile spread across Omoshola's face at the mention of her daughter. Moremi was her source of light, her reason to keep striving amidst all the battles she was dealing with. "I miss her too," she said softly. "Tell her I love her, and I'll be home soon."

"I will," Laila promised, her voice filled with determination. "You just focus on getting better."

As they settled into a comfortable silence, Omoshola's mind drifted back to the night Moremi was conceived. It was a night that had changed her life forever, a night that started her journey into adulthood in the most nightmarish way possible.

Her journey into adulthood had started like a nightmare. She was barely out of her teens when she was sold into a life of prostitution and pornography by Chief Tope, her mother's brother. The same man who had sworn by her mother's deathbed to always protect and take care of her. His promises had been nothing but lies.

Sleepless nights and endless weeping had been her consolation. By the time she was eighteen, it became a way of life, an addiction deeply rooted as she had resigned herself to her fate and lifestyle. There was always a nagging feeling she could be better and not cut out for such a life, but where was God when she needed Him the most? When He could have saved her mother or at least brought her father into the picture?

Over the years, Omoshola traded her heart for the immense desire to survive each day as it came and avoid her uncle's wrath. He had gone as far as making sure every girl coming into his establishment underwent a hysterectomy. As he always never failed to mention, nothing and no one was to distract his dolls.

Who was he kidding? Mortals never had a final say over their lives. If God wanted it to happen, so be it. He made it possible and she never understood how, but she saw it as a way out and grabbed on, never looking back.

With Laila's help, she established a business and worked hard to provide a suitable life for her daughter. Moremi's arrival was a sense of hope; a reminder of God's promise to Noah after the flood. She stirred emotions long buried beneath her past. Who could have ever thought that one without love could love and be loved?

"Shola?" Laila's voice broke into her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. "You okay?"

Omoshola nodded, giving her friend a reassuring smile. "Just thinking about the past, about everything we've been through."

Laila squeezed her hand. "We've come a long way, haven't we? And we'll get through this too. Together."

Omoshola took a deep breath, feeling a renewed sense of strength. With Laila by her side and Moremi waiting for her, she knew she could face whatever challenges lay ahead.