One Girl Carri Water 1 & 2 #Featured

Chapter 7

"Sister!" shouted Barbara as she shook Amina awake. "Wake up!"
"What is it now? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep" said Amina. It was just after mid night and she had come in to get some rest after working with a particularly insatiable client.
"There are soldiers everywhere" said Barbara "They are shutting this place down and arresting everyone. We need to go!"

Amina bolted up and put on her shoes.

The last thing she needed was to become Princess the whore who was arrested.

"Let's go we don't have time" said Barbara before grabbing Amina's arm and leading her outside. As they run down the rusty stairs Amina could hear the commotion coming from the lodge, the sounds of people screaming and gun shots ringing out. Amina was so scared and her heart was beating so loudly she thought it would jump out of her chest. Once on the ground Barbara led Amina away from the lodge encouraging her to run as fast as she could.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" someone said chasing after them.

Amina stopped in her tracks she knew that voice.

"What are you doing? Let's go!" screamed Barbara as she tugged Amina's arm. Amina ignored Barbara and turned around to see their pursuer. Lo and Behold just as she had suspected it was her Baba.

"Amina??" said Amina's father with shock written all over his face. It was like a dream for Amina could not even remember the last time someone had called her by her real name.

"Baba!" Amina cried running towards her father.
Alhaji's feelings of shock turned into relief has he put his arms around his daughter. He had thought he would never find her but here she was, alive and maybe not so well. She was all skin and bones.

"Amina is it really you?" Alhaji asked examining his daughter. She was taller now and even more beautiful despite her sunken eyes and unhealthily pale skin.

"Oh Baba" his daughter cried breathlessly "I'm so sorry"

"It's all okay now. Don't cry" said Alhaji his heart breaking for all that his only daughter had been through and at such a young age. "I'm here to take you away from this place."

Amina couldn't believe that her father was here to rescue her. After all that had happened she had been convinced that she would never see him again. Amina turned around to tell Barbara that everything would be okay but her sister was already gone.
After shouting directives at the other soldiers Alhaji arranged for a helicopter to fly Amina back to the main Sudanese base of the UN. It was clear that she needed medical attention for she was shaking badly even though the night had been fairly warm. As they got to the base Alhaji handed his daughter over to the nurse in charge at the infirmary. Alhaji then returned to his quarters to freshen up and get some much needed rest. But tired as he was he could not fall asleep because he was anxious about Amina. After writing a report of the night's events to send to the headquarters in Zambia Alhaji walked over to the infirmary and sat by Amina's bedside. She looked so frail lying on a hospital bed hooked up to a drip. The nurse had informed him that she was suffering from a drug addiction withdrawal. He had nearly broken down into tears. How had this happened to his innocent little girl? All Alhaji could do was wish he had acted sooner.
As soon as he had found out about Amina's disappearance he had contacted some people that he knew in Zambia. It had taken a while but he found a way into Zambia despite the heavily guarded boarders. The rebels who where in desperate need of more men had welcomed him gladly especially with is military school background. He stayed in a camp near Ndola and trained with the peace keepers. He was soon contacted by Dr. Mwanza who couldn't wait to meet him after all the fuss his daughter was causing in Nigeria and Africa at large. It turned out that Amina was famous among the rebels because they had heard of all the things she had done at the wives house. Dr. Mwanza promised to help Alhaji find Amina and put him in charge of a small group of soldiers whose mission was to find her. After over a year of looking Alhaji had finally heard rumours of a girl that looked like the President's missing wife working at a brothel in Sudan. He had immediately travelled to Sudan with his squad. It had taken a while to find D' Mama's establishment because the area was littered with brothels. Alhaji had all but lost hope when he saw those two lone girls running away from the brothel. It had been his intuition that had caused him to chase after them and to his surprise one of them was Amina.

It was nearly mid day when Amina came through. Alhaji immediately alerted the nurse and she came to check on Amina.

"It's looking good but she has a long way ahead of her" said the nurse "I'll go and have some food prepared for her"

"Thank you so much" said Alhaji to the nurse then he turned to his daughter "Do you hear that, Amina? Everything is going to be okay." But she would not look at him. "Amina look at me, what's the matter?"

"No Baba, I have shamed you and the family" said Amina "You told me to make you proud but look at what I have done instead"

"No, no Amina. You have made me so proud" said Alhaji "You gave me the strength to join the rebellion and fight for our freedom. And you should hear Dr. Mwanza, you are all she talks about."

"Dr. Mwanza?" asked Amina

"Oh yes! She's waiting for you to recover as we speak. She wants you to join her in Zambia. She says you can help empower the women and inspire the young girls because of your courage and bravery."

"Really?" asked Amina incredulously

"Your story has spread all over the camps in Africa"