CHAPTER 11
Anna lived in a simple room just outside the city centre. The only pieces of furniture in her single room were a small bed, a coffee table and some stools to match. The stove sat on one corner of the room together with a plastic rack that held the few cups and plates and a few soot covered sufurias she had. An old bag held the few clothes she had and one stool bared her numerous lipsticks and makeup. Life was quite comfortable for the village girl I was and I could say fancy too. I would leave for school very early in the morning since I had to trek the distance and be back in the house well past dusk. We would buy food, cook and clean in turns. Anna never had a daytime job but she always provided when it was her turn to buy the food but it never crossed my mind to ask where she got her money from. This arrangement worked perfectly for both of us till the day I ran out of the money my father had given me. I was still not lucky in getting a job so Anna had to cover all the bills, including my food. She would pretend to be broke every few days so as not to buy food for me. I knew she'd eaten since I would always find dirty plates for me to wash whenever I got home. She would explain that a neighbor had given her food. I would wash without a word and go to bed hungry.
"This is the city young girl and you have to make money to survive!" She shouted at me one morning as i left for school.
"All this schooling is not going to pay the bills or put food on the table for you. And I am not your mother to be feeding you every time. You better get a job and get it fast or you leave my house!"
Her words sat heavily in my heart the whole day and I couldn't focus on anything. I didn't know how I would survive if she were to throw me out of her house and she was about the only person I knew in the city, well apart from my classmate Emma. I had gotten well acquainted with her because she rarely attended classes and needed someone to give her the notes and explain where she didn't understand. She would always tell me about her escapades with rich old men that sponsored her lavish lifestyle. I would laughingly dismiss her as I brought her attention back to our studies.
"You are so beautiful under that shadiness of yours Kira and if you could just flaunt that beauty, you'd sure give me a run for my money. " she'd said as we got back to our studies. Her life was so different from mine I couldn't see us living together.
That day I went home earlier than usual since I couldn't focus no matter how hard I tried and I had a raging headache, triggered by stress. The door was not locked so I just walked in, without knocking. Loud moans greeted me as I beheld the spectacle before me, mangled bodies covered in sweat. I was momentarily paralysed as all those memories from one night in particular came flooding back into my mind. Was Anna crying for help as I was back then, with no help in sight? The pain, the anguish ,the sense of utter helplessness all overwhelmed me at once, as I heard myself scream and utter darkness engulfed me.
