VILE

Chapter 8: The Past

Tomike ran in despair at the fear of losing this potential customer, her little legs flying behind her as though she was being chased by a predator.

When the car had finally come to a stop, she rushed to the window.

"How much?" the thick lady asked in Yoruba.

"One for thirty naira, two for fifty" Tomike answered swiftly. She had said those words so much, they easily rolled off her tongue.

"Ahaa! Is it not twenty naira?"

Tomike shot daggers at the woman with her eyes.

"Mummy it's thirty naira, two for fifty" she now had a strong feeling this 'potential customer' would end up not buying anything, and her race was in vain.

"Don't worry, I'm no longer buying"

The traffic light turned green, and the car drove off.

"Yeye woman" Tomike cursed under her breath. She knew it. "See how she just wasted my efforts, after running after her like that. Fat bag of rice. Better for her that she didn't buy any sausage. Any more food and she might explode."

This was her life now. Running after strangers in traffic trying to convince them to buy what she was selling.

At that moment, as Tomike sat down on a pavement to catch her breath, she couldn't help but miss her mother. It'd been five months since she passed, but the pain was still very present.

If her mother were alive she wouldn't be here. If her mother were alive, she'd be in school, studying. She wouldn't have to run after fat bags of rice trying to convince them to buy her goods despite the ten naira difference. But now her mother was gone, had abandoned her. And her stepfather made her sell on the streets despite her exceptionally good grades in school.

One of her teachers had come looking for her at home one time. She tried to convince Tomike's father that she could get a scholarship to get into a good secondary school. He didn't have to spend a dime on her education. But he kindly dismissed her and never spoke a word of it again. Evil man.

As much as she hated running and standing under the hot sun for hours, it wasn't as bad as the harassment she faced. Because she was on the road selling almost all the time, with barely any supervision from her step brothers who were supposed to take care of her, she was easy prey for any pervert on the streets.

Tomike was now ten, but wasn't completely sure how to protect herself from the men and young boys who constantly tapped her bum and tried to 'play' with her. She didn't like it, and she knew it was wrong, but she didn't know how to stop it. She wasn't the only one they touched like that. The other children too who sold with her were also 'played' with.

It was a very uncomfortable situation for her. All she wanted was to feel safe. Was it normal for children her age to be played with by adults like that?

If only her mother were alive. She always shielded her from everything. She never let her hawk goods, not even one day. She'd rather go out herself to sell. She'd tell Tomike in Igbo "You are my precious jewel. How will I tell my precious jewel to go out and sell on the streets ehn? Mummy is here, she'll do it. All you need to do is study hard and continue to be the genius you are. Ugo nneya."

Tears now filled Tomike's eyes. She sobbed softly as she wiped her nose with her dress. Why had pain singled her out in this world and then descended on her? Sometimes she wondered if standing in front of a fast moving truck wasn't the best thing to do.

"Sausage! Sausage!"

She stood up immediately, wiped the tears off her face and began running. As much as she wanted to be depressed, there was no room for that. If she didn't sell all her sausages, she wasn't going to eat anything that day.

Yeye Woman- Stupid woman
Ugo nneya- her mother's pride

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Hey there guys!
The reads on my story so far have been so encouraging. Thank you!😁
If you haven't read my prologue yet, I strongly advise you do.
I'll be putting up translations to the non-English words at the end of the chapters. I'm well aware not everyone can understand them.
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Xoxo 💕💕