Layla

"Clean up the blood before I come back home, we don't want any blood stains on the floor, now do we darling" he says with a chuckle.

He grabs my hand and leans down to whisper in my ear

Now I want this place to be spick and span by the time I get back,I should be able to see my reflection on the floors.

He lets go of my hand and walks toward the walk-in-closet, opens it and pulls out a long deep purple dress with a silver belt in the middle.
He throws it in my face and says
" I want you to wear this dress,he says running his hands along side it, it's beautiful so maybe it will make you less ugly so you don't scare away our guests tonight.He throws it in my face and turns to leave.

I try to glare at  him from underneath my eyelashes but I fail when my fear triumphs over my hatred for him.

Just as he reaches the door, he stops suddenly and swivels around with a sadistic smile on his face ,you are going to act like a perfect little wife,you are going to act like you're in love with me and we are going to be the most perfect couple ever.

Do you understand? I nod my head, use your words woman. I said do you UNDERSTAND? Yes, yes I do, I say to him.
I start to cry audibly foolishly thinking that for once he will pity me fo once in his life but he only grabs my face roughly, his fingers pressing into my cheeks to the point where it's painful .

Oh, shut up. You make so much noise that I'm probably going to have a headache and get angry at you for causing it . You don't want me to get angry now, do you?

I hastily shake my head.

Good, he looks down at me,  gives a little shake of his head just  like how one would if you were talking to a silly child, turns around and slams the door shut

I sit in my own pool of blood for about half an hour silently shedding tears before I gather the strength to get up.

I walk into the bathroom and get into the shower and slide the door shut, I turn on the hot water and sit  underneath it.

I watch as my blood goes down the drain and the glass of the shower getting foggy because of the heat of the water running down my back and I know it's supposed to hurt but honestly I can't feel it and I want it to so badly. But I can't because my emotional pain  overshadows my phsical pain.

I stay in the shower until the water had gone cold and my skin is raw, I pick up a towel, wrap it around my body and walk out of the bathroom.

I walk to the closet and pick up the first thing my hand touches which is an Ankara gown, I don't even bother looking at it, I just slip it on and walk over to my pool of blood on the floor.

I start to clean it up and I take my time to because I know by the time he comes back from work I would've already been gone,after I'm done I start to clean up the rest of the house.

By the time I finish cleaning up the whole house, it's already 1:00pm and this is when I start to put my plan into motion,I get up and go up to our bed I lift off the matress and pick the money underneath it, it isn't much but I know it will take me home.

Home I whisper to myself, my heart flutters with a feeling I haven't felt in years, HOPE.

I quickly put the money in the pocket of my dress,pick up my scarf and walk out of the house absolutely trembling with fear even though I know the gateman has already gone for prayers and he isn't coming back anytime soon.

I trek for some minutes until I couldn't see the house anymore and that's when I start to run, I run  in desperation hoping to God Almighty that I don't get caught for a few kilometers.

I look for a bus which is going to kano, once I found one,I payed the conductor the fare which was all of my money.

"Hey , ma'am where's your luggage" I turn around and see the conductor,I look at the him, he's looking down at me with a smile on his face. I envy how he can look like he doesn't have a care in the world, how he seems to not carry a single burden on his shoulders.

Oh no, I smile politely at him, I haven't got any clothes.

Oh ok, then please get in, we're about to leave. I get in the car and sit between two women, the one on my right had a baby who was crying right in my ear and the other one who was on my left was an old woman who was snoring in my other ear, I know it's supposed to be uncomfortable but honestly I couldn't care less because I was going home.

𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠𝓠

Seven hours, for seven hours I traveled in the bus from Lagos to Kano.

By the time we arrived at the motor park, It was nightfall. I was hungry, tired and had absolutely no money.

I stepped out of the bus and took in a deep breath. I looked around for a few minutes the place was filled with drivers calling out to potential customers, people getting on and off of cars and hawkers trying to sell their goods.

I start to walk out of the park and get on the street, I keep walking until the noise of the building behind me fades and I'm all alone.

It's ghost-quiet, the only things I can hear are the click-clack of my footsteps against the ground and the sound of the creatures lurking in the dark.

I'd been walking for about half an hour when I started to notice someone was behind me and the first thought that crosses my mind is

He's found me, he's finally going to kill me and that's where the fear grips me

I start to walk faster, hoping that by some miracle I would be able to escape. The sound of my heartbeat is so loud that I can hardly hear  or  see anything in the dark.

I am barely paying attention to where I'm going because I can still hear his footsteps. I don't even see the stone right in front of me and I stumble and fall.

I hear him getting closer and  i fo the onlt thung i can think of, I  scream.

"HELP !"

"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME"

"Hey, are you okay?"

"HE'S GOING TO KILL ME"

"What! No I'm not"

I continue to scream  bloody murder, I'm already in tears and I'm shaking.

He grabs my shoulder, "hey Listen to me"

I start to thrash in his arms

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"okay, okay" he removes his hand from my shoulder and moves back

I start to hyperventilate and by tye time i realize that its not him, im already halfway unconscious.

My last thought is well this is gonna be embarrasing when i wake up.

Well, that was an interesting first meeting...

Anyway thank you so much for giving this book a chance, if you liked the chapter then please vote or comment or better yet do both I'd really appreciate it.

I hope you'll stick with this book because you're in for quite a ride

Also l know the distance from Lagos to Kano is actually 13hrs but in this book let's pretend its seven.