I don’t want this anymore, I have reached my limit, I swear. I love Perry, but I’m tired of it all. I want to go back to my life when I was younger or maybe when I wasn’t even born. All I am is a spectator in this game of life. I’m tired of being drained, used and abused. I’m tired of it all. I have come to appreciate life with my mother. It wasn’t this bad, at
least I had my freedom. Maybe if I hadn’t slept with my mother’s husband, this won’t be happening to me. I cry bitterly.
“Somebody is awake.” Flora says calmly. I didn’t know she was awake so her voice startled me a bit.
“Flo, are you alright? You are awake.” I reply excited to see she’s awake and glad that I wasn’t locked alone. It would have been terrible if they separated us.
“Yeah, I’m alright. I’ve been awake for the past 5 hours. I was even scared when I didn’t see you moving. Are you okay?” she asks.
“How can I be okay? Flo, we are going to die.” I begin to cry. “I am scared.”
“Scared of death? Oh please, relax.”
“Relax? Flo, are you serious? Can’t you see we are in the middle of nowhere? This is a forest. This place……”
“What do you know about this place, Blondie?” she interrupts.
“This is the same place Savior had me.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yes Flo. This is the same room we stayed together. I still remember it like it was yesterday.”
“Do you know what that means?”
“What?”
“Blondie, this means that I am right where I can find my brother. I can get some answers right here. This is great.” she shouts excitedly.
“Shhhh, don’t speak so loudly. I think you are crazy. You have no idea where we are. Listen, this place is filled with armed men so don’t even try anything stupid. While I was here, I used to hear voices that sounded like women screaming for help and Savior had one too many weapons in this place. Right in this room, under that rug, there is a box built in the floor, it has some guns hidden there. I once saw him take them out, I pretended to be asleep so he wouldn’t know I was watching him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I am. I know what I am saying.”
“In that case, be prepared for war. I don’t care if I die but I won’t go down if I don’t take Bishop Marc along with me.”
“Now I know you are really crazy. What do you know about guns?”
“Common Blondie, I know a lot. My brother taught me well.”
“First, you can’t reach the box because we’ve been chained, just incase you haven’t noticed. And second, I don’t want to die. Not like this. I have to see my mother again, I have to look her in the eye one more time. What am I even saying? Heck! I don’t want to die. I can’t die. Where is my happy ending? I don’t want to die.” I begin to cry again.
“Shut up Blondie. Don’t get all hysterical on me. Don’t worry, we will be fine. Perry will find us.”
“Not if he does not know that this place exists.”
“Then you don’t know your man. He loves you and he will not rest till he finds you.”
“What if the Bishop has done something to him.”
“Now you are just being pessimistic. He’s a very smart man. He will find you, even if he has to drag his father by the balls.”
We hear the lock turn, it seems someone is trying to come in. Flora and I pretend to be asleep again. I hear the person open the door and walk into the room. He walks around the room for a bit.
“Hey! Common girls, don’t stop your discussion on account of me. I don’t bite.”
Flora and I stay quiet. We refuse to react because we don’t know what he wants with us. Maybe if we pretend hard enough, he will go away.
“Oh! Are we going to play like this? I know you girls are awake. I heard your voices. Anyway, since you don’t wanna talk to me, I will just leave. I came to see if you girls needed anything. But seeing that we are doing pretend sleep, I’m just going to pretend to care. I guess I will see you girls tomorrow.”
Oh no, we can’t just let him go like that. And what does he mean by seeing us tomorrow? I can’t wait that long. I quickly cough and fake a yawn. Pretending to just be waking up. I look up at him and I see a tall sinister looking man
“I knew it. You girls are awake. Hello ladies, welcome home.” he says with a wicked grin on his face.
“Where are we?” Flora asks.
“You are at the Bishop’s hide out. I’m sure Blessing is familiar with this environment. Fancy seeing you again here lady.”
How does this idiot know me? No one ever saw me here with Savior. Not unless he’s one of the Bishop’s hit man that chased Savior and I the night we tried to escape.
“Who are you?” Flora asks.
“Oh! Pardon me. I’m Calvin, you know, like Calvin Klein?”
“More like Calvin Swine.” Flora grumbles under her breath.
“What did you say?” he asks.
“Nothing. I said nice to meet you Calvin. I’m Flora.”
“Yup! So you girls need anything?”
“Yeah! How about freedom?”
“Sorry, I can’t do that. The Boss will have my head. I’m only here to make sure you girls are safe.”
“Safe? From what?”
“Well, that’s none of my business. You girls wanna freshen up and eat something or not?”
Flora and I comply. He takes off the cuffs and we shower one at a time while he watches us with a gun in his hand. He is soon joined by another guy who also has a gun. They bring us food from a fast food take out container. Flora demands they taste it first and Calvin does then we eat. I take a closer look at them, trying to memorize their faces. They look like any other stereotypical thugs. Although neatly dressed with clean jeans and designers shirts. Their perfumes smell expensive. I’m guessing the Bishop pays them really well.
“These chicks are pretty yeah?” the other guy whispers.
“Yeah! They fine.” Calvin replies.
“So what’s the deal with them? Can they be sampled?”
“They are the Boss’s special guests. You should know better.”
“Common Calvin, don’t be a sucker. What’s special about these two traitors. I mean, look how they ended up.”
“And you are going to end up like them if you don’t keep it in your pants. Be professional nigga!”
“Oh please man, they are still gonna end up being fucked all their lives.”
“We don’t know that. Well, that’s the fate of the blonde. But the fate of Flora hasn’t been decided yet.”
“Poor things, what a waste. But I still think we should take a bite.”
“And I think not. Now shut up and stop putting ideas into my head.”
The other guy leaves after teasing Calvin a bit. I am so relieved that they didn’t plan to take advantage of us. After we have finished, we are cuffed again. Calvin excuses himself and leaves.
“I’m so scared Flo.” I begin to cry again.
“Is that why you barely touched the food?”
“How can I eat in a time like this?”
“Well, I did. I need loads of energy for when it’s time to escape.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
“You better start thinking. If you are weak and hungry, you won’t get far. You have to eat to be strong.”
“I’m just glad they didn’t take advantage of us.”
“That’s the least of my worries Blondie. I have to find my brother and I will do anything to get to him. Besides, if Calvin is one of those who attacked you and my brother, then he must know where my brother is.”
“What are you saying Flo?”
“I’m saying that I will do anything to get to my brother.”
“You are weird.”
Flora and I talk about our lives and how we have ended up. I know we may not come out of this alive but she has refused to be pessimistic. She insists she will find Savior and take down Bishop. I don’t see her achieving this. I mean, we are in the middle of nowhere, chained with armed men surrounding us. How is escaping an option here? They won’t hesitate to shoot to kill giving the fact that we are a threat to Bishop Marc. Speaking of Bishop Marc, I wonder what’s going on in church. I hope our plan to ruin his carrier really worked and he will never climbs an alter of God ever again. I want to get out of here. God, please don’t let me die in here. Let Perry find me and I promise I will serve you for the rest of my life. I can’t die like this, I don’t want to. I cry till I fall asleep. I don’t know how long I have slept for but I hear the locks on the door. I don’t bother to look up, I’m just wondering what Calvin and his goons wants now.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the twins joined by fate.”
I am forced to look up as the voice is familiar. It’s none other than Bishop Marc, escorted by his armed men ofcourse. He looks at us with mockery in his eyes and grin on his lips.
“What do you want from us you bastard.” Flora barks as she grimaces towards the Bishop but is restricted by the chains.
“Please let us go. I swear we won’t say a word about this to anyone.” I plead.
“Really? Just like that? You girls think I’m stupid. Blessing, you are really a curse. Everything you touch withers. I wonder what your mum thought when she named you Blessing. You weren’t a Blessing to her nor to your step father. Neither were you to the cab driver nor to Savior, neither are you a blessing to Perry nor to me.”
“Where is Perry? What have you done to him?” I ask in tears.
“Perry? You are still talking about that foolish traitor? Where did I go wrong with you Blondie. Can’t you see that no one can ever love you the way I do?”
“You don’t love me Marc, you are only obsessed with my body.”
“First time you call me by my name. Well, I won’t lie that your body is an added advantage, I mean, it’s a bang! But I do care about you.”
“Really? Then why am I here, In cuffs? Is this how to show love?”
“You messed up Blondie, you betrayed me. You started fucking my son. My own flesh and blood. How could you?”
“You were only using me. You kept me for yourself. I don’t want that kind of life.”
“Yes, this is the life you chose instead. You wanted to be a cheap slut. Don’t worry, since you love sex so much, I will enjoy making you a highly paid whore. In just a few days, you will be working your pussy so hard till you get old. You disgust me so much that I can’t even bear to lay my finger on you.”
“Please, I beg you. Don’t do this to me. I promise to go very far away from you and your son. I won’t see Perry ever again.”
“Oh no, I don’t want you that far away. I do want you far away from my son, but I want you where I can always see you.”
I break down and cry bitterly. This is not what I want for my life. God please save me. I go on my knees and plead with him but it’s obvious he’s done with me. He turns to Flora.
“As for you ungrateful bitch, I gave you life after your mother and step father died. I took your brother to be my right hand man but he turned out to be a traitor, just like you. He was a great guy.”
“He was? What do you mean ‘was’?” Flora tries to attack the Bishop but is restricted by the chains again. She isn’t crying but she has tears rolling down her face. “What did you do to my brother you Bastard? This is the place he stayed while he worked for you. Where is he?” she screams. I’ve never seen her so upset. If not for the chains, she would be tearing the Bishop to shreds with her nails right now.
“Ohh! I see Blessing has filled you in about this place. Don’t worry Flora, I have no need for you, you will be seeing your brother soon. I have to go ladies, I still have some damage to control due to the mess you both created at the church.”
“Please let us go.” I beg.
“Come back here you scum. Tell me what you did to my brother. You will pay for this, I promise you.” Flora yells. But he ignores us and walks out.
I break down and cry, I am desperate, I must get out of here. I can’t end up as a prostitute. I will rather die. Wait, what am I even saying? I don’t want to die. I can’t die, not like this. Flora and I cry our eyes out, but for different reasons. She is only focused on finding her brother and not caring about her safety but I have my safety to worry about. If I can only get out of here, I will go very far away from this family. I am the reason for all this mess, if Savior didn’t keep me, he wouldn’t have been in danger. These people would never have met me if Savior never met me.
Later in the evening, Calvin and the other guy returned.