Chapter: Chapter 5: The AlertNatalie met me outside the bank at noon.I had called her from Grace’s borrowed phone because mine felt dangerous. I told her only that something terrible had happened and I needed her to come with me. This time she didn’t say her aunt was visiting.She was waiting at the gate in her work uniform, hugging her handbag. When she saw me, she covered her mouth.“Amelia, you look like you’ve been dragged behind a bus.”“Thank you,” I said, and almost laughed. It was the first time I’d felt anything like humour in a day.“Why didn’t you just come to me last night?”“Your aunt—”“My aunt left at six.” She said it softly and looked away. “I only said that because I got confused. Vanessa called me an hour before you did.”I went still, then asked, “Vanessa called you?”“She said you were having some breakdown and might show up asking for money. She asked me to let her know if you did.” Natalie wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have listened. I didn’t know it was this bad.”I wanted to be
Last Updated: 2026-10-20
Chapter: Chapter 4: What Grandmother Left BehindGrace didn’t answer at first. She looked at the door, then at the street, then at my phone as if it might bite her.“We cannot stay here,” she said.“You didn’t tell anyone?”“Not one soul. And I deleted every message the moment I sent it.” She was already gathering the envelope into her bag. “Someone has been watching your sister’s phone, or someone has been watching mine.”“Vanessa doesn’t have friends like that.”“No,” Grace said. “But your mother does.”I didn’t want to hear it. I stood with her anyway, left a note on the table to cover her tea and my untouched water, and followed her out the back door; the lane behind the café smelt of fried fish and wet cement. We walked quickly, past a vulcaniser’s shop and a woman selling roasted corn, until Grace turned into a small church compound and sat on the low wall by the gate.She was shaking a little, though she hid it by smoothing her wrapper.“I need you to read this,” she said, and gave me a sealed letter.The envelope was soft an
Last Updated: 2026-10-20
Chapter: Chapter 3: The Girl in the PhotographI did not sleep. I lay on top of the guesthouse blanket with my shoes on, in case I had to run, and listened to the fan click all night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my father’s face in the living room, saying, "I believe the evidence."At six, the sky outside went grey. At seven, I washed my face in a sink that sputtered brown for a few seconds before it ran clear. At eight, I checked my banking app, though I already knew what it would say.It was still there: the transfer from my father’s account, timestamped 9:14 p.m. the previous evening. I stared at that time. At 9:14, I was peeling plantain in the kitchen, and Vanessa was on the lsofa, laughing at something on her phone.My phone was in my hand when I thought about it. Whoever sent that money did it while I was in the house. But how, when I hadn’t touched my phone for twenty minutes?I didn’t have an answer. I took my bag, paid for the room, and walked to King Street.The café was a narrow place squeezed between a pharmacy
Last Updated: 2026-10-20
Chapter: Chapter 2: No where to call homeNatalie picked up on the third ring."Amelia? It's late. Is everything okay?"Her voice almost undid me. I pressed my lips together until I could trust my own."Can I stay with you for a night or two?"Silence. Then, "Ah, Amelia, I'm so sorry. My aunt came this afternoon, and there's no space at all. What's going on?"What could I say? That my father had called me a thief? That my own mother wouldn't look at me?"Nothing. I'll be fine.""Are you sure? You sound—""I'm sure. Don't worry about me."I ended the call before she could ask again.I kept walking, my bag dragging at my shoulder. A man laughed into his phone as he passed. A woman hurried by with a nylon bag of groceries, already thinking about her kitchen. I would have given anything to be either of them, or to be back on my bed pretending the evening was a dream I could wake from.But I couldn't go back. Not after the way my father had looked at me, and not after Vanessa sat there crying while everyone believed I had stolen f
Last Updated: 2026-10-20
Chapter: Chapter 1: The Day My Family Threw Me AwayThe slap came before I could flinch.A moment earlier, I had been standing in the middle of the living room, answering my father's question about why I'd gone into his study the previous evening. I had only returned his reading glasses. I was halfway through saying so when my mother's palm connected with my cheek and my head snapped sideways.For a few seconds I couldn't speak. I stood there holding my face, staring at the woman who had given birth to me."Mum...""Don't you dare call me that!" she screamed. "How could you do this to your own sister?""Do what?"She laughed, short and bitter, as if the question were an insult. "Ah-ah. She is still asking."Behind her, Vanessa sat on the sofa with a tissue pressed to her face, shoulders shaking. She didn't look at me.My father stood by the television, arms folded. His face was so cold I barely recognised it."The money is missing," he said."What money, Dad?""The money in my study. Your sister's school fees and travel expenses."My s
Last Updated: 2026-10-20
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