Trafficked

CHINYERE GLANCED AT the clock on the wall of her classroom every few minutes.She tapped her fingers impatiently on her desk as though it would make time move faster.She took a glance at her English Language teacher for the third time in the entire period.His light brown eyes complemented his dark chocolate skin and his large bald head blocked a large proportion of the black chalk board. He was dressed in an oversized white shirt and blue jeans with green suspenders.The man, who went by the name Teacher Johnson, spoke ever so slowly that sometimes he even bored himself to yawning and dozing every once in a while.Chinyere wondered how he did not notice that everyone else in the classroom had their heads down on their desks and were probably in dreamland by now.The sound of the bell ringing made the sleepy heads to jolt their heads up, suddenly energetic.The

TUNDE UNPLUGGED HIS phone from the charger and turned it on.He had stayed up studying all night and had left his phone off.Tunde wanted to pass his final examinations and make his parents proud. He still had two years before his final examinations but his father could not tolerate having his son fail at anything, not even a simple class test.His phone buzzed immediately he unlocked it. It was a message from Chinyere.Tunde opened the messaging app and saw that it had been sent the previous night.I'm going to meet Mystery Boy. Wish me luck. Chi Chi 08:07 pmThere was no use in respondi

CHINYERE'S HEART BEAT faster as the old man walked up to her. He grabbed hold of her arm and looked at Tobi. "I want her.""Ah, that one," Tobi's father climbed into the truck with help from Tobi. "She's our newest. She's a golden egg, so we're picking the price.""But I'm your most loyal customer," the old man said, "at least let me choose the price.""Sorry," Tobi's father said, "but that is impossible. Eight million Naira.""Eight million?!" the old man yelled. "All that money? The last one I bought wasn't this expensive!"The last one? Chinyere pulled her arm out of the old man's grip. Chinyere could feel the ropes around her wrist dig into her skin. The old man didn't seem to mind. He rather focused all his attention on Tobi and his father. "This one is even thirty five percent off, oh," Tobi said without looking the man in the eye. "Take it or leave it."The old man was not pleased. Chinyere could tell from the frown

Chinyere sobbed as she wiped the blood off her lower lip with a face towel. The punch her husband had given her didn't hurt as much as what he did to her on their wedding night. The monster had raped her. She'd tried as much as she could to get away from him but the doors had been locked. It was Friday and she'd been a married woman for two days now. She'd avoided entering the room whenever her husband was around because she didn't want to be alone with him.She tried to plead with Esther to let her sleep in the servants' quarters but Esther rejected her pleas. She wished she could just call out to God or her mother and have them help her but she couldn't, there was no way either of them would come to her aid. It was her fault that she was in such a position and she had to deal with it herself. A soft knock on the door dragged Chinyere out of her thoughts. She rinsed the towel and h

AFTER CHINYERE TOOK a long bath, she made her way back to her room. Chibinobim was no longer in the room but the room still smelled of alcohol and cigarettes. Chinyere used her towel to dry her wet hair and threw the towel on the bed. She didn't bother to comb her hair and exited the room.The only places she had been to in the house were the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom and the dining room. She had never stepped her foot in the living room and other parts of the house. She planned to go to the kitchen to help Esther and the other maids prepare breakfast. On her way to the kitchen she met Mr. Oko. She bowed her head, "Good morning, Sir.""Why so formal?" Mr. Oko smiled, "call me father."Chinyere nodded but did not say anything. She tried to walk past him but he blocked the passage by jumping in front of her. "I need to tell you something," Mr