EPISODE 5

A CRY FOR FORGIVENESS (MAMA FORGIVE ME) by Nike Investment

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     So many questions but who was going to answer them? If only she hadn’t kept secrets from her mother or allow Corper Micheal deceive her, she should have been at school. The worst part was she didn’t know where she was.

     Victoria could feel her hands and feet shaking out of fear, she picked up the file and quickly put it back into her bag.

      She leaped towards the window to see if she will see the strange man . She checked slowly and carefully so she won’t be caught. He was right outside, standing like he was waiting for someone.

     Victoria looked at her foot and it was still swollen a bit. She tried using it to walk normally and it kept on paining her. She could feel her head aching, this time it felt as if she was going to be sick.

     Those must be the symptoms of her pregnancy. She thought to herself. How was she going to escape from the hands of this strange looking man Victoria asked her self as tears began rolling down her cheeks.

       She heard footsteps of the man coming into the hut, she wiped her tears quickly and lay on the wooden bed pretending to be asleep. The man opened the door and for a while the door was left open. He walked in and came to the wooden bed where Victoria was lying down.

   He checked if she was really sleeping. Victoria tried her possible best to hold in her fears and not shiver. He stretched out his hand to touch her , then a call came into his phone and he left the hut leaving the door open.

    Victoria could hear him talking in a strange language till she couldn’t hear him anymore because he had moved away.

       Even though she had allowed Corper Micheal deceive her with his words, she was still a smart girl. She sat up , took the file from her bag and tiptoed to the door post. She peeped and saw the strange man walking a distance away.

     Carrying her bag will only delay her escape . She managed with her swollen foot and ran into the nearby bush cautiously.

      Few minutes after she had left the hut, she could hear the sound of approaching cars. From the sounds, she could tell two cars were headed towards the direction of the hut. Victoria tried her best and increased her pace but it wasn’t easy for her.

     Victoria….

      Victoria….

      Victoria…

    She could hear her name from multiple voices a distant away. They must have started looking for her already. She kept moving as fast as she could. Within a short while, she heard sounds of people walking and running towards her direction. some were calling out her name.

      The sounds were much closer than she had thought. She knew they were catching up on her, the day was bright. She decided to go into hiding. Victoria hid in a spot and kept observing.

     In no distant time, she could see some men calling out to her. She hasn’t seen them before. They could only have known her name through the old man.

       We won’t hurt you they shouted also as they called out her name. The file dropped from Victoria’s shaky hand and made a sound. The men all channeled their senses towards where they heard the sound.

    They drew closer to uncover Victoria who closed her eyes tight and was shivering out of fear. A squirrel fell from a tree and dropped down. It ran off immediately. It was just a squirrel one of them said.

     One who looked like their Boss spoke in an angry tone. By his demonstrations , Victoria could tell he was angry at the strange man for lying to him. They gave up on the search and withdrew from the area. Victoria was thorough to be sure they had left before coming out from her hiding spot.

     She could feel tears flowing down her cheeks as she was walking to where she couldn’t tell. Her legs were hurting, her head was aching and she was feeling cold all the the same time. But she kept pushing her limits . She could feel her body temperature rising. She needed water and food.

     She picked out some fruits and devoured them without even washing. She reached a stream and drank from it. The atmosphere was changing already and it seems it was evening time.

     Victoria wanted to rest for a while, she had walked for hours. She heard noises a distant away. She must be closer to a village park she thought to herself. She stretched her strength and began walking again.

     By the time she got to the park, she could see cars loading, people buying and selling. She knew most of those cars were heading to the city. She was determined to fulfill her dreams and it could only be possible in the city.

     She wasn’t sure how she will do it or where she will get money from.

     She saw a loaded truck carrying food stuffs to the city. She quickly sneaked into the back of the truck and hid herself. The driver closed the back of the truck and drove off.

      Victoria was so tired and sick, when she realized the truck has moved, she fainted.

EPISODE 6

Victoria stood up after a few minutes drive. But she was still dizzy and her temperature was on the increase. She was shivering out of cold. She started remembering what she had gone through.

     Starting from how Corper Micheal had promised her heaven on earth till he denied the pregnancy and called her a prôstitüte. She remembered how her mother’s blood pressure has risen and she died. Tears started flowing down her cheeks.

     She could feel the sharp pains again on her chest which made her remember what Mrs Fokem said to her.

    Of all people, her best friend Amaka turned her back on her when she needed just a hug to protect her heart from all the missiles sent to her by her classmates.

      The more she thought, the more rivers of tears flow down her cheeks. She coiled herself up holding the file the principal had handed over to her and shivering. She slept off drowned in her own tears.

     Wake up…
     Hello …
     Wake up…

   It felt as if she was hearing the voice in her dreams till something shook her a bit. She looked and saw it was a man calling her. It was morning already and the man seems to be the truck driver.

    He was looking at her curiously trying to understand what Victoria was doing inside his truck or how she got in.

     Young girl who are you he asked…

Victoria kept looking at him shivering without having any answer for him. She has really gone through a lot and didn’t know where to start from explaining to him.

      I said who are you and where are you from the man asked Victoria again.

     She kept staring at him shivering with a pale face. The man knew all was not well with her, he reached out and help bring her down. Her body temperature was high and she was shivering. What is the matter with you he asked Victoria when he noticed she was sick.

    Victoria just shook her head from left to right with no reply. He took her inside.

    Who is she? Mrs Obafemi asked?

As she saw her husband coming in with a girl inside their home.

   I don’t know Obafemi answered. I just saw her inside my truck this morning. I decided to check the goods before going to deliver them , then I saw her at the back of the truck. I think she is sick and needs help.

     Mrs Obafemi used her hand to check the temperature of Victoria who kept shivering. She realized she was really sick. She went into the kitchen and came out with a plate of food. She warned what was left of yesterday and gave it to Victoria with some drugs to take.

     Victoria managed to take some spoons and then took the drugs she was given. They allowed her to rest a bit. Obafemi left for the market leaving Victoria with his wife and kids.

    Victoria slept for some hours and she woke up feeling better. She was seated and still looking around when she heard a voice.

     What is your name my dear?

    Victoria looked and it was Mrs Obafemi.

My name is Victoria Linus ma. She answered.

    Where are you from and how did you get here?

    I am from umuokpa village ma and my mother died leaving me alone in this world Victoria answered as tears began dropping from her cheeks. Mrs Obafemi came closer and consoled her.

     Victoria was scared of how the wife of the truck driver will react if she finds out she was pregnant.

      Mrs Obafemi on the other hand was curious to find out who Victoria was because her husband is a womanizer. She won’t be surprised if he brought one of his girls home. She still doubted what Victoria had said.

     Umuokpa is a very far village from the city. Besides her husband didn’t travel to umuokpa to get goods. Victoria said she was an orphan so how did she manage to travel all the way to umulili where her husband had gone to load his goods.

        Mrs Obafemi decided to keep an eye on Victoria and her husband.

     It took only a few days before Mrs Obafemi  found out Victoria was pregnant. She called Victoria a prôstitüte for sleeping with her husband and letting him impregnate a young girl like her..

     I said it, I knew something was fishy. Mrs Obafemi kept saying as she pushed Victoria out of her house without letting her explain.

     Your husband is …..

     A slap landed on Victoria’s face before she could finish her statement. She picked up her file as tears kept rolling down her cheeks and walked away sobbing.