I AM YOUR SLAVE

The sound of rumbling thunder and frightening lightning proved that the downpour was going to be heavy.

I knew I had no other choice but to brave the weather. Aby was waiting at home for me and she gave me just ten minutes to get her shoes from her favorite mall.

Over the years, the way she treated me had gone from bad to worse. I was literally scared of her and what she was capable of.

It suddenly started pouring and I cursed myself for not bringing an umbrella along. Aby was going to kill me if her shoes got wet.

I squeezed them into my body and tried to run as fast as I could. I was cold and dripping wet when I got home but I rushed nevertheless to Aby and gave her the shoes.

I noticed she was angry but I didn't know why. I had checked the time so I knew I wasn't late.

She looked at me with disgust and asked me to kneel. I promptly obeyed while asking her what I had done.

She suddenly spat at my face and kicked me hard in my pelvis. I clutched my tummy as my face contorted in pain.

"So you think you can slack off because you've turned eighteen years, right? You have now grown wings so you think you are a big girl, is that it?' She asked with gritted teeth.

I said, "no, I wasn't slacking off, I came just in time."

"Oh, so I'm now a liar, right? How dare you call me a liar?" She asked before kicking me again.

As I cried out in pain, her mum came out and asked her, "why do you like bullying Ivy?"

She became more upset and screamed, "she is my slave and I have the right to punish her however I deem fit, so stay out of this mum. Besides I'm not bullying her, this riff-raff dared to call me a liar."

Her mom kept quiet and just stared at me with pity. Patrick had warned her severally not to interfere whenever the girls wanted to punish me.

She instead turned towards May who sat on the couch, pressing her phone and pretending like we all did not exist, and said, "Marilyn, talk to your sister before she gets me angry."

May looked at Aby and said, "I honestly don't understand why you condescend to have dealings with this trash. You're already twenty-three, grow up please."

May acted like I didn't exist in the house ever since her boyfriend came to visit and claimed I was disgusting.

May's scolding only served to infuriate Aby more as she took the orange juice beside her and emptied the contents on my head.

"You're disgusting and full of bad luck" she yelled. "You are the reason the weather became bad and my party got canceled. I'm so upset. Ugh!"

She stomped her feet in anger while she walked to her room and shut the door.

Mrs. Joyce Patrick told me to get up and clean myself up which I did. My life was a lot better all thanks to her.

She limited May's and her husband's cruelty toward me and I was grateful for that.

Sometimes I wondered what my life would have been like if she weren't around.

She made sure I didn't go to bed hungry and gave me the clothes her children no longer wanted so I wouldn't go naked. She also took me to the hospital whenever I got sick.

After cleaning myself up, I choose to stay in my room to avoid Aby's wrath but I suddenly heard her call out my name.

I made my way to her room and after knocking so many times, she asked me to come in.

She sat on her bed while she polished her nails. I stood for about an hour while waiting for her to say whatever she wanted but she just acted like I was invisible.

I wanted to remind her that I was still waiting but on second thought, I decided to keep quiet.

After what seemed like ages, she finally looked at me and said, "tell me what your place is in this house."

I quickly replied, "I am your slave," as I knew this answer always massaged her ego.

"It's good enough that you know your place. Let today be the last time that you talk back at me," she said.

'Yes Miss Aby," I replied. She looked up at me again before saying, "get out of my sight, you make me sick."

I quickly left her room and quietly closed the door. I breathed a sigh of relief when I got back to my room and I wondered if the day will ever come when I won't have to walk on eggshells around Abigail.

Later in the day, I was sent grocery shopping. I noticed a young man staring at me a few blocks from my house. He looked rich and handsome.

When I looked at my torn clothes, I felt conscious of my appearance, so I hurried my steps and went out of his view.

I remembered that I wasn't allowed to spend more than one hour outside the compound so I struggled to get home on time.

On my way back, I noticed the same man waiting for me. He smiled and waved at me. I pretended not to see him, however, he took long strides and soon caught up with me.

"Hi, my name is Victor. I will like to talk to you," he said.

"Please, I'm in a hurry," I quickly replied before taking to my heels and running home.

A few weeks later, I was going grocery shopping when the same man blocked my path and insisted I hear what he had to say.

I told him to be quick about it and he immediately said, "I like you a lot. Will you be my wife?"

I stared at him in shock, "are you insane? Do I know you? Do you even know me?"

"I know you live around because I've seen you so many times, and my house is the white building behind you," he said. 'As for knowing me, you can ask me whatever you feel like asking."

I suddenly noticed Patrick's car coming from a distance so I quickly told him, 'please stay away from me, I am nothing but a lowly slave."

He stared at me in surprise while I pushed him to the side and walked away.

As Patrick drove past me, he stared at me with hatred and disgust and I wondered if he was upset that I wasted time talking to a stranger.

On my way back, I thought I was going to see the same weird man but fortunately, he wasn't waiting for me.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I hurriedly took the groceries home.

Later, in the night, I heard a knock on my door. It was already so late, I wondered what Aby wanted me to do for her.

When I opened the door, however, the person I saw was Patrick, without giving me any chance to speak, he forced himself into my room and closed the door.

I looked at him in surprise and asked, "sir, what would you like me to do for you?"

He pushed me towards the bed and said, "I want you to make me happy tonight. If you satisfy me well enough, I promise to compensate you."

I immediately freed myself from his grip and looked at him in shock. Trying my best to appear unafraid, I told him, "sir, even if my life depended on it, I would never do such a despicable thing."

He sneered at me and said, "there's no use in pretending before me. I know how you freely give yourself out to men. I even caught you red-handed yesterday."

I shook my head, "It's not true sir, I did no such thing. I may be a maid but I am not cheap and besides, you are madam's husband, how do you think she will feel if she found out what you're trying to do?"

"Who will tell her?' He asked.

"I will tell her,' I replied to him.

"Then, it will be your word against mine, and let me remind you, you are not a maid, you are my slave. I bought you with my hard-earned money and I will have you whenever I want."

As he said this he pulled me towards him and pushed me onto the bed. I tried to get up but he pinned me down with his hands.

I opened my mouth to scream but he covered it with his left palm while he used his right hand to rip my gown.

Realizing my hands were now free, I poked my fingers into his eyes and scratched all over his face. He slapped my face with all his might and punched me in my stomach, the pain I felt was so severe that for a moment my whole body stilled and my vision became blurry.

I started begging him to let me go but he said he was going to show me who was my boss.

When he tried to take off my pants, I saw an opening and kneed him in his groin with all the strength I could muster.

He screamed in pain and rolled off my body. I quickly got up, opened the door, and ran out of the room.