Chapter 1

Flashback

Many Years Earlier

    The young woman made her way towards the iron gate not too far from her as she adjusted her black skirt with a native ankara blouse.

   She was a true dark beauty. Her skin was ebony.

Having all the curves in the right places, her hips swayed as she approached her destination. Her hair was pure afro, thick and virgin, untouched by relaxer.

She had black eye colour which was very common in Nigeria. Her lips were naturally light pink with long eyelashes which added to her beauty.

Indeed she was a true dark beauty!

   Her name was Chinenye. Chinenye approached the gate and opened it. She stepped inside the large compound.

  It was a family compound, a bungalow of five bedrooms. Flowers decorated the compound adding to its beauty.  The bungalow was built by Chinenye's fiancé, Emeka. He wanted it to be a family house where him, his brother, his mother and their wives can habit in peacefully. He was planning on building a bigger one that would contain the family's size in the future because of his upcoming wedding.

   There was three bathrooms and three toilets at the back of the house and there was two pumps for getting water in front of the house as no water system was available at that period.

    Chinenye approached the door and knocked on it. She got no response. She knocked again, still no response.

    She was invited to come over by her fiance's younger brother, Francis. Francis harboured a secret desire for Chinenye which she knew about and threatened to report to his brother if he doesn't kill the feelings he has for her.

   She hoped Francis would have come to his senses and realised the gravity of his feelings.

  Desiring his own brother's future wife!

    Chinenye wondered why Francis was taking time to open the door and immediately got scared wondering if something bad happened to Francis.

   She pushed the door open and was shocked to find it unlocked.

   "Chineke(God)!  Somebody can easily come inside and steal something! Something must definitely be wrong!"

   "Francis!"Chinenye called out as she walked towards the kitchen. She wanted to check the rooms but was scared and turned back going to the parlour, oblivious of the figure creeping behind her.

    Suddenly a hand covered her mouth, injecting fear into her.

  She tried to scream but couldn't as the figure tightened his grip on her. She could only release muffled screams. She gripped uselessly at his arm, trying to free herself but to no avail.

    She immediately used her elbow to hit his stomach which made the figure release her as he fell to his knees clutching his stomach as he winced in pain.

Chinenye turned to meet Francis on his knees groaning.

   "Are you mad?! Ibu onye ala!(are you mad?)" Chinenye exclaimed in her traditional Igbo dialect.

  "What is wrong with you? Were you trying to force yourself on me!?"

  Francis stood up, still clutching to his stomach. He stared at Chinenye, lust visible in his eyes.

"But you know I love you. I really do Chinenye. I'm the one you should be marrying not Emeka"Francis cried out.

  Chinenye shot him a glare and hissed, turning to leave. He suddenly grabs her arm pulling her close to his body.

"Francis giwa na chum uku(Francis you are looking for my trouble)"Chinenye said angrily in her traditional dialect.

His grip on her arm tightened as he pulled her closer to himself.

  "You are making a mistake by marrying my brother"

Chinenye felt like slapping Francis, she couldn't believe he was really desiring his brother's wife.

Disgust was written over her face as she glared at Francis.

"Francis I'll never be yours!"

That sentence felt like a slap on Francis' face. He clenched his teeth and raised her chin up enough to meet his gaze.

  "Let me go!"she shouted at Francis.

He reluctantly let go of her hand and smiled at her brushing her cheeks lightly. She shoved his hands away and hissed as she walked away.

"Just get married to my brother, I'll make your life unbearable for you"Francis said in a whisper as he watched her walk away.

She headed towards her mother's farm under the scorching sun, cursing under her breath. Francis behaviour shocked her to the core. She never expected him to react the way he did. He had lost the last atom of respect she had for him.

CHINENYE

"How can Francis touch me like that! Obu onye ala(he is a mad man). I can't believe I actually left the errand Mama sent me to do to see this idiot" I said inwardly as i hurried to the farm. I greeted the few farm goers I saw as the path to the farm become narrowed, shrubs and tall grasses covering my path.

  The hot sun kept on scorching coupled with the grasses my skin came in contact with. Everything itched  my skin and it irritated me.

I just wanted to go check the cassava Mama planted. If not for that stupid Francis, I was sure I would have been done by now.

  I lifted my skirt to keep it from sweeping the ground. As I neared Mama's farm I suddenly had this feeling that I was being followed.

I shook it off and kept on walking but a voice in my head kept on screaming at me to turn back and run.

   "Is anybody there?"I asked as i stopped in my tracks and turned back.

I got no reply. The atmosphere became eerie silent. I was used to it actually, but this time the silence made me scared.

  I turned around and was startled as I screamed in fear. A man was standing in front of me,a masked man. I tried to run but he caught up to me and in the blink of an eye, he put me across his shoulders as he took me inside the bush.

He was going to rape me or maybe even kill me!

I had heard about girls who got raped on their way to the farm but I never imagined I would be a victim.

I screamed some more as my hands hit his back. I screamed so loudly, my throat started hurting me. He took me inside the bush and dropped me down violently. He quickly got on top of me as he struggled to raise my skirt up.

"Please leave me. I don't know you. Please don't harm me"I begged but it seemed my pleas were to no avail as he pinned my hands above my head glaring at me.

I had to act fast. I had to atleast shout for help. I started screaming again,hoping for a messiah.

Instantly, I felt a something touching my skin, it sent shivers down my spine.

It was a knife!

This man was armed.

"If you scream again I won't hesitate to kill you. It's better if you keep quiet!"He threatened me.

My mind instantly went blank. I didn't know how to react again and I just went numb.

***

Three Weeks Later

"I know what you like now, that's why I got you this sweet oranges"Emeka said smiling at Chinenye who was enjoying licking the juicy ripe oranges.

She had already licked three and still wanted more.

   Emeka bought a dozen and was peeling the oranges as Chinenye licked them.

They were sitting on the corridor of Emeka's house, discussing their upcoming wedding.

  The iron gate opened and a young girl entered. She, unlike Chinenye had a light complexion, her long braided hair fell on her shoulders. She was on a gown as she walked happily towards the house. She was also beautiful but not as beautiful as Chinenye.

  "Lydia how are you doing?"Chinenye asked smiling as she stood up to meet Lydia.

She knew Lydia was here for Francis. Francis and Lydia shared a very strange relationship. To Francis,Lydia was just his friend but to Lydia, he was more than a friend.

Lydia was crazy over Francis but she knew he actually liked Chinenye which made her secretly hate chinenye.

   "I am fine o. What about you?"Lydia replied with a pretence smile.

  " Lydia you are here for Francis right, he's not around o"Emeka said as he kept on peeling the oranges, his gaze not leaving the oranges.

  "It's fine. I'll wait for him inside"Lydia said as she headed inside and lightly shoved Chinenye from her path.

"This girl really wants to see Francis o. See the way she pushed me"Chinenye said as she smiled and sat next to Emeka.

"I don't trust that girl sometimes to be honest with you"Emeka said as he dropped the orange and knife in his hand.

  "You over think too much my dear. There is nothing......"Chinenye's voice trailed off as she quickly ran to the back of the house clutching her stomach tightly.

  "Chinenye!"Emeka called out as he ran after her.

  He met Chinenye vomiting at the back of the house. He went closer to her as she used the sand to cover it up.

  She quickly walked away and went towards one of the pump, turning it on to wash her face.

  "What's wrong?"He asked.

She averted her gaze from him and tried walking away but he gripped her hand and pulled her close to him.

He scrutinized her thoroughly as she kept on adverting her gaze from him, not wanting their eyes to meet.

Something smelt fishy to him.

  "Are you pregnant?"He asked instantly.