CHAPTER ONE

“Mum, I am back”, said Rose as she entered their one-roomed apartment. It was a shame that they were living in this kind of condition. The death of her father really shook them and they have been trying to get back on their feet since then. She can virtually say that they were considered the poor in her area.

Since her father died, things became worse for them financially. He worked as a security man for a wealthy family. Although, he was well paid, he never brought his money home. Her father was extravagant and a chronic gambler. Due to his addiction to gambling, he continued to ask for salary advance which made his boss uncomfortable and got him fired. 

Thinking he would come back to his senses, he started selling off things in the house which made them virtually poor. He started a life of drinking which led to liver failure and finally his death. Even after his death, they had to pay off his debts for some years before they had any savings. 

Rose’s job as a receptionist helped them a little. It was from the salary she makes that they fed and paid off their house rent. It was so stressful for her but there was nothing she could do. She and her mother continued to survive with the little salary she gets from the job.

“Rose, is that you? of good, you are back. How was work today?” asked her mother as she opened her eyes.

“Yes, mum, it is me. And work was fine today. How about you? How are you doing?” Rose asked. 

Her mother has fibroid. She has been in pain for the past three days. And it looks like the pain was getting severe. They had been ignoring the fact that she was sick, but for the past three days now, it was really obvious that the pain was unbearable.

“Rose, I am not okay. I am sorry for causing you issues and being a thorn for you. I just wish the pain would go away. I can’t bear it anymore” said her mother as she gasped.

“Mama, please, I am sorry. I asked for salary advance from my boss today. She refused. I even went to the bank to ask for a loan. They refused as well, because I have no guarantor. I am just confused and sad”,

“My baby, don’t be sad. You have done more than enough. I won’t be this strong if not for the help you have given me. You are more than ten boys. Thank you, my daughter” Her mother said.

“Mummy, don’t worry. I will get that money we need for the operation. And you will be fine again. I promise” said Rose.

“Thank you baby”

‘I have no other option. I have to do something. I can’t sit here and watch my mother die. I have no other relatives. Apart from her, I have no one else. I can’t lose her. Even if I have to lose my dignity just for her to be alive, I will do that’, she thought.

Rose prepared dinner for her mother, waited till she slept off, and then left the house. She took some clothes with her which she never knew she would contemplate wearing outside.

‘God, please forgive me, but I have no other option. Just this night, and I won’t do this again. I can’t and won’t let my mother die. She must live and I have tried everything, but no way. This is the only way. I know this is a sin, a huge one at that, but I have no other option. I am sorry”, thought Rose.

She went and hid in an alley, changed her clothes and came out looking different. Anyone who saw the lady who entered the alley few minutes ago will be shocked at the transformation.

She said a quick prayer and saw the irony in what she did and became extremely sad.

                  ***   ***   ***                  

Dennis was on his way back to the hotel from the business meeting he went to across the state and thought about picking up some girl to help him relax for the night. This was what he usually does whenever he came into this town. He drove down a street he knew so well to be one filled with call girls. As he drove down the street, he was looking out for one that would entice him but saw none till he turned right at the end of the street and saw her. 

“Now that is one hell of a woman”, he said as he drove and stopped beside her.

“Hello babe”, he said.

“Good evening honey”, replied Rose in a husky voice. ‘I am so sorry, Father. Just this night only, please’, she thought to herself.

“Such lovely voice; goes well with the face. Sweetheart, what can you offer me?” he asked her smiling.

“What do you want, sugar?” she asked shyly.

“Sweet, she is a shyster. I love them shy. Babe, let me take you home and show you what is sweeter than sugar”, he said as he opened the door for her to hop in.

Rose climbed in and they drove towards the hotel he was lodging in.

“So babe, what is your name?” he asked her.

“Uhm, you can call me Yvonne. Yvonne Gabriel” she answered.

‘He can’t know my real name. I can’t tell him that. Yvonne is better. I hate her with passion. How could she do that to me? After introducing her to Solomon, she went behind me to sleep with him. I hate them both’, she thought to herself.

Yvonne was her childhood friend. They were practically sisters. Last week, she took her to visit Solomon. On reaching there today to ask him for some help because of her mother’s illness, she met the door unlocked. She heard some moaning and thought that Solomon was in pain and she pushed the door open. She walked into the apartment and searched for him. She called his name but what she got in response was still the moans. And if her ears weren’t deceiving her, she was hearing two voices. She walked down the hallway and moved towards the bedroom. 

When she opened the door, she met the shock of her life. She saw Yvonne with Solomon on his bed. Yvonne was on top of Solomon and they were so into each other that they did not notice her till she banged the door as she left the room. She was standing outside the apartment to catch her breath. She did not even cry or felt pain as she thought she would. Yes, she was annoyed; annoyed that Solomon did not see another girl to sleep with but her best friend. How could they do that to her

“I thought you said that you locked the door”, said Solomon.

“I thought I did”, replied Yvonne.

“Who do you think that was?”

“A friend of yours, I guess. Please don’t stop”, said Yvonne whining.

She never knew Solomon could do this to her. After all she did for him. She thought she loved him, but looking back on things, she was only infatuated.

“We are here”, said Dennis as he drove into the driveway of the hotel. Rose came out of her memories and smiled at him.

‘God, You just have to see me through this. And if I don’t survive this night without him touching me, at least I get to save my mom’s life. She is all I have left, except You’, prayed Rose in her heart.

“This is a beautiful hotel and it looks like an expensive one at that”, said Rose trying to make conversations with him.

“Hmm, yes a beautiful one and surely expensive but I don’t have an issue with that. And you shouldn’t be bothered. You will get paid in full. Damn, you are so beautiful. How come I have not seen you there before?”

“I guess you were always late”, she said and smiled at him.

***   ***   ***

Rose ran out of the hotel with the money. She couldn’t get her bearings. She knew she was lost, but she had to get to her mother and she will. She went back to the gate of the hotel and tried remembering the route they took and she went back the same way. On the way, she got a call from her neighbour, Mrs. Brown. She was going through the same thing with her and her mom. She and her daughter were both trying to make ends meet. Her daughter worked as a maid for a wealthy family, and rarely comes home. Her neighbour told her that her mother was in so much pain.

“Please ma. I will be there very soon. Is Rachael at home?” she asked.

“No baby. I am just alone”, said the woman

“Okay, I will call someone that will come and take her to the hospital”, she told her and hung up. She dialed a number on her phone begged the person to take her mother to the hospital.

After the call, Rose hailed a cab and rushed into it. She quickly gave the diver the address to the hospital and they left.