Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

‘’Jerald you will not stop me from marrying her! This was a bet and you will not pull away from it!’’ he is shouting and my mind drifts back to when I met Liam at the bus station a few days ago. He had told me about him marrying me if dad loses the bet.

Is this it?

Did he lose the bet?

My heart is throbbing so hard. I have no way out of this. I didn’t know that his threat was actually true. Now I do know the truth.

If I say I am horrified, I would be lying. I am petrified and terrorized.

This is too much to handle. It was actually true?

I wonder why dad would want to gamble with me. Is that the only reason he would have raised me? To place a bet risking my life? Why would he do that?

I have been crying a lot. My eyes are swollen painful and itchy. I can tell that it’s from the crying, I cried a lot earlier today and I feel like I am going to cry more.

Fresh and warm tears fall from my eyes. Rolling down my cheeks in a hurry going down to my neck. I had locked the door but Clare is always walking with her spare key in her pocket. I hear someone struggling to open the door and I automatically know it’s her.

I don’t bother wiping away the tears that are falling because I know they will fall anyway.

I don’t know how my weak legs manage to stand but I rush towards her, I hug Clare without caring if I am hurting her. She hugs me right back and I feel the care.

The warmth and sisterly love. She will be the very first person I bring to the city if I ever succeed.

‘’Don’t cry sister, I am here for you. I will support you in whatever decision you decide to take okay?’’ I nod amid sobs. I cannot help but feel betrayed.

‘’Thank you, Clare.’’

‘’Any time, Clara.’’

My own dad, selling me to his creditor? Like seriously? Is he really my dad? Did he really sire me? Is mum in this too? How did they sit and come up with such things? Who the heck would have the audacity to do this to his daughter? What came up to their mind? When did this happen?

Why?

I swear the questions running through my head are like a million and I know no one will answer them now. Life seems very tricky and when it happens like this, you feel alone, even though people may be around you. It feels more complicated when your own family is involved. Your parents.

Torrents of tears fall when I think about the latter.

‘’He shouldn’t have done this, don’t you think?’’ she nods without saying a word. I think Clare is really mature and she is making me feel better.

‘’We will have to find out why and if he really did it before we blame him okay?’’

‘’You know Liam already told me about this before. And I thought he was just bluffing. Could this be what the other day dad wanted to let out?’’

‘’We wouldn’t know that, Clara. Let’s find out more on this before anything else. Meanwhile, I would wish that you find your way out of here. I don’t know where to, but you have to leave.’’ She says with a sad face. ‘’I will miss you, sis. But your security and safety come first.

‘’Thank you. Where can I go?’’ I am trying to hide the fact that I already had it in mind that I would disappear to the city. She would feel bad knowing that I had plans and I didn’t include her.

‘’Can’t you just go to the city, sis? Or do you wanna go to Aunt Sophie’s?’’ I shake my head. I will pass the latter.

I cannot stand Aunty Sophie. She is this ruthless types that can mess around with your head in order to get information from you. She then creates it into something that wasn’t there. She is really good at spreading rumours and grapevine.

Her creativity in this is at a higher level. She should win a trophy already.

‘’With what money will I use to go to the city, Clare?’’

‘’I will speak to mum to do something.’’ I don’t say anything. Mum and the rest of the people shouldn’t know of any plans that I do have. She turns on her heels to walk away. She opens the door at the same time that Job walks in.

‘’Please don’t do it,’’ I tell her weakly.

‘’Don’t do what?’’ job asks gently.

‘’Speak to mum about me leaving this place.’’

‘’Go ahead, Clare. Speak to her. Clara is her daughter and she should stand with her more than anybody else. If this was Aunty Juliet, Tabby should have left this place already.’’ He says angrily. Now, Clare! She rolls her eyes before she walks out without uttering a word.

He looks sad but without another word, he runs to me and offers me a hug. ‘’That crazy guy will not marry you against your will. If he is marrying you, you should have said a yes to his proposal, I may be younger than him but I am in no way going to sit and watch his evil plans. I am going to support you sis! Trust in that.’’

‘’Thanks, brother. Where is Carly?’’ I ask. Good thing is that I have completely stopped crying. I am so happy that I have my siblings support. They may have no say, but them being on my side is a very great thing for me.

I love them.

Clare walks in a few minutes later. ‘’Mum is sad. She has said she will fight for you. She says that guy will not touch you. We are going to back you up okay?’’ that’s my little sister, she is ready to back me up. My brother and mum too. Dad may not wanna do that because he wanna pay his debts with me but I will wait and see if he has the audacity to say that to my face.

‘’Thank you, Clare.’’ She nods.

I dry my face angrily. I don’t want to cry like a weakling, I want to stay strong, smile even when I am really hurting and show myself that I can fight and it’s not an offence to fight.

A smile will give you a positive countenance that will make people feel comfortable around you. And whatever shit one is going through, a smile rubs it off from your heart.

I look up at Clare then to Job and I smile, very brightly. I walk outside when I hear the argument become intense and I am fully aware of the two of them trailing closely behind me.

They both fall into step with me, Job holds on my right side and Clare on the left. I feel supported completely.

I have come to a decision.

If it is a matter of life and death, then I will marry him but if no one is dying, then I will walk out of this compound and go start a life somewhere else. He then can go ahead and marry himself as a wife.

I don’t give a hoot!

‘’Stop!’’ I shout when the noise becomes too much. They are arguing and I don’t know what to do.

They both turn to look at me in surprise.

‘’I am so sorry, Clara. This is not what I planned to do. Forgive me, my daughter.’’ I feel tears burning in my eyes. What can I do? He looks remorseful but I have to know the beginning of all these.

‘’No crying, sweetheart.’’ I remind myself internally.

‘’What happened, dad? The last time I checked, parents didn’t have to use their kids as a bet. Why did you have to do this, dad? Am I that invaluable? Is that what I am worth? Marriage to some unworthy idiot?’’

‘’This wasn’t my intention. I thought he was joking when he said that. I clearly knew that I would win the bet and that’s the reason why I did let him do that. I am so sorry my child.’’ He says the last words with teary eyes. He is headed down on his knees and I stop him midway. I hate it when anyone does that.

I cannot allow dad to do that.

‘’Really dad?’’ both Clare and Job ask in unison.

He looks down in shame and I think if my eyes aren’t playing a trick on me, then I just saw a tear rolling down his cheek.

‘’You have lost the bet, Jerald, I will marry your daughter whether you like it or not! You owe me a shit load of money and if you cannot pay me, I will take your precious daughter to pay for it.’’

‘’Really? And you think Clara is worth the shit loads of money that dad owes you?’’ Job takes the moment to ask him.

‘’I don’t care what your stupid sister is worth she …’’

‘’Don’t you dare Liam or whatever you call yourself. My sister isn’t anywhere close to whatever dad owes you. She wasn’t in the agreement. Or was she?’’

‘’Are you asking me that?’’

‘’No I am asking your mother!’’ he shakes his head. I think he doesn’t believe that job just said that.

‘’Jerald your kids are really disrespectful.’’

‘’You think so?’’ Clare who has been quiet all this long asks daringly and I am sure even the fool seem cornered.

When I turn to look at him. He is smirking evilly. He winks at me and I feel disgusted. I wonder why he would do that to me.

One thing though, I will never marry him.

‘’And why on earth would you marry me, Liam? Don’t you think you are way too old for me?’’ I don’t know where the courage comes from but I ask him that making everyone gasp audibly.

He smiles without humour. Dryly. ‘’Age is just but a number.’’

‘’You are married, Liam. You are here to marry Clara as a second, Third or fifth wife?’’ mum asks with a long rod in her hand. She charges towards him, lifts the rod up and she is just about to hit him but he misses by a whisker. He runs away and I bite my lower lips to keep the laughter that is threatening to come out at bay.

‘’I will come back for you, Clara. You can only run but will never hide forever!’’ he shouts over his shoulder and I fight the urge to roll my eyes at him.

‘’Don’t you ever show up in my compound! Ever again, Liam.’’ Dad shouts angrily. I turn to look at him and without thinking, I walk into his open arms and he embraces me with love.

My dad is back. The guy who almost sold me off to his creditor. I feel the warmth of a parent.

Job and Clare joins as mum comes in too.

A few days ago, I felt so alone, lonely and with no one to hang on to. I was struggling to understand what was being hidden from me but now I think I know. Dad and his bets.

I hope there comes a day when I will be able to pay off his debts and make him live a debt-free life.

‘’I am sorry, Clara. We never meant for you to feel like this.’’

‘’It’s okay, dad. I will make sure to offset your debts okay?’’

‘’Thank you, my daughter, and please forgive this old man.’’

‘’Don’t worry about it, dad. Um … Is this what you two have been hiding from me?’’ I don’t know why I cannot shut up and stop asking questions on this. Dad and mum share a knowing look. Suspicion covers their faces. I guess these two still feel like I am a kid and not supposed to be told anything.

My godmother walks in on us. We have moved to the benches under the tree and Clare and I are seated very closely. Carly isn’t here. Job, mum and dad are seated on the same bench. They cannot respond to my question because she just walked in.

My assumption though

After exchanging our pleasantries, she sits down close to me. She looks jovial as usual. I am surprised to see the friendship between mum and her not shaken even a little bit.

I am sure mum went back and spoke to her. They have been close for as long as I can remember. Therefore, I would have been surprised to if they could ruin it in any way.

After chats and chats, we all agree that I go to the city. I am happy, shedding tears. I feel the pain of leaving my family behind, my loving sisters and brother.

I walk to our bedroom, I open my metallic box I pick a few of my dresses, the ones I think are fashionable, and put them in a nylon bag. I am going to work my ass out to fulfill my dream.

I stand up when I am done picking the dresses and I lie in my bed on my back. I stare at the ceiling absently. Life can mess you up when it decides to.

We are at the bus station and everyone seems to be crying. I know they wish me well but they are feeling the pinch of me leaving them.

An announcement comes through. Dad seems to be the one affected most. I walk into the bus after saying goodbye and when the bus finally leaves, I wave at them until I cannot see them anymore.