Chapter One

[Eleven years later]

It was a dark lonely road filled with trees which took imaginary forms of scary figures in the dark and boy, did she feel scared as hell.

She was walking at first, then as her fear increased, so did her footsteps, which made it seem as though she was half-running and half-walking.

She heard the sound of boots approaching her. For a second, she was at a loss on what to do, then making a resolve, she began to run in the opposite direction; but as she ran, the sound of the boots increased and came closer to her than it had even been at first.

Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest and she panted heavily, a very tiny line away from completely losing her breath. As she looked back while running forward in the darkness, she tripped on a stone and fell.

She attempted to stand up, but he got to her just before she could to her greatest sadness.

He cackled, mocking her. "You can run; you can't hide," He told her.

"Please, let me go," She said, with clenched fists and her teeth chattering, pending what he intended on doing to her.

He bent low, ran his index finger on her cheek, sending shivers down her spine as she dreaded his touch.

"Let me go," She managed to say.

"I won't, and no, no one is coming to save you," He said.

She bit her lip, afraid that he was saying the truth.

He cupped her face in his palms and attempted to smother her face with unwelcome kisses, but she turned the other way, knowing fully well she was getting on his nerves.

He tried to take advantage of her once again, but she didn't let him as she hit her head against his nostrils, sending him splattering all sort of abusive words from his mouth, angry and enraged by her actions, as he clutched unto his nose which was bringing out blood.

She grinned, happy to see him in pain, as she tried to think of ways to escape from his impending doom, with no great ideas forthcoming.

He gave a short bitter laugh. "For a girl, your head is unreasonably strong. However, I must commend your guts, although they have outright landed you in trouble," He said, anger laced in his voice.

She had seen it coming and she anticipated it. Even if he ended up killing her, she would at least take the memory of her giving him an injury, to her grave which was more than satisfying to her.

He raised his hands to give her a tight slap, and just when she thought she'd feel it, his hand hung in mid-air, apparently stopped by some unknown force.

She swallowed hard, wondering what was happening and questioning the reality of things.

The next unusual thing that happened was that the evil man fell to the floor with a yelp, delighting her but at the same time, heightening her confusion.

Dawn began to creep in slowly and she saw him stagger slowly to his feet, make a muffled threat and run off towards the other direction, staggering all the way, and falling, then rising up, like a blind man.

She giggled, then noticed another man walking away, and then, all at once, she understood everything: She had been saved.

He didn't seem like an angel or a spiritual being; he seemed like a normal human being, who had saved a damsel in distress.

"Who are you? Why'd you save my life?" She asked.

He stopped right in his tracks and was slowly turning around before...

*****

"Ibukunoluwami! Won't you get up from sleep? Ibukun ohh! This girl will never kill me. Which responsible woman sleeps by this time of the morning?" Mrs. Arike Ketu's voice pitched through the entire neighbourhood.

Bukunmi slowly tossed and turned in her bed, trying to block her mother's screams, by focusing on the dream she was having. It seemed to be going great, not until a hot slap landed on her face.

"Owww!!" She yelled, sitting up immediately, with her eyes wide open and rubbing her face with her palm, feeling the sting of her mother's slap.

"Welcome back to the Land of the Living," Her mother said sarcastically.

Bukunmi nearly cried, as the hotness of the slap penetrated her very being like she had been stung by a scorpion.

"Mami, do you always have to do this to me? I'm twenty-four years old for crying out loud. I'm a full grown woman. Who still beats up full grown women in this day and age?" She yelled.

Her mother wore a smirk. "And which full grown women don't have jobs to attend to in this day and age?"

"But Mami..."

"Don't Mami me there if you know what's good for you. Answer my question first, are all your age mates not attending to their various jobs by now?" Her mother yelled at her once again.

"Mami, I'm a writer. That's my dream and passion. All the job offers I've gotten are not related to writing. I can't see myself doing anything other than writing," She said.

"And how much has writing brought to your pocket? Writing is for lazy people, and we all know that you're a lazy being. This is past 9 in the morning and you're still sleeping. Are you not ashamed of yourself? Is it not your mates that are buying cars and houses for their parents? Heaven knows I did my best to train you in school, but here you are, still eating my food without giving me a penny as a reward for training you," Her mum said.

Bukunmi rolled her eyes. "Mami, calm down. All you should do is pray for me to get a good job, that's all. I promise to take care of you..."

She cut in. "When will that be? Is it when I'm dead and buried? Ibukunoluwami, pity your mother. I've struggled a lot for you to be treating me this way, haven't I? Okay. If you don't want to get a good job, get married then..."

"What? Married? Where's that coming from now?" She asked, puzzled.

Her mum eyed her. "Are you not old enough to be married with kids? Since you want to press your laptop and phone everyday in the name of writing, you may as well marry a wealthy man who'd change our story and be a housewife," She said.

"Who says I want to be a housewife?" She asked.

"With your laziness, that's where you're headed apparently. Bukunmi, go out. Don't you see how your friend, Nneoma dresses and goes out? Follow her at times, so, you can get a wealthy suitor. You can't get a job or a husband by sitting here everyday in front of your laptop, wearing glasses and oversized clothes," She stated.

Bukunmi gave a tired sigh and rubbed her head, knowing she was never going to win an argument against her mum.

"Won't you say anything?" Her mum asked.

"I don't know what to say to you. You're virtually frustrating my life by disturbing me to get a job or get married. The worst part is that you disturbed my peaceful sleep where I was dreaming and the guy who always saves my life was about to turn around. Thanks to you, I've never seen his face," She said, getting annoyed with her mum.

"Oh! So, you now have a spiritual husband? Little wonder you don't want to get married. I'm finished. My enemies have gotten to my family finally," She said, placing her hands dramatically on her head.

"What are you talking about now? I don't have a spiritual husband, please. I was only saying that... You know what, just forget it," She said.

"Bukunmi! I've asked you severally to pray to God. If only you had been praying, there's no way you'd be entangled in a realm of witches and wizards..."

"What now?" She asked, confused.

"Let me finish. Now, they've given you a Spirit husband. In fact, tell me the honest truth. Are you now a princess in the Marine kingdom?" Her mother asked, looking really worried and concerned.

Bukunmi had had it up to her chest level and she sure as hell wasn't going to have it anymore. She climbed out of the bed and stood in front of her mother, trying her best to compose herself and not let her anger show.

"Why are you staring at me like you want to beat me up? Have your sisters in the evil kingdom put you up to this?" Her mother asked.

With every ounce of strength she possessed, Bukunmi grabbed her mother's hand and led her out of the room.

"Bukunmi wants to kill me oh! She has been possessed!" Her mother yelled on top of her lungs.

"Shouting isn't going to make me stop my mission of throwing you out of my room, and quit being overly dramatic for once!" Bukunmi yelled back and pushed her out of the room, slamming the door behind her and bolting it from inside.

Her mother banged her fists against the door for some time, till she was tired and let her be in peace.

Bukunmi sighed tiredly and went to her bed where she sat and muttered a prayer to God, a practice she was used to doing every morning.

When she was done, she grabbed her phone from the bedside table and unlocked it with her pattern.

"How the hell is my battery on 7%?" She thought aloud, before what had happened suddenly dawned on her.

She growled. "If I get a hold on that mischievous brother of mine, I'll beat him to a pulp," She said aloud.

Shifting to the next order of business, she opened her mailbox, hoping the recent publishing company she applied to already approved of her book.

"Be optimistic. You're an awesome writer, they definitely have no choice than to accept your work," She said to herself silently, trying to gain confidence.

Unhappiness sunk in as she saw, to her greatest disappointment that there was no mail from E&A's publishing company. She heaved a sigh and dropped the phone on the bed, looking miserable.

What had she done wrong? She had read, proofread, edited and corrected everywhere that needed correction, but all to no avail.

Two years ago, she had completed her Tertiary education at the University of Benin with a First Class degree in Creative Writing and had proceeded to serve her country, Nigeria, through the N.Y.S.C scheme, very eager to get an immediate writing contract with her excellent result and the various recommendations she had gotten from her lecturers.

Had she not been the best graduating student? Had her books not been reviewed positively by foreign authors? Had her short stories not been featured in the school's magazine and beyond?

If there was anyone who was to make it in life with writing as a career, it was her. She deserved it because she was talented in that aspect. No! She couldn't be an entrepreneur, neither could she manage accounts nor excel in law and medicine; the only thing she could do was to write, because she felt happy doing it and she knew she did it perfectly well.

She was tired of facing rejections everywhere from different companies. Her mother made very little amount of money from the sale of provisions, and she felt very ashamed that she was still asking her mother for money to buy something as little as recharge card.

How about her brother? She had made him several promises when she was still in school that she'd get him enrolled in football classes, so he could become a professional footballer one day and also buy him a smart phone like the rest of his mates.

Asides that, she had also promised to buy a wheelchair for her grandmother, Alhaja Pelumi, to aid her movement around the house.

Then, for her mother, she had sworn to buy her cars, wrappers and build a house for her next to that of her Uncle, Gbenga, who had told her it was a waste of time training a female child in school.

Of course, she couldn't fulfill any of her numerous promises; not even those she made to herself. She couldn't afford to make a good hairstyle or buy new clothes. She had wanted to buy a car before she turned 24. Well, she had turned twenty-four the previous month, and she didn't even have nice shoes to walk around the streets of Lagos.

Tears that she had been fighting for so long came rolling down her eyes as she wondered if anything was wrong with her. Was she wrong after all? Was writing a waste of time like everyone thought?

The only person that had ever believed in her writing dream was her father, and he died eleven years ago. She was so sure that he'd have stopped believing in her as well if he were still alive.

She clasped her hands together, silently assuring herself that everything would be fine someday even though her mind strongly doubted the positivity of that thought.

Her phone suddenly began to ring, and she immediately wiped her tears then answered the call on seeing that it was her best friend, Nneoma, who was calling her.

"Hey, girlie. What's up?" Nneoma said from the other end.

"Nothing much," She said in a coarse voice.

"Umm... Why does your voice sound that way?" Nneoma asked, puzzled.

Bukunmi cleared her throat. "It's...umm... It's nothing. I'm fine," She said.

"Stop lying, bitch. We've been friends for how long now? Twenty good years... That's two freaking decades, and you think you can lie to me? I don't think so, mama, maybe in your next life," She said.

Bukunmi rolled her eyes. That was the problem of making people know you a whole lot.

"So, what's the issue? Your book got rejected again?” She asked from the other end.

Bukunmi sighed. "Yeah. I read that when E&A don't give you a reply after a month of submitting your book to them, it means your work's been rejected," She said.

Nneoma gave a light chuckle. "And so? Why are you so upset about it? This is the seventeenth..."

"Eighteenth," Bukunmi corrected.

"... Eighteenth rejection you've gotten. It doesn't mean you're a bad writer or something. I've read your books and you know I could be blunt and stuff but babes, your book is literally the best thing I've ever read...and baby girl, anyone who rejects such a great piece of work like that is high on something; weed maybe..."

Bukunmi chuckled softly. "Okay, that's okay."

"No, it's not okay. I'm serious, babes. How in the world could someone reject any book written by you? Don't they see you're a born writer? Are they blind or do they have difficulty discerning between good and bad books?" Nneoma raged on.

"They obviously don't have good taste," Bukunmi added.

"Exactly, babes. Now, you see what I'm talking about. Tell you what? I need you to come to the club this night. We're gonna drink away all our sorrows, you hear me? We're gonna drown our sorrows in the consolation of alcohol," She said.

"No, no, I can't do such. I've not had alcohol since graduation and I don't intend on doing so now," She said, turning down the offer.

"You're crazy. I'm coming to get you by 9, all right?"

"Nope. Nothing's all right. I'm not a club person and I won't go to the club, okay?"

"That's none of my business. When last did you go out or meet a guy? Umm... I can't even seem to remember and I have a good memory. You need to have fun, baby girl and I'mma teach you how to just for tonight," She said.

"No, please. Don't force me into doing anything," Bukunmi pleaded.

"Come on. Don't you get bored sitting at home all day?" She asked.

"I do... but I don't even have anything to wear," She said.

"Put on that body-con dress I got for you during your birthday last month," She said.

"That's way too short and seductive," Bukunmi said, amazed at the fact that Nneoma could actually be suggesting such to her, knowing fully well the kind of person she was.

"It's a club, no one has a problem with that," Nneoma countered.

"I'm not going anywhere and that's it!" Bukunmi said, with a finalizing note.

"You're going. My house won't be opened to you until tomorrow morning," Her mum chipped in.

Bukunmi jolted as she looked to her left and saw her mum standing outside by her window.

"Mami, for how long have you been there? And why are you even there?" She requested.

"Since you threw me out of your room in my own house," Her mum said.

"You mean my father's house, don't you?"

"Your late father was my husband. Go out there and get your own husband so you can stay there comfortably and at any time without anyone chasing you out. You're going out this night as punishment for pushing me out of your room, and that's it!" Her mother said firmly.

"But Mami..."

"Even your grandmother would be disappointed that you threw me out of your room. That's bad manners, Bukunmi, and I didn't raise you like that," She stated.

"Mami, this is unfair. You're the one who caused all these by frustrating me," She said.

"If you're not careful, I'd report your actions to your grandmother. It's either you go out this night with Nneoma or you stay at home and watch me report what you did, so that your grandmother can lash out at you. Do you want that?" Her mother thundered.

Bukunmi was silent as she placed her phone back on her ear. The call was still connected, meaning Nneoma had heard everything.

"I guess you're going then," Nneoma said from the other end.

"I obviously do not have a choice," Bukunmi said in a low tone.

"Yes!" Nneoma said excitedly.

"Whatever," Bukunmi said, rolling her eyes.

"I'll be there with a cab to get you by 9. In the meantime, I'm going to leave hate comments on all the socials of E&A's publishing company," She said.

"No, that's..." Bukunmi started, but the line went dead, indicating that Nneoma had hung up on her.

Knowing Nneoma fully well, she knew she was going to do as she had said, and won't pick up her calls even if she tried calling till she had succeeded in her plan.

Bukunmi sighed and laid on the bed, stretching out her arms and legs.

It was going to be an annoying night at the club, but she was going to just sit and sway in the background till morning came just to avoid her mother's wrath, or so she thought, not having an inkling that things were going to take an unusual turn and get pretty much interesting after that night.

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Much love .