Broken ✔

Chapter Twenty-Eight

*Unedited* (Because I'm awesome)

Song: Melissa - Shatta Wale (You should really listen to this)

It was ten long days to Christmas. It would be my first Christmas in the city. A long while ago, that was all I'd ever dreamed about. Just that I didn't think that I'd be a prostitute, living with a psychopath.

It was the morning of the day I was to be auctioned off, but it was much too early to begin any preparations. I'd woken up before Kofi and had meant to take a shower. I rose from my rug and passed by his bed. He looked so angelic in his sleep, so pure, it was hard to imagine that he was the monster he was.

My shower was long. There was a steady flow of water from the shower, unlike back at home where I'd have to limit the water I could use to one bucket. It wasn't that we didn't have water back home. It just wasn't portable for the poor. We would fetch the water in buckets and store them in large barrels. We tended to use water economically because filling the barrel was tiring.

I mean, I used the water economically because I had to refill it when it was empty. My brothers used it in a way which made me feel like strangling them to death. Right now though, I wouldn't mind if they used all the water in the barrel. I wouldn't mind if they called me names and stuck my toothbrush in cow dung.

I'd thoroughly burnt my skin. When I went to brush my teeth, the mirror was covered with steam. I wiped it away and stared at myself. My eyes looked tired. Very tired, like it took every bit of strength I had to keep them open.

I brushed my teeth without looking in the mirror. When I was done and out of the bathroom, Kofi was still asleep. He was frowning so seriously that I thought he was awake. "Kofi?" I called out. He didn't reply.

I felt a sense of fear creep up my spine, making me shiver involuntarily. Something told me to get out of there, fast. I went over to the small room that contained my clothes and hurriedly grabbed something. I was too anxious and scared to check clearly. My stomach was tying itself in knots, whilst I felt the profound need to disappear.

I pulled on the underwear and clothes I needed, but before I could make it out of the room, there was a loud noise which sounded like the roar of a lion.

A lion?

I went out of the small room.

Kofi.

He was awake.

And angry.

I jumped, my hairs standing on end as he threw a lamp against the wall. He clutched his face in his hands and let out an ear piercing roar. Instead of covering my ears like I should've, I couldn't help noticing how torn up he looked.

I was still scared, my legs felt like jelly underneath me, but his face was covered with so much raw pain. His eyes were red and angry, tears streamed down his face, snaking their way down his strong neck.

For a moment, I stared at him, scared but intrigued, mystified, wondering what exactly could cause someone to look so torn up, so angry yet so sad. So pained, like his very existence was slowly being ripped away from him and there was nothing he could do about it.

I regretted my decision to stay and stare when he looked at me, his eyes burning with rage. If I was scared before, I was completely petrified now. I'd turned to stone, frozen into place by fear I'd never known.

His face fell, the mask of anger was replaced by indifference as he stalked up to me. I didn't think that I could move, but I guess I was more afraid than I was telling myself. I moved back until I hit the wall.