Trafficked

6. Wedding Day

Dedicated to xoxaria for the wonderful new cover.

CHINYERE COULD NOT believe what she had just heard.

Her wedding ceremony?

She wasn't ready for marriage. She was only sixteen for God's sake.

Chinyere saw her world come crashing down right before her eyes.

"What are you waiting for?" the woman holding the makeup kit asked, "Go and bathe."

Chinyere dragged her body to the bathroom. No sooner had she entered the bathroom than she started crying.

She wanted to go home.

Loud sobs escaped from her mouth as she shut the door.

She lowered the toilet seat, sat on it and continued to sob.

A soft knock came from the other side of the door, followed by a woman's voice, "Are you alright in there?"

Chinyere buried her head in her hands and continued to sob but she managed to choke out, "Y-yes."

Her response was a lie but if there was anything she had learnt in her entire sixteen years of living, is that it was better to lie about her feelings than to have to explain the truth to others.

"W-well, in that case, please take your bath and don't waste any more time," the woman said.

Chinyere stood up from the toilet seat and turned on the shower tap.

She undressed and got into the shower. The hot water pierced into her skin.

After her shower, she wrapped a towel from the towel holder around her body and brushed her teeth.

The towel and toothbrush were brand new and Chinyere wondered if they'd been planning this for a long time.

She wished that someone else would be in her current position.
She exited the bathroom, clutching her towel around her body tightly.

"Oh, good," the first woman said, "sit down."

Chinyere sat down on the bed and the woman with the makeup kit stood in front of her.

She opened her makeup kit and started to apply it to Chinyere's face.

Chinyere wanted to escape from this hell but she knew it was close to impossible.

The house would be packed with people because of her wedding. She didn't even know who she was getting married to.

"You'll love Mr. Oko's son," the woman who was applying her makeup said.

Chinyere assumed that Mr. Oko was the old man who had bought her.

"He flew in from the United States last week after completing his university education," another woman said, "but he doesn't know how to speak Igbo at all."

"C-can't he choose his own wife?" Chinyere asked.

"His father wants him to marry a Nigerian girl and become a man," the first woman said, "he has too many girlfriends. His brother was married in the same manner."

"W-what about his mother?" Chinyere stammered as she spoke.

"She met with an accident some three years back and passed on," the first woman responded.

After that, no one spoke any more and they continued with Chinyere's preparation for her wedding ceremony.

CHINYERE STARED AT her reflection in the mirror.