I took a shower and dressed up. I went back home and changed into my tracksuit. I guess having sex was not that hard. It didn’t matter if I enjoyed it or not as long I had cash in my hands. I made noodles with vegetables to eat and sat on the sofa. Pearl came in.

“Aren’t you going to school?” she asked.

“I quit school,” I answered.

“Cathy, what will you do?” she said puzzled.

“This is what I want,” I said rudely.

“Cathy, we will talk when I come back. I just came to change my clothes,” she said as she rushed into her bedroom.

I sat and watched television. She raced out quickly and put on her white suit. I pulled the money out and smiled. She frightened me when she came running out of the house. I hid the money quickly under my legs.

She didn’t see anything because she was in a hurry. I now could afford all I wanted in my life. My body was tired so I will just fall asleep on the sofa.

A knock woke me up. It kept knocking. Who is it? I wondered. I wanted to rest. I opened the door and it was Nancy.

“Girl, I have been trying to call you the whole day,” she said.

“Sorry, I am just tired,” I said, while closing the door.

She sat on the sofa where I was sleeping and I sat down close to her.

“You have got to be strong. I lined another man for you tonight,” she chuckled.
“I will be ready,” I answered.

“Be ready at 8 p.m.,” she stood up, winked and left. I sighed and grabbed my blanket and closed my eyes. I checked my phone. There were several missed calls from Nancy and a message from Pearl.

Pliz make right choices. Our parents would like us to achieve more. We will talk 2nite.

I deleted the message. Pearl wanted to rule over my life. Couldn’t she understand I hate school and I am not good at anything at school? I checked the time and it was 3 p.m. I eat the meal from last night and packed the other in lunchboxes and put it in the fridge.

A soft knock was at the door as I washed the plates.

“Cathy, I need to give you a dress,” a voice called.

I went to open the door, it was Mavis holding a plastic.

“Hey Mavis,” I said. She just stared at me and never greeted back. She gave me a plastic full of stuff.
“She said wear one of the three and come to the bar,” she said and left.

I slammed the door. I could see how jealous Mavis was from her eyes. I checked the dresses, one had an open back and was slightly shorter than the black one. It looked beautiful but the silver one was the most elegant.

I will look more than sexy in it, I thought. The other one was red with long sleeves. All of them were fabulous but I liked the silver one more.

I cooked chicken and mushrooms. I wanted to leave before Pearl came back.

At 6:30 I already had bathed and dressed into the silver dress. I applied makeup and my long natural hair. I tied it up-right. Men whistled as I walked to catch a taxi. I just ignored them.

A taxi came soon enough yelling ‘town, town’. It’s only less than ten kilometres to town. I hoped Pearl didn’t see me.

I arrived in town at 7:45 and walked to the bar. It was packed and I got scared when I walked in. Some men looked at me but my eyes were searching for Nancy. They sat on a table a bit far. I looked down as I walked to them.

“Hi, Nancy,” I said shyly.

“Sit down girl. This is Max, your daddy today,” she said.

I looked at the man she pointed at. He looked Nancy’s age. He was handsome but he wore scruffy clothes.

“Hi, Cathy is it?” he asked. I nodded. “What do you want to drink?” he asked sincerely.

“Juice,” I answered.

“Why not beer?” he asked.

I looked down then up. Nancy came and whispered, “Beer doesn’t kill, try it. You look fabulous.”
She walked away with an older man and left me with Max. He stared at me, I looked away. Two red wines were served and I sipped mine slowly. It tasted like grapes with a strong aroma.

***

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