A very loud knock woke me up. I stood up, and put on my gown. I knew it was coming from the front door. It was after 9.am. Pearl must have gone to work. I opened the door.

“Nancy,” I said calmly wiping my eyes with my hand.

“I am just checking you,” she spoke in a serious tone.

She entered and I closed the door. She sat on the chair and I sat on the sofa. My back and bums were still painful.

“I saw that rough man going with you, hope you are fine,” she said concerned.

“That man yooo. He had anal sex with me. I am in pain hey,” I said sadly.

She pulled something from her pocket and gave me. A small packet with white powder.

“You will need this to ease pain,” she said.

“How will I use this?” I asked frightened.

I knew they were drugs, they looked dangerous.

Nancy poured a small amount on the table and rolled a paper then sniffed it. She faced upward and opened her mouth, out to breath.

“Try it,” she ordered.

I did after she had showed me. I felt a bit dizzy then the pain just vanished. I felt a lot of energy. This will work perfectly fine for me, I thought. I didn’t mind that drugs could be addictive. It was the only way I could have sex numerous times without pain.
“Good girl,” she said.

***

It was three years after I left school and became a prostitute. Pearl got married to Evan, her boyfriend of five years. She now stayed in Highlands. I was still in my parents’ house. I did parties with Nancy every month. I had my freedom now. Pearl found out that I was a prostitute and I never gave her a chance to talk about my life. This is my life after all. I’d been using drugs ever since Nancy introduced to them to me.

One day I felt nauseated. I vomited after every few minutes. I took my phone to chat with Nancy.
Girl, I am not feeling well 2dae.

What’s wrong?

Eish, I don’t know.

Are you pregnant?

I can’t be . Don scare me.

Go to clinic for check-up.

How can she think I am pregnant? I can’t be, there is one way to find out. I took a shower and dressed decently in my long grey skirt and white top. The clinic wasn’t far and I walked slowly. I was nervous, what if I was pregnant? The nurses were good and polite. I saw Ma Agnes sitting in the office where I entered; I’d forgotten she was a nurse.

“Cathy, how can I help you?” she asked softly.

“I… I am not feeling well,” I answered.

“Go and put your urine in this bottle then I test you for HIV and TB, not forgetting pregnancy,” she said handing me a small bottle. She pointed to a room with a sink and chamber. I put my urine inside the bottle as instructed. The room was making me more nervous. I just wanted to run away.

I returned and put it on the table, she put on gloves and pricked my finger with a needle. She poured the blood on this small rectangular thing. She took my urine away, after labelling it with my name. She gave me another bottle.

“Go and put your mucus inside this bottle,” she said.

I did as she said. She wrote some stuff on some papers and checked the rectangular thing.

“Are you ready for results?” she asked. I nodded.

“You are HIV positive,” she said.

I felt struck as if I was electrocuted. I couldn’t believe I was positive. Another nurse entered with a paper and gave it to her.

“You are pregnant as well,” she said.

I looked at her in shock and just ran away. I could hear her calling me but I didn’t look back but ran as fast as I could. I got home and cried.

Ma Agnes called Pearl and told her about the results. Pearl came as soon as she heard. I couldn’t think. I just sat there in my own space not knowing what to do. I just couldn’t believe I was HIV positives. I ignored everything our teacher taught us at school. If you have numerous partners use condoms and get tested every three months if you test negative, she’d teach us.

“You need to go back to the clinic so they can help you,” she said with her hand on my shoulder.

I regretted leaving school to become a prostitute. My life was in ruins. If only I listened to my older sister. All I wanted was to have finer things in life. Life wasn’t easy at all. Only those who worked hard were rewarded.

“I will go with you. You will overcome this,” she said and I cried louder.

Pearl made pap with vegetables, I don’t remember when I last had pap. We ate quietly but my mouth couldn’t swallow.

“Eat, so you can be strong,” she said.

I ate three quarters of the food and I went to bed. I could see my sister was very worried. I slept after she switched off the lights.

***

Tell us what you think: By law, Was Ma Agnes was wrong to disclose Cathy’s status to her sister; she broke the confidentiality oath. Was she right in doing so? What would you have done if she had done that?