She lay on her bed, being pricked by springs that were pushing their way to freedom from the inside of the old mattress. Tears were freely flowing as a waterfall at the peak of the rainy season. She had made a hard and difficult transition from his world back into hers. You could say she had moved from heaven to hell. She longed for the calm, but her neighbours did not share the problems with her. Across the hall, multiple stereos were giving a go at achieving their full potential. Silence was a luxury she could not afford. It was somewhere around midday and each passing minute came with a generous amount of uncertainty. Each beat of the life muscle inside of her came with a pain so unbearable that she wondered whether she would make it to the next beat. When she was off her guard, right then a bomb blows up in her face. She kept rewinding and reliving the moment. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't feeling any better. So much for time heals all wounds.
That spiteful woman. Everything about her screamed a whole new level of evil that had shaken her world from foundation to the roof, and left it bound together by a string of uncertainty. She longed for clarity, but the place where she knew she could get answers was the last place she wanted to be. And he was the last person she wanted to see. She heard a soft and gentle knock on the door. It was familiar. Jade had come. Rewind to nine months earlier.
Just a several more steps in the direction she was headed and she would be there. The New York of the commercial sex worker. The place every woman in the business in this corner of the world desired to occupy. But here, natural selection was the order of the day. Only the strong would make it. Only the strong made it. She questioned whether she had it in her to challenge the current landlords and give them ample reason to yield part of their esteemed possession. Real estate. All she needed was a spot, no matter how small. The rumour mill had it on good authority that if she scored a place here, she wouldn't need to work as hard as she did. The clients on this side had fat wallets that longed to lose weight. Perhaps with a reduction of the number of men brushing their sweat off of her, she would begin to rediscover herself. With each day and each man that had his way with her, she felt she was slowly but surely losing parts of herself. At first tears were her friend but the longer she executed her duties, she told her self this was what she was. Her mind had to turn the default into design. Now she was gunning for a spot on the Promised Land, her vacated sanity was finding its way back to her. As she stepped closer, the bodies in the distance became clearer and clearer. Soon, her resolve would be tested.
She injected a spring in her step and pushed her chest out so she could project confidence in her catwalk. More importantly, the lack of fear. Her heels make a distinct knocking sound and as she drew closer her presence deluged all other stimuli and commanded attention to herself. They looked in her direction but none of them moved an inch. There were about ten ladies that were dressed in short dresses more expensive than hers. She told herself that she would have to adjust, no problem. She came closer and closer and at a safe distance she stopped, nodded at the on-looking throng and settled into her new spot. They shifted their gaze from her and focused on the road and the passing cars from whence their meal ticket came. She wondered were all the hype was coming from, the place seemed peaceful, contrary to popular claims. She followed suit and threw her stare onto the passing cars. She was now part of the elite. Her world was nearing equipoise with each passing moment. She cast a secret smile on her face and immediately after felt a thudding impact as at the self-same time heard the sound of breaking glass. Then everything went dark.
Her eyes struggled to open and the venture came with the cost of pain. They were sore, as was the rest of her body. She was in a well-lit room with a smell not as bad as that in her room. This was not home. She struggled to get up and sit up from where she lay and her muscles offered her firm resistance. She gave up and lay flat on her back, taking deep breaths. She heard footsteps coming from the other room and tilted her head in that direction. As the sound grew louder, so did the anxiety that flooded in her head. Who could it be? As all this was happening, her mind was trying to piece together what had happened and how she had ended up in someone's apartment. Maybe someone had taken her prisoner and she had been used to gratify certain lewd desires belonging to someone with unresolved childhood issues. She just felt sore in every part of her body that anything was possible. From the door opposite to the bed where she was emerged a beautiful, dark skinned lady with a look even models would die for. She came, took a gander at Cindy, holding a heap of neatly folded clean laundry in her hands. Realizing she had woken up, the lady went across the room and placed the laundry in a drawer and then made her way towards the bed. "Hi! How are you feeling?" She smiled warmly at her and the gesture of friendliness eased some of Cindy's tension. "My name is Jade, this is my humble home", she said softly. She went on, "What's your name?" realizing she wasn't in any danger, she mustered some strength and forced herself to sit upright. Then replied, "Cindy. My name is Cindy." Jade pulled a stool and placed it by the bedside. Both her elbows rested by the bed with her face focused upon her guest. "Would you like anything to eat, or drink?" she inquired. Cindy nodded her head gently, careful enough to not upset a sore muscle. "Okay, I'll be right back". Jade leapt up and left the room. A couple of rooms away, Cindy heard pots, pans and spoons clanging in a merry kitchen voice. She looked around trying to find clues that could tell her where she was but nothing was familiar.
Jade hand fed her while she sought comfort from a group of pillows that supported her aching back. Then she went on to narrate how an experiment at territorial establishment had turned into a near death experience. The glass that she heard breaking had made contact with the back of her head. As she fell and lay unconscious they had gathered around her attempting to kick the life out her, like a pack of hyenas over a lifeless carcass. Fortunately, Jade had shown up and with the aid of a baseball bat managed to scurry away the pack of plundering dogs. "Oh gosh, you're burning. You must have a fever", Jade remarked as her palm delicately pressed against Cindy's forehead. She disappeared into the other room and came back with some pills and then went into the kitchen to get some water. Cindy wondered how she could have been lucky. Taking breath could have been a thing of the past if this woman had not shown up. But here she was.
Cindy lazily dragged her feet on the dusty floor and when she made it to the door, her hand went to meet the top corner of the door frame. The other hand reached for the door knob and opened it. The room became brighter as Jade came into the picture. That warm smile. Jade opened her arms invitingly and she dived in and sank to the depth of the tender embrace. Tears began to fall and in that moment she began to cry. Jade squeezed tighter and whispered, "It's all gonna be alright sweetie. I'm here for you". "I thought he was different. He was different. For a brief instance I thought he could be mine. I thought I deserved him". Jade pulled out of the hug and rested her hands on Cindy's shoulders while she looked into her eyes. "He didn't deserve you sweetheart. He's the one that should be feeling sorry. Not you". Cindy tried to forge a smile but the tears wouldn't stop flowing and the emotion-stricken face just gave her away. She was hurting inside.
They eventually made their way into the room. Hospitality was away on leave and guest status was inapplicable on this grey cloud of a day. Cindy headed straight for the bed while Jade endeavoured to look for a clean sitting spot. This venture however, was like looking for a needle in a haystack on a dark moonless night. She gave up and just picked a spot closer to her friend. "Cindy, I need you to get up. We need to clean this place up otherwise you'll get sick". She wasn't intent on leaving the bed anytime soon. She looked towards her friend, and then down to the floor. "You could find me a rope you know. No sense in this misery", Cindy remarked. Jade sprang up and a couple of stepped later she was by the edge of the bed. "Get a grip Cindy. He is just a man. Bone and flesh just like you. He possesses no power over you. I'm not going to sit here and watch you do this to yourself", she said in a pumped up voice. She got her friend's attention. Cindy got up and sat upright with her feet on the floor. Jade went on, "So what if he doesn't love you. I love you and so does…" while she yet spoke, the door made a slight whir and a male voice emerged from that direction, "What if he does love her?". They turned their heads and standing by the door they had not shut was the devil in question. Jade looked curiously. She had never seen him even though she had heard so much about him. She looked at Cindy and saw the tears start to come out again. Then she knew it was him. She hissed, "Jake". She looked around and close to her was a water glass waiting for her to pick up. Once it was in her grasp, she gathered all the energy she could and directed it to her much preferred right arm. She thrust it in his direction with force and precise aim. He was taken by surprise when its firm back landed on his forehead. He looked at her with a look of dizziness then fell to the ground like a crumbling wall.