That night, Amandla dialed her best friend's number. "Hello, baby," came Lucy's ever-excited voice.
"Hello, Lucy."
"You sound down, what's up?"
Amandla sighed. "Lucy I am getting married on Thursday."
"What?" Lucy screamed from her side. "Who are you marrying Amy?"
Amandla rolled her eyes. "The CEO of Rooney Corporation."
"W-what, why, what happened, Amy what did you do?" she asked in an accusatory tone that had Amy rolling her eyes.
"Do? Apparently, my blessed father sold me as some negotiation for a business deal if that is even believable."
Lucy went silent for a while. "Is this a joke or something? Does that nonsense still exist, I mean it's outdated, this is the twenty-first century!"
"I thought so too but apparently we are wrong, I might serve as a good example. He even told me not to try to escape because he is powerful enough to fetch me from the depths of hell."
"What! But baby, isn't he supposed to be gay?"
Amandla almost collapsed, was that why? "Gay? Jesus what did I do in my past life?" she wailed dramatically.
"Are you really going to let them marry you off?"
"I have no choice Lucy, who will even defend me, you know how rich the Williams family is, they can even buy this whole country and that's not the worst part, I… I knocked him over today and insulted him in the mall; I'm a goner Lucy, a goner!"
She heard Lucy stifle a laugh on the other side. "Okay baby, at least you've been going to church, maybe your destination is heaven."
Amandla tugged her hair, now without a doubt, she must have killed a whole country in her past life. "Are you for real!!? Here I am about to be sent wrapped up as a business gift to some guy rumored to be gay and escaping is next to the word impossible in the dictionary and you still have the guts to joke!" her voice cracked.
"Okay, okay, I get the message, but I know you, I am pretty sure you have tricks up your sleeve, go do what you normally do, who knows maybe things might change? Maybe you're that princess who unlocks the prince's frozen heart."
Amandla blinked several times. "You've been watching too many soap operas, Lucy, this is my life girl, my only life, and I am not a cat. I have only one life, one, oh and I had my dreams!" she almost cried.
"Go make your dreams come true, at least you'll be out of that hell of a house baby. You have no choice but to embrace the future, maybe it's not that bad. I will be beside you every step of the way. You go be you and I will pray for you."
Is this what is called jumping from the pan to the fire? Amandla wanted to cry out loud but no, she wouldn't give her evil family the satisfaction of seeing her down. Her mother had died in a shanty three years ago and the only honor she could give her mother was being strong even in the hands of her adversaries. The thoughts simply stilled her up.
With her head held high, she majestically walked to the dining table and had her meal delightfully much to the surprise of everyone at the table. Yes, she was going to act tough until she was married off to the gay guy, now she would never have the little Amandlas she always dreamed of in her life!