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Chinwem slumped into the sofa closest to the door the moment she arrived. She was tired and famished. She had had more dance sections today as it was Valentine's Day. It didn't bother her because Silver Fire paid handsomely for each section. She rested for a while before she stood and began to put the things she had arrived with away. She headed into the kitchen after that to find food. She opened the refrigerator and let her eyes skim through it. There was nothing that interested her in it. She was about to close it when a transparent container caught her eyes. She reopened the refrigerator wide enough and reached for it. She brought it out and shut the refrigerator. She took it to the kitchen cabinet top where she placed it. She took off the cover and stared at the moin-moin she had prepared the day before. It was perfect for dinner. She heated it in the microwave and spooned some into her flatware. She took a fork and sat at the high table in her kitchen. She dug into the tasty delicacy and uttered a sigh at the arresting flavour. Her mind wandered to her stalker as she ate and she wondered why. These days, he was subtly stealing into her mind and she wondered why yet again. She was sorry for him. She was not what he thought she was.
She was Chinwem, one of the traumatized children of late Stephen Nwabuagu. It was a fact that her father had been a tyrant. It was what had led to his death at the hands of her elder sister. The incident had left all of them traumatized. They were all just coping. She thought she was one of those to be blamed for the mishap. After all, it had been her birthday. It had all happened on that day, that horrifying bloody accident. There had been blood everywhere, on the floor, in the pool. She lost her appetite at the thought. She shut out memories of that night as she pushed her half eaten plate of food further away from her. She nearly cried. The incident had left her tainted. She was weak and she could not help it.