Six months passed, and believe me, it was the best moments of my life. A new house, and enough money to spend and save--it made me assured that I had my future planned.
Anne did the job of keeping an eye on Steve, making sure to delete any evidence pointing to me on his phone, and also try to listen to words from his mouth. As the idiot that he was, he told her about me, the blackmailer.
She advised him to record our conversation whenever I called.
I then decided to call him and turned on recording.
"Hey Steve, how are you doing? I hope you didn't forget me" I whispered romantically because Anne already called that he was going to record my voice.
Prevention was better than cure, right?
"What do you want?" he shouted over the phone.
I bit my lip, and tried to sound as sweet as possible "I miss you Steve; we all do. Dad insisted I checked on you"
He snapped "Which dad?"
I instantly started sobbing "Why are you behaving like this? You know that he is sick, but you didn't even check on him" I continued. "Please transfer the one million naira I spoke about earlier" I said as I cut the phone.
After 5 minutes, he transferred the money with a text telling me not to disturb him for a year. I smiled and replied that it was just for another three months, but he did not respond.
I transferred 300 thousand naira to Anne for her services and the package that she delivered. After a minute she called me.
Her voice came through "Vicky, this is toooo much"
I pursed my lips "No, I was even supposed to give you more than that, but you know that I'm saving so that I can go to college" I explianed to her. "The money is more than enough Vicky."
"I will bring the package later today. There's a necklace in it tha'st worth 1.5 million naira and also a shoe of fifty thousand naira, so you have a good business" she annouced happily.
"We have a good business Anne" I corrected her. "I will try to sell it for 1.2million and give you six hundred thousand from it" I said happily.
"For What? What do I want to use it for?" she questioned in tears. "Vicky I don't deserve this"
"You do, Anne. For your hard work. Thanks so much for being by my side. I love you so much Anne" I also started to cry.
Anne became the friend and mother that I didn't have; she was always there for me, and I appreciated her for that.
***
Sandra and I had drifted so much apart over the months. I was so irritated by her behavior that I didn't want to spend even a minute with her, and it was also one of the reasons why I rented another apartment, so that we could have separate rooms.
Yes, I know it is wrong. I shouldn't be judgy, but I couldn't just stand her; she was too irritating and wild for me to handle.
She brings men into MY apartment without my permission; eats gum around the house, and even have sex chats with men--in my presence. Wasn't that irritating?
And the fact that she keeps using being an orphan as an excuse is so annoying. Aren't I also an orphan? Did I sell my body to get what I want?
I just got back from my morning shift at the hotel, and I was taking off my cloths when I got a call--it was from Anne. "Hey, today is Tuesday, so you will be back from work early. I will come by 7pm" she stated. "No, Let's make it 9pm, nobody will be at home at that time. I don't trust Sandra anymore"
"Okay, see you later in the morning, darling" Anne cut the phone.
I lay on my bed and drifted to sleep.
My eyes opened itself at 5am, staring at the ceiling tiredly. I was so tired of life. Why is it so harsh on me? What did I ever do wrong?
This game was a truly tedious one, but I have gone too far to withdraw. What do I do? I changed my house because of Steve, even though I knew he couldn't harm me. All of this was having a psychological effect on me.
I sluggishly got up from bed when I was already running late for work, and got dressed. I checked Sandra in her room before leaving, but she wasn't in.
After work I went home early and waited for Sandra to go to her usual night party before inviting Anne over.
Anne arrived, but wasn't able to spend enough time with me because Steve called her--what a bastard.
I had connection with an auctioning company and told them that I had goods to auction. I made sure that it was goods that was not limited so that Steve's wife will not find it suspicious. I also made sure that all the marks of identification were cleaned before sale.
I later sold the necklace for 1.4million naira and the shoe for 45 thousand naira on a black market. After I sold it, I transferred seven hundred thousand to Anne and she sent a text message of appreciation.
I continued selling Steve's wife's used accessories and made her even sign a document of permission unknowingly. I already saved over 20 million naira within two years and I saw an opportunity to study abroad the next year.
I was already tired of blackmailing Steve, and wanted to end it. I felt so much pity on him, because he had made so much effort to try to record my voice, save my text messages and other annoying things, but to no avail because I had an insider.
Sometimes, I would feel like a criminal, but remembering how badly he treated me, I asked for more and more. I kept reminding myself that no amount of money could buy my virginity and the money he gave was not enough. I kept increasing the price every three months.
But what I didn't know was that my end was near.