Agonies of life

“Oh it’s almost time, Lily!”  Kobby is here, shouted Peppy, Lily’s best friend. “Coming already Peppy. Dressed in a pink blouse with a blue mini jeans skirt and her blue snickers to match, Lily could not help but admire herself as she scrutinised herself in the mirror.

 “My make-up is okay. Wow, no wonder I’m the bird in flight tonight,” she said loudly.

Lily sneaked out quitely out of the school unnoticed apart from her friend Peppy, who covered up for her anytime she embarked on such clandestine activities. Lily was meeting a male adult friend outside, something which was against school rules. It was not the first time she had sneaked out of school to meet a man, in fact it was something she did regularly.

She used her good looks and intelligence to lure the men to go out with her and when they did, she found a way of cajoling them to give her huge sums of money.  Peppy, her only ally, however, did not engage in those illicit acts.

She was compelled to be Lily’s ally when she once stole two packs of milo from their house mistress’s house when they went to clean her kitchen. Lily caught her in the act but did not expose her, however, since then, she blackmailed her to cover up for her when she decided to go out without permission.

That fateful night was not an exception. Lily had blackmailed Peppy to agree to cover up for her while she went out to ‘mine from her newest catch’ as she preferred to describe the men.

Interestingly, when Lily escaped from the school, she met an admirer at the school gate. He was in a plain white round neck shirt with a white cap and blue jeans which matched his footwear and wrist watch. Lily couldn’t help but take in a deep breath when she set eyes on him for he was smashing. But it was the guy who spoke first.  “You look cute and nice,”  Kobby  said to her  with a smile. “Thanks,” she smiled and replied.

“We hugged, held our hands and walked down the street to the car park and straight into his Mercedes Benz saloon car so that we would not be noticed. We drove to a night club and found the joint crowded with people who were already enjoying themselves. We stood outside the club, hand in hand to get some more of the night’s cool breeze. Kobby ordered for drinks but I was quick to inform him that I didn’t take alcoholic beverages so he got me a soft drink.

Somewhere along the line, I put my act together and told him a few things I needed. He didn’t refuse but immediately opened his wallet and counted a lot of GH¢50 notes for me. I thought this time I was super lucky. I excused myself to go to the washroom, mid-way after I had taken one of my drinks. I returned some few minutes later to finish my drink. A while after taking the drink, I started to feel drowsy. I complained to Kobby and he told me that perhaps I was too tired so we should leave so that I could have some rest. Apparently, he had drugged my drink.

I did not know what happened afterwards until I woke up to find out that I was lying in his bed at home and all wasn’t right with me. “Oh my God! He has abused me.”  A few weeks later I started feeling unwell so I went to the clinic. As I held the medical report, I couldn’t help but exclaim, “Oh no! This c-c-can’t be, i-i-it can’t b-be true that ‘L, Lily is pregnant’. ” I wept bitterly and didn’t know what to do.

I have to stand and face the realities and brutalities of life. Lily, the bird in flight is now the bird swimming in an ocean of never ending agony. My life has changed for the worse but I hope all young persons reading this story will never copy my bad example.

Phoebe E.A. Atidoglo and Francisca Boatemaa.