I must have slept for a couple of hours at most, I kept turning and tossing, got up a couple of times to pray, my mind was heavy , I was thinking of Solape and the story of her life she had just told me, I wanted so badly to help but I wasn’t sure what role God wanted me to play , it was important that whatever I do , must be directed by God, I wasn’t about to give advice to someone so vulnerable and it not being what God wants for her.

It’s was 5.45 am , when I finally went to see if she was awake, I found her in the family lounge upstairs , lying on the couch , eyes shut, I thought she was asleep, she must have heard my footsteps cos she called out my name, just as I turned to walk out of the lounge , “am awake ” she said, I sat down opposite her , she said she was ready to continue , she too had struggled all through the night , she managed to get a few hours sleep .

She continued …. ” Once the passport was with me, the lady from the embassy, warned me that I must be at the airport 1 hour before the flight took off, she said she could arrange for someone to drop me off, she gave me a no to call when I was ready, I must arrange for him to meet me a few streets away from our house, so as not to attract attention she said. My main challenge was what to say to my hubby to make sure he went to church without me on Sunday . I thought about it for a few days. Then I came up with a plan. On Saturday night we had dinner with my father, as soon as I got home I pretended I had a tummy ache, put my finger down my throat and threw up, I made sure it happened just as my husband got up to leave the sitting room where we were both sited watching telly, I cried out in pain, he rushed over to me , called the maid to clean up, he lifted me up took me to the bathroom to clean up, then he put me to bed and called the doctor. The doctor came checked me, he said I had a slight fever and a tummy bug, he gave me some drugs and recommended a lot of bed rest for a couple of days . That did it. On Sunday my husband left for church , the maid was also left behind to look after me, even though I insisted she go with him, he insisted she stayed with me. About 30 mins after he left for church, I asked the maid to get me a bottle Coca-Cola , she said we didn’t have any, I asked her to go to the big supermarket to buy some , I also sent her some stuff I knew only the big supermarket about 5 miles away stocked . I calculated that the whole trip will take her about 55 mins, that was all I needed, I called the guy picking me up, to my surprise he was already there waiting for me, I picked up my passport and ticket where I hid it , didn’t pack any clothes , just took all the cash on me about $5000 American dollars , I had kept for a while , and I ran two street from my home, the guy was waiting in a white van, I jumped in and we were on our way to the airport , the drive took about 30mins . I got to the airport 1hr 10mins before take off, checked in and the flight took off right on time, when we were airborne , I looked at the time. It was just about the time church service ended, my husband will be on his way home in a minute , I wonder what the maid would say, I chuckled, reclined my seat and slept off in peace for the first time in a long while. I was awoken by the air hostess some hours later when it was time to put our seats back into the upright position for landing. Once we landed , I could almost taste the freedom , I was happy and sad at the same time, I was free , at the same time I didn’t know what I was going to do or where I was going to stay , in my haste I had forgotten my phone in Jamaica , didn’t remember where anyone lived , just our old house , I decided to get a taxi and go there , when I got there , the house had been demolished , he had been replaced by luxurious short let flats , I decided to rent one of them for a short while , I had the money on me , I paid for a month, still had a lot more to keep me going for a few weeks . After a week of just sleeping and ordering food from the restaurant downstairs , I decided to go out, just as I stepped out of my apartment , I bumped into a lady about my age , she was very pleasant , told me she stayed in the apartment next door, she asked me to come over later . I walked around the area , didn’t see any familiar faces , so I went back to the apartment . I went straight to see the lady I had bumped into earlier , her name was Sandra “.

She continued “Sandra told me she ran her own company supplying ushers for events , she had about 300 ushers , she was always fully booked . She asked what I do , i told I just came back to the country. She asked if I would like to work with her , she was getting really busy and she needed someone like me to be her manager . She said the Job came with a car, driver and housing allowance . I had no choice , I didn’t know anyone else in town and I was running out of money , so I asked for a day to think over it , she said I had till that evening cos there was someone else she was considering . I told her I would take it there and then. I started work the next morning ”

I looked at the time , it was 8.05, I needed to go get ready for work, I told Solape to get ready too, she could continue with her story while I worked .
By 9.30 we were both on our way to my office, I had a 10.30 , 1pm and 3.30pm appointments in the office, we could spend the time In between catching up on her story .

My meetings dragged on and on, we were planning for the house decorations , the cheque clears in a day, we had to order a lot of furniture and fittings , I hardly had a minute to myself , by 6 pm I was still in a meeting, my ES had taken Solape to lunch and then home , by the time I finally got home around 8 30 pm , all I wanted to do was go to sleep. We would have to conclude tomorrow …..whoa …its been a long day …

Good night

I was woken up by a phone call from a friend I hadn’t seen in a while , Solape, her father moved the family to Jamaica years ago, based on his job with the diplomatic service. I had not seen or heard from her since then, this was a long time ago. She sounded really dull on the phone, for someone who had not spoken to or seen me in years , there was little to no excitement in her voice. She said she got my no from another friend she had met a week ago and that she came back into the country a few years back but she no longer had the contact numbers of all the people she knew back then , she said she really needed to speak to me, it was urgent. I immediately sent a text to her with my address.

Solape arrived in an hour, with a suitcase in tow, I was a bit surprised but I didn’t let her see my confusion. I welcomed her in, she looked nothing like the Solape I used to know, bubbly and very confident, I sensed this was not the time to ask any questions , I ushered her to the guest room , she sat on the bed, kicked off her shoes and said would I mind terribly if she took a nap for a while, I said okay , and I walked out, asked her to let me know if she needed anything .

I went back to my room, worried about her, I was thinking, Solape just turned up, doesn’t say much , apart from wanting to rest, God please help me get through to her. I decided to call my ES to cancel all my appointments for the day, I had a feeling I was going to be spending a lot of time at home with Solape. I did my morning rituals , went back to check up on her, she was fast asleep . Went to get something to eat and back to my room to catch up on my writing.

Two and a half hours later , I went to check up on Solape, she was awake, had a bath and was just sitting on the bed staring at the ceiling. I asked if I could come in, she said yes, I asked if I should get her something to eat, she said later, thank you. I sat down beside her and asked what the matter was? She broke down crying, I cradled her in my arms and just let her cry for a while.

Once she was done crying , she began to narrate her story, back in Jamaica, her mother had died of cancer barely 3 years into their stay, her Dad had refused to remarry but had the occasional mistresses , who came and went as they pleased, she as the eldest child and only girl was allowed to get away with anything she wanted her father didn’t particularly know how to relate to her,on the other hand her 2 younger siblings who were boys , her dad had handled them with an iron fist , because he was worried they would go wild and probably join the Jamacain gangs that were all over the place.

Solape was sent to a plush private boarding girls school, she got mixed up with some other girls who were also diplomats kids and they started experimenting with cigarettes , then Indian hemp , then gradually graduated to popping all sort of pills, they were well known in the diplomatic community,they partied , snook out of school, took trips to the neighbouring Carribean islands with different guys, partying, her father was not aware , he was too busy being a diplomat. She was suspended a couple of times,each time she and her friends just stayed in a villa that had been rented for them by one of their man friends.

Trouble started when , one evening they were in the villa , 4 of them all diplomats kids , a group of men came to the villa , kidnapped them and demanded a ransom for them to be returned. Her father couldn’t believe a child he had put in boarding school was kidnapped from an island villa he had no knowledge of. Eventually the girls were all rescued and no ransom was paid.

Her father was livid , he immediately put her in a public school and made her go from home everyday, monitored her every move, the driver and a guard followed her everywhere . After A levels , she was sent to a convent university in Jamaica, more like a forcing her to become a nun, she cried everyday , had to wear a uniform , but managed to get through the 3 year course . Once that was done he insisted she went back for her masters , while she was doing this her father informed her he had found her the right suitor , a guy he had brought from their country . They were married forcefully and her father ceased her passport. Since he worked in the embassy, there was no way she could get another passport , she was stranded. She lived with the Man for years , he abused her both mentally and physically , her father didn’t care , no one did, until one faithful day.

She had gone to church with her husband as usually, they were a few of her country people in the church , this young woman walks up to her and asks her why she never smiles, and looks so sad all the time, a weight was suddenly lifted off her and she narrated everything to the woman. After all was said and done, the woman told her she knew her father, she was one of his staff, she worked at the embassy . She said she would get her a passport but it would be in a different name. Solape couldn’t believe it, after all these years of practically being a slave, she could escape out of Jamaica.

A month later her passport was ready, it had her picture but a different name, she was so happy, the lady had also promised to get her a ticket, which she handed to Solape with the passport, the flight was for Sunday the following week. They had agreed on Sunday because her hubby was always busy with church duties, so it would take him awhile to notice she was gone,……..Just then my phone rang, I had to take the call. I excused my self, the call was from a very important client , he was in my office and needed to see me , I told him I would be on my way. Went back to Solape, told her I had to go for a couple of hours, food was in the kitchen , she should help herself , we can continue our discussion when I got back.

Got to the office. The meeting took much longer than I expected , when I got home Solape was fast asleep, she would have to tell me the concluding part tomorrow , I really couldn’t believe she had been through so much.

I finally went to bed a couple of hours later , that night my prayer included Solape, for God Almighty to heal her and for wisdom for me to be of help which ever way I can.

Good night …..

Today I get my cheque, thank God , I have been asked to come to the liaison office for 10.30am, I must not be late.

Got to the office for 9am, we had our weekly meeting in the board room , My ES was not yet in and she hadn’t called to say she was going to be late, very unlike her. Anyway everything went well, we had to rush through the agenda because I had to leave, for my 10.30 appointment.

Got to the liaison office for 10.20am, I was ushered in to the CLO’s office immediately, we exchanged pleasantries , he handed me my cheque , it was 100% of what I had quoted, o my gosh , I was so happy , I thanked him and left. I went straight to the bank to deposit it, in 3 days the money would be in my account, I had a lot of work to do. We already had the work plan for the project , execution would start in 3 days.

Got back to the office around 12noon, My ES was in the office, as soon as she saw me walk in to my office , she followed me in, ” Ma, am sorry I was late and didn’t call in, I misplaced my phone, had to go to my friends house on the outskirts early this morning to check if it was there I left it yesterday, but it wasn’t, I can retrieve all the phone nos once I get a new sim, please forgive me Ma”. I didn’t say much, just asked her to go now to retrieve her SIM, she should come back once she was done.

Didn’t have any other meeting today , but had a lot to get ready , ordering furniture , getting all our workmen together etc, I was already putting things together , that should keep me busy for most of the day.

My phone rang around 3pm, it was my friend Bemmy, asking if I was in the office, I said yes and she said she’s was on her way. I had to quickly round up what I was doing cos I knew if Bemmy got here, no more work for the day. She arrived just as I rounded up. Great timing, she was dressed in her signature long Ankara skirt and top , with a head scarf, I always wondered why she never exposed her hair during the day, anyway that’s gist for another day.
Bemmy had come to drag me to see an old client of her’s, who came into town yesterday, he didn’t know anyone else who could take him around so he called Bemmy and Bemmy called me, hmmmmm, I wondered what this man was like.

We got to his hotel, Bemmy had already called ahead to say we were on our way, , he was waiting in the lobby, he got in the back of my car , Bemmy introduced me as her best friend , we exchanged pleasantries , she then asked him where he would like to go , he said we should go get a drink and something to eat. So we took him to our favourite restaurant. He was quite chatty, in his mid 40s , asked a lot of questions, I tried to answer most of them , but to some I just smiled and didn’t answer . On the whole , we did have a good time, around 7pm , I did make my excuses that I had to leave cos I needed to get to the dry cleaners to pick up my clothes before 8pm, Bemmy was still having fun , so he asked me not to worry about them , that he would get a cab for Bemmy and himself to take her home and to take him to his hotel. So I left.

As I was walking into my house , my phone rang, Bemmy was on her way to my house, she said she had something for me and it couldn’t wait until tomorrow. She got to mine, about 35mins later. She brought out an envelope and gave it to me, it was money , dollars to be precise. Her client had given us $5000 to say thank you for showing him a nice time, Bemmy had split it into 2 equal parts and she had just handed be $25000 . I looked at Bemmy and asked ” what did you do” she said ” honestly , nothing, as soon as you left , 15mins later , we got a cab, because his hotel was nearer we dropped him off first, when we got to his hotel he asked me to wait in the car , came back out and gave me the envelope and said, it’s for you girls , thank you for giving me a good time, and with that he turned round and walked into the hotel.”

Needless to say , I slept all though the night with a smile on my face .

Sunday, my favourite day because I was born on a Sunday , the day of rest, got back home from the first service , decided to cook paella rice with avocado and prawns , yummy, you should try it sometime, I might just share my recipe with you someday.

Anyway , while I was cooking , I heard some commotion coming from the house next door, the couple there were friendly enough, we waved good bye to each other almost every morning when we were driving out of our front gates, I did go over there once , when they invited us for a barbecue.

Anyway am not one to be nosey but the shouts and screams were so loud, so I lowered the burner and decided to go do some “busy body”.
I went upstairs to the balcony, from there ,one gets a great view of the house next door , no obstruction , I saw that their gate was wide open, 3 ladies were screaming , I listened carefully, they were screaming the husband’s name, asking him to come out and be a man, he should come claim his pregnancy , I looked to see which one was pregnant, she was the tall ,slim model looking one,she looked about 4 months pregnant , Mr B, as I called him, was a dashing man, he drove a Xjs jaguar , always dressed nicely. Mrs B, was a business woman, she ran a boutique selling children’s things .

Neither of them came out despite all the commotion, I could see they were at home , cos all their cars were in the compound , the shouting was still going on when the police pulled up, the ladies kept shouting “arrest us, you coward, we shall be back, own up to your responsibility , useless man and so on and so forth. The police finally walked them out , not without them putting up a fight, the police made them get into their car and they drove away. Once they were gone I saw Mrs B , come out and thank the police, they too drove off, all this time a crowd had gathered in front of their gate peeping in. She gently shut the gate , turned to walk back inside , that’s when she saw me , she smiled at me nervously and walked straight into her house.

Hmmm, this was serious , very embarrassing, they mostly kept to themselves , their 2 children, hardly came out to play with the other kids. At that time I wished I was a fly on the wall in their house, not to worry , I have my ways I will find out exactly what the truth was, . Just then I could smell my paella burning, o my gosh, I ran to the kitchen , was just on time to salvage most of it. Hmmmmm….busy body doesn’t pay, ha ! Ha,ha!

Abby was due in my house at 4pm, it was 2.45pm, I had about 1 hour to “chillax” .At 3.55pm Abby pressed the door bell, I was ready for her , she came in looking all glamorous, I found out she was on her way to her mother in law’s for 6pm. We sat down on the lazy boy , She started talking. ” Babes , I want to thank you for talking to my hubby, he told me everything you discussed and he explained his own side to me, I have decided to give it a try , I guess it can only bring us closer together , I initially felt bad that I had to involve you in our relationship but you really helped me see the errors of my refusal to make my hubby happy. Thank you dearie , you are a blessing” I was so humbled , I hadn’t even said anything and she had decided to change, Thank you Lord , my prayers had been answered , I had asked God to give me the wisdom , to know what to say to her and how to resolve this for them, but the Lord had gone ahead of me to make the way perfect. I was delighted. There was nothing else to say, we talked a bit about this and that and then she was on her way .

After she left , I thanked God for everything,I usually pray that God should please grant my prayer, that one day shouldn’t go by without me being a blessing to someone, me advising people, being a blessing , encouraging them etc, was totally impossible without God’s infinite wisdom,mercy, Grace and favour, I thank God for the gifts everyday.
The rest of the day was spent on my quiet time, I had a lot of reading and writing to do, before I knew it, it was time for bed. Tomorrow is Monday , I got to go to bed .
Goodnight, sweet dreams , don’t let the bed bugs bite