A few minutes past midnight.
“Mary, you need to accept his proposal. Where do you expect to get school fees? What about our food? We’re struggling. Kim loves you. He’s ready to make something out of you.”
“Mama I’m only 16. I want to go to school. Education will change our lives. I just have two years left and I’ll complete high school, get a job and hopefully get into college.”
“No one is getting in the way of your education. It’s even better dating Kim now. You’re still pure and he’ll love you more once he proves it. He’ll help us with your fees and necessities. He’s just 42. He’s not old. During our time, it was normal to get married as early as 15. See it this way, Kim has paid our rent and gave me 2K for shopping yet you’ve not accepted his proposal, what if you say yes? You’re an adult Mary, you’re 16!”
Mary’s mum was a businesswoman selling illegal alcohol. So many times she had to face more losses than profits. The police would come and take their cut, the chief would also get his share and some drunkards would get violent and refuse to pay. Many times, women from the village would storm her business and pour all the alcohol because it was causing the most harm to their husbands and sons.
All was going well until a neighbor who was better off financially and more connected than her started the same business. He would sell the same drinks at a cheaper price, probably 5 or 10 shillings. To you, this amount may seem small, but to the alcoholics who spent less than 50bob on a glass would see this as a big deal and would slowly move away to the new joint. Mama Mary started counting losses by the day.
Mary is a stunning black lady, exuding confidence and grace. Her smile is infectious, lighting up her face and exuding joy and warmth. She carries herself with poise, exuding an aura of self-assuredness that commands respect. It’s very rare for a man to fail to admire Mary in any setting.
Kim, who was their regular customer, had always been asking mama Mary about her daughter. He expressed his interest in Mary and mama Mary would tell him off. Kim was persistent and kept insisting that he fell in love with her and would love to turn her life around. Mama Mary declined his offer until her business started crumbling. When most of her customers fled to the new joint, mama Mary would have loyal customers like Kim encouraging her to hold on and maybe reduce her prices too. This is the time that Kim would put his offer on Mary again.
Counting the losses her business was incurring and the bills piling up, mama Mary decided to change her mind. Kim owned two bodabodas (motorbikes)and two butcheries which he used to convinced mama Mary that he makes enough money to give them a good life. No one knew why Kim’s wife divorced him, rumors had it that he was violent, some said he was HIV positive and didn’t admit to it, while most claimed his gun didn’t have bullets or in simple language, he was impotent.
When Mary couldn’t stand her mother’s pressure anymore, she gave in. Mary had never been in a relationship and simple gifts like dresses and a random 500bob was enough to convince her that Kim loved her. Mary’s weekends were spent on Kim’s bed as his wife to be. Kim would spend the nights with her and pay their rent of 1500bob, a bit of shopping and pocket money which never exceeded 1K. These gifts would be accompanied by promises of him settling with Mary immediately she cleared form four. To Mary and her mother, this was a good life.
Within months, Mary got pregnant and Kim convinced them to terminate it because he was afraid of the authorities and he also told Mary the pregnancy would interfere with her studies. Since he was the one paying for the termination, Mary and her mother didn’t see a big deal.
Kim enjoyed his time with Mary until she cleared form four and he started having excuses for why he wouldn’t settle with her. He accused Mary of dating her age mates and also went ahead to say that he wasn’t ready to settle with a woman he couldn’t trust.
At this point, mama Mary’s business had totally collapsed. There was no rent, no food, no jobs forthcoming and this habit that Mary started with Kim is what she continued doing for their survival. After all, with all her beauty, she was sure of getting cash daily.
What Mary planned to do for a few months turned into years and she suddenly realized she was 34 with no skill, no proper education, no network, no good savings and no man by her side.
“Mama, I’m not getting younger and I need to do something with my life. Let’s try your business again. Let’s sell illegal alcohol.”
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