Damsel In Distress

When it rains, it pours. Here I was, homeless. I had to shift to another place within two days. I neither had the money nor a place to shift to. Then I was in my menses which made me overly emotional. The weather had been extremely cold. I was generally in a bad, irritable mood. The cherry on top was when the administrator apologized saying I was not getting paid for August due to the late submission of the appraisal forms. It’s like all the forces of nature were against me. I was beyond stressed. A certain gentleman had contracted me to transcribe a book for him, however, I had been too mentally unwell to even work. I just kept procrastinating.

There’s a famous meme often shared on WhatsApp, “I thought I would be helping the needy at my age, but I am the needy”. Though funny, that meme seemed to be speaking to me directly. Even worse, it was ten days to my birthday. It pained me that I would turn a new age in such a hopeless situation.

The day before, I had checked out a house suggested by a broker. On reaching the place, it was nothing like he had advertised.
To conceptualize, he told me the houses were new, but on arrival, the gate alone was falling apart; it had holes and from within, you could see exactly what was going on outside the gate. Let’s not even talk about the house itself-or the price. In mathematical terms, the disappointment I felt was infinite.

I needed a minimum of three months’ rent but had no idea from whom to borrow the money. School was resuming and most people were sending children back to school. My biological family could not help either. Matter of fact, they called me a day before I was evicted to lament about a sister of ours that was in jail. They were sourcing for funds to bail her out. As for my friends, they had already done more than enough; I couldn’t impose further. They were always there each time I had a crisis. I was embarrassed to ask for more. I literally had no one to turn to.

As fate would have it, Alvin texted me for the very first time in many months. I had met him only once the previous year. The irony is that at the time of our meeting, I was planning to shift. Jokingly, he had suggested that I could go over and stay with him. At the time, I had laughed. My bougie ass could never let me stoop that low. From my time at campus, I had witnessed guys change girls like outfits; a different girl nearly every night. These girls would come, cook, clean and spend a night or two. I had sworn that that would never be my story. I purposed that the only time I would ever spend a night with a man was if he was my husband. Other than that, it was NEVER gonna happen. But….

Yes, but. The devil has a wicked sense of humour. When Alvin reached out, I inquired whether his offer still stood. I explained to him the helplessness of my situation and just like that, he said I could go over. I knew my Christian friends would never understand, so I told none.

In the name of doing my due diligence, I asked his cousin Tinka on WhatsApp to call me. She did instantly. She was a very close friend of mine.

I inquired from her whether Alvin had any criminal records and asked about his personality. Afterall, no one knows our weaknesses like our family and relatives. Tinka told me he was a nice guy, “Though he has his issues”, she added. Tinka asked why I was being inquisitive, “Is he trying to hit on you?” I avoided the question. Nonetheless, she volunteered a useful piece of information, “Alvin has a girlfriend”, she informed me.

‘Even better’, I thought to myself. I was not looking for love or a relationship. Since Alvin had a girlfriend, what were the odds of him hitting on me and trying to vibe me? -Very unlikely, I concluded to myself. On the day of my departure, a kind family in the hood offered to stay with my property for a month. That same day, I travelled out of town to Alvin’s home. When I asked about the girlfriend and if she was okay with him hosting me, he said she was very okay with it.

She told him it was okay? Well, that didn’t settle well with me. I actually thought he was lying to me; something didn’t add up. I was doubtful until he told me that he had had issues with his girlfriend for some months. At least that made sense why she didn’t care who he stayed with.

I was suspicious and wondered which girl would be okay with another girl staying with her man. My level of jealousy would never permit it. I asked to meet the girlfriend. He told me that she said that it wasn’t necessary. All that mattered most to her was that I didn’t stay for long. Alvin says she told him I can stay for two weeks. Remember how I initially felt that two weeks were little? Well, my first night alone with Alvin made me feel that two weeks was actually going to be a long, long, LOONG time. Might I add that all my life, I had never spent a night at a guy’s place? Anyway, I left five days later. I never finished the two weeks.

The End.

Disclaimer: The names that feature in this story are fictitious. They were made up to protect the identity and privacy of those involved.

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