April 16, 2019
“If you scream, I will slit your throat so fast, no one would notice…..not even you” a deep hoarse voice obviously belonging to a man whispered into her ears. The rancid odor from the man’s mouth was so strong it made Kosarachi dizzy. Chilled by the night air and fear, she shivered.
His hands gripped her neck so tightly, she couldn't move it, she couldn't see his face but she could tell by the putrid odor of sweat that came from him that he wasn't a pleasant looking man. She could feel a thin blade poking her back.
Standing on the dirty streets of Surulere with worn bathroom slippers, faded clothes and an empty stomach, with a knife against her back, fear gripped Kosarachi and stole her breath away.
“You are going to smile and gently walk into that alley as if you know me….you hear?” the smell came again, an odor of dead things and rotting onions.
Kosarachi nodded in fear and began to move slowly towards the alley he had pointed to.
You might wonder how Kosarachi got into that position, well she wasn't always a hungry tattered girl walking along lonely roads late at night. She used to be quite rich, an envy of her friends. “Ajebutter” they fondly called her.
Let's backtrack…
October 22, 2016, the day Kosarachi 's life fell apart. Before that day, Kosarachi had a beautiful life. She was the only child of her well to do parents and they doted on her, she was the apple of their eyes, some would even say they spoiled her. Her father was a business man who had cargoes and shipments coming in every week from overseas. Her mother owned the biggest clothing store in Lagos.
On that dreadful day, Kosarachi’s parents had gone out for a friend’s birthday party and on their way back, right in front of their gate they were gunned down.
Kosarachi had heard the sound of their vehicle and had run out to meet them. When she heard the gunshots, she didn't realize what they were until she saw the red spreading over her father's chest. Till she saw life leave his eyes and he crumbled down like a limp doll.
Her mother was lying on the floor face down, her blood spreading around her in a horrifying way, the red color liquid seeping into the sand. That scene never left Kosarachi's mind, she dreamt about it for months.
The police never found their killers, the case was abandoned after three months. Kosarachi grieved, she wanted her parent's killers brought to justice but what could she have done, she was only fourteen.
First came the creditors and then her evil uncles. What the creditors didn't take, her uncles took. They said a girl had no place inheriting a man's property.
They took everything and left her with nothing and she was sent to live with a cousin of her father in Surulere.
Everyday Kosarachi thought about how unjustly her parents had died and how their killers were free, roaming the streets. She vowed to become a lawyer, find her parent’s killers and bring them to justice.
But things were difficult in her new home, unlike her parents, her father's cousin was not rich, he was a school teacher and his wife a petty trader. They had five children to feed already before Kosarachi. Life was tough and food was scarce.
Kosarachi had to pay some way for what they provided her. So she was forced to do almost all the house chores and run errands..…
This was one of the errands, she was supposed to buy fresh tomatoes that night when she ran into the man.
“You will be a sweet one” he chuckled in her ears, the mouth odor almost made her gagged. For a moment, she wanted to give up and let him pierce her with his knife but she remembered her parents' smiling face and how they had died unjustly.
She needed to live, to become a lawyer and right the wrong that had been done to them. Kosarachi brought up her knee and hit the man in the groin as hard as she could. As he doubled over in pain she ran for her dear life.
