In the holy book, when Adam and Eve had just eaten the forbidden fruit and their eyes were opened, they immediately realized they were naked. Jennifer sat up on that bed, staring in amazement at the huge amount of money that had just been transferred into her account. It’s the largest amount of money she had ever received in all her years of existence and there was a promise that this was only a tip of the iceberg. She had just eaten the forbidden fruit and suddenly, she realized that she’s naked, the same as everyone else. 

She remembers those nights, on their way back from church, she would see the girls standing at their usual spot and she would immediately judge them in her mind. Her mum would always hiss once she set her eyes on them. Jennifer saw them as “dirty” and “filthy”, lower life forms. She could never imagine a situation that justified those girls’ decisions. They were bad people who were incapable of harboring any good intentions. She couldn’t conceive it in her small mind that some of these “bad people” were better human beings than the extravagant church women in the meetings her mum always attended.
However, life turned around quite quickly for Jennifer. The image of her dad lying lifeless on the hospital bed always haunts her on those lonely nights. It hurts more when she remembers how the church distanced themselves during her dad’s illness. He wasn’t a religious man and didn’t buy the idea of excess activities and involvements in religious groups. He refused to attend the men’s fellowship and always held back his resources when it was time to “give” for the “service of the kingdom”. Even after several years, her chest still hurts when she remembers that her mum hesitated to identify with her dad during his illness because she didn’t want the “church women” to judge her. As the years flew by after her dad’s demise, Jennifer realized that those girls that stood on the road at night were better humans than her mum, who constantly hissed at them. 

Several events, as little and inconsequential as they might seem, led Jennifer to this place. Jennifer met other girls in school and after much persuasion, she decided to put on makeup and wear dresses that showed some skin. Her mum happened to see the pictures and summoned her home immediately. She called her a lot of things that night but the one that stuck was “prostitute”. Jennifer started sneaking out to parties and the night her mum caught her smoking in her room, was the day something snapped in her. She soon realized that her mum wasn’t advising her from a place of concern, or even parental obligation. “What would the church women say?” “What will they think of me?” She realized that her mum cared about what the outsiders would say more than she cared about the actual wellbeing of her only child. Jennifer left for her mandatory Youth Service and never came back. 

Now, she’s in bed with this guy she has no feelings for. He just sent her a tip of the “iceberg” he promised her if she would let him into her. Now she’s staring at the money, her eyes have opened and she realizes that she’s naked, and she’s no different from the girls that stood on the streets all those years ago. She realizes that we’re all naked and in an instant, we could become everything we swore we would never become. She’s ready to go another round, and many more. She has tasted the fruit, and she likes the taste. She has become those girls in the streets, something she swore she would never become.