We arrived at Niamey (Niger's capital) at exactly 7 pm. We trekked about two kilometers to where she said her Friend lives. The woman was around six feet tall, hefty and has a very bright complexion. They exchanged greetings and afterwards marched us into a bungalow. She has an exotic house and from the look of things she is rich. They told us to take turns in taking our bath in the guest room's bathroom. She even gave us new blouses to change with. Our mood lightened up when we were invited to the dinning table. We were served fried rice and chicken. Her benevolence came as a surprise to us, unlike the other one who left us in a dirty bar where we got raped.

"Girls" she began, "first of all let me commend you for taking a step towards making it in life. You see, life is not a bed of roses, to make it is not easy. I was just like you in the year 2001, I spent twenty years working for my madam before she finally freed me. Your madam here is even nice, she offers ten years in as much as she has to run away by her twenty-fifth year of working for her madam. There is nothing much in this thing, people keep saying rubbish about going to Italy but is it not better than sleeping with broke people in Nigeria? Although ashawo no be work but life gives us no other choice. It's all about the money, after you have made it and have money will people mind what you did ? They will even associate with you. See me now, I have five houses, four in Nigeria, and one here. And as you can see I'm enjoying my life. What else do I need in life? Although I'm not married but what will men offer you? They will start commanding you and telling you that they're the man of the house, I don't care about marriage, any time I feel like I find a man to ....you know what I mean" at this, they both laughed, then she continued "so when you get there don't betray your madam ooo! , Don't run away with a man oooo! They will ask you to run away with them, claiming they love you, then when you do, they will start using you as their sex slave, they will lock you up in a room, bring countless number of men to sleep with you and they will film it all and sell it to pron companies. If you refuse, they will call the police . And when they're tired of you they will throw you out, so serve your madam well, when you complete your ten years she will give you the connection you need and you too will start making money. Hope you all heard me!? "

"Yes Ma!" we echoed.

She then asked us to go sleep so as to get enough rest for the journey ahead. As we retired to the room, confidence and hope was evident on our faces. Finally, I and my sister talked as we lay side by side on the rug. She was the first to sleep off, having no urge to sleep, I lay there thinking about my old helpless mother who we've left behind and my boyfriend Chucks. I wished that her sister, Iya Rachael will take her to her place as soon as possible and assume responsibility of taking care of her. I vowed to call her immediately I get the chance, then I remembered Chucks' advice, he had warned me not to embark on this journey, he was very caring and to be honest, he gave me all I ever needed and always promised to send me back to school once he starts working ( he was a corper then). Obviously his advice fell on deaf ears as my sister- who was the first to meet madam UC made sure she convinced me, giving me instances of a lot of girls that have gone to Italy and are sending money to their parents. "Even that small ogechi have built a duplex for her mother" she kept saying.

Madam UC"s tap woke me up, she kept shouting oya!! Oya! Oya! I could remember my sister going into the bathroom, madam UC asked her what she was up to, " I want to bath" she replied. She gave a little laugh and told her to tag along. Her Friend stood by the door wishing us safe journey as we marched into the dark morning.
By the time the sun rose, we were staring at an endless sea of sand through the window of a golf. The view was the same on both sides , it was terrifying.

To be continued
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