A new story from the Master Runner opens up here.
As usual, it's going to be full of intrigues, thriller, Romance, love and above all, intelligence.

Book Title: Jennifer.
Genre: Adventure.
Author: Samson Akpaka {Zuby77}
Home website: www.globalruns.com
Debut Date: May 25, 2016.
End Date: Unknown.
Price: Free


Synopsis: She left Nigeria to study and work in Portugal but found herself in the streets as a prostitute.
After being rescued and taken to Germany, she got pregnant for a man who eventually left her to suffer.
She lived and suffered with no hope of the next meal, until she stumbled on a professional footballer who went on to become her husband.

Get ready to run with the master once more.

All my books are available on pdf and docs now.
If you want any of them, you can reach me on +8613145790981.

Episode 1

Berlin, Germany

"What are you doing out here baby?” Max said. He had just walked quietly to where I was standing without my knowledge.

I turned around and smiled at him.

It was summer in Europe and the temperature outside was awesome. I was just standing out there, staring up in the sky.

“Nothing, I am just thinking about my life,” I said.

He smiled back at me. “What are you thinking about?”

“Everything from how we met down to how I even found myself here in Berlin. It’s just unbelievable how time flies. I can remember everything the way it happened,” I said as we hugged and kissed each other.

“Every one of us went through the journey of life in the past before we got to where we are now, it’s just the normal thing,” He said.

I smiled at him again, “Mine was not normal. Mine was a miracle from God. I don’t know what I would have become if I didn’t meet you in that shopping mall. I would have probably become old and worn out by now. Do you still remember the lady we saw in Benin City Nigeria last week, the one I gave some money?”

He nodded.

I continued. “I told you she came to Portugal at the same time with me. But she aged faster than a mosquito. And to make things worse, she was deported from Portugal back to Nigeria.”

We returned from Nigeria some days ago, I, Max my husband and my three sons. It was our second time to Nigeria since we got married. I was fortunate to meet Max and sometimes I wondered if I deserved him. He was just the perfect gentleman who seemed to know how I felt at all times.

I met Max at a shopping mall where I went to buy baby food for my first son. I had walked to the counter to pay for the goods when I was told that my money wasn’t enough for the things I picked. It was the last money I had both with me and everywhere else. Solomon, the man who brought me to Berlin left and I didn’t know where he was.

I was staring at the shopping cart, considering which of the two items, a small tin of baby milk and tea; I would drop when the voice said behind me, “Take this money and pay for them.”

He was smiling at me as if we knew each other before that day.

He was standing in line behind me and had seen me fumbling with my purse looking for money that was not there. It was Max Schneider, the man who eventually became my husband.

“Thank you,” I said as I took the 100 Euro note from his left hand.

It was God that sent Max to the mall because I didn’t know what I would have done. My son has been substituting between Milk and Tea, when he should have been taking both together. I simply didn’t have money to take care of him. The government of Germany stopped paying me when I stopped visiting my asylum camp in a town called Achim near Bremen. I would have returned there but unfortunately I was scared they would arrest and send me back to Nigeria. As a result, I stayed back in Berlin where I was abandoned by both the man who brought me there and the man who impregnated me.

Outside the mall, I waited for Max to walk out so I could give him his balance of the money. After paying for the milk and the tea, I had 76 Euros left. I wanted to return it to him even when I had no more money at home. The balance of his money after the payment was still big; it was difficult to find someone who could give a stranger that kind of money.

“It’s okay, you can keep the money,” he said.

“No, take it, it’s your money,” I said.

He could see tears coming out of my eyes.

“What’s your name?” Max asked.

I didn’t answer him; I just cleaned my eyes, picked up my son and started walking away.

Max ran up to me and asked what my name was again. I didn’t answer him.

“Okay, here is my phone number. Please call me when you calm down,” he said as he took my phone from me and keyed in his number, saved it with Max and asked if I would want him to drop me to where I was going.

“Thanks, my place is not far from here,” I said as I took my phone from him, and then I left.

That was how I met Max Schneider, the man that was specially created for me.

************************************

My name is Jennifer Ebot.

I was born in Benin City Nigeria in 1988.
I left Nigeria when I finished secondary school. Prior to leaving Nigeria, I have never left Edo State. I lived my entire life in Edo State and its satellite towns until she came down from Europe. Her name was Grace, a wealthy woman, at least to our standard then. Rumour around town was that she owned supermarkets all over Portugal. I didn’t know where Portugal was located; I have never heard of that name before then. Her Mercedes C300 was different and the only one around the area; therefore everyone knew whenever she is around.

I didn’t believe a woman could be as rich as she was, not that I knew her assets but from the little I knew; she was rich. She had a fine house near our street.

There was a man we heard wanted to marry Grace, but she rejected the man. She had too much power in the neighborhood and every young girl wanted to be like Grace. I even had dreams where I was in her position, rejecting men, driving a flashy car and living in my own home.

Grace made a donation in the Church one Sunday and everybody was excited. It was the biggest money announced in the church that Sunday afternoon. People circled around her after the church service and shook her hands. Our mothers were impressed and used her as point of reference.

The incident that changed my life started when Grace came to church the following Sunday and announced that she would be returning to Portugal soon.

“To promote this community, I would like to take two young girls with me to Portugal. I have identified them but will not say their names here. I will contact their parents in a day or two,” she said.

Every pair of hands in Church was clapping like thunder.

As Felicia and I walked back home from the Church, we wondered who the two girls she chose were. I silently prayed I would be one of them but since I have never been in any kind of contact with Grace prior to that announcement, I didn’t think it would be me. But I was wrong because on the evening of the following day, we heard a car horn behind our house gate and when I went and opened it, it was the grey Mercedes Benz C300; it was Grace, my heart skipped.

OK

ritababe:
OK

ritababe is everywhere u go.... EmptyN.

ZUBY77 my man. Let's see how this ur baby mama story goes.

Galacious1:
ZUBY77 my man. Let's see how this ur baby mama story goes.

You won't be disappointed.

Captivating piece,ride on.

Missmossy:
Captivating piece,ride on.

Welcome on board.

Splendid......

ZUBY77:

You won't be disappointed.

Always with ma spinter wears ready to run....

Episode 2: The Beginning


Benin City, Nigeria

“Good evening Ma,” I said as I stood near her car window.

Was it going to be me?

She was on a dark sunshades despite there was no sun up in the sky.

“Good evening beautiful girl. Is your father at home?” She asked.

What? Did the almighty Grace just call me beautiful girl?

I nodded.

I was beaming with smiles as if it was an achievement to talk with Grace. Or perhaps it was really an achievement.

“Should I open the gate for you?” I asked, without even considering whether my parents would want her to come inside or not.

“No it’s okay, I will park outside here. What’s your name?” She asked.

“My name is Jennifer.”

“You are indeed beautiful. I hope you would like to be like me,” she said.

I held my hands together and stared on the ground like a kid; still smiling. I was shy and didn’t know how to answer the question.

Who wouldn’t want to be like Grace? Even men wished to be as rich as she was.

“It’s okay, don’t be shy, you can tell me,” she continued.

I nodded in affirmative.

Aunt Grace gracefully walked down from her car and pressed a button on the key holder she was holding, all the car lights flashed at once, the doors clicked and the car locked; magic.

“Who is that?” I heard the voice from inside the compound, it was my father.

He didn’t wait for me to answer the question before he walked outside.

“Good evening sir,” the ever respectful Aunt Grace said to my father.

“Welcome. You are the lady at the Church yesterday,” my father said, as if he didn’t know Aunt Grace before that.

“Yes sir, It was me. I was just coming inside the compound. Can we go back inside? I need to have a small discussion with you and your wife,” Grace said.

Three of us walked into the compound and closed the gate behind us.

“Go to the kitchen and call your mother,” my father said as soon as we walked into the sitting room.

My father wasn’t poor, well he wasn’t rich either. He was just okay since he could afford the fees at the famous Adesuwa Girls Grammar School where I attended. Our sitting room was always neat, my father’s extreme discipline measures made sure of that. So when Grace walked into our sitting room, I didn’t feel ashamed in anyway.

“Who was that at the gate?” My mother asked as soon as she heard my footsteps coming towards her in the kitchen.

“It’s that lady who gave money at the Church,” I said.

My mother dropped what she was doing and looked up.

“What is she doing here?”

“I don’t know, but Daddy asked me to call you.”

I waited for my mother to wash and dry her hands before we both walked into the sitting room where Grace was rejecting the offer of drinks from my father.

“I hope all is well,” My father said to Aunt Grace.

“Yes, everything is alright sir. My holiday is coming to an end and I will be returning to my base in Portugal soon. I want two girls to go with me to help train them over there. One of my friends recommended your daughter and I decided to come and see by myself. I heard she did well in her WAEC exams,” Grace said.

I blushed.

My mother smiled.

My father remained expressionless. Men!

“Well, your mission is a good one and I appreciate that. But I want my daughter to write JAMB and go to the university here,” my father said.

What was he talking about? What Jamb?

My mother didn’t say a word; she just sat there and listened. I on my side was not permitted or required to say anything. My opinion was never going to count despite the discussion being about me. If I had as much as changed my expression to anger, my body would have taken the beating of my life from my father eventually. He was an Anglican priest and didn’t tolerate disobedience.

“It’s alright sir, if she can’t go with me, I will find someone else. I chose her because they told me she is brilliant,” Aunt Grace said.

My mother finally spoke, “Thank you for coming. Why don’t you go and allow us to discuss it first. We will get back to you before the end of tomorrow.”

That was the lifeline I waited for. How could my father just decide against such offer without hearing from my mother or even from me who was the subject?

Aunt Grace could have just walked to another compound to take another girl if not that my mother asked her to wait until the next day. Even the next day was too long to make a decision. I wanted them to accept the offer immediately as long as I was going to become rich like Aunt Grace.

My father didn’t allow me to see Aunt Grace off, he asked me to go inside my room while Aunt Grace walked out alone. I felt it was a little rude but I suspected that the man knew something I didn’t know. As long as I was concerned, I wanted to be like Aunt Grace because every girl in the neighborhood wanted the same thing.

Barely five minutes after, Grace left, I took my bathe and changed clothes. I was going to discuss the latest topic with my friend Felicia.

“Where are you going?” My father asked as i stepped out into the sitting room.

“Daddy, I want to pick up my book from Felicia,” I lied.

“Go back to your room, it’s late. Tomorrow is another day.”

I reluctantly walked back to my room and wished I had a mobile phone. I would have just called Felicia. Keeping the news to myself until the next day was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I prayed that the night would just run faster than normal. I wanted the day to break; Felicia was supposed to hear the news minutes after it happened. I wanted her opinion because if I had to run away from my family to be able to make it to Portugal, I would do that. I was sure that when and if I eventually returned with a Mercedes Benz and money, my father would have nothing to say.

That was my first encounter with Grace, the woman who eventually took me to Europe and turned me into a street Prostitute in Lisbon Portugal.

But Like the man who rescued me from prostitution once said, “Everything and everybody I came across in my life journey contributed to why I am who I am and why I am where I am.”

His name was Solomon Ebot, yes, I took his surname in Germany, and it was that deep between us. The most passionate and resolute guy I ever came across but very clever and dangerous as well. It was my doing that I didn’t get married to him and I paid for my mistake but God eventually led me to Max, who became everything every girl ever wanted; everything.

sir your the best writer that I stumbled upon on the NET. (but THERE is one thing preventing me from reading your story thats the way you view GOD, nt christianity bcoz u knw lot more abt it, but nt GOD) "MY OPPINION" but i missed season 10, your return to nigeria with that british girl.
Thumbs up. *bows out*

Keep it coming!!

muhamadnur:
sir your the best writer that I stumbled upon on the NET. (but THERE is one thing preventing me from reading your story thats the way you view GOD, nt christianity bcoz u knw lot more abt it, but nt GOD) "MY OPPINION" but i missed season 10, your return to nigeria with that british girl.
Thumbs up. *bows out*

The season you talked about was completed on No Place Like Home

Oya ooooo.

You got me hooked on this as usual.....masterpiece in progress!

continue

mod yaf ban Bros zuby, go to his site to read he will continue there in three days time..

Zubby77 longest time

This Story kicks off today on the author's website www.globalruns.com.

The handle Zuby77 was banned for mentioning Biafra in a public forum.

The Master Story Teller himself.
I can't wait to continue this story. I am sure it's going to be full of intrigues.
Kudos Boss.

Master runner himself

Episode 3: The Initial Mistakes

I didn’t call Max Schneider when I got home from the shopping mall. I didn’t believe I had any reason to call him. He did enough already by bailing me out of the mall. At least my son had enough milk and tea to last for one week. The good news was that I was able to buy one more set of the groceries for him from the balance of the money Max gave me. Why would I call to bother him?

My house rent was about to expire. The lazy man who impregnated me left me and my son; he relocated to the United Kingdom. Every attempt I made for him to return and take us with him fell to deaf ears. Not that I loved him, I didn’t, it was just that it was difficult to raise my son alone without having a job. Our relationship happened by accident; I met him in Berlin Germany. I could still remember that Sunday evening when I went to buy foodstuff in Neukoln area of Berlin. We bumped into each other and he spoke my Edo language. That was how I met Joshua

Solomon, who brought me to Berlin left for Nigeria some months back and was yet to come back to Berlin. Rumor was flying everywhere that he was no longer allowed to come to Europe. Each time I called him in Nigeria, he would tell me that he was coming back but didn’t know when. Things remained that way from weeks to months until the money he left for me finished. Things started getting difficult. The people he asked me to go to for money didn’t help matters. They knew he had troubles coming back to Europe; therefore they started avoiding my calls. I guessed they didn’t know when he would return to give them their money back. So when Joshua approached me inside the Afro shop where I was buying foodstuff, I didn’t make it difficult for him to woo me, I encouraged him instead because I needed someone to start supporting me in paying the house rent.

Joshua came as a gentleman, all loving and caring. The best news yet was that he was from Edo State, just like me. It was easy to fall for him. But before I found out he had no job, I was already pregnant for him. That was the biggest mistake I made in my life but when each time I looked at my first son who was the outcome of that pregnancy, I thanked my God that I didn’t abort him as I was advised.

“How are you fine girl,” Joshua had said to me that first day at the Afro shop.

I smiled at him. He went on to tell me how he has been admiring me. We managed to exchange our phone numbers and one week later, Joshua moved into the apartment where I lived alone, the apartment that was paid for by Solomon, the guy who rescued me from prostitution in Portugal and brought me to Berlin.

I loved Solomon more than anything; as a matter of fact, he was the life I lived. I could never forget what we went through together while running from Grace and her thugs who wanted me back to the streets.

But the truth remained that Solomon was stranded in Nigeria and nobody knew when he would return to Europe. He himself didn’t even know when he would return. From what I heard, it could take him five years or more before he succeed in getting a new visa. His friends at the Afro shop didn’t help matter either; they were the people who circulated the rumour that he was stuck in Nigeria, they were the people who even encouraged me to stop rejecting men because of someone who was stranded in Africa. They mocked him in my absence but I heard everything. I used to tell Solomon everything people said about him on the phone but he told me not to worry. He assured me that he would return but the problem was that there was no time stamp. He just said he would return and that was it.

I started living with Joshua. It took me long to find out that he was a lazy man, that was another mistake I made. I should have detected such thing from the beginning because from the day he moved into my apartment, he hardly go out to work or look for money. He just stayed indoors until evening when he would go to one Afro shop or the other to drink beer. I guessed my desperate move to be with someone blinded me for long. At the end of the first month, Joshua paid for our apartment. It was one of the reasons I didn’t question him much about what he did. As long as the apartment was being paid for, I didn’t have much to worry. I on the other hand didn’t have work too; there was no work for undocumented immigrants in Berlin. Most people depended on asylum monthly payments of about 199 Euros. The problem I had with mine was that I was required to travel to my camp near Bremen to receive my payment. It took about 80 Euros from Berlin to get to the camp and another 80 to return. I didn’t see the logic in going there to take the money when I knew the whole thing would be spent on transportation. I was discouraged but yet another mistake I made was not to have returned to the camp. That was what I should have done when Solomon left, unfortunately his failure to return contributed to everything. I would have simply abandoned Berlin and returned to the camp where I would live and wait for Solomon and hoped that he would return. But I chose to stay back in Berlin which was a big city when compared to even Bremen.

When I got pregnant for Joshua, I confronted him about finding a job to be able to sustain us. He would have probably found one but he never made any serious move. There were some jobs Igbo boys did in Berlin, they helped people load items bound for Nigeria and they got paid all the time. Most of them also sold Marijuana in Hessenheide Park in the middle of Berlin. Police didn’t disturb them much because Marijuana wasn’t considered class A drug in Berlin. But Joshua couldn’t do any of those. He believed that a miracle would someday fall from Heaven to bless him. He would tell me fairly tales about one guy or the other who picked a bag while walking on the street and when he opened it, it was full of Euros. That was the kind of useless stories Joshua told me all the time. He would even go as far as praying that the next person to pick up such money would be him. At a stage, I knew that I was totally screwed. My only hope was Solomon but he was stuck back in Nigeria. I prayed and hoped every day that he would forgive and accept me back whenever he returned. But I waited in vain for months until he eventually returned to Berlin.

Yes, Solomon returned and found me with protruded stomach. I was pregnant already.

Episode 4: Catherine and the Strange Lover



Berlin, Germany

Despite my condition, I defied every pain and found a job at a restaurant that belonged to another Edo Woman. I cooked and washed plates and served customers all day. I didn’t complain because the job was putting food on the table. I became the bread winner of the house since the man who got me pregnant decided to wait for manner to fall from Heaven. Joshua didn’t complain as long as he met food in the kitchen each time he comes back. I started avoiding the gatherings of Nigerians, especially the Churches and parties. There was always someone who would remind me of how good my life was when Solomon was still in Berlin. Some of the shameless guys would even say it in my face. My social life died and I just lived because I couldn’t kill myself. I remembered the day one of them said that I was a witch. He said that it was because of me that Solomon couldn’t return to Europe. He said that since I returned with him from Portugal some months back, he didn’t do the things he used to do for them when he lived alone. I even called Solomon to tell him what the useless guy said but to my greatest surprise, he cut the call on my ear. I understood he was frustrated back in Nigeria but he had no reason to hang my call without responding to what I told him.

Some days after hanging the call on me, his friend from the Afro shop paid me a visit. He said Solomon asked him to pick up his things from the apartment. I watched as he searched the entire house and packed the shoes and clothes that belonged to Solomon. He even found money behind the gas heater, money I never knew was there all along. Before he left the apartment, he gave me small money and said he was directed to do that by Solomon. That was the last money Solomon gave me. That was when I knew that our relationship was falling apart. I knew I had to wait for Solomon to return but the truth was that I didn’t know when, I didn’t even know if he would return. I had to move on with my life. I once told him that he would have taken me with him to Nigeria. I knew I had no traveling documents but I believed he had money in Nigeria and I would have gladly settled down with him if that was what he wanted. But he told me he was not yet done living in Europe. He said he would return.

The lady who owned the restaurant where I worked, despite being an Edo woman, hated the site of me. I understood her sentiments and lived with it. She has been married for over 10 years but couldn’t get pregnant. But right before her at the restaurant every other day, was a young me with protruded stomach. She seized every small opportunity to remind me how she was the reason why I could see food to eat. She knew Joshua my boyfriend, she knew he had no job and she knew he wasn’t even ready to work. Sometimes at the restaurant, Catherine would blame me for things I should have done. That was her name, Catherine; a very wicked woman.

“Jennifer, how could you not know that our salt will finish tomorrow? Why did you not greet that customer properly?” She would ask every now and then; just some routine useless questions.

I never followed Catherine to buy foodstuffs, yet I was supposed to remind her that the salt would finish in a day or two. Not that it was a bad thing to do, but since she didn’t want me to get involved in her business, I restricted myself to cooking, washing and serving the customers only. I practically did everything important at the restaurant except receiving money from customers. Catherine sold other items as well, so she would sit and attend to some customers who came to buy Jewelleries and shoes while I concentrated on the food department. But I was never allowed to go and buy meat or other items required to cook. She feared I would save some of the money for that purposes. She saw me as a hopeless stranded little girl whose boyfriend was lazy.

There was one day I was accused of not serving a man properly. Something was going on between Catherine and the customer; I believed they were dating, even when she was married. The man never ate anywhere else except our restaurant. Some days, he would come around 11pm when we were already closing the restaurant, and then he would sit and ask for food. Catherine would ask me to go home after serving him. Both of them would be the only people in the restaurant and would lock the door behind me pretending that they wouldn’t want other customers to come inside since it was time to close. Whatever they did inside the restaurant was their business but I didn’t like it because I knew her husband. Due to their clandestine activities, I didn’t like the man. He knew I didn’t like him and he told Catherine. A day came when I was told to serve him before leaving the restaurant around 10pm.

“Why is this man always coming only when we are already closing? I cannot return to the kitchen and start making food for him. I have packed everything where they should be,” I said.

She slapped me instantly while the man watched. She shouted and threatened to sack me. She called me a LovePeddler while she was the only LovePeddler in the restaurant. I wanted to exchange words with her but I knew that I needed the job to keep passing through every day without thinking of killing myself. Despite being paid 300 Euros monthly, I still took some food home every night. I lived with a lazy man who refused to get his hands dirty and I had to put up with the situation. Sometimes we had to do with what we have. That was how I got slapped and verbally abused because of Catherine’s mysterious lover that shows up only late in the nights. I was tempted to alert her husband but I knew that such things could spill and turn around to bite me. They didn’t do anything in my presence, I never saw them kissing or doing anything but I knew what they did. I was no longer a kid and I had a shot at street prostitution for a few weeks back in Portugal.

Life went on that way as weeks turned into months until that very day when I saw him; yes, Solomon came to our restaurant. I didn’t even know he was back in Germany.

To You, Anthony Ayodotun Oyelena. You will live long enough to fulfil all that you are desitned to achieve on this temporal hut called Earth.

Kudos .... Dis is my 1st tym of reading ur story and I'm enjoying it#sit@dfrontwitmypopcorn#. Ride on

Episode 5: Bold Step To Slavery


Benin City, Nigeria

Two days after Grace left our house in Benin City, my parents couldn’t agree on what to do. I was happy that there was no agreement between them. It meant that my mother wanted me to go. I would hang around the door of my room and listened to their arguments. My father, being a Priest didn’t want me to go anywhere. It seemed he knew that Grace did something illegal in Portugal. During one of the arguments, he said that he didn’t like women who traveled to Europe. He said such things should be left for men alone since they could take care of themselves better than the women.

My mother on the other hand, maintained that she saw nothing wrong in going to Portugal to further my studies while I helped at Grace’s supermarket. She made the statement as if she was sure what Grace did in Portugal. As for me, the excitement of going outside Nigeria was the real deal. I didn’t really know or cared about what Grace did; her Mercedes Benz and money blinded me to the extent that it was difficult to think about anything else.

After the second day without any conclusion, I cried for hours. It seemed I was helpless because I just watched as the opportunity drifted away before my eyes. I was never going to forgive my father if I didn’t make it to Portugal; therefore on the morning of the third day, I walked past Grace’s house, then I got to the end of the street and turned around. I walked back past her house. I repeated that three times, walking like a mad person until I summoned enough courage to knock on her gate.

The sound of the barking dog startled me as I waited for the gateman to open the gate and asked who I was looking for.

“Is Aunty at home?” I asked.

“Who are you?” The Aboki gate keeper asked without answering my question.

“Please tell her it’s Jennifer.”

I stood outside on the street as he closed the gate without letting me in. I waited for about four minutes before Grace gracefully came out herself.

“Sorry my dear, please come inside,” she said.

I followed her to the beautifully decorated sitting room and sat down. There, I saw the flat-screen TV for the first time. It was so large that I wondered how it was possible to have a TV as large as that.

The floor of the entire house was covered with breakable ceramic tiles; it was yet another wonder to me especially at a time most people used rugs and carpets to cover their floors.

“Did your parents send you?” She asked as she poured wine inside a glass cup and offered it to me.

I shook my head, indicating that I came on my own.

“Aunty, is it alcoholic?” I asked as I took the wine glass.

“It has little alcoholic but it won’t do anything to you,” she said.

I sipped from the glass and held the rest while I answered her questions

“Aunty, I want to follow you but my father doesn’t want me to go. My mother told him to allow me to go but he refused. I don’t know what to do,” I said to one of her questions.

“Well, you can easily follow me. You are the owner of your life, not your father,” Aunt Grace said.

Her statement shocked me as I looked her in the eyes unbelievably. That was supposed to be the first hint of what I was walking into but the desire to own a Mercedes Benz blinded me.

“He will kill me if I ever do such thing.”

“My dear, how many people has your father killed in the past? He is not going to do anything especially when you start sending him money from oversea,” she said.

“What am I going to be doing if I follow you to Oversea?” I asked.

She said there were many jobs to be doing while going to school too. He said I could be working as a cashier in her supermarket, or that she could find me work at her friend’s hair salon.

As young as I was, it was difficult to suspect anything from a woman who recently donated 200,000 Naira to the local Church. What did she stand to lose? She had money already; she had her house and a car. I was sure she could even buy another car if she wanted. Why wouldn’t I follow someone like that to wherever she lived and worked?

It was a decision I would have to make once and pray that it didn’t backfire because if it didn’t work, I was pretty sure my father would disown me. I was a woman and it was always difficult for us to get away with such things as disobeying our parents or running away from our homes.

“What if I agree to go with you, how are we going to do it?” I asked.

She said she would simply take me to the immigration office where I would make an international passport, and then she would use her contacts at one embassy to get a visa for me.

Everything seemed so simple especially when I was not required to provide anything. I was just going to sit and wait until my visa was ready, and then I would follow her to Lagos and to the airport. She made it look so simple to the extent that I agreed to defy all rules from my father and follow her. I was going to Portugal whether the priest wanted it or not. I liked it that I summoned enough courage to knock on her gate that morning. I knew my parents would be looking for me but it didn’t matter. I was going to Portugal to study and work. I would make enough money to buy my father back. I would sponsor Beth, my younger sister to any level in the University; I would also sponsor my younger brother with my money. I was certain no father would reject such gesture from her daughter irrespective of her disobedience in the past.

The wine was already messing with my head but I managed to hold myself and pretended that everything was okay. If not that I tasted alcoholic in the past and know how it worked, I would have thought that Grace drugged me.

We were still discussing the best thing to do when the Aboki gate keeper knocked and walked in.

“Madam, one man is looking for you outside.”

Aunty Grace asked who it was but the Aboki didn’t know, he was new in the area anyway since he was hired less than two weeks before.

Aunty Grace excused herself and walked outside. Two minutes later she walked back into the sitting room with a man. I instantly stood up as soon as they walked in; the man who just came in was my father.

Episode 6: Change of mind

“What are you doing here?” My father fired at me.

I didn’t even have enough time to drop the wine glass I was carrying. It was a slap on the man’s ego that I was drinking in Grace’s house. I stood there and wondered what would be going on in his mind. I was sure he didn’t expect to see me there. I was also sure that he wasn’t supposed to come there. Then I was more surprised over why Aunty Grace didn’t divert the man to somewhere else instead of allowing him into the same sitting room where she knew I was carrying a glass of alcohol-filled red wine. I didn’t know how to answer the question he threw at me. I didn’t plan any lie before visiting Aunty Grace, I was just caught in the middle of nowhere and it was difficult to find my tongue.

Aunty Grace to the rescue, “She was passing through on the street when I saw her. It was me who called her to come.”

“You can go home now,” my father said as he sat down.

I dropped the wine glass on the table and scrambled outside as if the house was on fire. On my way home, I thought about what was going to happen to me. Of course getting lashed with cane was merciful in that context. The words my ears were going to hear would be more severe than just beating me up.

But on the brighter side, I was curious over what my father came to do in Aunty Grace’s house. It was obvious he and my mother has reached an agreement and judging by the way he scolded at me when he came to where I was enjoying myself with a glass of red wine, it was obvious that the agreement was in the negative. He was going to reject the proposal by Aunty Grace. He was going to stop me from going to Portugal.

I didn’t go home straight, I diverted to Felicia’s house to cool my head off first. It was also obvious that the disciplinarian priest would soon go back to our house and I would be required to answer more questions over why I went to Aunty Grace without permission. My head wasn’t clear enough to talk sensibly, so I decided to divert and cool off somewhere before going home. Of course I was also going to answer questions over why I diverted instead of going home straight.

“I went to your house to look for you but your father said he didn’t know where you went. He said he thought you came to my house. Where did you go?” Felicia asked as soon as I entered her room and sat down on the bed.

“It’s a long story,” I said.

She continued, “What kind of long story? Did you go to see Jerome again?”

I looked up at her face, “I told you I won’t ever visit Jerome again. It’s not him.”

“Then where did you go? Did you get another boyfriend without my knowledge?”

“Can you just stop? It’s not a boyfriend thing. Something is going on. I wanted to come and tell you yesterday and the day before but I was told not to go out. Do you remember that woman who gave 200,000 at the Church?” I said.

Felicia nodded, “The one from Oversea.”

“Yes, she came to our house two days ago. She said she wants to take me to Oversea but my father refused.” I said and kept quiet.

I wanted the initial shock to sink properly into Felicia’s brain. I was sure she was shocked, it was written all over her face.

“Wait, do you mean the woman really came to your house and asked you to follow her to Oversea?” She asked when the initial shock reduced.

“That’s right Felicia. This morning I decided to go to her house before coming to you. I went to tell her that I want to follow her even if my father doesn’t want me to go. We were still talking about it when my father walked in. I don’t know who told him that I was there,” I said.

“Jennifer, why would your father reject such offer? That woman is a good person. Look at how much she gave at the Church and all the people she gave money since she returned. What did your mother say?”

My face brightened up. At least Felicia supported me. “My mother wants me to go, my father is the problem.”

“If you want my opinion, I will just tell you to follow the woman. Don’t listen to your father. This is one opportunity every girl in this area is praying for and it came to you. I even hoped she would pick me when she announced that she would take two girls with her to Oversea. Just go and tell the woman that you will follow her,” Felicia said.

“That’s what I went to do in her house. I already told her that I would want to go with her but the problem is that my father came and saw me there. I am sure he will never allow me to go near the place again. I just don’t know what to do,” I said.

“Listen, I will follow you to your house now. I want to be there when your father start to talk rubbish about this proposal. I am sure that if you become rich like the woman, I will benefit from it,” Felicia said as he held my hand and pulled me up from the chair.

She locked her door and followed me to our house. My father was not yet back but I knew that he would in a matter of minutes.

We sat in my room and talked until we heard the sound of the gate. “I think he is back,” I said.

“Don’t be scared. The worst he can do is to beat you. If he touches you, just run away from home and don’t come back. Go to Aunty Cynthia’s house and hide there, she won’t tell your father. I will go to the woman and tell her what happened. If she really wants to travel with you, she will pick you up there,” Felicia said.

Her plan seemed like a short time answer but unfortunately, I wasn’t raised to disobey my parents. Although the situation at hand was not in the picture when those ‘always obey your Parents’ rules were being instilled in me.

We held our breath like a rat that accidentally saw a snake and waited for my father to start shouting but he didn’t. His silence was even more disturbing. That was unlike him, something was wrong. I even feared that he could kill me.

But all the doubt and confusion disappeared when he simply walked to the door and knocked. “Are you in there Jennifer?”

“Yes Papa.”

He pushed the door slightly open and said, “I have told the woman that you can go with her. But don’t ever go and see such people without my permission next time.”

For those who wants to read and understand my works better, you can start here on nairarand.
Thank me later

https://www.nairaland.com/1333913/there-back-time-nairaland-best

Episode 7: More Than a helping Stranger

Spandau, Berlin, Germany

Two days after Max Schneider helped and gave me his phone number at the mall in Spandau Berlin, I called him. I decided to call him because my house rent was about to expire. The last payment 22 days ago was done by the money Solomon Azubuike Ebot sent me through one girl named Ify who lived in Dublin. It was the same Solomon who sent me money to pay for the previous two months. I didn’t know how he knew when my house rent was due to be paid, I didn’t have his phone number anymore and apparently he didn’t want to contact me directly. He sent me money through another woman. It broke my heart everyday to know that another woman sent me money from a man who was supposed to be my husband.

Ify, the lady who sent me the money from Dublin didn’t help matter. She refused to give me the phone number of Solomon. She said she was instructed not to give the number out to me or anybody for that matter, she even said that she didn’t know exactly where Solomon lived because the money usually came from different countries of Europe. I cried each time I remember Solomon. I didn’t know where to place him. I hated him with the same proportion of love I had for him. The only reason I accepted his money was because there was no other way to pay for the house rent. The bastard who impregnated me left for the UK without asking how I was taking care of his son.

“Hello,” Max said from the other end of the phone.

I kept quiet; I didn’t know the first thing to say. He was a young guy, about 23 years then. He said he played football for one professional club in Berlin but I didn’t know much about football.

“Who is there?” He asked.

I remained quiet.

Few seconds later, he said something in German and cut the call. Five minutes later, he called back.

“You are the girl from Aldi Mall, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what to say,” I stammered.

“How is your son?”

“He is fine but sleeping,” I said.

“Where are you?”

“I am at home,” I responded.

“Where exactly is home?”

I told him the area where I lived.

“Do you need anything?” He asked.

I paused and didn’t answer the question. Of course I needed something. I needed money. My house rent was going to expire in one week or so. The ever invisible ghost called Solomon Azubuike Ebot has not sent his mysterious but useful money.

“You need something, what is that?” he said before I could say anything.

I started crying.

He kept quiet and waited for several minutes while the phone was still on. When he stopped hearing my sobs, he said, “Tell me where you live, I will come and see you and the baby.”

I didn’t say anything for about 10 seconds before I mustered enough courage to tell him where I lived.

Two hours later Max and his friend Sebastian showed up in front of my door. He called and said he was outside. I got down from the bed and opened the door for them.

They walked inside and sat down on the long chair.

“Who lives here with you?” Max asked.

“Just me and my son,” I said.

“If you are not busy, we can go and get you some things at the mall,” Max said.

I stared at him as he nodded and said, “We will wait in the car outside.”

They stood up and left.

I went into the bathroom and showered. Thirty minutes later, I finished wearing my clothes and changed the little Azubuike’s clothes too.

Yes, that was the name I gave my first son. Solomon Azubuike was supposed to be his father. It was true that I messed up but he was the one man I truly gave my heart. When I gave birth to him, I thought that giving him the name would bring back Solomon to me but I was wrong. The ghost drifted away and never cared. The only thing he did was to send money.

I took Zuby Junior outside and found Max with his friend waiting patiently in their black Mercedes ML SUV. Max came down from the car and took Zuby from me while his friend started the engine. I entered at the back and we drove to the same Aldi Mall where we met.

“Pick everything you need,” Max said.

I looked at him to make sure he knew what he was talking about; he nodded.

I grabbed a trolley cart and started picking food items first. That was the priority. It suddenly occurred to me that I wasn’t feeding well in the past few months. My concentration was on the little boy.

Max and Sebastian walked around the mall while I picked whatever I wanted. First of all, I picked more Milk and Tea for Zuby. I didn’t know when manner would fall again from Max, so I decided to make sure the little boy has enough food to last him for two months.

I picked rice, ice cream and many more items that eluded me in the past due to financial stress.

When I felt that I had taken enough, I pushed the heavy cart to where they were playing with the little boy.

“I have finished,” I said.

Sebastian picked up the boy while Max took the cart from me and started pushing it towards the clearance counter.

At the counter, I concentrated as they brought out one item after the other and checked it.

417 Euros! Greedy Girl, I blew it.

That was the record shopping I had in forever.

“Is it too much?” I managed to ask as Max brought out his wallet and gave his bank card to the cashier.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to worry,” he said.

After packing the items, he carried it to the car as I walked behind them. The unbelievable happened when Max opened the door of the vehicle for me to enter.

What was he doing? I thought he was just helping out a single mother. Why would he open the door for me?

I thanked him and entered the vehicle. The answers would come some other day but for the moment, I needed to feel what was happening.

As we drove back to my place, I mentally calculated the things I picked at the mall. Zuby and I were going to have enough food for two months, not just him but both of us.

My only worry was the house rent but somehow I believed that the mysterious man would send his mysterious money like always. I counted on calling Ify in Dublin to call Solomon in a few days time. I knew Ify was in contact with him. What I didn’t know was whether they were in relationship or not. But somehow I doubted they were in relationship. It would be very hard for a girlfriend or wife to allow her husband to be paying house rent for another girl, unless she didn’t know.

Episode 8: Who are You?

Back in my apartment, we carried the items inside the house.

“I don’t know how to thank you Max,” I said as they stood at the door, ready to leave. “God will pay you back tenfold. I will tell my son everything you did for him when he grows up.”

“You don’t have to worry Jennifer. Maybe if you have time in the coming days, we could go out to a park or somewhere to look around and know each other better,” he said.

I wanted to tell him that I was ready to go to the park immediately but on a second thought, I decided to follow his lead. He said in the coming days, maybe he didn’t have time to go to the park at that moment. It would be a slap on my face if I told him that I was ready to go immediately when he didn’t have time. It was good that I waited. I didn’t know how long ‘coming days’ represented in his mind; it could be tomorrow, next tomorrow or even next week. But I had enough food to last for months, so it didn’t really matter. My immediate problems have been taken care of, if he wanted two weeks or one month, I was going to be ready for the next minute to that one month. What else would I be doing?

I offered Max and Sebastian a pack of biscuits I picked up at the mall. He said he wasn’t hungry.

“Please accept this from me Max. It means a lot to me,” I insisted when he said he wasn’t hungry.

He took it, opened it and took a bite before he smiled and announced that they were leaving.

“We are going for training, I will call in the night to know how you guys are doing,” he said as he put his hand in his pocket and brought out a wallet. He opened it and brought out two 50 Euro notes. “Take this.”

I stood in one place and looked from his face to the money and to his face again. “Max, you have done enough already.”

“I insist, just like you did with the biscuit. Just take it, you will need it, remember you have a baby to take care of,” he said.

I took the money from him and said “Sebastian, please thank him for me.”

“Thank you for Jennifer,” Max said and we laughed.

The laughter took away the tears that were forming in my eyes. Yes, I was almost in tears.

They spent five more minutes with us before they walked out of the door. I followed them to their car which was parked just in front of the apartment; I lived downstairs.

Max and Sebastian left. Mr. Little boy started crying that he would follow them. Who didn’t like good things? I took him back inside and locked the door.

As I arranged the items where they were supposed to be, Ify called from Dublin. She said Mr. Ghost sent me 600 Euros; she asked for the ID to receive the money through Western Union. I gave her the usual Passport name of the guy who usually pulled the money for me from Western Union.

The truth was that Solomon sent money every month. I didn’t know his motives, I didn’t know if he planned to come back to me someday. I wanted to tell him that Joshua left us and relocated to the UK. Perhaps that was the kind of news he waited for before he could come back to me. Unfortunately I didn’t have his number. Secondly I didn’t want to give that information to Ify since I didn’t know the relationship between her and Solomon. I was afraid that one wrong statement from me could cut off the monthly allowance. If that ever happened, I would be forced to return to my asylum camp in Achim near Bremen. I wasn’t sure how they would receive me but then, I won’t have any other option. Europe was not particularly where people allowed single mothers to squat with them with their children especially when the mother had no plan of moving out.

An hour later, Ify sent me a message with the clearance codes. I called Martin, the clearance guy to clear the money for me. He brought 520 later after taking his percentage.

My house rent cost 400 Euros every month. That left me with extra 120 Euros to play around. In just a couple of hours, I went from no money and no food to plenty of foods and some money. I was able to breathe properly once more.

When Max called me in the night, he asked if we could go out in the afternoon of the following day.

Of course we could go out.

“Yes, I have time,” I said.

I said some prayers that night and asked God not to let the current wave of fortune pass away from me.

Before 1pm the following day, Max called and said he would be in my place in 30 minutes. Immediately after his call, I started getting ready. I bathed Zuby Jnr. and wore him his best cloth. Then I took my bathe and put in my sexy gown. It was disheartening to know that the gown was bought by Solomon. Yes, it was one of the clothes he bought for me before going to Nigeria. Since I didn't wear it regularly, it was still as good as new.

When Max came, we drove to a large Park where white children and their parents played. I and my son were the only black people there. Some white children stared at us to register the fact that we were different. I didn’t know why Max chose such place of all places but since he was dictating the pace, I would readily follow him to hell.

“You haven’t told me anything about you but I am not in a hurry. You can always tell me when you are ready,” Max said while we sat on the grass with our orange Juice.

He didn’t drink alcohol like Solomon the Ghost who even smoked Marijuana.

His sudden topic about telling him who I was startled me. That was one area I didn’t cover very well.

What was I supposed to tell him?

That I was a street Prostitute in Portugal or that I followed a guy to Berlin.

How about the man who impregnated me?

How exactly was I supposed to cover that area?

There were too many things to say and there was going to be too many cover ups. I was sure that he would eventually find out the truth about me if I lied. I was going to explain the mysterious guy who sent money every month, the same guy who brought me to Berlin and abandoned me. I was going to explain my asylum and how I managed to survive since I came to Berlin but since Max Schneider did all he did for me without caring about what I did in the past, since he decided to put smile on the faces of me and my son, I was going to tell him the truth, nothing but the truth.

“It’s okay Max; we are not doing anything now. I will tell you about me,” I said and looked him in the face.

We smiled at the same time like lovers before I started.

"My name is Jennifer. I am from Nigeria and I was born in 1988."
**********************************************

Dedicated to Late Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, Fomer Super Eagles of Nigeria Captain and Coach.
Global Runs will remember this day as the day you left us in tears.

Episode 9: How I came Here


“I must warn you that my journey up until now was not a very pleasant one. One of my Aunts came to our house one day and said she wanted to take me to Portugal to further my studies. My parents refused initially but they eventually agreed. Some weeks later, I found myself in Mali. I didn’t know where Portugal was and I thought the normal route was through the deserts. It was when we got stranded in Mali that I blamed myself for the whole thing. We were first of all, taken to Cotonuo, Ghana and Ivory Coast before we eventually arrived in Mali. I never knew the world was so big,” I said.

“We, how many of you?” Max interrupted.

“We were three but one left in Abidjan. I wanted to leave with her but I was scared to die. We were told that one deity back home in Nigeria would strike us down if we attempted to run away,” I said, “We spent close to six months on the road before we finally left Mali with an aircraft. As soon as we arrived in Spain, we were taken to Portugal through railway and the first thing my Aunty did was to take our international passports; that was when I knew I was in trouble.”

Tears started falling out of my eyes as I recalled how my life started to fall apart in Lisbon. Max stood up and pulled me up too. He hugged and told me to stop crying.

“You can tell me about it another time,” He said.

I kept my silence for a while before I gathered enough strength to continue.

“It took just two days before we were sent to the streets to look for men. There were other girls who worked for other Madams. We were told to look up to them and learn how to become a prostitute. I was told by my Aunty that I would pay 45000 Euros before I would become free. It didn’t make any sense to me then but things eventually started to fall in place. We would wake up in the afternoon and prepare to go to the streets in the evening. Out in the street, we would wait for men to come and ask us the amount it takes to sleep with us. I cried everyday and wished that I never met my Aunty. She was so nice to me back in Nigeria but all that changed when we arrived in Portugal. At a time, I thought that she hated me. I even tried to kill myself once,” I said and kept quiet again.

I was finding it difficult to tell Max how I slept with one man or the other. I didn’t know what he intended to do with me. I knew he liked me, I could see that from the way he looked into my eyes occasionally. What I didn’t know was how he would feel if I opened up completely. We did a lot of things with our bodies in Lisbon. There were days when I slept with 5 men in 10 hours. I would return home very weak and before I could sleep properly, it would be time to go out again. At a stage my body started to change. When I complained about it to Aunty Grace, she said that it was a sign that I was getting matured.

There were times when one of us would secure a sex contract that required two or three girls. I would be contacted and we would go and satisfy the usually drunk and stunned men.

There was on one occasion where we were invited to a party. The two men who came to look for us said that they would pay us 500 Euros each for the night. We were happy that we were going to make big money but when we arrived at the party venue, the plan changed. We were told that three men would sleep with each one of us. We refused initially but when we attempted to leave, they said we couldn’t do that. They locked the door and threatened to kill us if we as much as attempt to leave. That was how we were practically raped. Three different men had a go at me that night. I cried while they molested me. We were eventually given 500 Euros each as promised but the event changed my life. It was after that incident that I started thinking of how to get away from Lisbon. I wasn’t very scared of the Olokun, the water goddess anymore. I was ready to accept death if that was what Olokun preferred. (Olokun: Reference to There and Back On Time – www.globalruns.com)

Two days after the three men slept with me, I didn’t go out. I didn’t talk to my friend who secured the deal. She was an enemy as far as I was concerned. I had a feeling that she knew about the party before we got there. She didn’t tell me anything, just that we would get 500 Euros. It was on the third day that Aunty Grace came and forced me out in the streets again.

After deciding to skip some of the details, I continued telling Max more about how I found myself in Berlin.

“Life went on that way for a while. I would wake up with headache and still take my hand bag and go to the street. At the end of every two or three days, my Aunty will show up and take all the money I got. She said she was calculating the money and that she would let me go as soon as I returned 45000 Euros. The amount I was supposed to pay was a mountain. I figured out that it would take me many years to come up with such amount of money. So I made up my mind that it was a matter of time before I quit and run away,” I said.

“Very interesting, where is your Aunty now?” Max asked.

“She is still in Portugal.”

“So, how did you eventually get out?” Max asked.

“It’s a long story.”

He smiled, “Tell me the long story, I have time.”

I looked at him and smiled too. “I met this guy one evening. His name is Solomon, the one I told you pay the house rent for me every month. He was the one who brought me here. He was the one who actually gave me the surname ‘Ebot’, that’s his surname here in Germany too.”

“Here, you mean he is here?” Max interrupted.

“Not really. He lived here in Berlin for some years before he came to Portugal to search for residence permit. That was when we met. He came to the street to pick up a girl and I happened to be the person he wanted. I followed him to his place there in Lisbon. But when I wanted to remove my clothes for sex, he told me not to do that. He said he liked me and didn’t just want to have sex with me. He even took me out on that first day and bought me some gifts. Then when I wanted to go home, he paid me even when we didn’t have sex. Because of what he did, I called him the next day and told him that I want to visit him again; he asked me to come. When I got to his place, he asked how I came to Portugal. He was the first person who really cared to ask for that information,” I said.

welldone,nice story.....following till d end