The day my mother was buried, i slept with a strange man. i'm not proud of it but it was something i had to do. it's called "paying for his kind gesture towards me" i had no money or means to pay him back, so i decided giving him my body was the best thing to do. eight years later, i don't think it was the best decision i had made but seeing my sextuplets killed every thought of regrets i had.
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" push, push harder miss madelyn. " the doctors in the room kept urging me to keep my eyes open and push even more harder. doesn't it end? two babies out already and i'm still pushing. how many little humans are in there?
" miss madelyn, congrats you have given birth to triplets. two boys and a girl." the nurse announced and i heaved a sigh of relief.
" wait a minute, there's one more. push ms." one of the doctors interrupted and i fell back to the pillow as a tear escaped my eyes. just how many babies were in this womb of mine? three babies already and there's one more? how am i ever going to care for them?
" push, madelyn. push!!" one more baby added.
flashback, nine months ago.
***
i stood at her grave after dropping a bunch of hibiscus on her tombstone. they had just buried my mom after her tragic death. as i stood and read the words inscribed on her tombstone again and again, i realized she would finally be free and happy.
she was married to my dad at a young age, more like sold to my dad to pay off the debts her parents owed him. but mom never finished paying for those debts, twenty four years later and she was still working hard for my vile father.
" evelyn adrian. aged 44"
her name and age was boldly written on her stone. she was so young but was physically aged. she aged more quickly because of the tremendous work she had to do for her husband over the twenty four years of being married. my father drove my mother to her early grave, and i still find it hard to forgive him.
a woman who was legally married, a decent woman who was sold off by her parents to a monster at the age of twenty was made to work for my father, day after day and night after night. mr. adrian is a brutal beast who deserved nothing but death for the pains he inflicted on my mother and i.
he was filthy rich but made us suffer even for the smallest bit of remnant that fell off his table. he owned a& d company and a huge list of many other enterprises.
adrian would send my mother off to rich clients who refused to bulge and accept the proposals he made. my mother's body would be desecrated by those filthy, potbellied men who couldn't look past a beautiful woman without lusting after her.
she carried out every task as asked by my father, for twenty four years and without a complaint. i knew how hurt and dirty she felt, having all the men in the city warm her bed in return for a favour for her husband's company.
i wouldn't say my mom was stubborn or was weak. she was doing everything she could to protect her kids and save me from the wrath of my father. she kept hoping when she gave birth to kids, her husband would change for the better. but did he? he only got worse daily. even after birthing three children, he never changed his ways.
my younger siblings, cara and craig took after our father. i was the only one my poor mom could confide in, the only one who she could cry to. apart from being a devil who asks his wife to pleasure different men for his own selfish advantage, my dad was an alcoholic. several times he would come home and derive pleasure in beating mom. i confronted him a few times and got the belt turned on me instead.
on the morning that mom died, she was on her way to see mr. nathalie. mr. nathalie was the ceo of walmart int'l and as usual, dad resorted to using his wife's body to buy the pervert over. the cab she was in had an head-on head collision with a truck and she gave up the ghost few hours later.
my vicious father took no pity on the dead woman. all he could do was stand there and ask why she didn't die after completing the task he had given her. i concluded it's either he sold his heart to the devil or her had no heart at all.
without my mom, i won't be able to survive. realizing just how much of a cold blow death had given me, i fell to my knees and wept. i was weeping more for myself than her death, i knew my father would come for me next. he cherished my other siblings because they did his bidding. i was the only one who could defy him. though he tried so much to hide it, he was scared of me.
" i'm glad you are finally free off the shackles of slavery, mom. but still i wish you were here. as much as i want you to rest peacefully, i want you back."
before i could mutter a few more words, someone grabbed me by the hair and drew me up. just as i had guessed, it was no other person than lucifer himself.
" what are you still doing here, madelyn? do you wished to buried alongside her? you lay here and waste those tears of yours, who would fetch me more money and business deals now that your stupid mother is no more?"