Sitting by the beach is something Helena is used to and it helps her to forget her worries, even though it may be for a temporary time and also helps her to meditate .
Helena was dressed in a white, beautiful gown which was given to her by her mother five years ago. The gown could hardly size her, but she forced herself to wear it because of the sake of memory.
While holding a flower, she closed her eyes and tears rolled out of her eyes. What could’ve made this beautiful young girl cry?
She’s a young girl of twenty-three but has gone through a lot because of the moment that changed everything.
Helena‘s mum died four years ago and didn’t have any inheritance for her daughter which means that Helena will be left alone to struggle and survive in this world. I wonder where her family members are but I heard her mum stopped getting close to them because they weren’t good to her especially her father’s family and when Helena told them about the death of her mum, she was neglected.
What has always been her dream?
Her dream has always been to travel outside Nigeria to Europe so she could work and be a better person.
After her mum’s death, she had no choice, but to survive and began to mingle with people just because she needed to survive. Information is key but Helena isn’t a calm person. She heard about a team taking girls to Europe to help them but through illegal means. They’d pass so many countries before they get to Europe.
Unfortunately, it was a lie. The plan was to take those young girls to Libya for prostitution.
On the traveling day, Helena dropped a letter on her table and placed her mum’s picture on it.
She wrote;
Dear mum, I know you can’t see this but I remember you all the time and I want you to know my life has been miserable ever since you left me. You know I’ve always wanted to go to Europe. This feels like an opportunity and I hope things go well for me. I love you, dear mum
She packed her bags and headed to her friends house so they could go together as they planned. The journey started with the team they were supposed to follow.
When they got to the Nigerian border, the journey stopped until the next day.
The journey continued the next day and while passing a particular desert that leads to Libya, things began to happen. A gang of robbers attacked them and collected all the money they had. Anyone who doesn’t have money to give them will be killed. Some girls got raped including Helena. It was a very sad moment for her because going back is scarier.
Some people also died along the way especially those who had health issues and could not cope with the harsh weather condition over there.
Finally, they got to Libya and Helena expected things to be fast just like the way the left Benin republic the next day they got there. The team later revealed the secret that those girls were taken to Libya for prostitution and anyone who doesn’t do it or tries to run away will die. It was scary and Helena didn’t want to die.
She lost her virginity to those rapists while on her way to Libya and wasn’t used to s*x yet so she got beaten by clients almost all the time because she wasn’t good in bed.
She worked so hard and met nothing less than five men in a day. This is really sad and the worst part of it is that she was not given a dime. She was only given two meals in a day.
One fateful day, she met a client who’s also a Nigerian and he helped her but didn’t promise to take her to Europe. He mentioned that going to Europe from Libya by road is difficult and the best thing he could do is send her back to Nigeria. Her boss began to call her and searched for her everywhere but didn’t see her.
Helena made sure that no one saw her before she leaves for Nigeria.
After two weeks of meeting the Nigerian client, he booked a flight for her and after a few days, she saw herself in Nigeria with no dime.
She had to trek nine hours to her house from the airport because she had no money to transport her.
She sat home, read the letter she dropped for her late mum and began to cry.
After counting how many men who had slept with her, they were three hundred and five men in total. She burst into tears and almost hurt herself. She visited her mother’s grave almost everyday to tell her what she’s going through and everything that has happened to her.
The next week was her birthday and she wore a white silky dress her mum got for her five years ago. Sitting by the beach with an empty stomach and cried about the moment that changed everything.