At last , Mami

Chapter 6

Money makes wonders

He was mean to me since then. He didn't care anymore , I was not his daughter anymore .He was keeping me so that when I'm adult enough , he would put all the family property under his name instead of mine. He stripped me of all the electronic gadgets I had owned ; my phone , computer , and ipad , everything valuable and dear to me .In doing so , I was unable to contact my brothers or anybody dear to me .He was scared that if someone got to know his plans , he wouldnt get the property in time . I was homeschooled and not allowed to go anywhere .He discovered about my talent in art ;designing clothes to be precise ,which I'd inherited from my mom and hired professionals to mentor me .I was very grateful and had thought that Mr Smith had changed . I loved designing and making clothes .I was hurt when i discovered the reason behind his strange good deed. He admired my designs , so he felt the world would do the same , so he wanted to use me in the future , to earn money for him .Despite all that , I was grateful because i had a chance of a lifetime which was ; to be mentored by some of the world's great designers .I became an outstanding designer at a young age .

Mr Smith as the first admirer of my work could never get enough of them .Most of his outfits were custom made by me. Though he didn't praise me for it , I was proud of how he carried himself in my creations . I always felt important when he went out .

He introduced me to some high ranking persons who took some liking to my designs and were willing to pay big dollars for the outfits I made .Mr Smith would take all the money for himself at first but he was gradually considerate enoygh to give me a cut from my own earnings.

As days passed , though he had me at home , Mr Smith felt lonely .He wanted love and another companion .He needed another better half in his life .

Mr Smith decided to remarry when I was sixteen. He tied the knot to a widow who brought in her two daughters whom were quite older than me ,with her. I was living in my house with two step parents who despised me . I was fragile then , I took in everything and never questioned anyone .I was scared to question anyone because I would pay dearly for it.

Gazelle was jealous of me , I knew it . She was jealous of the fact that , a single outfit I made would sell for as much as a hundred thousand dollars minimal , yet she was just an ordinary housewife without any workmanship qualities .

I was the chief breadwinner in the household since Mr Smith was only a secretary at some shady company. He earned way less than I did in just a month though I did not know his exact salary . I could tell his salary was poor because nothing big came from him spending it and he was highly expectant of me.I was proud of myself.

Gazelle's daughters , Kimberley and Tasha who were nineteen and seventeen respectively , naturally hated everything about me , they were Gazelle's kids after all .

They hated the ground I walked on , the air that I inhaled , the food I take in, the sight of me & my whole being . The fact that I was homeschooled had made them think ,"How rich of me" while they had to attend school daily .They thought Mr Smith was pampering me , that I was receiving special treatment . At the same time, shown by how Mr Smith would go extra miles to get all the materials I required to make clothes while all I did was to request for materials and they would be given to me on time . Mr Smith gained a lot from my work , so he was very willing to get himself busy for it and to keep himself tied up with things related to my work.

I never went out of the house , I was under an eternal house-arrest . I felt the heat from the sun and saw the sun itself when I took frequent strolls around the yard with a guard of course, or when I stood at the balcony of my room .

My room was the biggest among the spare bedrooms ; it was my workshop.

The two story house was mine but not in either Gazelle or Mr Smith's eyes . They felt it was too much for a teenager to handle . Gazelle had said that too much wealth for a child would make the child wild .

Mr Smith had allowed me to occupy the biggest bedroom for the storage of some of the materials I was using in garment making .

My room wasn't classy or very luxurious . It had a white wallpaper detailed with colourful various flowers , a single bed at one end of the room while most of the space in the room was taken up by my full length dressmaking table , pressing table , garment rack , my sewing machine and overlocker, a fitted wardrobe for my clothes and a fitted cabinet where I kept all my garment making accessories. There was hardly much space left to walk around freely in the room yet Kimberley and Tasha still felt that I was being favoured .Living in a giant room while their rooms were not as spacious seemed to be injustice to them. They thought I was living luxuriously but I was just a prisoner at work. They could not take it.

Sometimes they would pay off my female guard to hit me until I passed out ,to feel themselves at ease . I had beaten-up scars all over my body , sometimes I incurred burns when they splashed hot water on me with waterguns . I had to endure the pain without seeking medical attention as I was prohibited from leaving the house . At times they would make me cook but made sure I never had any of the food, I would starve.

When I reported them to Mr Smith he'd only tell them not to injure my head and wrists because that's where his money came from. I was Gazelle's maid , her daughter's punching bag and I laid golden eggs for Mr Smith .

When I wasn't laying the eggs , I would either be serving Madame Gazelle or receiving taunts from her little devils. I was passionate about designing and making clothes. I never knew where they ended up or who sold or bought them and where ? My task was to work and to never ask questions .

I hated every moment of my life , I dreamed and wanted to die , in peace ; away from Mr Smith and his family . I did what I could to ensure my dream would come true . I weaved an escape plan. I would hitch the plan with one of the male security guards .With some of millions I'd saved from Gazelle , mine and Mr Smith ration share .I tipped off one of the male guards to help me escape while everyone was not around the house . We did ,we escaped together . He promised to never show up anywhere near the house and we went our separate ways . I changed the identity that Mr Smith had given me as Beverly Smith after adopting me as his daughter during the good days when my mother was still alive. I chose to be , just Beverly . Money makes wonders , I'd never known it was possible but now I knew it was. I was now only identified as Beverly without a background . I left Cape West for the Switzerland . I was sure they wouldn't know where I would be . I never told anyone since I did not actually have anyone to tell , not even the guard who had helped me to escape . I wanted my brothers to continue living their lives and be happy . I wanted to die in a different country to make my dream death come true , and let my soul rest there. I chose Switzerland .

When dusk took over , I was already in the air to Switzerland. I overdosed myself on my sleeping pills while I was on a taxi from the airport to a hotel I'd not booked for . I did not intend to stay alive for long , soni never bothered to book a hotel room for myself. Had I not overdosed , I had be having another usual sleepless night.

The taxi driver took me here after noticing my unconscious body in his backsit .And now , here I'm , waking up from an eighth suicide attempt and surviving yet again . The world hasn't been fair on me !