MY CARELESS MOTHER

CHAPTER THREE

One month later, everything around my family was turned upside down. My sister Selena, fell sick and was diagnosed with a terrible heart condition that required emergency surgery in India. The cost of the transportation and medication was very high. My step dad couldn't help because he had no money. He had been totally useless since he lost his job. Mom had to empty her account and borrow more money to fund Selena's bill.

Mom and Selena flew to India but things didn't go as planned. The surgery wasn't successful so they had to stay for three weeks extra and mom's leave elapsed and it made her boss very upset with her.

Mom returned home without Selena. She looked devastated, her eyes were blood red from crying. She said the surgery wasn't successful and Selena was dead. I cried so much that day, because I couldn't believe the fact that I lost my sister.

Mom wanted to go to work the next day, but her mother refused and asked her to stay home and mourn her daughter. While she was home, she would be on the phone for hours, talking to her boss and her other colleagues, she was practically working from home.

Mom's post had been given to someone else when she resumed. This sudden development really brought darkness to the Grace family. I dropped out of school because my parents couldn't afford my fees anymore. Like that wasn't enough, about a month later, mom was fired. A job she held with high self esteem. They let her finished paying her loan before firing her. Then Bella, my other sister fell ill and was taken to the hospital.

The suffering was too much that I had to engage myself in mini prostitution to provide money for food and Bella's hospital bills. I had sex with any man that could give me money, no matter how small it was. My former principal became my regular client. My parents knew I wasn't working but they didn't have the effrontery to ask where I got the money from.

I was very scared that one day nemesis would catch up with me, considering the number of men I had unprotected sex with, but it didn't matter at the moment because it paid the bills and it was what kept us going.

We practically turned to beggars, my parents sold almost everything we had. Bella's condition wasn't getting any better and anytime I asked mom what was wrong with her, she never told me. She'd always say"lets just hope that everything goes well and she survives."

The church became our life line. They donated money and food for us. We had debts everywhere and we had no way of paying them. The only person that seemed to understand was our landlord, but it didn't last long. He came pleading that we should forget our outstanding debt and just move out in two months. The man is kind hearted but he had to take that decision in order to claim his property. I had to sleep with him five times before he extended our stay to six months. My parents were not aware of what I did to make him give us six months but they were happy he did.