The heart of a bitch

By Segun Durowaiye - Nigeria 

What would make a young beautiful girl tell blatant lies to her parents? What manner of girl would take deadly risks that portend nothing but doom and calamity? Such was the life of Derby, who was in her late teens.

Derby had everything going for her the way she wanted. At a very young age, she had already gained admission into a reputable tertiary institution to study microbiology. Talking about beauty... oh la la! Derby was extremely beautiful! She was so charming, enchanting and lovely to behold. She had everything in the right proportion. She was light in complexion, a six-footer with sparkling white set of teeth and eyes that shone like stars. Heaven must be missing an angel in the person of Derby. The only snag in Derby's life was her warped lifestyle and debauchery. That was her greatest weak points. Her parents were a successful couple in terms of material things.

That day would remain memorable in the life of Derby's parents. She came home from 'school' as usual and demanded some amount of money, which they willingly gave her. Unknown to her parents, she was practising as a commercial sex worker in a brothel. Most times, she would come home claiming she needed money for feeding and academic expenses, and her parents would give her even more than she asked for, not knowing that their daughter was an advanced prostitute.

Derby lived on campus, but spent 90 per cent of her time patronising brothels and lying to her parents that she was in school.

Pronto, Derby was back in a brothel by name Paradise World and she was absolutely enjoying herself with a customer, drinking alcoholic beverages, smooching and chatting in a lively manner. Her customer that night was a man in his early fifties. The man was really 'loaded' with cash. It was a night of bliss, or so it seemed. The man was sipping champagne and munching fried chicken and chips. Music was blaring from a big loudspeaker close by.

After much carousing and when an 'agreement' had been reached, they stood up and the robust man paid the bills and headed for his silver-coloured Infinity Jeep parked outside the premises. He was holding Derby by the waist. They giggled and laughed heartily, pecking and hugging joyfully. In a twinkling of an eye, they were both inside the cosy jeep and it zoomed off immediately. Romantic music was playing noisily from the high-tech sound system of the sophisticated car. They were both suffused with bacchanal joy.

Just then, as the man was approaching a bend, he was unaware that a trailer had broken down on the narrow road. Unfortunately, the speeding jeep crashed into the rear of the trailer. The man lost his life. And Derby too. They gave up the ghost on the spot.

Within the next 30 minutes of the accident, the news got to Derby's parents. They rushed to the scene. The sordid story was told to her parents.

With tears in his eyes, Derby's dad lamented thus: "I never knew my daughter is into such mess. And we always advised her..."

Her mum was lost for words, but she shook her head sorrowfully, even as tears continuously dropped from her eyes. It was a sad story. May God help us.