Obsession

"Amber!!, Amber!!!!!" I heard someone shouting my name in a far distance. Oh no don't tell me it happened again, I dozed off.

"Yes Mrs Grace" I answered her looking down on my dirty worn out shoes. I couldn't get myself to look at her.

"You are supposed to be serving the customers but instead you are here sleeping!!!" She angry barked at me.

"Am sorry Mrs Grace, they didn't want me to serve them because of my looks. They said I am unhygienic to work here" I told her already shaking at the spot.

"Why wouldn't they say that when you have been wearing the same shoe since you started working here, you don't brush your hair and your dress look worn out. Look at me why am talking to you" she said holding my chin up making me look her straight in the eye.

"I only wore them because I couldn't afford a new one" I replied her in a shakey voice.

"And you will never be able to avoid it you miserable child" she said pushing me away and I fell back. I went on my knees immediately and started pleading with her.

"Am sorry Mrs Grace, I promise to do better, and I will serve whatever punishment you are going to give" I told her, hoping she will let this slide but who am I kidding, I know her too well she will never let me get away with dozing off at work.

"Fine, no afternoon and night food for you, and you are going to get a clean water and start cleaning all the rooms in the first floor.

"Yes, I will do it right away" I assured her before she stormed off.

I stood up immediately cleaning the tears running down my face. Life has been so unfair to me, starting from my mother, to my stepfather and to a life on the street before Mrs Grace took me in.

After I ran away from home, I spent a month on the street, sometimes being beaten by some random guys or almost being raped. The same reason I left the hell I called home.

I was so hungry and cold the day I met Mrs Grace, I begged for food but she refused and gave me the insult of my life. I had to beg her to let me work for her wish she accepted because she doesn't need to pay me.

All I need at that moment was a place to stay and food to eat, so she gave me her old basement to stay. She told me I was like that basement so practically that we are meant for each other. The basement has no windows and I equally share it with rats and order home pests.

It was like I was cursed but I had to survive, waiting for the day I will die, praying every night before going to sleep not to wake up the next day. Life was very bad for me, I was kind of allergic to smokes, giving the fact that my stepfather was a drug addict and he really dealt with me.

Like using my back to off the little light remaining on his cigarette after smoking, watching me scream in pain as he does that. My life has never been great with people, especially men. I am so scared of men, because if they are not beating me today, I will find the one that wants to rape me or just torture me just to see me cry.

I got to the first room and started with dusting the furniture before I started mopping the floor. I was so glad this room was empty or I could have run into one of Mrs Grace crazy customers, they usually love slapping me for no just reason and they would end up telling me to thank them for slapping me.

Mrs Grace has a local bar where she sales her drinks and food, sometimes she allows any of her customers who actually give her enough money to throw a party at the bar. And the bar comes with rooms, where many ladies are being laid every night, sometimes afternoon and morning.

Actually am cleaning those room right now and Mrs Grace would be after preparing her girls to get ready for the night. Sometimes I am forced to stand across a room and watch a drunk guy banging one of Mrs Grace's girl who will be paid the next morning by Mrs Grace.

I know you might be wondering the reason why I should be in the room. But Mrs Grace will always tell me that her customer requested to be watched while having sex with his partner for the night. I know she was paid by her so called customer so she can have someone watch him doing sinful act all in the name of it turns me on.

But what can I say, if I insisted on not going no food for me. When you see Mrs Grace deny me food you will think is a plate of chicken meat that is well cooked or a pot of soup so delicious you could bite your tongue but is it not.

She only gives me bread and water every morning, imagine eating bread with no jam or butter or maybe with egg and a milk shake but that never happened.

Am not a brave nor a strong girl so I couldn't talk back on things being said to me. The day I refused doing as Mrs Grace instructed, she made me starve for two weeks with no food.

She wanted me to give the little bed I have in the basement for some street guy to fuck his girlfriend. I wish I am as bold as I was in my mind, in my mind am a strong, brave, powerful and rich young girl but reality always get the best of me. I can only talk back at people who beat and make my life hard in my mind.

But in reality, they will slap me and I will feel the pain and still thank them for slapping me. I will be punched, dragged by the hair, flogged with all sorts of things and I will still feel the pain and yet thank the people that caused me the pain by getting down on my knees and worshiping them like some gods or Mrs Grace won't be giving me the little bread and water she gives me in the morning, she won't be giving me the customers leftovers to eat.

And she will make sure am not anywhere close to her basement which will leave me homeless again. Even though I knew Mrs Grace didn't own that bed, a kind woman gave me that bed, but here I am standing like a statue as they use my bed for their sinful act.

I have cleaned eight rooms so far and they were all almost empty, either the customer that used the room is leaving or they were long gone already and I was more than glad.

"What did you do this time around Amber?" Eva asked, she was one of Mrs Grace runs girl but she was nicer to me than the others. I won't say we are friends but at least she talks to me ones in a while.

"I dozed off at work only because I didn't sleep at all last night giving the fact that my bed was kind of busy" I told her, she was the only person I felt a little comfortable around.

"Let me guess, Mrs Grace is going to starve you again isn't she?" She asked and I just nodded and looked down. "And she also told you to clean the whole rooms as your punishment?"

"Yeah, but she told me to clean just the first floor" I replied her and she nodded and left the room while I continued my work.

My body was already exhausted by the time I come to the tenth room and to add to my misery the man I feared the most was present in that room.

He was know as Scorpion, he was so feared even by Mrs Grace, he was also called the drug master, he helps most of the rich men around the country and across the country to buy their drugs without being caught or suspected by the police.

He was the first man to call me pretty but whenever I see him I see my stepfather. They looked alot alike, he has made my life here so difficult.

"Good day sir" I greeted him looking down immediately.

"Amber, the girl with the hidden beauty" he always says that about me, when others are seeing me as a trash, he says he sees a hidden beauty in me but I doubt, he only say things when he wants something from me.

"I can see that ones again Mrs Grace is using you to get her works done so she wouldn't pay a cleaner to do it. I can make all your sufferings to be over, you will have the best life, go to school if you want to but I want you to warm my bed every night.

I know better than accepting his offer, is like jumping into the lion's den on purpose. Mrs Grace is an angel beside Scorpion. He will actually bite you like a Scorpion leaving his poisonous venom inside your body until it kills you.

"What do you say Amber?" He asked giving me a creepy smile.

"Am sorry sir but I love it here, I don't want to go anywhere else" I lied, Yeah I really lied, who will want to stay where she is physical and emotionally abused but I rather die in the hands of Mrs Grace or any other person other than Scorpion nor my stepfather.

"Did you just refuse my request?" He asked pining me to the well.

"Sir you are hurting me" I said trying to break free from him but I got a hard slap on my face and before I could recover from that he pushed me and I felt my head colliding to the wall of the room.

Everywhere started spinning in my eyes, for minutes I didn't understand a thing that was happening around the room.

When I finally forced my eyes open I saw Eva beside me. She was pressing a cloth to my head and the cloth were stained with blood, my blood.

I looked up only to receive another hot slap from Mrs Grace. I was surprised, she was supposed to be defending me, then why am I being attacked. Hot tears run down my face as I managed to get my hair off my face.

"How dare you attack a customer, don't you have any fear you slut" Mrs Grace screamed on my face.

"If this repeat itself, well it better not" Scorpion said and gave me a look. The look that says no one says no to me.

"Now get up and apologize to him" Mrs Grace said to me so I managed to get on my knees.

"Mrs Grace this is not fair, why are you treating her like this? What if she is your daughter?" Eva asked in an angry voice. That's what I admire so much about her, he bravely, she can talk back at Mrs Grace nor any other person in this bar with no fear.

"Eva, stay out of this, she is not my daughter and will never even be related to me. Now go downstairs" Mrs Grace said and Eva got up waking close to Scorpion she gave him the middle finger before she walked off.

"Am so sorry for that, she is just stubborn" Mrs Grace said apologizing on behalf of Eva.

"No worries and beside she was adorable" Scorpion said staring at me. I didn't do anything to him but I got two hot slap and a broken head. And Eva who just gave him a middle finger was adorable.

"Apologize, now!" Mrs Grace said I started begging Scorpion for something I didn't do.

He felt uncertified about my apology, he told me to lie on the floor with my back up and my face pressed to the floor which I did and he started cleaning his shoes on my clothes. I couldn't hold the tears back any more so I around it flow.

When he was satisfied with himself he bent done and whispered in my ears, "Are you sure you want to stay here, or do you want to reconsider? I can make this Shame you go through everyday to stop" after that, he said something to Mrs Grace but I couldn't make out what it was and he was gone.

"Now go back to your work, and tomorrow you clean the other ten rooms on the down floor" Mrs Grace said and walked away. She didn't even bother to ask if my wound was severe or not, I just tore a piece of my cloth and covered the wound and went back to cleaning the last room.