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room not whole again. He defiled me. I had no other choice than to give in. I wanted to make a living so I could help others. Death erased the very people that mattered in my life. Mr. Hackman defied all odds. He forgot I was already going through pain. I bled profusely after he had finished. “Clean yourself you dirty girl and make sure you wash my bed sheet.” These were the harsh words from Mr. Hackman. I kept quiet as he spoke. I cleaned myself and washed the bed sheet. As I hurried to join the other girls, Mr. Hackman called me aside and said, “Adobea we are leaving and I am sorry I can’t go with you. You are unclean and might bring us bad luck.” He ended his statement and I painfully swallowed his words. I wished the earth opened to gulp the both of us. His brown coloured teeth and stinky mouth couldn’t hold back his shameful and deceitful act. I wept like a baby and begged him to include me and was ever ready to do anything he wanted. He sacked me from his house; dragged me on the floor right in front of the other girls and locked his gate behind me. I could no longer stand the pain, deceit and betrayal. I showered curses on him that he will never find peace ever in his life.

line and I still feel that pain. I left his house and headed straight back to the streets. I decided to go to Auntie Jackie. I got to her house but was told it was a Guest House and she had checked out. Opposite the guest house was a Catholic Church. My late grandmother had always said Catholics were kind. I had no other option than to go there. I entered and was warmly welcomed by a Nun. She gently asked of my mission and also asked whether I was a Catholic. I told her I wasn’t one yet. I wanted to personally see the Reverend Father. She smiled and asked what the problem was. I told her my story and left her weeping. She was Sister Jessica. Sister Jessica took me to her quarters and gave me food to eat. True to her words she took me to the Reverend Father. He was welcoming. I stayed at the Parish for three years. I was enrolled in a Catholic School. My new found family was good to me. I wrote the BECE and became the best student in the Eastern Region; Adobea Kwarteng. My name became a household name in Koforidua that was in 2007. The Reverend Father and Sister Jessica were my earthly angels who guided me to the Heavenly ones. I had my first choice of school. That was Aburi Girls Senior High School.

by the Church. They provided all my needs. My past was now history. I wished my parents and grandma were alive to see their daughter. I have become what God wanted me to be. One of the Sundays the Reverend Father introduced a new accountant sent to the Church. Most times I do not really understand God. He gives you bed to sleep on but sometimes put thorns around it. The Accountant was no other person than the Uncle Theophilus; my late father’s brother. Beside him was a woman who was later introduced as his wife. He had married again after the demise of his first wicked wife. Each member of the Church was asked to come round and shake them. It got to my turn, my Uncle looked at me and I saw tears in his eyes. He whispered into my ears: “I love you my daughter and I am very sorry.” His remorseful attitude gave way to his new wife to gaze at me. My Uncle in the picture again was the beginning of my end. He was practically the one to finally endorse my budget for school. He one day called me to his office and congratulated me. He told me he had received the budget for my schooling and that he was going to do everything possible so I could to school. He was quick to admit that he had been wicked to me in the past; he professed it wasn’t his doing. His late wife pushed him to the wall. According to him he was a changed person and the new lady he got married to, was also a good one. Uncle Theophilus promised to protect me and get me all the things I needed but on only one condition; that I was never to mention him as an Uncle. My only known family member disowned me right in the Church. He feared he would be rebuked for abandoning me and might eventually lose his job. I agreed to his terms because after all it wouldn’t take anything away from me. With no hesitation, my uncle approved the budget for my school. He was delighted. His new wife, Auntie Lucy took me to town to purchase items needed for school. She was a kind fellow. She promised to be my mother. On our way to the market I met Rita. Rita was one of the girls who were sent to Burkina Faso by Mr. Hackman. Rita had grown very lean. She confessed they worked as prostitutes. According to her, Mr. Hackman hanged himself one week after they had reached Burkina Faso. She looked at me and said, “Adobea it was good you never went with us. I am HIV/AIDS positive now. Most of the girls died in Burkina Faso.” Auntie Lucy was touched by her story. She gave Rita some money and we left. I couldn’t sleep that night. Memories of my past haunted me. I had left my past but its footprints were traceable.

. It was a Thursday. I decided to first go for the early morning Mass. It was a memorable one. Church members wished me well and the gifts kept coming. I went to my Quarters with Auntie Jessica who was extremely happy and some few Church members to help convey my luggage into a waiting car. I felt dizzy just close to my door stairs. I fell down and couldn’t see anything again. I woke up and I was in the Hospital. Auntie Jessica was right there beside me with a white envelope. She wasn’t happy at all. She looked at me and said; “Adobea you are pregnant.”… (