Assariyah Read online

  Soban was a small, lovely Korean restaurant. I was glad it wasn’t a big place. I don’t think I could have handled the crowd tonight. I spotted Dean Denton, or Double D as he liked to be called, straight away. He waved me over and stood up to pull my chair out for me. What a gentleman.

  “Good evening Rose, you look absolutely stunning tonight. Dino was not exaggerating when he said that you were breathtakingly beautiful.”

  “Oh stop Double D, you’ve got me blushing. I must say you look rather handsome yourself tonight,” I lied. His face was redder than my hair, he had a double chin and a nose you could spot from a mile away, but all that was irrelevant. Dean Denton came from a privileged background and revealed that he had never had to work a single day in his forty years. He was swimming in old money and that was what mattered.

  The food smelt heavenly. I took a few bites of the fried king prawns in batter. They were delicious, but I barely ate. Lately my appetite had been practically non-existent. Instead I knocked down Cosmopolitan cocktails. I didn’t even realise how many I’d had until Double D commented.

  “You might want to slow down on all those cocktails Rose, we’ve got a long night ahead of us, if you know what I mean,” he chuckled.

  My stomach churned at the thought of the things he had in mind, but I disguised my disgust with laughter.

  Double D turned out to be a rather loquacious dinner date. He suffered from verbal diarrhoea to put it quite frankly. The majority of what he said bored me to death but I pretended to be entertained. It was all part of the job.

  We left Soban and jumped into Double D’s white R8 GT Spyder. He drove us back to his luxurious pad in St John’s Wood. He immediately started slobbering all over me, I felt sick to my stomach but had to think of the potential two grand I was about to earn. Back in the day I wanted money over everything for all the wrong reasons and was prepared to do anything to get it. This time I needed money for my survival.

  Double D grabbed the back of my neck and told me to suck his cock. My body froze up, flash-backs of the guards abusing me in prison came rushing to the forefront of my brain. I tried desperately to block the memories out but it was useless. The tears flowed down my face.

  “What’s the matter Rose?” Double D asked.

  “Sorry I can’t do this,” I replied, rushing out.

  Within minutes Dino was calling my phone.

  “What the fuck are you playing at Ma?”

  “I’m sorry D, I just couldn’t do it.”

  “Go back in there and finish the job Ma, you need this.”

  “D, I really can’t go through with this shit, please find someone else to finish the job.”

  “There’s no one else Rose, I did this as a favour. I put my neck on the line for you. Don’t let me down Ma.”

  “Okay,” I replied and clicked off the phone.

  Dino was the only person I had in my life right now. I couldn’t afford to lose him too. I asked for his help and he had given it to me. I couldn’t bail out on him. With a heavy heart I turned back around and went to Double D’s house.

  When he opened the door, no words were needed, I walked in and he closed the door behind me. I dropped to the floor and sucked his dick like my life depended on it, well I guess my life did. Double D fucked me and I felt nothing. I was numb.

  Afterwards I collected the money, gathered my shit and left. I knew I had to get myself together. Emotions were weak and left you fucked up. If I had any chance of getting my life back, which was the thing I wanted most, I needed to let go of my prison nightmares. The question was how was I going to do that?

  CHAPTER 7

  I sat at the breakfast table wearing Dino’s bath robe. He was still fuming from last night’s event. I tried apologising to him but he was dismissive. I hated D being mad at me. I thought he of all people would understand how hard being back in the game would be for me, but then again I had made it clear that it was what I wanted so I guess I couldn’t really fault him. I knew that deep down he just wanted the best for me. He needed me on top of my game, because with Isabella breathing down his back there was only so much help he could give me.

  “D, I know I fucked up last night. I’m sorry,” I apologised for the tenth time that morning.

  He nodded his head but didn’t reply so I went on to explain further. “Look D last night I ran out on Double D because I wasn’t mentally prepared to do some of the things he wanted. You know I tried to convince myself that I could handle it, but when he started touching me and asked me to do those things, I just froze. It brought back some dark memories from prison. I was abused inside D and I just need that shit to go away.” I buried my face in my hands as I felt the tears forming. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry but the harder I fought the tears, the harder they escaped down my cheeks.

  I felt Dino’s arms around me, “It’s gonna be okay Ma. Cry, let that shit out. I wished you’d told me this earlier.”

  “I knew if I told you, you wouldn’t let me go but I need to do this D. I don’t know how else to get my life back on track.”

  Dino squeezed me tighter and I instantly felt safe. I moved towards his lips and kissed him, but he was taken aback and pulled away.

  “Wow, what are you doing Ma?”

  “I need you D,” I said, moving in to kiss him again.

  This time he didn’t pull away. He stroked my hair and I grabbed the back of his neck. We gazed into one another’s eyes with a longing more dire than one in need of water in the Sahara desert. We both had a thirst that needed to be quenched. The water fountain we craved desperately was each other’s bodies.

  Dino kissed me passionately and I reciprocated. My whole body was on heat, I melted into his body. He ripped open his robe that I was wearing, cupping my bare breasts in his hands. He sucked on them with varied intensity. Gentle nibbles which led to firmer bites, his sucking sent tingling vibrations all through me. I could feel my pussy juices overflowing in between my thighs. Dino slipped off my thong and inserted his thick fingers into my wetness.

  “Oooh, D,” I moaned softly, throwing my head back, as he flexed and rotated his fingers inside my hungry pussy.

  I gasped as Dino lifted me and held my naked body up firmly against the wall. I wrapped my legs around him and sucked on his neck hungrily. Dino entered me and I lost all control of myself. I was high on his dick and fiending for every inch of him as he skilfully injected my pussy with his magic over and over again.

  Taking equal control of each other’s bodies, we released all the sexual tension that had been built up for years. Each stroke, each thrust and every pump served its purpose beyond my inner walls.

  D’s sex game was on point, but this was deeper than sex. As crazy as it may sound, I felt empowered. Sex was used to suppress me in prison, but having sex with D freed me.

  “Thank you D, you set me free,” I whispered in his ear as he held me tightly.

  “You did the same thing for me Rose, thank you.”

  “What did I free you from D? You know everything about me, but I hardly know anything about you.”

  “It’s not pretty Ma.”

  “I don’t expect it to be, I just want to be there for you like you’ve been there for me.”

  “I grew up in a village in Liberia with my mother, father and sister until I was twelve. We had a decent family life, we didn’t have plenty money but we were happy. Well we were until my younger sister Chari was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of six. The doctors refused to treat her without money. My parents were going out of their minds. My mother kept begging my father, ‘Please don’t let our daughter die.’ They were worried sick; out of desperation my father borrowed some money from the mob to pay for Chari’s operation.”

  “The doctors performed the operation but it was not successful. The cancer had spread too far into her young bones and she died a few weeks later. My parents were stricken with grief, Chari’s death devastated us. Her funeral was the worst day of our lives, but little did we know that thing
s were going to get much worse.”

  “About a week after Chari was buried, Bonza, the man my father had borrowed money from bombarded our house with two of his goons demanding payment. My father begged for more time, explaining that he had just buried his daughter, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The men brutally attacked my father. My mother and I screamed helplessly begging them to stop. ‘Stop stop you’re killing him,’ my mother wailed. One of the men slapped her, sending her flying across the room. They ripped off her black mourning cloth and took turns raping her. I closed my eyes to try to block out the horrific scene of carnage, but they forced me to watch. I soaked myself in urine as fear and anger ran through me. I was powerless. They shot my parents to death right in front of me. In one week my whole life had been wiped out. I lost everyone I loved.”

  “‘What shall we do with the boy?’ one of them asked. ‘He looks a good size.’ People always commented that I looked a lot older than my age, due to my height. ‘Bring him, I’ll use him to make back the money his peasant father cost me.’ They grabbed me and shoved me into their car. I had no idea where they were taking me, but after several hours of driving we ended up in the city.”

  “Bonza lived in a big mansion surrounded by security guards, vicious dogs and electric gates. Upon entering the house there was a young woman with tanned olive skin, Bonza’s wife. I thought of my own beautiful mother and the dreadful way she died. My body went into shock and I collapsed.”

  “I came round a few days later and found the young woman nursing me back to health. ‘Mother, Mother,’ I cried. ‘Ssh darling I am Isabella, Bonza brought you here a few days ago. You fainted right in the living room floor, He rendered you useless and was ready to feed you to the dogs but I convinced him otherwise. I’m so happy you are awake.’”

  “She gave me some water to drink but I refused. ‘Look boy, I’m not the enemy. If you want a chance of surviving you need to trust me. Why don’t you start by telling me your name and what happened to you.’ I looked into her eyes properly for the first time and saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. I told her my name and what Bonza and his goons had done to my family. She wept with me and promised to get us out of there.”

  “I asked her why she would go against her husband and she replied, ‘I hate that monster, I hate him with a passion. That bastard is not my husband by choice.’ Isabella told me how she grew up in Puglia, Southern Italy with her father but was forced to marry Bonza when her father could not keep up his end of a business deal. With his connections Bonza pulled some strings at the embassy to get a visa. He took her from her beloved family home and brought her to a foreign land.”

  “She told me that she had been there for three years and had been planning her escape since. ‘I have been plotting my escape for the last three years, but my plan only started coming together when Bonza recently started letting me out of the house. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, but I feel like I can trust you not to go against me. Promise me that I can trust you and I won’t leave you here when I escape. I’ll take you with me.’”

  “I had no choice but to promise. ‘Good,’ she smiled and kissed me on my lips. ‘Stick with me and do as I say. You must pretend to be sick. You will stay here and I will convince Bonza to let me nurse you back to health. He is a very greedy man. I will tell him that once you are strong and well, he can sell you for more money than your father owed him. When the time is right, I’ll tell you the next part of the plan.’”

  “So for two months I stayed in bed pretending to be sick. Bonza never visited but Isabella spent several hours each day. She would often take several pictures of me and said Bonza wanted updates of my progress. I was beginning to get fed up and felt like a prisoner, but the memories of what Bonza did to my family willed me to see what Isabella had in store.”

  “Finally on one of her daily visits she told me the next part of her plan. ‘Well done Dino you have been very patient, the time has finally come. Tomorrow night Bonza will be hosting his annual banquet for his workers. It’s the one time of the year everyone can relax. While they let their guard down, we will strike. I’m going to poison the food with sedatives, powerful stuff to knock them out for hours. While they are unconscious I want you to behead Bonza.’”

  “‘What are you crazy?’ I asked her in disbelief. She slapped me, ‘Watch your mouth, but yes I’m crazy and you should be too. After the way that bastard annihilated your parents and stole me from my home, he deserves to die. He kills and terrorises people daily, he is zero.’”

  “‘I know but why can’t we just shoot him instead?’ I asked and she replied, ‘I’m afraid that’s too easy. I’ve been in cahoots with Bonza’s rival, Sarh for a while now. He promised to get me a visa and a passport in exchange for sex, but when I told him I also needed one for you he said he would have to raise the ante. The price was Bonza’s head. I didn’t want to leave you behind so I agreed and told him to go ahead and get the documents sorted. He contacted me last week and told me that the papers were ready, but I told him to give me a week. I had to wait for the worker’s banquet. We have to act tomorrow night Dino or we are both doomed. Do you understand?’”

  “I was speechless, so just nodded my head at her. ‘Good I knew you wouldn’t let me down,’ she said.”

  “I did not sleep a wink that night. Images of Bonza and his goons raping my mother, beating my father and killing them like they were nothing played in my head over and over again. I owed it to my parents. I had to kill Bonza for my family and freedom.”

  “On the night of the banquet I could hear the music and the laughter of the people, as the vibrant sound of their celebration filled the air. My heartbeat quadrupled as I waited for Isabella to come down for me. After waiting for what felt like eternity she came down and smiled. ‘The useless bastards have all been knocked out one by one. We must move quickly.’ She handed me a machete, ‘Bonza is slumped at the head of the table.’”

  “Fear ran through me as we made our way to the banquet hall. I saw Bonza at the head and wanted his head. When I saw him and all his goons knocked out, rage replaced my fear. My twelve year-old self lifted the heavy machete high and in one swift motion I chopped off his head. His blood splattered on me and the walls. I was shaking like crazy.”

  “‘Oh my goodness you did it.’ Isabella gasped. ‘You did it.’ She grabbed his head and threw it in a bag without any remorse. ‘Dino, grab as much meat from the table as you can for the dogs.’ I did as she said and grabbed a tray of meat and piled it up with more meat.”

  “‘Now clean up, get changed quickly and hurry back upstairs. I’ll be back,’ she said.”

  “‘No, what if they wake up?’ I asked.”

  “But she replied, ‘Trust me they won’t. I just need to grab the security tape, get clean.’”

  “I went to clean Bonza’s blood off my hands and face. I got changed and hurried back to the banquet hall. Isabella had not returned yet. A few of the guards stirred slightly. I was filled with trepidation but luckily they did not wake up. Isabella eventually returned. ‘Got it, grab the meat and let’s move fast.’”

  “Outside I threw the meat to the dogs while Isabella entered the code into the gate. When the gates opened we ran for our lives. We ran for miles with Bonza’s head in tow.”

  “Eventually Isabella stopped by a parked car and told me to get in. ‘I got this car from Sarh so I couldn’t park it too close,’ she said.”

  “We drove to Sarh’s mansion; it was big but nowhere near as grand as Bonza’s.”

  “‘Dino wait here I won’t be long.’”

  “I waited fifteen minutes in the car for Isabella. She left with Bonza’s head and came back waving the passports and tickets. I smiled as she handed mine to me. I opened my passport, the year of birth stated that I was sixteen. I didn’t question it. I was just overjoyed at the prospect of freedom.”

  “‘We are free Dino, we are free!’ She kissed me on the lips like a woman would kiss h
er lover. ‘You’re mine now Dino, promise me that you will never be with another woman other than me ever.’”

  “I was twelve, she was eighteen and I promised her I would be there forever.”

  “We travelled to the UK that night. Sarh gave us a little money to last a few months but after that Isabella slept with men for money. She eventually built Precision and I have been by her side ever since. I had kept the promise I made her until today.”

  A single tear dropped from D’s eye. My whole face was drenched. I wiped D’s tear, “Sorry is not sufficient D, but I’m deeply sorry for the way you and your family suffered. I now understand why you are tied to Isabella. Tomorrow morning I’ll be gone. You don’t need me messing up your life now D.”

  Dino kissed me on my forehead, “In another lifetime.”

  “Another lifetime,” I echoed.

  CHAPTER 8

  With a heavy heart I gathered the few belongings I had from Dino’s spare room. While packing my things I spotted the bag with Nayla’s clothes inside. For some strange reason I had held on to them, but it was time to dump the baggage. I needed to face the fact that my own blood wanted nothing to do with me. You cannot claim someone who does not claim you. I threw the bags of clothes inside Dino’s rubbish bin. As far as Nayla was concerned she no longer had a sister, well so be it.

  I took one last look around the apartment overlooking Hyde Park. The sun was glistening through the windows, but my heart could not have been duller. I was definitely going to miss Dino and this apartment. Dino left for work last night and had not returned yet. He was not due back for at least another hour or so. My plan was to leave before he got back. I hated goodbyes and the circumstances surrounding us only made it worse. I would be saying bye to the only person that I had in my life. It was just too painful.

  “Lord have mercy,” I cried out in despair.

  I lose everyone who means anything to me. Daddy, Mama, my baby, Cameron and even Jasmina. Yes I may have pulled the trigger that ended her life but before it all went bad she was like a sister to me. I loved that girl. It kills me to think of the life I could have had with Cameron. I know that his wife is one lucky lady. They just didn’t make them like Cam anymore. You only get one in a lifetime and he was my one. The thought of Cam with somebody else burned but my actions left my spot vacant for someone else to fill a long time ago.