EVERY WOMAN FOR HERSELF

All students were whispering things to each other as they returned to their classrooms. Emerens rushes to Jessica immediately the principal stepped out. Ella and her squad watched the bullies from afar and mocked them.

"I feel like walking to them and bullying them too." Abdullah says.

"Me too." Darifa adds.

"I feel like pushing her off the stairs." Asma says with a smile.

"We can't do that." Ella sighs. "We are not like them, we are humans."

"Yes." Asma agrees. "We aren't animals."

"All thanks to Ella, I get to live like a human and even know what friendship means." Darifa says as she smiles and hugs Ella tightly.

Emerens got home late that day, she had to help Jessica with the cleaning. As a matter of fact, she did all the work. Jessica just stood there watching.

"Good evening mom." Emerens greets as she got home looking very weak and tired.

"Welcome, why are you home so late?"

"Jessica was punished today, so I had to assist her."

"You assisted her or you served the punishment on her behalf?" Idalina asks and there was no reply. "Answer me."

"Mom, if I don't do it it would cause something unbearable for us. You know how she is."

"As from today, don't do things like this for Jessica anymore. Stop doing everything she asks you to do and be you."

That statement hit Emerens quite hard. "Mom, are you sure of what you are talking about?"

"I lived my life as someone else's shadow, to get us a good life. I won't have you live yours as a shadow too." Idalina exhales deeply. "I won't allow that."

"So, you suppose I stop being friends with Jessica?"

"Friends? Jessica has never considered you a friend!"

"Mom." Emerens calls.

"It's time for you to stop living your life like that. For the rest of my life, I will make sure I give you nothing but the best."

Emerens hugs her mom tightly weeping profusely. "It's not been easy." She laments.

"Yes I know, and I deeply apologize for that. I am so sorry for making you live that way." Idalina says as she pats her daughter's back gently, already sobbing too. "Now, it's every woman for herself, everyone should be responsible and pay for their own crimes and mistakes."

Asma and her mom's case was a very emotional one, as Alima tears up immediately her daughter returned from school, she felt sorry for the poor girl. Just how much pain had this young girl endured? Seeing Aziza everyday in school? Living without her dad? Having to stand in the court to give a testimony against her dad? Being bullied and threatened by her classmates? All these questions ran through her mind as she saw her daughter.

"Mom, stop crying." Asma comforts. As she embraces her while she sat in the couch. "I always feel bad when you cry."

"I am sorry, I have been a very incompetent mother, I am really sorry." Alima sobs

"It's fine mother, you are more than enough for me. With you here, I feel like I have the whole universe."

Those words comforted Alima well, she felt relaxed for the first time after several months. She found peace in the arms of her darling baby girl.

Jessica got home and met her mom settled with a bottle of whisky and some smoke too. As Julie would say, whisky made her feel very better.

"Have some sort of shame and culture Ma'am, what if I was coming with someone?" Jessica nags rudely.

"You don't tell me what to do in my house young miss." Julie says as she continues puffing her smoke.

"You are not even qualified to be a mother, you have all sort of bad habits and behavior. I wish I could tell the whole school you had an affair with Asma's dad before Aziza came into the picture and that was how you got to know, because you were his lover too!" Jessica says bitterly.

Bombshell!!!!!! Julie was the first to have an affair with Chris, and when Aziza got into the picture she got dumped. That was how she got to know, Jessica after all took after someone. Her mother.

"I know you can't do that, you won't ever do anything to shame your loving mother."

"You are drunk already, Jessica tries to take the smoke and drink from her but wasn't successful. "You are on your own, keep drinking away your life." She says and walks out annoyingly.

This was the kind of life Jessie was living at home, no sort of love whatsoever. Her mom was practically a nonentity.

With Vivian and Ella, it was nothing but happiness. Ella couldn't express the amount of love and joy she felt, getting rid of Miss Aziza for her friend and getting Jessica punished.

"Auntie, Darifa told me I made her know what the real meaning of friendship is." Ella says with a smile as they watched a television program.

"Really?" Vivian asked and Ella replies with a nod. "That's my baby girl." She smiles.

When Ella retired to bed, she wrote in her diary what happened early that day and ends the writing with a smile.