6: AWELEWA

Abike realized a little too late that a Palace this huge couldn't have one garden, and as she watered the beautiful flowers that snaked around the conservatory, she fought down a strong wave of depression.

She wished she could find Teju and talk to him about her problems, the way she had always done back in Amu. She watched the other girls who were working in the garden with her as they chattered busily amongst themselves, laughing and just having a good time.

Why wasn't anyone talking to her? Was she the problem? Was she closed off?

She cleared her throat and decided to try. It couldn't hurt. Iroko wasn't here and the worst that could happen was rejection.

"Hi." She approached the group closest to her, with a slow smile. The group of three girls stopped talking and turned.

"I am Abike." She waved.

"Hi, Abike. Mariam." The girl closest to her waved the garden knife in her hands, sending loose clumps of soil in the air. They all laughed.

"This is Yetunde and she is Modupe," Mariam added, pointing to the other girls.

Abike waved at the two others girls and felt relieved by the welcoming smiles they gave her.

"We were wondering why you were alone," Yetunde said, returning to her business of trimming the flowers.

Abike looked behind her at the other girls who were having fun with each other, while still going about their activities, and imagined how pitiful she must have looked working alone.

"My friend isn't here," Abike answered, thinking about Fatima and how she hasn't seen her since yesterday.

"Who is your friend?" Mariam asked, crouching to pick up a rake lying on the floor close to her feet.

"Fatima," Abike answered, shaking her empty watering can.

"I don't know her." Mariam looked to the other girls and they shrugged.

The glass doors to the greenhouse slid open and Abike turned when the sound of laughter reached her ears.

It's been such a long time since she'd heard such a joyous sound.

It was a tall girl, she looked a little older than them, but still really young, about twenty-five years old.

She was walking towards them with her arm around a shorter girl and they were talking about something quite funny, judging from the smiles on their faces.

It seemed everyone stopped working to watch the beautiful girl make her way towards the sliding doors at the other end of the greenhouse. Abike watched with envy as the girl walked past them, her beauty so bright she almost closed her eyes.

The two girls slipped through the sliding doors and leaned on the handrail, looking down at whatever was below. Could it be a river? Abike didn't know. And she would never know because Mrs. Jamila had told them this morning that it was prohibited for them— the servants, to go through the sliding doors.

"That's Awelewa," Modupe whispered, even though the girl was too far away to hear them.

Abike's ears snapped open. "Awelewa?"

"Hmm hmm," Modupe answered, her gaze still on the beautiful girl on the other end of the greenhouse.

"Awelewa is the Prince's prized possession," Mariam explained. "In the laundry last week, some people were saying the Prince wanted to marry her sometime last year."

"Why didn't he marry her then?" Abike asked.

"I don't know."

"I think Mariam is exaggerating." Yetunde laughed. "Prized possession?! He has a whole harem of girls like her."

"Harem or not. There are about fifty girls in his harem and he chooses Awelewa every day. Oh, how good it must feel to be so cherished by the Prince."

Abike didn't know what she was feeling, what the bile in her throat was, or why she was clenching her fist.

The image of the Prince's hands on her breasts came to her and she bit her lip. How would it feel to be touched by the Prince like that every day?

"Get the fuck out of my room!"

She closed her eyes against the fresh hurt and anger threatening to bubble out through tears. How would she explain to her new friends what she was crying about?

"...he would choose Tinu?" She caught the last part of Yetunde's question. "Tinu is just back up for Awelewa. The Balogun has a real connection with this one."

They all sighed again as they looked back at the girl. She currently had her back to the handrail, her eyes on the other girl who was sitting on the lounge chair; listening with rapt attention to whatever she was saying.

"I wonder how it feels to be touched by the Balogun,'' Mariam finally voiced what was on their minds, but the girls pretended to be shocked and horrified.

"Mariam, that's a stupid thing to imagine." Modupe's eyes widened. "The Balogun is the enemy."

"How?" Mariam rolled her eyes. "He was just doing his job, please."

Neither of them said anything for a while.

"But he is so fine." Yetunde sighed. "I mean, have you seen him?" She turned wide eyes to Abike. "He is so...so..."

"Yeah." The other girls nodded. There was no adjective to describe him. He was beyond earthly. He was ethereal. Breathtaking.

"Oh, to be Awelewa for a day, I'd give my left breast," Mariam said again, earning laughter from them this time. "What about you, Abike?" She asked. "What do you think of the Balogun?"

Abike's heart slammed in her chest, cutting off circulation for a scary moment. Her mouth opened and closed, but not one word came out.

The other girls were staring curiously, waiting for her to say something and she was about to lie through her teeth when the door slid open again.

Abike didn't think the day would come when she would be grateful to hear Mrs. Jamila's voice.

"Enough! Your work here is done, servants. Time to be redistributed. Let's go. This is not the only garden in the Palace." The woman clapped noisily.

The clattering of cans, shears, and other garden tools filled the air as the girls dropped them to the ground to follow the woman out of the room.

Abike found herself in a smaller conservatory this time. She bent her head as she walked inside with three other girls to avoid meeting anyone's eyes.

Mariam and the other girls were absent in this room and she didn't have it in her to make other friends.

She picked up the first tool she saw, a shear, and began trimming the flowers, careful not to cut the beautiful petals.

Someone gently touched her shoulder and she looked up to find Teju, smiling down at her. She dropped the shear in excitement and it hit the soil soundlessly. She retrieved it.

"Teju, I have been searching all over for you."

"Same. I heard you got gardening yesterday and have been praying to God I find you."

So he was searching for her yesterday? Abike sighed happily.

"I have been wondering how you were coping Abike. I wonder how you will survive in this place," he said sadly, totally forgetting about the work he was supposed to be doing. Abike glanced pointedly at the shear he was holding and he rolled his eyes; one big chomp and brightly colored petals floated to the ground.

"Teju!" Abike laughed.

"What? I don't know how to garden." He shrugged.

"Didn't they teach you? Someone taught us this morning." She carefully cut through the weed, careful not to touch the petals.

"Maybe that's because you lots are ladies. It's been extra hard on us the guys." He looked around him. "This place, I don't think we can survive. That's why I want to bring something to you." He edged closer.

Abike stopped shearing and stood still.

"What is that?"

"Escape. We want to escape!"

Abike laughed. "That's not possible, you know this. We are the Balogun's prisoners and if we go, he would come after us." She shook her head. "Plus, it won't be nice to risk Amu that way. If we go back to Amu, he would come there with a vengeance. And you know Amu won't survive one more strike from him."

Teju rolled his eyes.

"You think we don't know this? We know. And we are coming up with a plan. I would keep you updated."

"You! Come here! Why are you talking?"

They both turned to see a burly guard marching toward them. Abike turned back to Teju in fright.

"Teju! Teju!"

"Don't worry, Abi. It's not the first time. I am a big boy. I would be in contact," he whispered before walking to meet the guard halfway.

They landed him a blow on the jaw before hefting him out of the room.

Abike sighed and continued her work. Should she dare hope that an escape was possible?

***

Abike finally saw Fatima in the kitchen later that evening. The girl came in to get a tray of food and Abike noticed she didn't look okay. Asides from the obvious swell of her left eye, the girl was also limping.

She tried to catch the girl's eyes but Fatima was hell-bent on avoiding eye contact with anyone. She just picked up the tray and limped out of the kitchen hurriedly.

What did they do to her after the meeting yesterday? Abike tried to concentrate on kneading the dough in front of her.

"It's not like that!" One of the kitchen chefs slapped her hands away. "Watch."

She watched the woman knead the dough with her fist, twisting and turning, then flipping the dough over to repeat the process.

Of all the places she had worked, Abike preferred the kitchen. There was always food and the chefs were nice. Plus Mrs. Jamila hardly ever comes in there, so it was a good place to hide away from her.

"Now, continue this; while I go mix the flavors." The chef disappeared again and Abike resumed kneading.

Her mind traveled to Fatima again. What happened to her? She couldn't get over the sadness in the girl's eyes. With conviction, she promised to find Fatima after and just talk to her. No matter how long she ran, the girl needed somebody to talk to.

Abike was the last person to enter the room that night. She trudged tiredly to bed, surprised to find Fatima on her bunk with her back to the wall; staring into space.

Abike groaned inwardly. Yes, she wanted to talk to Fatima, but not right now. All she wanted to do now was sleep. She had garden work again tomorrow morning and as much as she liked the beautiful flowers, it wasn't easy.

With Fatima already here, Abike had no other choice but to greet the girl with a smile. "Hi, Fatima." She sat beside her. Fatima silently rested her head on Abike's shoulders, causing her to frown in surprise.

"Are you okay, Fatima?"

"No."

"Is it the Prince? Did you see him today?"

"Yes, it's the Prince." Fatima began to sob. "But no, I didn't see him today."

Abike put tired arms around Fatima and sighed.

"What happened?"

"Because of yesterday—" The girl raised teary eyes to her and Abike looked away, unable to bear the sadness in them.

"Just because I spilled water on him at the meeting yesterday, I was taken to this scary place and left for a while. Then Iroko came back and beat me. He—he —" the girl hiccuped and burst into another round of tears.

Abike sighed and rubbed her shoulders. What could she say? That it would be okay? That would be an unfair lie because she wasn't sure it would.

Teju had said today that there might be a possibility of escape but wouldn't she be cruel to give this girl such hope when she wasn't even sure herself if it was going to work?

They stayed that way for a long time until Fatima sat up and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her blouse. "Thank you, Abike." She slipped down from the bed and was gone before Abike could say another word.

Too tired to even comprehend what just happened, Abike laid down and was asleep in minutes.