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Nita
Asha Holder
Trinidad & Tobago - Accounting
She studied the contents of the small closet. Really, there was not much
from which to choose. She owned only one dress, which would be
appropriate for her appointment; the short-sleeved, navy blue Harlena
item with white trim around the collar and hemline. She clearly
remembered the day she bought it; a whole paycheck blown. Sixty-five
dollars.
That was two years ago and she had
not dared repeat the extravagance; in fact, it was the last dress she
had bought in over two years. The garment was now a little frayed, but
last night she had done a nice touch up job with needle and thread. She
slipped it over her head and stood before the cracked mirror, critically
surveying herself. A strand of fake pearls, a long ago birthday gift
from a former admirer encircled her long neck.
“Well, Nita,” she said to her
reflection. This is about the best you can do, so, girl-child, go out
there and knock ‘em dead… It was now about four months since Nita had
cleaned herself up; she no longer took drugs and had cut down her
alcohol intake to one glass per day, which was a major accomplishment.
She also had a new job and a modest apartment. Today was a rather
important day in Nita’s life as it was the day that she would stand in
front of judge Thurman and prove to him that she had reorganized her
life and was ready to regain custody of her children.
Approximately one year ago, Nita had
reached the pits of her life, poverty got the best of her and her
involvement in drugs did not help the situation. She would do anything
to get her fix, from offering to wash people’s cars to providing sexual
favors to men. Prior to becoming a slave to cocaine however, Nita held
two jobs; one as a waitress: in a bar and the other, cleaning offices
after hours. She was a single mother, a victim of society who had fallen
prey to the vices of unscrupulous men, while on a mere quest to find
love. Two such encounters resulted in the birth of her children, one
born to a preacher who had gained her respect and trust and the other to
a civil rights leader whom she thought made her feel empowered and
self-worthy… until he found out that she was pregnant and turned his
back on his responsibility. Despite her misfortune, Nita worked hard and
persevered so that she could do the best possible to support her
children in her tiny, scantily furnished apartment in what people so
readily deemed ‘the ghetto”.
Her final decent came one day in the
form of a tall bronze-skinned, able-bodied figure with hazel eyes that
bore into the very depths of Nita. When he first entered her life he
would purchase small gifts for the children and never visited the
apartment without two bags full of groceries; he was her knight in
shining amour. It did not take long before Tony moved into the apartment
with Nita and her life appeared to be brighter than it had ever been;
this bliss however would soon dissipate. The first time Tony introduced
Nita to cocaine, she refused, but he assured her that it would only make
her feel better; after all, her prince would never lead her astray. The
first time he hit her, he apologized and told her how much he loved her,
so Nita forgave him and allowed him a second chance. The abuse only got
worse and Nita turned to drinking. She lost both her jobs and her
children were no longer a priority. She was a full-fledged drug addict
and social services had taken her children away. One day, Tony had
beaten Nita almost to death and it was after this attack she decided
that she had enough and escaped. Tony swore that he would kill her if he
ever found her but Nita found refuge in a neighboring State at the home
of a kind woman who assisted with her rehabilitation.
Months had passed and she had
forgotten about Tony. She was now drug free and once again employed, she
felt totally confident of her preparedness to mother her children. Nita
got on the bus and headed to the courtroom. Her new appearance certainly
impressed the judge and even though no judgment was passed at the end of
those proceedings, things looked positively for Nita and she left the
courthouse feeling a sense of jubilation. As she walked back to the bus
station with a cheerful smile on her face, she was confronted by a
figure from her past. He looked worse than she had ever seen him before,
those hazel eyes were barely noticeable in his deeply sunken and
hardened face, she pretended not to notice him and attempted to walk
past but he grabbed her fiercely and commanded her to return to him, she
pulled herself free and continued walking but he called her name sharply
“Nita!” and when she turned around there was a gun pointed toward her
face. Before she even had time to blink, two shots rang through the air
and Nita slumped to the floor. The air around the scene stood still and
silent as passers by scampered for safety. Tony stood above Nita’s body
and released a prolonged sinister laugh of a crazy, irrational drug
addict. It was mere seconds before police arrived on the scene, but they
were too late, Tony had turned the gun on himself and in a moment, he
too, was gone.
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