His Hidden Identity

Precious POV

I'm done hiding here. I'm tired of the pain, I can't stay here anymore, and it doesn't matter if I have to go back to the street as long as I'm far away from this trap called love. Maybe a little introduction would help you understand my plight better. My name is Precious, and I'm twenty years old. I never knew my parents since I grew up in the orphanage home, and it was just as if I lived on the street. The woman in charge of taking care of us was very mean and she sent us out sometimes to sort ourselves for the day. We go from begging, stealing or even checking the dumpster for anything that would sustain us till they decide to give us the next meal. My life rotated around the same thing everyday while I was at the orphanage. I helped cook the meals sometimes and I guess I was pretty handy in that aspect. I then helped with the younger kids since the elders were too busy gossiping about whatever was trending. When I turned eighteen, I decided I had enough. So, I decided to leave the orphanage and be on my own. Fortunately, I had about five thousand naira with me and that was because some visitors to the orphanage gave us money which I managed to save without them knowing. I was going to miss the people I've grown to know as family, but this was something I needed to do. Back to where I was, I met Vincent the same day I left the orphanage and seeing that I was lost, he offered me a ride which I accepted since it'd save me some amount of money. Vincent wasn't all that good looking but he was also not bad. He was about a whole foot taller than me since I stood at about 5.5ft tall.when he asked where I was going to stop, I just looked at him because I had no idea so he figured I had no place to go but he didn't ask questions instead, he offered to take me to his place where I was currently staying. He treated me nicely and in return, I cooked his meals for him and he was pleased. Over time, I couldn't help but fall for him mostly because he was a gentleman as he never made an attempt to come close to me or take advantage of the fact that we stayed together in his room and a parlour apartment. There are times when his friends come over and I cook for all of them and I managed to work part time in a restaurant so I could support him. I have never seen him mad at me and he'd never treated me wrongly so it wasn't a big surprise that I said yes when he asked me out though at that time, he was six years older than I was. Everything came crashing down when he lost his job with the company he worked for. That night for the first time he raised his hand on me and I could smell the alcohol in his breath as he insulted and blamed me for something I had no idea about. The beatings started a few days after I clocked nineteen and I was twenty years old now. There are times I have to wear heavy makeup just to cover the bruises he gives me whenever he was angry, he'd stopped trying to look for any sort of job so we relied on anything I brought from work. My best friend Comfort advised me to report him but I couldn't bring myself to do it because I felt like I owed him this much, so together we decided that it was better I left before he ended up killing me. "It's a good thing you decided to leave." Comfort said,as we gathered my stuff. And for once,I was happy I didn't possess much. "I'm tired,he claims he loves me but he beats me almost everyday." I complained. "You're lucky you're still alive, and I still don't understand why you won't report him." She murmured, clearly not happy with my choice. "We've gone over that, let's just hurry up before he comes back from wherever he went to." I said. Vincent was also kinda possessive, that is the reason I'm trying to leave while I could. Over time, I've noticed how he holds me close whenever his friends are staring at me or how he suddenly asks me to change my clothes after dressing up. I don't have any male friends mostly because he instructed me not to. The worst was if I spent more than the expected time outside, maybe I was asked to complete someone else's shift at work without letting him know, he'll get mad and beat me claiming I was cheating before he now apologises again. Despite all this, I still find myself attracted to him but for my sanity, I had to go somewhere far away where he wouldn't expect me or come looking for me."Done, let's get out of here." Comfort said putting my last piece of belonging inside the bag. "Should I write a goodbye note?" I asked, not sure of what to do."Are you an idiot? It'll give you away faster than expected." She answered. Comfort was the only friend I have because as soon as I mentioned that I was from an orphanage, the other girls at work stopped talking to me but Comfort didn't mind. We left the house in a hurry because it was almost evening around the time Vincent came back. No matter how hard I tried to convince Comfort to stay back, she refused saying best friends stick together all the time and this was easy because she was also….well not an orphan but her parents didn't treat her nicely as she wasn't a boy though she didn't let it weigh her down. Together, we'd saved about seventy thousand in which more belonged to Comfort and we believed it would go a long way. Since we stayed in the outskirts of the town we live in, we decided to go to the next state which was one of the biggest in our country (Lagos, Nigeria). From the tales we've heard, it was going to be tough but it would be worth it. The journey was stressful seeing that it was my first time leaving my old town and I've lived there for twenty years. After so much struggle, trying to make myself comfortable, we saw the sign showing goodbye and I heaved in relief as the thought of Vincent coming to get me had been on my mind since we got on the bus. "I have a good feeling about this." Comfort whispered beside me. "As long as we're together." I replied."Of course, you're stuck with me." She said and I just nodded. After about two or three hours more,the bus came to a stop and asked all of us to get down saying we had gotten to the last bus stop,and since we didn't know anything, we followed the people who looked like they knew their way. "This place is huge!" Comfort exclaimed."Better calm down, we haven't seen anywhere yet." I told her. "But still,look at this." She argued but I ignored her and went for our bags before it got mixed up. Comfort was holding tightly to the purse with her since that was where all the money we owned was. "Let's ask for directions to the nearest hotel, or something cheaper than a hotel." I suggested."Better still, let's look for something that wouldn't drain the life out of us." She said and I agreed. We went from one place to another, looking for vacancies but all the ones we saw only accepted a year's rent which we could not afford for now. Later in the evening when it was almost dark and the street was getting a bit lively because the night lights were on and everyone was coming out unlike where we came from. One of the house owners,after much convincing and begging, agreed to let us pay monthly and we agreed on fifteen thousand which to me, was fair. "At last, I can rest my head." Comfort said and I stared at the tiny bed...well thankfully there was one. I totally agreed with Comfort but I needed to freshen up but there was no bucket to use so instead, we just lay down on the bed waiting for the next day. "I hope this wasn't a bad idea and I hope it works well for us." I said, hopefully. "I'm sure we'd be fine, I mean,we made it to this point. She said. For once, I hoped she was right...I closed my eyes to rest hoping tomorrow would be better.

STARTING AFRESH Precious POVWe managed to fall asleep without even eating anything but now, it was daybreak so we could see everywhere clearly. The room wasn't that big but it was manageable and opposite where the bed stood was the window which allowed ventilation and that was our only means of fresh air since we didn't have a fan. Apart from our bags, the only other thing in the room was the small bed. "Hope you slept well?" Comfort asked beside me, but I wasn't sure I did as the thought of Vincent was heavy on my mind. "I tried, but I couldn't stop thinking of Vincent." I told her."You would be fine, and I'm here to protect you, remember?" She asked, and I wanted to laugh because beside Vincent she was small and there was nothing she could do but then it was the thought that counted. "Yes, and I'm grateful for that." I replied.&quo