Chapter 7: The Choice
The night was thick with humidity as Eliana lay awake, listening to the sounds of the city outside. Anita's words played on a loop in her head. Does she just want to live?
She thought of the "Night Rose." She had seen the girls who worked there—the way people looked at them, the whispers in the street. But then she thought of the hospital's sterile smell and the way Tobi's voice had broken over the phone. Pride was a luxury she realized she could no longer afford. If she stayed a waitress, her mother would die. It was that simple.
She stood up and walked to the small mirror, pulling her hair back. She was beautiful, yes, but that beauty was currently worth thirty thousand Naira a month. In the darkness, she made a silent pact with herself. She would go to the club. She would get the money. But she would never let them see her real face. She would be a ghost, a mask, a girl in red. She would save her mother, and then she would disappear.
As the sun began to peek over the Lagos skyline, Eliana didn't prepare for the restaurant. She reached for the phone and dialed Anita. "Take me with you tonight," she whispered. The descent had begun.