As if nature knew our plan and wanted to help us, I run into Mr. Mensah that very evening and he, after realizing I had changed my mind, invited me to come to his house the following day at 3pm. It was a Saturday. Kwame, his friend and I met earlier to go through our plan one more time. Kwame gave me an analogue phone with his number already on the call log, all I had to do was press the call button and they'd come in. By 2:50 pm, we were in position, right behind Mr Mensah's house. Fortunately his house wasn't walled and he had a small plantain farm behind it that served as a good hiding spot. At exactly 3pm, like a lamb to the slaughter, I knocked on Mr. Mensah's door, wearing the only jeans trousers I owned at the time and a white blouse. He opened the door, with a stupid grin on his face and invited me in. His living room looked decent enough. He offered me alcohol, which when I refused, made him frown a bit. When he sat by me and started speaking gibberish, I realized he was tipsy. Even better! Drunk men could be fooled.

He entered his bedroom for a few mins and now invited me there. I refused the first time and said I was comfortable where I was. He became upset and started begging me. I figured the bedroom would be where the money probably was and I followed him in. There was no sofa in his bedroom so we both sat on the bed. We heard footsteps behind the window, because he was tipsy, Mr Mensah blamed some goats who occasionally came to eat the plants in his garden, I knew it was Kwame and his friend and they were listening in. We had not even sat for two minutes when this man tried to kiss me. The smell from his mouth, oh heavens! I kept dodging till he gave up and now removed his shirt. My heart pounded a bit. He had a well built body and looked fit.

I had to stop being scared and stay in character. So when he approached, I said, "Mr. Mensah I know what you want but I'm not in the right frame of mind. My mother is sick so we've been struggling?" "How much do you need?" He cut me short. The guys and I had agreed on 200 cedis because it seemed a lot to us at the time. I told him. He opened his wardrobe, counted the amount and put it on his nightstand. "It's all yours" he said, I reached out to pick it but he grabbed my hand and resumed trying to touch me. I pulled the phone out and pressed the call button. "This isn't the time to look on your phone". I replied that I was only checking the time cos I had to give my mom her medication. More reason for me to allow him to do what it was he invited me for. Close to two minutes, and no sign of Kwame or his friend. I asked to use the washroom and called Kwame five times while there. Still nothing. I came out and realized Mr. Mensah looked very impatient. He pulled me close to him and started undressing me. An image flashed before my eyes.

Exactly three years before this, I had been taken advantage of by my mother's male friend. He called me into his room to give me food and had pounced on me before I knew it. I hadn't mentioned it to anyone. And it seemed history was going to repeat itself. My mind raced. I had made the stupid decision of trusting two teenage boys with my life but I knew I was more intelligent than that. I had to act fast. By this time, my blouse was on the floor and this man was trying to remove my bra. "Do you have a condom please?" He seemed surprised but relaxed. He replied no. "I can't do this without one please. I can go and buy it, just give me money." He looked at me straight in the eye as if searching to see if I was lying. I prayed for God to see me through and promised Him I was never going to put myself in this situation again if he saved me from it. Mr. Mensah agreed for me to go and buy the condom, but on the condition that I left the money I asked for. At this point, trust me, the money didn't matter anymore. I agreed and quickly dressed up. He gave me two cedis for the purchase. And I dashed out, never to return.

Once I stepped out, I thought about Kwame and his friend. What had happened to them? Did someone catch them snooping around and asked them to leave? Why didn't they answer my calls? I decided to check the back of the house just in case. I tiptoed there and to my surprise, these two were standing there staring at me. I was confused. I looked at their faces for a while and it dawned on me. They had never planned to come rescue me. I ran and Kwame came running after me. When he caught up, I asked' "Did you see my calls?" "Yes I did. I'm sorry." "But why?" "Just wanted to check something." He said with a chuckle. "Did you take the money?" I had no words for him. I went off, never again to try anything as stupid as this Hollywood movie we had planned.

I went back to asking friends for money and eating at people's homes. It was better to have a reputation for begging for food than losing my dignity to undeserving men. Above all, God took care of me. He brought people into my life to help me at every point in time. Look at me me. I survived, didn't I? No negative condition is permanent when you work hard at it.

See you in my next post! Till then, don't act stupid