Thread by @GbengaWemimo

It was hatred that toughened her up, she was the one her mother blamed for all the woes in her life
Her mother got pregnant with her when her mother was sixteen
As a result, her mother had to stop her education and learn a trade!
Her father didn't take responsibility for her

He walked away from both her mother and her!
She was therefore born into a closed world of an angry and bitter mother!
She couldn't remember herself with
Being happy as a child!
She cried before she was given food to eat, she wailed before she was cleaned up whenever she pooed!

Her mother had started selling bread by this time!
They practically lived in the bakery! Her mother would go hawking by 5am to return by 12 noon!
She was left to fend for herself until then!
Often she ate only once in a day
If she cried too much, she got flogged by her mother

When she was 12, her mother took her to an Aboki who had a provision store close to their house
Her mother minded the shop while the Aboki took her inside
The Aboki raped her
Her mother came to the room afterwards and told her "bleeding is normal, since that was your first time"

That was how her mother became her pimp!
Her mother would negotiate with the customer, collect the payment and then take her to the location to consummate the deal!
Whenever she complained, her mother would curse her, tear her clothes and sometimes flog her mercilessly!

Her mother would say "If not for your unfortunate arrival, I will be happily married now! If not for you, I will be educated! You ruined my life! You are a disease that I must eradicate in order to move forward in life!
You are unfortunate!
You are a vermin, a deeply rooted pain"

Three years and two abortions later, she decided she couldn't do any worse by herself than she was doing under her mother!
She ran away from home!
She found a spot under a bridge to sleep at night
She started hawking bread in the mornings and herbal concoction in the evenings!

Of course she made friends, all sorts and eventually she became a front for petty thieves and pick pockets! Whenever they stolen anything, they kept it with her until the heat cools down, then they sell it and she got her cut!
She sometimes joined the guys for "one chance" raids

She was sixteen when the arm of the law caught up with her
One of her gang members was caught
He told the police everything
She and the others were arrested!
She claimed she was 14 years old
She was sent to a remand home!
That was where she met a woman who took her as a daughter

For one year, the woman, a Christian volunteer at the remand home paid her special attention!
The care was alien to her
She suspected it at first
But love conquers all
The woman told her about Jesus and painstakingly taught her how to read and write
The woman saved her life

When she left the remand home she moved to the woman's house
The woman was 57 years old, an ex nun and had never been married
The woman got her the job of a cleaner at her job
She cleaned during the day and attended vocational school in the evening
She was transformed totally

She had completed her catering course at 24 and started making pasteries to be sold in the church every Sunday and sometimes on weekdays
She got a shop close to the church
She baked cakes for birthday celebrants, made pop corn, doughnuts and sold drinks in the church premises

She met him one Sunday! He called in during the week to order a birthday cake for his mother! He had a design in mind! She did a good job! When he came to pick it up on Sunday morning, he was impressed with her work!
That was how they became friends
But he wanted more than that!

He proposed a year after they met
She panicked
She had been scared to tell him who she really was
Her adopted mother was all she had but he was talking about Hia people meeting her people
She didn't have any people, especially not her biological mother
She didn't know what to do!

Her adopted mother told her "No matter how unpleasant your past is, your mother is still your mother!" She went to visit her mother!
Her mother said "You want to marry! You want to have a happy life after ruining m future! It will never happen! You will find only sorrow In this!"

She left her mother's house in tears!
Her adopted mother took over
Her adopted mother blessed her in the name of Jesus
She got married three months later
Her adopted mother and friends stood as her family
Her husband's people accepted her with joy
Suddenly she was living a dream!

She never saw her mother again!

She lives in Satellite town, Lagos with her husband and three children
She wished she could share her joy with her biological mother but as far as she could tell, introducing her children to her mother would be like pouring poison in a pot of soup