He Promised Me Work In Lagos, Na Trap I Enter (EPISODE 29)

EPISODE 29 – The Shame Was Never Mine

Lagos noise still pressed on all sides — honking cars, shouting street vendors, and the never-ending hum of the city. But inside my small room, something had shifted.

After speaking with my father and finally understanding the truth about my mother’s death, I began to look at myself differently. For so long, I had carried guilt, shame, and whispers that weren’t mine to bear. I had let fear and stigma define me. But now, slowly, I was letting that go.

I sat on my bed, hands folded, eyes closed. “This shame, this weight… it no be my own,” I whispered softly.

Memories came — the hurtful whispers in Umunze, the men who avoided me, the feeling that I was cursed, the loneliness that followed me to Lagos. But instead of despair, I felt clarity. Every choice I made now could come from strength, not fear.

I remembered the church woman, her gentle guidance, the small catering work I had built with my hands, the tiny steps toward freedom. All these things reminded me: I was capable. I was deserving. I was alive, and the past could no longer chain me.

For the first time, I laughed softly — not a loud, carefree laugh, but one that came from a deep place of relief. Emotional freedom, I realized, was a kind of wealth Lagos could not take away.

“I am Nkiruka,” I said aloud. “I am not a replacement, not a victim, not a shadow of fear. I am me, and that is enough.”

That night, sleep came easier. For the first time in months, I didn’t dread waking up to him, to Lagos, to life. The city was still chaotic, still dangerous, but I had reclaimed my inner space.

Episode 30 Coming Soon
Nkiru begins to secretly plan a bigger step toward independence — a move that could put her in real danger, but also closer to freedom.