BROKEN by RENAE NAIK (distant reading TXT) 📖

dizzy. With every breath she inhales, she finds herself wanting to throw up. She excuses herself from class and rushes to the girls toilet. In a matter of seconds, she vomits out the spaghetti she had for dinner. Nadine now faces the fear that she might be pregnant. She goes to the headmaster and asks to leave as she is not feeling well. Before going home she stops at the pharmacy and purchases a pregnancy test. The whole walk home there was chaos in her head. At home she unlocks the door and flings her bag onto the floor heading for the bathroom. She follows the instructions on the package insert and then waits in fear. Approximately three minutes pass by and she cannot ignore the two very clear pink lines staring back at her. Her mind is now blank and this time, all she felt was disappointment.

 

The next day a grief stricken Nadine rushes to Mr. Dean’s classroom to tell him about the predicament she was in. As she walks in “didn’t you hear the bell ring? You need to get to class.” He said. “I need to talk to you about something and its urgent” she replied. He then gives her a stern look and then says “make it quick my next class will be here soon!”. His tone of voice made her feel uneasy but after a few deep breaths she blurts out “I’M PREGNANT”! Dumbstruck by what she said, Dean tells her to get rid of it as he will not be responsible for negligence. My negligence? How can it be my negligence if you didn’t use any protection? She asks. He grins and replies “you should have been on the pill like your other friends but don’t worry I know someone who can help”. He gives her an address and tells her that this person will help get rid of the baby and he will pay the fees when the job is done. This made it quite obvious that he had done this before to many others. However this was not the time for assumptions and speculations, she had to do it…for herself.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 7

The address that he gave her, led her to a dingy place…strange faces, the people were ragged, the buildings and houses were vandalized. Fires were burning on the sidewalks where the homeless sat. Children were skipping and playing games with old panty hose. Her surroundings scared her as if the fear she had already wasn’t enough! She stopped at the address on the paper; it was a tall building that looked abandoned from outside. At the entrance to those apartments, some men stood their smoking their weed asking her who she was looking for.  Before she could even answer she was scared to death by the barks of the fierce looking pit bull being held on a leash by one of the men. She explained that she was here to see a lady by the name of Barbara. They told her she was at the right place and directed her to the third floor. On her way up the dark stairways, she was confronted by two black males asking if she was looking to buy drugs, she said no and continued. Whilst the building seemed abandoned from outside, the inside was decorated with prostitutes, the sound of toddlers crying and domestic disputes filled the corridors.  Why would Mr. Dean send her to a place like this? How would he even know about it? Too many questions in her head that couldn’t be thought or investigated further as she had reached Barbara’s door.

 She knocks twice and then hears the door unlocking. She is greeted by a lady who seemed to be in her forties. She is also ragged, wearing her pajamas past noon. The one side of her gown is untied and you can see that she isn’t wearing a bra. “come in, I’ll be with you “ she says. Her voice sounds as if she has been up yelling all night, so screechy. Nadine walks in and stands in the kitchen. In the middle of the living room is a steel table surrounded by gin and vodka bottles. The smell of cigarette smoke made her nose stuffy. Wherever she looked all she saw was cigarette buds. Barbara tells Nadine to take of her pants and lie on the table. While Nadine undresses she watches as Barbara sterilizes funny looking tools inn alcohol. This frightens her so much that she begins to shake. The lady asks her to lie down Nadine shivers as her body touches the cold steel of the table. “Relax…it will all be over soon” says Barbara.  Nadine winces in pain as she feels the tool go inside her body the pain is unbearable and she faints. Nadine wakes up a few hours later in hospital. While she was passed out the backdoor abortion was carried out causing her to bleed uncontrollably and she needed to be admitted to the nearest hospital. Daniel was so angry at her, not only because of the pregnancy, but also because she put herself in danger.

Nadine still very much in love with Mr. Dean decided to teach him a lesson for what he put her through and reported their deeds to the head master and police

And even though none of the other girls came forward the police investigated further and found that he was guilty of similar heinous crimes. His semen matched that of many other rape victims between the ages of 7 and 15. Thanks to Nadine’s statement he finally was caught.  He faced many charges and was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment that he would serve at the state penitentiary with no parole.

 

Nadine was rather devastated as she loved him but didn’t deserve what she went through. She was also aggravated that she was just used and then discarded. She told her father that she no longer had an interest in completing her studies and she was dropping out of school. She told him that the situation was embarrassing for her and she would be mocked at school. She further stated that if he forced her to go, she would skip school anyway. Worried about the dangers she would face by lurking around instead of being home, he had no choice but to let her leave school.  Nadine felt that this is how she would be happy, Away from the drama and the issues. After two years of being a drop out Nadine lost her father to a fatal car accident that left him dead on the scene. At his funeral Evan refused to speak to her as he felt that she was rebellious towards their father before he had died. Not only was Nadine broken by the death of Daniel but also disheartened at the fact that she had lost her brother too. It seemed as if all the things they had done growing up and all the struggles they faced together had been forgotten. The ceremony was rather short but sweet and from that day forward Nadine and Evan went their separate ways.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 8

Unable to face the only family she once had, she was left puzzled regarding the direction she would take next. Shortly after her dad's passing, Nadine stumbled across Jennifer while going to the store. Still unable to face Jennifer after the whole Mr. Dean thing, she pretends not to notice Jennifer and carries on walking. She didn't get very far before she heard her name being called. She turned around and saw Jen walking towards her. "I heard about your father, I am really sorry" she said. Nadine thanked her for her condolences and before she could say she needed to leave Jennifer looks at her with a smirk on her face and says "I'm sure things must be hard for you and your brother Evan, I could show you a way out". Intrigued by this Nadine looks at her and asks what she has in mind. Jennifer, rather amused by Nadine's interest quickly goes on explaining how Nadine could make quick cash by just giving a man a few minutes of her time. Appalled at first, Nadine then looks at her and hesitantly asks Jen to show her how. Jennifer agrees and tells Nadine that she will meet at her house later that night.  On her way back home, Nadine's head was filled with many questions. She got home and tidied up, lit a candle for her father and went shower. Whilst in the shower she hears her phone ringing. She quickly grabs the towel and steps out. She was a bit too delayed and missed the called but got a voice mail notification immediately. She dialed the number and found out it was Jennifer, telling her that she will be arriving shortly and the Nadine must wear something sexy. A bit surprised by this, Nadine did as she was told. She wore a short, purple sleeveless dress with black stilettos accompanied by a fancy figure hugging belt. She loosened her hair and left it a bit raggedy and applied on some make up and perfume. Before she could take a picture of herself, she heard a car hooter. She rushed to open the door and upon doing that she was shocked to see that Jen had pulled up in a brand new Mercedes Benz with three male friends in it, Two at the back and one in the passenger seat. Nadine was as nervous as a mouse about to be eaten by a snake. She got into the car and was invited to sit in the middle of the gentlemen. It turns out that they were going for dinner. Nadine found that harmless. At dinner, they made useless conversation about irrelevant things and ordered plenty of drinks. Jen encouraged Nadine to order as much as she wanted and the most expensive too as tonight was a treat. The night didn't seem so bad and since she wasn't used to places like this, that's exactly what she did.

 

Nadine now in a very tipsy state accompanies Jen to the ladies room to freshen up and is told that they will be going to a hotel to chill and when they get there Nadine must do whatever they ask. On arrival at the hotel, the men book two rooms. Two of them go with Jennifer and Nadine is asked to go with the other man. At the hotel room the man asks her to undress herself and lay