Chapter

The Woman Across My Door

When I finally left my mother’s house, I thought I had escaped the pain.

I rented a small room, hoping that this new chapter of my life would bring me peace.

Opposite my room lived a woman who was married to an herbalist. At first, she seemed so kind to me. She welcomed me, spoke to me like a younger sister, and slowly, I began to trust her.

I didn’t know that the person I was beginning to call a friend would eventually become another source of pain.

I loved her children.

Whenever I had something small, I shared it with them. I bought them biscuits, snacks, clothes and little things whenever I could afford them. I didn’t do it because I wanted anything from their mother.

I did it because I genuinely cared.

I thought we were becoming family.

But slowly, her attitude toward me changed.

She became angry whenever she saw me getting close to my own mother. She would say things about me behind my back and sometimes behave completely differently whenever other people were around.

The more I tried to be kind, the more I felt she misunderstood me.

Then one day, everything became worse.

I came back from work and found my boyfriend around the house. Something happened outside, and while I was trying to deal with it, I accidentally stepped on a nail.

My leg started bleeding.

It hurt badly, and naturally, I called my mother.

But the moment she realized that I had called my mother, her mood changed.

It was as if she didn’t want me to have anyone else close to me.

Eventually, she started telling people things about me that I had never told them myself.

She spoke to my boyfriend behind my back.

She said things that made me feel ashamed and embarrassed. Things that could make someone question my character and my worth.

I remember thinking:

“Why would someone I have been so kind to treat me like this?”

I had bought things for her children.

I had helped whenever I could.

I had trusted her with my personal life.

Yet somehow, she turned my kindness into something ugly.

There was even a day when she and my mother had an argument. I stood there trying to calm my mother because I didn’t want the situation to become worse.

Her husband eventually stepped in and begged everyone to calm down.

That was the moment I realized something.

Not everyone you are kind to will be kind to you.

Not everyone you trust deserves access to your life.

And sometimes, the people you try hardest to love are the very people who teach you the hardest lessons.

Eventually, I left that house.

I returned to my work and focused on myself.

I continued learning my craft. I started making my own money little by little. I began rebuilding the confidence that I had lost.

I wasn’t married.

I didn’t have children.

I was still trying to figure out my life.

But I was hustling.