Fatima

Born in the
green hills
of Valencia.
(No, not Spain,
just Nelspruit).
Her mother, a
shop clerk, her
father the manager
at the local Spar.

Her life was the
envy of every
teenage girl. Wild
parties, sex at fifteen,
early birth control
that made her
skinnier
than the rest.

She was a little bird,
her sweet voice cooing
to the whims and needs
of the men around her.
A particular favourite
of every lascivious uncle.

She met him at fifteen. They
fucked upstairs in his parents
mansion. His father was a
pharmacist, so he stole a
number of drugs for them to
experiment with.

When he left to Jozi, for varsity
she found solace in the maternal
side of her family. Then her
own mother was the first to go,
kidney failure. It tore her apart,
but she was redeemed when
the big city killed his spirit
so that he came back that summer
and they were wed.

She lived in the same mansion they
first fucked in. Thinking she was the
beneficiary of a higher gift, the luckiest
girl in the world, the apple of her father
in law's eye. She cooked meals during
the week nights, and in the week days
stood behind the counter at the pharmacy.

There was only one way they could
entertain themselves on weekends,
and that lasted, until like her very own
mother, her kidneys gave in, and she
was eaten alive.