Too Late

By Fortune Ehiwayas

TOO LATE is the story of Stephanie, a young lady forced to mature fast in a cruel world where she thought she could make a difference. Her innocent heart learnt harsh lessons along the way but at a cost…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oyster Press
• Release date: Jan 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215006412

Book preview

PROLOGUE

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LIFE for a young girl can mature so fast, in a world given to treacherous acts of the masochistic and powerful.

This was the fate of Lola Stephanie Adepoju, a cute teenager on the cusp of adulthood who felt her honor violated by the person she trusted the most, in a moment of unheeded adolescence...

You will learn a lesson or two in your own trip down the destiny boulevard...

EPISODE 1

MY NAME IS LOLA STEPHANIE ADEPOJU. I am an 18 years old girl who has experienced what I feel is beyond my psychological age limit. I feel my story has to be heard because I think other young girls are going through what I went through and can learn a lesson or two.

My story dates back to 2008 when I was 14 years old. Because of the environment I lived in with my parents, I was exposed to a lot of negative things. But I didn't know how negative it was until I was faced with a situation.

It was a sunny day and my mother had gone to the market to trade. As usual, I went to my neighbor's place to play with the other twenty or more children from the barracks. We always played in this little field since our parents were out to make money. My father was a driver at one of the Chinese factories around us so I always had the whole Saturday to myself as well as other children who had busy parents.

We were enjoying our time out, playing daddy and mummy, skipping ropes, and playing football...it was our amusement park. Suddenly rain started to fall and we ran to safety... Dispersing in different directions. Some ran into known and unknown houses, others ran under the shades of some locked shops, and I ran into my doom.

As I ran towards a house by instinct, I bumped into a hard body. As I stumbled backward, hands grabbed me so I wouldn't crash on the wet ground. I looked up and saw an older man looking down at me.

Where are you running to? He asked kindly.

Sorry sir I whispered politely... I was taught to always be polite to strangers at school.

Come inside, it's raining he invited.

And I went in.

I waited for hours till the rain stopped.

The man was also seated in the living room, reading a newspaper. As I studied him, I realized he wasn't that old...in fact, he was someone I could call an elderly brother. He was younger than my daddy. Younger than my teacher, as it were.

The rain has stopped, are you ready to go? He asked me.

I nodded. He sounded nice also.

He rose and came to me, holding out his hand.

I took it and he led me outside.

I felt the chill on my skin and shivered.

Wait, I'm coming, he said

He went in and came out later with a big sweater

Wear this home, the weather is very cold; this will keep you warm, OK?

I nodded and walked home, never forgetting the kind man.

EPISODE 2

THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND CAME AND IT WAS THE SAME ...parents leaving for work, children playing in the field. But there was an extra spice to mine, the man who gave me his sweater was always around,