Chapter 6

Muse's uncle stayed longer this time. He did more than a month without traveling. He thought he should make this sacrifice for Muse. And indeed, she began to regain her colors. She was even overweight and was already smiling. Her fear had considerably lowered. She was now sleeping normally without fear of Pen's possible intrusion into her room. Since her uncle was home, Pen avoided her as much as possible and didn't stop where she was. Her stepmother kept a low profile. She waited impatiently for the day that her husband would go away to take revenge on Muse. She hated Muse with all her being and the slap her husband gave her made this hatred towards her worse. The end of the first term at school was very good because Muse had been able to write her exams wonderfully and obtained an excellent average. Her uncle was very happy for her and covered her with gifts under the jealous gaze of his wife and daughters. Yet the latter also had gifts. They didn't want Muse to receive too. But Georges did not differentiate between his children and Muse. On the contrary, he treated Muse like his own daughter and pampered her a little more than the others so that she didn't feel the brunt of her father's loss. Georges was a very good man. He was the only person showing tenderness to Muse in this hellish house. After spending more than a month, it was time for Georges to set off again on his business trip. He was working in another city, which was why he was there constantly. Muse suddenly became tense when he told her about his trip. He had taken her to the restaurant outside house. "Please don't leave me here alone! Take me with you, or take me back to my mother." Muse pleaded with her uncle. "I promise you, you'll see your mother as soon as you pass your exam at the end of the year. For the moment you cannot move from here at the risk of disrupting your studies. And you know for a fact that you haven't no room for error this year. " Muse nodded sadly without answering her uncle any further. He couldn't understand her. What was she going to do? "Listen my daughter, living together can seem very difficult, but know that if you put up with it a little, everything will be fine. You'll see, time is going to pass so quickly that you will not even realize it. I promise no one will ever bother you again. I warned them all to watch out for you. " Muse didn't think his warning would help. On the contrary, it was like fuel on the fire. She was just sadly awaiting her uncle's departure as a death row inmate awaits the day of his sentence. Her uncle might have reassured her, but she knew what awaited her after he'll leave. Two days later, Muse's uncle left. He gave her several other tips and left her a phone to call him at the slightest problem and to be in contact with her mother so as not to feel alone. Muse was so happy taking the phone from her uncle. She was planning to call her mother and tell her everything she was going through in this house. After which, she was going to ask her to send her some money in order to run away to return home. She would then explain to her uncle later the reason for her running away and what she had gone through at his house. Unfortunately for her, as soon as Georges turned his back, Pauline snatched the phone from her hands and broke it, smashing it on the ground. Muse had no other reaction than to shed very helpless tears. "I'll see how you're going to contact your uncle. Know your reign is over now! Go inside and scrub every corner of the house. Besides, you won't eat all day." Said Pauline without a hint of compassion. Muse went inside and did as Pauline commanded her without flinching. She spent the whole day working and threw herself on her bed at night without putting a piece of food in her mouth. In the days that followed, life got harder at home. Her stepmother managed to ruin her existence. Muse was at the end of all this pain. How long would she be able to endure so much abuse? And as if Pauline's wickedness had been insufficient, Pen added another layer of it by raping Muse a second time a week after her uncle's departure. The pain was excruciating. It was the last straw that broke the camel's back. The poor young teenager, not being able to withstand so many blows at the same time, decided to run away on the night of the rape. Muse walked in pain. She wanted to end this miserable life. She was crying bitterly on the way. She didn't know where to go. Finally, she took the road to her school. ' She took refuge in a place where she could lie down and sleep. She was so tired that she woke up late than she expected. The students were already coming to school. She took her toothbrush out of her bag and began to brush her teeth. At the same time, her classmate Flore, who was coming down to pick up the brooms in the cellar, fell on her. She was her neighbor on the bench, a very amiable girl who had tried to approach Muse on several occasions, but she still pushed her away. "Muse?" She said surprised. "Hello flora!" Muse said with a shy voice, rinsing her mouth. "What are you doing here?" Muse did not know what to answer to Flore's question. She bowed her head in shame. "You slept here? What's wrong? Do you have a problem with your house?You can tell me, I just want to help you." At these words, Muse burst into tears. Flora the prot in her arms and consoled her. "Come on, let's go to my home." Flore said helping Muse to pack up her belongings which were on the floor. Muse said nothing. The two young teenage girls walked through the back door where there was a gap so that they could not be seen by teachers and administration. They took a taxi which dropped them off in front of Flore's apartment. It was a small house. Flore lived there just with her mother. They entered the apartment. Flore installed Muse in the living room and went in to find her mother in the kitchen. She informed her of Muse's presence and then hurried back to school. Her mother was then left alone with Muse. She gave her a reassuring smile as she came to her and asked "Are you fine?" Muse just nodded without saying a word. The young woman led her to her daughter's room and installed her on the bed. he went to heat some water for her in the kitchen, then she dropped it off for hervin the toilet. Muse washed it off and felt better. She came to lie down on Flore's bed and fell asleep peacefully, even though her sleep was disturbed by nightmares and that she woke up from time to time with a start. She also spoke in her sleep "No do not do that please!!!" Muse was screaming, struggling in her sleep. Clara, Flore's mother, did not understand why she had such restless sleep. She thought to herself that there should surely be eel under the rock. However, she did not wake her up. Muse slept for about four hours of time. When she woke up, she came to find Clara in the kitchen and offered to help. "No honey! Right now you need to rest and let me take care of you. Okay?" "OK !" Muse responded by going to sit in the living room. There was an interesting program on TV. She sat down to watch. It was a first for her to sit in front of the television doing nothing. She had always been used to being in the kitchen and then in her bedroom. She felt like she was in prison at her uncle's house the entire time she was in the living room with others. She was also not allowed to put on the chanels she wanted. Clara came to serve her a good dish from home. She ate until she was full. It was really one of the first. Clara finished and came to sit next to her. She didn't ask her anything about the reason for her escape. First of all, she wanted to put her at ease and not give her the impression of putting pressure on her. When Flore returned, Muse took notebooks and copied out the lessons they had been given during the day. Flore explained to her what she did not understand. On the side of Muse's stepmother, she wondered where the latter had gone. The next morning of her escape, her stepmother who believed that Muse was still in her sleeping room, came in anger to wake her up brutally as usual. She opened the door to Muse's room violently. But to her surprise, Muse was not there. She went to the bathroom and Muse wasn't there either. She no longer understood anything. She looked around the house for her, but couldn't find her. No one knew where Muse was. Pen who knew what he had done the night before began to panic. He was afraid Muse would talk to anyone and put him in jail. He didn't care if something bad happened to her. All he cared about was saving his own skin. "Maybe she ran away." He said to Pauline. "But why ?" She asked surprised. "Perhaps because you're making her life hard. Any child would think of running away. Remember she asked her uncle to take her home." Pen replied, throwing the blame on his lover. He knew very well that it was because of him that the little one could not stand it any longer, but he blamed Pauline for his actions, accusing her cowardly. "Above all, she must not succeed in reaching her uncle or her mother. In that case, I would be badly off." Pauline pointed out very panicked. But Pen was even more in panicking. He knew he would have more to lose if his crapulous crime came to light. What then to do now?