"The worst prison is not made of walls, but of fear and silence."
Unknown
Chapter 51
Walking behind Helen, my legs were like lead. As we approached Jacobi's office, the sound of the minister's gruff voice and hearty laughter made goosebumps break all over my skin.
This was no nightmare but stark reality. The minister was indeed back.
"Ah, there she is!" he exclaimed, as I walked into the office. "See how fresh and healthy you look. I was expecting to see an invalid."
"She's had a good time recuperating," Jacobi answered, his voice even. "She was in very bad shape when she was brought here."I threw an alarmed look at him, wondering why he was going into that level of detail with the minister, especially as it would lead to questions about why I had been so badly beaten in the first place.
"Leave that nonsense. We all know that it is laziness that has made her stay here this long," the minister retorted. "Almost two months in hospital, what kind of sickness is that? Honey, get your things, let's start going home."
I looked at Jacobi, wanting him to dissuade the minister from taking me away, so that we would at least have more time to plan my escape from town, but he responded with a small shake of his head, sending me the message that he had things under control.
"No problem, Sir. I'll have the nurses help her with her things," he said, rising to his feet.
"zeynep, zeynep!" the minister said, holding my hand. "My beautiful wife. I really missed you, o. When we get home, you're going to give me one of those wonderful massages. I'm an old man, and these long trips always take their toll on me."
"Let me give you some privacy," Jacobi said, walking out of his office, but not before I saw the firm set of his jaw. It was clearly harder for him to watch my so-called husband paw me than it was for me.
When we were alone, the minister dropped my hand, and I saw, for the first time, anger in his eyes.
That was when I realised that he knew exactly what had led me to the hospital…and I knew I was in deep, deep trouble.
In less than thirty minutes, my bags were packed, and the hospital staff bade me a fond farewell.
"Please send me the bill," the minister said to Jacobi. "I can only imagine how much my lazy wife has incurred after being here for so long."
Jacobi smiled curtly. "It's fine, Sir. We hadn't paid her for the work she did for us before the incident, so that has taken care of her treatment."
The minister raised his brows in amazement. "Really? You must have planned to pay her a pretty heavy salary then. Well, I guess that is better for my pocket."
"I will stop by later in the week to check on her," Jacobi said, glancing at me. "She is really not as strong as she looks and still has a long recovery ahead of her."
The minister smiled. "You don't have to worry about that, Doctor. There are more than enough people at the ranch to take care of her. What I do need, though, is some medication for my blood pressure and back ache."
"Why don't we go back to my office, so I can check it and your blood sugar as well?"
"No time, mr waverson. No time," the minister answered. "I'm just getting into town, and I am in desperate need of my bed. I need to rest. Maybe you can come to the house later? Will it be too much trouble?"
"No trouble at all, Sir," Jacobi answered. "I can be there tomorrow."
"No,no. Not tomorrow, please. Come next week. Let me have enough time to rest first." Then turning to me, he winked.
" Can we be on our way honey? , let's go."
The minute we got into the car, he dropped the act.
"So, I hear you have gone back to your promiscuous ways," the minister said, as the car made its way down the dusty road. "You mean, you have such a short memory that you forgot what happened the last time you tried to misbehave?"
By now, I was quivering like a leaf. " it was all a misunderstanding. All I did was go dancing, nothing happened with anyone. I swear it."
"Will you keep quiet there!" he shouted, hitting me across the face with the back of his hand, his large insignia piercing my skin. "You are nothing but a hoe. I saw all the videos of you shaking your body like a prostitute, and I heard you allowed that small boy to have sex with you in his car of all places. You are a disgrace!" And with that, he spat on me, a huge ball of saliva hitting me on my cheek, adding to my humiliation. "You should count yourself lucky that it was Ibrahim who dealt with the boy, and not me."
I held on to my bleeding face, whimpering. "Then send me away. Just let me go. I have disgraced you and your household, so why are you still keeping me? Let me go!"
"Oh, is that your plan? Is that what you thought would prompt me to send you back to join your retarted father ?" he laughed, a loud humourless sound. "The problem is that I have given you way too much freedom. Trust me, all that is going to change."
The car turned into the ranch, but the minister asked the driver to stop at the gate.
"come here!" he called out at the head of his security. "Under no reason whatsoever should my wife be let out of the compound. If she puts a toe outside of this gate, you and your men will pay with your lives. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Sir," He answered, while at the same time, casting a concerned look my way. All I could do in response was weep, still holding my face. If I thought I was a prisoner before, I was about to be shown real incarceration.
The car made its way to the house, where madam Maria and some of the other domestic staff were eagerly awaiting our arrival.
"Zeynep is not to leave the compound under any circumstance," the minister bellowed as he got out of the car, ignoring their greetings. "Since she has shown that she is an animal that has to be kept on a leash, I will be more than happy to give her what she wants."
"Sir?" madam maria exclaimed, looking from her boss to me in her confusion
"You're there saying 'Sir'! I trusted you to keep an eye on her, but under your watch, she ran completely mad!" he yelled at his longtime housekeeper. "You should count yourself lucky that I'm in a good mood today, otherwise you would have also tasted some of my anger."
"Sorry, Sir," madam maria said, her head bowed.
By now, my silent whimpering had become loud wailing, the realization of what life would now be, dawning on me. There was no way I could survive being kept hostage in the ranch. I had to leave. I had to.
And so, I tore away from the minister and started running as fast as my legs could carry me, all the way to the gate.
"Zeyn—! Zeynep!" madam maria cried out, panic in her voice.
"Can you see it? Can you see?" I heard the minister's voice. "When I told you she is a wild animal, you were looking at me like a wicked man. Can you see it yourself now?"
But I kept running. I ran like my feet were on fire…because they were. For every extra second I stood on those grounds, my feet burned. The place had become hell for me, and the sooner I found my way out, the better.
I ran the long distance from the house, but as I approached the gate, I saw with dismay the guards rush to close it.
"zeynep, please go back," the head of the minister's security pleaded, looking towards the house anxiously. "You will get into trouble."
But I had passed that stage of caring.
"Help me! Help me!" I screamed, using the large padlock to hit the gate. "They want to kill me here. Help me!"
But the passersby only cast curious looks my way, none of them making any attempt to even inquire further.
"Aliyah, aliyah!" I called out, recognizing one of the people passing by as the wife of a fellow politician that lived in this estate as us. "Please help me! The minister wants to kill me!!"
I was relieved when she slowed down.
"Zeynep, will you go back inside! Go inside right now, and stop shouting like a mad woman!" she scolded, looking anything but helpful. " Don't bring your Private matter outside! Go back inside, and stop disgracing your husband!"
I stood there in shock, watching as she walked away without even looking back. I watched as other workers and house owners in the estate passed the house, and I realised that it was all futile.
The respect, or fear, or both, they had for the minister would not make any of them tarry any longer than they needed to. I could have stripped myself naked, with a spear protruding from my chest, and it wouldn't have been enough to garner help nor even empathy from any of them.
To them, it was obviously just a domestic dispute.
I was trapped.