Madam Bambina's Brothel

Episode Three

“You are killing all my customers. What is it that you have in your body that is making men to die after touching you? Do you want to drive me out of business?” Madam Bambina asked Cheta. Her face does not look good at all. She looked worried and troubled by a serious problem. Her eyes were red as if she did not sleep well the night before.

Cheta did not say anything yet as she patiently waited for Madam Bambina to finish ranting. As always, Madam was smoking and the odour filled the air, making Cheta very uncomfortable. Occasionally, she coughed because the smoke from the cigar bellowed and entered her nostrils. She used her left pam to cup her nose.

“I gave you the first man to service, you killed him. I gave you five other men to service, now I’m getting a very bad report that they slept and did not wake up. Do you know how bad it is that men are dying in my brothel?” Madam Bambina continued her rants. 

Unknown to her, Cheta was no longer afraid of her. Cheta has discovered that there is something special about her body and she is now determined to use it to her maximum advantage. After the five men slept with her the previous night, she discovered that she bled again, but in the morning, her body went back to virginity. She was now fully convinced that she possesses some mystical powers capable of killing people who touched her. She woke up that morning with a new kind of confidence.

She has made up her mind to fight back instead of suffering molestation in the hands of men in the brothel. She is determined to even kill if push comes to shove.

“Stop asking me stupid questions.” Cheta tells Madam Bambina. The words came ‘tata tata’ like multiple gunshots fired into the ears. Madam Bambina did not expect that and she was swept off balance, so she dropped her cigar. She did not know what gave Cheta the courage to say those words. Indeed, if a bird is dancing in the road, the thing that is drumming for him is in the bush.

It was early in the morning around 7am, but as usual, all the girls were up. Since she came to the brothel, Cheta has counted at least, thirty three girls. That morning, they were going about their duties in the brothel, pretending not to hear the conversation between Cheta and Madam Bambina, but Cheta knew they were eavesdropping. Madam Bambina had called her from her room to the veranda where she usually sits to monitor her girls and events in the brothel. She was sitting on a red rubber chair with a red table before her while Cheta was standing like a housemaid in the presence of her madam.

When Cheta fired back at Madam Bambina, everyone dropped what they were doing to listen and watch more closely. It was the first time anyone was questioning Madam Bambina’s authority. Before Cheta, no one ever dared to cough in her presence. She always has a gun in her hand, but fortunately for Cheta, she had no gun that morning.

“Are you talking to me or someone else? Is that question for me? How dare you?” Madam Bambina said to Cheta. She stood up from her chair and looked around as if she was checking where her gun is. There was no gun.

“The question is for you fat fool! You don’t have your gun and even if you have it, you can do nothing. Toothless bulldog.” Cheta fired again with her tongue. Her words made Madam Bambina angrier.

“I asked you questions and you are talking back at me? Don’t you value your life? I have killed people who are bigger than you. I have killed men and thrown them into the desert.” Madam Bambina tells Cheta. She was drawing closer to her with so much anger in her voice. It appears the woman hasn’t brushed her teeth that morning because Cheta could see something that looked like mucus coming from either sides of her dark lips. She also perceived her mouth odour which smelt like rotten egusi soup.

“That’s not true! You have never killed anyone. You think you will continue to intimidate me with all those lies?” Cheta’s voice was getting stronger and more confident. She also started drawing closer to Madam Bambina. The other girls were all watching and they were proud of what Cheta was doing, though, they were scared to say it. If they had their way, they all felt like cheering Cheta like a footballer who scored a penalty kick. But they all kept shut and watched the unfolding drama.

“You sent men to come and rape me and they did. Now, they are all dead and you are blaming me? How am I responsible for what befell them? What about me that was raped? You stupid lilie-livered, fat fool.” Cheta cursed. Madam Bambina was now boiling ‘putu putu’ like a pot of porridge on fire. She raised her right hand to slap Cheta but she was late because Cheta slapped her first. Actually, the woman’s hand could not reach Cheta’s face on time because she is short. If they were to measure height, Madam Bambina would only dangle at Cheta’s waist region.

So she was able to seize the moment and pushed Madam Bambina to the wall and held her by the throat.

Cheta’s grip was so tight that Madam Bambina struggled to breath.

“Please, let me go. I’m dying!” Madam Bambina pleaded.

“Die! That’s exactly what I want. I want to kill you and get my freedom. From today onward, you will no longer traffick girls to work as prostitutes.” Cheta responded. Everyone else started cheering Cheta up when they saw that she was winning and there were not chances of Madam Bambina surviving the choking grip. All the girls in the brothel gathered closer in joy. They all watched as Madam Bambina gave up the ghost.

When she stopped breathing, Cheta let go of her fat body and it dropped on the floor. 

“It is over. We are now free. I’m the new owner of this brothel. Henceforth, I will be the boss and I will run it the way I desire. You are no longer a slave. If you wish to stay, you can stay lets run this place together, but you can leave if you feel this place is not for you.” Cheta declared. She dragged Madam Bambina’s body into her room and hid it under the bed.

Just then, policemen in several Hilux vans entered the brothel and arrested everyone, including Cheta.

Watch out for episode 4.