BETRAYED…chapter 1
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By Rejoice Igbinovia Aluyi
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I AM CHRISTABEL IVIE OSAHON,
THIS IS MY STORY…..
It was 11:30pm, I was 8years old, my baby sister was 5, when I was woken up by the noise, shouting, and quarrelling of mother and father, my young head couldn’t tell what the problem was, my sister still managed to sleep, despite all, my father wasn’t taking the plead from neighbors, mother wasn’t helping matters at all, she was doing so much to wors£n the situation,,, my cries and plea as their young daughter could do little or nothing….
Get your self out of my house father kept shouting, but mom was stubborn,, I shall go no where, she said, father was furious, I had never seen dad in such state before ,even though they use to have little misun-derstanding ,but nothing of this magnitude,,, father poured a drum of water on the form, poured water everywhere in the sitting room, what could have gone wrong and made my dad a beast I kept asking myself,,, he pushed mom, as he asked her out,,,but mom refused going alone, saying if she must leave she must go with her kids,,,I believe she said that hoping it will help change dad’s mind, knowing how he loves us both,,,but to her greatest surprise and to everyone of us, he brou-ght us out to mom, my little sister had woken up by now, I was crying profusely, Mom was shocked, I believe she didn’t see that coming, she didn’t imagine dad would s£nd us all out, at that ungodly hour of the night,,,my sister and I had just our pyjamas on, mom was on a bomb short and a t©p, it was 1am by now, mom wra-pped my baby sister on her back and held me by the hand,,,we all kept crying, oh how i hate my dad, what in heaven’s name could have made him this heartless over his own children and wife
mummy, where are we going? I asked
Bella I don’t know, I don’t know, she said,with uncontrollably tears coming down her eyes..
Haven walked for some minutes, mum remembered her friend down the streets, we went there and knocked, she opened and was kind enough to allow us to pas-s the night,,, mom explained all that had happened that night, aunty Sandra was very disappointed in dad, so was I any ways, I was really angry at him, but soon we found were to l@your heads and we sle-pt, I mean my sister and I ,I doubt if my mom could blink at all… She was really sad, I really wished I could take those pains off her che-st…
Soon it was morning, we went back home, unfortunately, dad had alre-ady left the house, with mom’s belongings, I mean every of her belonging out in the pas-sage,,…our neighbours were concerned
waiting you really do papa Bella like this, wey go make arm vex this kin vex?mama Gloria, one of the neighbors asked
my sister, I no know ohhh, he just come house late yesterday, begin beat me,na so e take start ohhhh, na wa for men, she had responded…
So na waiting you go come do,kuku pack your things na, abi, aunty Ngozi another neighbor said
no I go stay here with my children wait for arm “my mother said and the neighbours gave us something to eat, we sat and waited for dad to come, he c@m£ late in the evening, he was very angry to meet us, he pushed mum out,,, he asked I stayed,,saying since we are two, I should stay with him, while my baby sister go with mom.,, but mum dragged me off him, that she can not leave any of her kids with him, if he doesn’t want her anymore, he should say goodbye to his kids,,,she said that, probably thinking it will make dad’s changed his mind and allow us in, but he never did, he simply said no problem, we should get out of his house…
It was evening alre-ady and it was getting late, mother knew father was still very angry, she didn’t want us disturbing the family that had helped us the previous night yet again, so she picked some clothes for the three of us, left the remaining properties ,she didn’t want to move her things,, she begged Aunty Ngozi for transport, and we headed to her parents place.
Getting there, they were very happy to see us,, but looking at mom,they knew all weren’t well. Grandma served us dinner, we ate and relaxed,, my sister had started pla-ying round grandparents house, even though I couldn’t comprehend what was going on between my parent, I knew it wasn’t funny And it was tearing us ap@rt…
The next day, grandpa, grandma, and some few of his family members visited my dad,,,according to them upon their arrival, dad wasn’t home, they waited for hours, when he later c@m£, he said he had nothing to say, he isn’t interested in mummy anymore,, she should come and re-move her things from the pas-sage, else it will become properties for every more in the compound.
Grand parent c@m£ home disappointed at dad, he didn’t say anything substantial, he couldn’t give a concrete account of what you did ,that has made him s£nt you packing, granma had told mom..
Grandpa suggested mom gave dad some time, maybe by then he would have come back to his s-en-ses,,, but unfortunately that wasn’t happening….
It was 14days and no sign of dad, we had limited clothes, we kept repeating dresses,, haven waited for that long, mom went home and brou-ght her things, dad wasn’t around, she was told he had traveled to PH some days back for work,,,,she couldn’t believe her ears,, dad has become a beast over night…
Soon mom bec@m£ the center of all laughter and gossip around the area..she was a full time housewife, life was difficult, s£nt packing with two kids and no job or money,,..i and Grace my baby sister had to st©p school for that term.
We,especially I , lived each day hoping and praying dad will walk throu-gh that door and say am sorry, come back home you all. I may not know want have happened, but I managed to imagine, how love could become hate,,,dad loved us so much, we were his priority, he made sure we had smiles always,, where did all those love vanished to ,how is dad able to stay so long without the three of us.
One minute my family was whole and complete, all of a sudden, everything seems gone, mom was not herself, she was losing so much weight, she ba-rely eat,and didn’t even care about I and Grace. Her parent and siblings weren’t even helpful, they were always reminding her of how she couldn’t mange her home,, they were always quarreling, mom trying to defend herself,,, my grandparent seems to take sides with dad over the whole thing, even though Osahon has refused to tell us what had happened, I know if thor0ûghly looked into it, you are at fault, grandpa would repeatedly tell my mom, this of course always result in heated arguments in the house…..
I do not know why moms people would be taking sides with dad,,,for all I care, he was the bad one ,which man s£nds his wife and children out of the house by 1am ,and has not checked up on I and Grace, if we are okay or not…
Its been months and we were still at grandparents house, and the troubles from gran ma and grandpa to mom has not changed, rather it grew worse,,,,mom decided to get money from a friend and move to a rented ap@rtment, which she did, soon we were living alone with mom.
I had actually thought living with mom would be wonderful, and she would be able to pick up the pieces of her life,,,but that wasn’t to happen ,mom bec@m£ a different person after the divorce, she bec@m£ the saddest person I know, and very temperamental. She lashes at me and Grace at the least provocation, especially I, been the oldest,,,,
life was never the same again with all of us, after the Divorce.
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BETRAYED…chapter 2
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Our world was crumbling, mom soon got over dad, but she bec@m£ someone else, she didn’t care about me nor my sister,its been two years ,,,she was always shouting and insulting my sister and I, more like she transfered the hatred she had for our dad on us,,,I was my sister’s pillar, I would comfort my baby sister when ever mom scolded her,I would be her little mom when mom goes out and doesn’t come back, but for heaven’s sake i was also a child,i was not even 10 yet,I nee-ded someone to lean on too.our neighbours where more of relations to us than our mom…..
One evening,I had just finished ma-king oil rice, it was 6pm,my sister and I had just finished eating, when I saw dad walked into our compound, I ran to him shouting daddy, oh how I missed him, the anger and all I had, died, that joy of seeing my dad was overwhelming,,, I jumped on him and he held me so lovely, Grace didn’t really react as much as I did, is she forgetting dad alre-ady,,,,dad got to her, and held her hands
how are you doing grace? dad asked and she nodded she was fine,,,where is your mother, dad asked me
she isn’t home I replied, dad had bought some snacks for us, we ate one or two from inside, and kept the others, we had alre-ady eaten,,,,I asked him if I should serve him the oil rice I had cooked, he smiled and said, my baby can Cook now, that’s good to know, but i am fine he said…okay dad, our neighbours saw how happy I was
waiting dey make u happy like this Bella?mama Johnny had asked
my daddy don come, I had said with all smiles
na your papa be this, she asked
yes ma…
Oga welcome ohh
weldone madam, they exchanged plea-santries…
Dad waited till 9pm, but mom wasn’t back, well I knew she wasn’t going to come home, when ever she gives me what to cook, she isn’t coming that day
Bella, are you sure your mummy is going to come he had asked me
dad,I am not sure if mom will come to day ohhh
does that mean she sometimes leave the two of you, by yourselves,,, I nodded affirmatively..
..okay then, I shall be on my way, but I could see dad was angry,,,he left some money with me to give mom…..
The next day, when mom c@m£ back, I happily told her dad c@m£ visiting, and showed her the things he bought for us and the money, a sl@p landed my face
why did you allow him into my house, so almost two years,now he remembered us,what nons-en-se, she had started shouting and insulting me,my sister and dad…….
While she was at it, dad c@m£,,,to my surprise, mom st©pped talking and started smiling,,,go and pl@ywith your sister, mom had told me.(but I could still hear them, I was scared of going far ,I didn’t know what would happen)
where did you spend the night?he asked her…..
Hmmmmm hmmmmmm,,I,I,I,,,,,mom couldn’t give a definite answer.
Its obvious certain things do not change….
I c@m£ for us to discuss about the children’s school,,,,, I learnt they are in public schools, which you can ha-rd ly even afford….
I am going to give you money to start-up something so that you can feed them, I shall come tomorrow to enroll them in a pri-vate school around…. I saw dad dropped some money with mom,, he c@m£ out and spent some time with us, and left, promising to come take us to a new school tomorrow…
Mother was home that day, she didn’t go out, the next day, very early, dad c@m£ and took us to a new school around, he got us admitted in the school, and paid for three terms,that is a session,,, he said he didn’t want us missing school because of school fees, I was very happy, I loved my new school….
Dad c@m£ the next day again, and dropped another money with mom, saying she should start a business.,.
Weeks later, mom was alre-ady a business woman, she was selling ,river fish, crayfish ,stock fish and others, she buys them from the village and sells in a well known market in Benin.
I had honestly thought mom having something doing will give us the good life we have lacked, and the motherly care we were seeking for, but apparently it wors£n the whole thing,mom was never at home,, she didn’t care either, she was only concern about herself and her business, the days she wasn’t going to the market ,she was out visiting one person or the other, living us at the mercy of Neighbours….
My younger sister fell ill one night, I had to rush out and call our neighbours, who c@m£ to our aid,when mother c@m£ the next day, she was told all that had happened, I had honestly thought that would curb moms lifestyle, but it never did,,,a times I wonder if she were our biological mother…
I was growing fast, my br£@st were coming out,and my pri-vate p@rt developing, but I didn’t have a mother around to guild me throu-gh this stage….many atime, those who suffers the pains of a broken home, are the kids ,my mom was living her life, so was my dad I guess, but my sister and I were neglected, BETRAYED by those who brou-ght us into this world….
I hated my dad for being the cause of everything, why would he s£nd us away, if mom where to still be with him, things would never have been like this…..
and mom, has forgotten how to be a mother, because she st©pped been a wife….
Whatever that may have happened between them, which was not our fault? but why did we have to be the ones paying for their crimes…..
There was this uncle in our compound, mother always leave us with him, when ever mama johnny isn’t in,,,,,
Your br£@st don dey big oh, he would always say…
Soon he started tou-ching my brea-sts, asking me not to say a word to my mom or anyb©dy, that i know how my mummy can be, she would beat me very well if I said it…
I really didn’t know what was happening, but I just knew it was wrong, because he never did it when people are around but only when we where in his room, he would make me sit close to him.
I started refusing to stay with him when ever mom asked us to, I would rather sit outside until mom c@m£ ,,but one evening when mom c@m£ back, uncle Clement told mom, I had gone out to pl@ysince morning, I didn’t come home, when he asked me to come sit inside and watch a movie I refused, I went out to the next street…
Mom gave me the beating of my life, asking me never to leave uncle Clement’s room when ever she wasn’t around, I tried to tell mom, but she was shouted at me to keep quiet ,I went inside feeling alone.,…..
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TBC