THE TRAGEDY!
Episode 6
Early morning the next day, Aunt Engee woke me up to bathe her baby, I saw her having a discussion with Miebaka’s father, it looked more like an argument, but they whispered to one another so no one could hear their conversation. The baby was fast asleep; I dressed her up and put her in the cradle, still wondering what the duo was talking about.
At 6.00am Aunt Engee was alre-ady leaving, she acted so nice towards me as Miebaka and I helped her with the luggage to her Volkswagen vehicle; she even hvgged me before getting into the car
Aunt Engee: “Nor forget O! na your cousin wedding I dey goo, incase Mr. David ask you. Nor make mistake tell am say I dey go Oga Deji house o.” she whispered into my ears “Take care of yourselves, I’ll be back on Sunday” She said louder, referring to Miebaka and I.
As soon as Aunt Engee drove off, Mr. David walked out of the house without saying a word to anyone. Miebaka and I spent the boring day indoors; I attem-pted my home work from lesson while he stayed in the living room pla-ying Wh0t alone. Aunty had enrolled me in a home lesson since Papa died; it was free and I only got the opportunity to attend lessons two times a week, because there were too many chores in the house to take care of. On many occasions, Aunt Engee would remind me of how she is feeding me, clothing me and s£nding me to school; she would always say I am an “ingrate”, and at the same time, curse the state government for ma-king fake promises.
Sunday c@m£, but there was no trace of Aunt Engee. Later that night, Mr. David returned drun!k; I had prepared fufu and vegetable soup for dinner, he ordered me to dish out his food. He insisted I serve him in his be-droom. With the help of Miebaka, I fixed a table in his room, he then instructed me to wait until he was done with his dinner.
I stood there and watched him eat as he cursed all the soldiers at Janguza barracks. He complained of being treated like an animal any time he approached the gate, he spoke about the bad government; it looked like he had so much crises within himself. After keeping me waiting for more than an hour, he washed his hands and ordered me to clear the table; as I cleared, he str!pped, removing everything he had on him, one by one. I could not stand the sight of seeing such a middle aged man n-ked, I nervously took the few things my hand could carry and then made for the door when Mr. David shouted
Mr. David: “Where are you going to, you br@t? St©p right there before I descend on you.” I heard his heavy steps closer to where I stood
“Are you disrespecting me? Will you turn around and drop those things? Who asked you to take them?’
Me: “Sssssirr…bbbbuut Sssiiir. You said I should…” I said, still maintaining my position
Mr. David: “Will you shut up! I am talking and you are talking. Hahaha Professor David is talking and Shiber is talking…the world is ruined!” he st©pped right behind me
I began to sweat and shiver at the same time, the thought of running away was not an option for me. Didn’t Miebaka hear his father shouting at me? Couldn’t he come and save me out of there? Mr. David bolted the door, and out of fear, I dropped the dishes. That was it! I had no strength to struggle with the wicked man, he pinned me to Aunt Engee’s be-d and used his legs to separate my legs. I could feel his knee almost breaking my th!gh, could not cry out for help, as he pene-trated, I felt the whole of my pelvic area pleading for mercy; he had his time, he R@p£d me without conscience, he f0rç£fully took my vir-ginity!
It seemed like I pas-sed out; I woke up few hours later feeling like I was in hell; my ribs ached as I breathed, my w@!st to my legs felt like I had a truck stuck on them, the sheets were soa-ked in my own blood. I could only see faintly, the image of the man who had R@p£d me was blurry, but I could see someone in the room, dragging me out of the be-d to the bathroom- I felt like a breathing log of wood.
He had very h0t water run all over my b©dy, used a piece of cloth to wash off the dry blood, poured some liquor in my mouth and started all over again. This time, I prayed for death, I prayed to God to gift my life to someone in coma or someone who really nee-ded it, because I did not. You may never un-derstand how I felt, but I as-sure you, that death was a better option. All I could hear was the sound from the TV, all my s-en-ses were beginning to coll@pse slowly.
The following day, I found myself in my room with Miebaka sitting right next to me. He looked like he had seen a ghost, he had moved closer to my be-d as soon as our eyes met. I wanted to talk to him, but words refused to come out of my mouth; I was also scared that telling him may never change the situation. Slowly, as I drank the tea he gave to me, my memory began to fall into place; first, I began to remember the three words the man had said to me, NEVER TELL ANYONE. My head ban-ged and my heart raced as the words kept ringing in my head
Miebaka: “You are going to be fine. You will be fine. Daddy said you nee-d to take plenty of liquids.” He said to me, with his eyes soa-ked in tears.
The whole situation was confusing, how could Miebaka feel comfortable with what his father had done to me? I looked at him with disgust. “I will kill both of them when I am able to walk’, I told myself.
…………………………………………………………
That Wednesday, I was able to walk and move around the house, I could still hear my th!ghs shake uncontrollably and I still had sanitary pad stuck between my legs-the blood would not st©p flowing. My friends from lesson had come to see me; I put a bench outside for us to sit. They had said they heard what happened to me that word had gone round that I was attacked at the Kano market, told me stories of how some of their relatives had been attacked too and warned me against thirsty Hausa boys. Putting their words together and trying to figure what was going on was really difficult for me. After giving me the oranges they had bought for me, they stood up to say they were going.
Picking up the same bench I had brou-ght out for my friends to sit was not easy, I knew my w@!st was going to break into bones if I made a second attempt, so I called on Miebaka
Me: “plea-se help me with this bench before I coll@pse” I told him as he approached me
Miebaka: ‘Why didn’t you call me? Hope you weren’t the one who brou-ght it out? This thing is heavy now” he lifted the bench
Me: “My friends helped me” I lied to him, then I remembered I nee-ded to ask him “Ehen Miebaka how did my friends know I was ill?”
Miebaka: “It was Daddy. You know he c@m£ back drun!kthat night and was ill. He told me that after you served him dinner, he asked you to go to the pharmacy” he heaved and dropped the bench he was carrying
“He said you had gone outside the barracks to get the medication and those useless Hausa boys attacked you. So he spoke to one of the nieghbours about it, maybe he can help trace the guys” He looked at me with pity and continued
“…maybe I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, I should have gone instead, I’m really sorry I was not there to protect you” angry with himself, he lifted the bench and went inside
Trying my every best to remember everything that happened that night, I sat on the steps with my jaw resting in my palms. My thoughts were awaken by the unbelievable sight from the distance, I saw Aunty Engee on a motorcycle, without her child, without her luggage…
Me: ‘Aunty welcome, are you ok? Where is your car? Where is baby?” I began to cry, she looked dirty and tattered.
Aunty: “plea-se give the Okada man Sixty Naira” she said in a cracked voice and limped into the house
I followed her into the house, I saw her crying in her room as she pu-ll-ed her clothes off her b©dy, I joined her, crying, I wanted to know what had happened to her, I also wanted to tell her what the b©yfri£ndhad done to me while she was away, but all she did was cry.
To be continued!
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QUESTIONS
What happened to Aunt Engee? Where is her child? Will Shiber be able to tell her aunt what Mr. David did to her? What actions will Aunt Engee take after Shiber’s explanation of the r@p£?