Jennifer sat still at a
corner in the sitting room while her younger ones played around. Their mother
was in the kitchen preparing food stuff to cook dinner. From time to time, she would come into the
sitting room to urge the kids to lower their voice.
“Don’t you see Ada is reading her book?” she would say.
Jennifer just held the story
book open before her as though she was reading but she was not. She was lost in
thoughts, deep thoughts. Jennifer was
just 8 years old and was going through something she could not explain. It was
a confusing experience for her.
“Jeni
come and fold this paper for me,” Michael, the smallest child said to her.
Jennifer
did not answer him. She just stared at the book aloof. Michael came and nudged her.
She looked up at him and looked away.
“Every time you will not help somebody,” Michael said sadly and went
back to play.
After
a while, there was a knock on the door. The children kept quiet. Their mother
came out from the kitchen and asked who was knocking.
“Nkem
open the door,” they heard their father say.
“Daddy oyoyo, daddy oyoyo”
filled the air as Michael and the twins rushed towards the door and waited
anxiously for their mother to open the door for their father to come in. When
he came in, the children jumped on him, asking him what he brought for them. He
lifted them up and pecked them one after the other; then he gave them the
biscuits he bought for them and they thanked him.
“Did
you wash your hands when you came back from school?” he asked them.
“Yes
daddy,” they answered him.
Jennifer was the last to hug
her father. She didn’t feel up to it. She practically dragged herself, walking
slowly.
“Are
you okay?” he asked her when he noticed she was behaving abnormally.
Jennifer
nodded her head without saying a word. That was strange. Jennifer was her
father’s pet and was always the first to rush to open the door whenever she
heard her father’s voice. Many times
they have warned her not to do so because a stranger’s voice could sound like
her father’s own and she could end up opening the door to a hoodlum, but she
always rushed to the door with excitement. So it was strange that she had to slowly
drag herself with a forced smile on her face.
“Nkem
what is wrong with Ada?” he asked his wife.
“I
have not noticed anything wrong with her.” She replied. “She has been reading
her story book since while Michael and the twins have been watching TV and
playing.”
“Reading story book?” he asked. “When others were playing?”
“Yes
o. Maybe she wants to finish the story book.”
“Almost immediately she came back from a stressful day at school?”
“Whenever she has an interesting book to read, she even reads with her
school uniform still on.”
“Is
that so?”
“Yes
dear.”
“But
something is not right.”
She
touched Jennifer’s body to check if she was having fever but her body temperature
appeared normal.
“Did
you wound yourself?” she asked Jennifer.
Jennifer shook her head.
“Then
why are you quiet?” her father asked worried, still standing close to the door.
“Nothing,” she said.
“Did
they flog you in school?”
“No
daddy.”
“Then
why are you quiet?”
Jennifer
shook her head again without saying anything.
Her mother turned her around
and examined whether she had any injury anywhere but there was none she could
see.
“Is
it because of the shoe you asked me to buy for you?” her dad asked again.
Jennifer
shook her head.
“Are
you hungry?”
She
shook her head, still clutching the biscuit her dad bought for her.
The
other children stood for a while watching. When they could not make out what
was going on, they sat on the couch and started eating their biscuits.
“What’s wrong with you then?” Jennifer’s Father asked.
“Honey let me handle this.” Jennifer’s Mother said to him. “Go and
freshen up.”
“This
is strange o. Why will Ada not tell us what is wrong?”
He
looked at his daughter for a while and went into his room. Jennifer’s mum sat
on the couch, carried Jennifer and sat her on her lap. When Jennifer’s laps
touched her mother’s knee, she turned her face and writhed her face in pain but
her mother did not notice it.
“Jeni
m, tell me what the problem is.”
Jennifer
kept quiet.
“Did
anyone beat you?”
She
shook her head.
“Then
what is wrong?”
Jennifer
kept quiet. Her mother tried for a while to get her to say something but she
did not.
“Nkem,
something is burning in the kitchen,” she heard her husband say from the room.
Jennifer’s mother quickly lifted her, sat
her on the couch and rushed to the kitchen. Jennifer writhed in pain again but
her mother did not notice also. Her parents met in the kitchen and discussed
what the problem could be.
“Where you able to find out what the problem is with Jennifer?” her
father asked her mother.
“No, she
refused to tell me.”
“She
has not acted like this before.”
“That’s
why I am worried about her.”
“You
said nothing happened since you brought them back from school.”
“I
didn’t notice anything. I only remember that she has been quiet since but she
responded to all my questions about school today.”
“She
didn’t say whether anything happened to her in school today?”
“No
she did not.”
“Ok.
Are drugs remaining in our first aid kit?”
“I
think so.”
“Just
incase she develops fever or other symptoms in the night.”
“I
know I refilled it last week but let me check again.”
She
went to the room and checked while her husband stirred the food in the pot. She
came back and told him that everything was intact.
“Ok.”
He went to the sitting room
and sat down with the kids.
“Come
sit with me,” he told Jennifer.
She
got up, went closer to him and sat down, still holding her biscuit.
“You
have not eaten your biscuit,” her father said to her.
She shook her head and lay
on the couch with her head on her father’s leg. He stroked her hair and
sighed. He flipped through the channels
in the TV and put a sports station showing football highlights.
“Daddy we want cartoon,” the twins told him.
“Not
now,” he told them.
“See
people’s daddies running round and round inside the TV,” Michael said. “What
are they pursuing inside there?”
“Football.”
“Then
why are they pushing each other?” one of the twins asked.
“When
you grow up you will know.”
They
kept quiet and ate their biscuits.
“Food
is ready,” their mother announced as she entered the sitting room.
“Have
the children had their bath?” her husband asked her.
“Not
yet. I just got their water ready now.”
“Mummy we want to eat first,” one of the twins said.
“You
will bath first,” she replied. “Remove your clothes and come.”
They
all got up and started removing their cloths but Jennifer still lay on her
father’s laps.
“Jeni,
don’t you want to bath?” her mother asked her.
She
shook her head.
“Why?”
“Nothing mummy.”
“Bath
the others first,” her husband told her. “You can bath Ada later.”
“Ok.”
She
took Michael and the twins to the bathroom and began bathing them one after the
other. When she was done with bathing and dressing them, she brought them out
to the sitting room.
“Jeni
you can now come,” she said.
“No
mummy.”
“Do
you want me to bath you?” her father asked her.
She
shook her head.
“Let
mummy bath you.”
“No.”
“You
want to bath yourself?”
“No.”
Her
mother came to her and lifted her. She struggled a bit.
“What
is the meaning of this one?”
“Ada,
go and bath,” her father told her. “Then you come back. You need to wash off
dirt from school.”
Jennifer
cried as she was being dragged. Her mother dragged her to the bathroom and
undressed her. In the bathroom her mother removed her pant and she shouted.
“What
is this?” her mother asked, shocked at what she noticed on her pant.
She saw dark spots. On a
close look, she noticed it was blood. By then she was breathing fast. She gently
touched Jennifer’s private part and Jennifer shouted.
“Heeeeeiiiiiiii,” she shouted and carried both hands on her head.
Jennifer’s
father rushed into the bathroom.
“What
is it?” he asked.
His
wife gave him Jennifer’s pant.
“What
is the meaning of this?”
She
pointed at Jennifer’s private part.
“Nkem
what are you trying to say?” he asked impatiently. “Stop using sign language.”
“Someone sexually abused Jeni,” she said.
He
dropped the pant and his eyes bulged in anger.
“How
sure are you?” he asked.
“I am
a mother. I know when such things happen.”
“Clean her up and bring her out quickly. She will tell us who did it.”
He
fumed and went into his room. Jennifer’s mother bathed her as quickly as she
could. Anytime she touched Jennifer’s private part, she would writhe in pain.
“Who
did this to you?” she asked Jennifer as she cleaned her body.
Jennifer
just whimpered and didn’t say a word. Her mother carried her to the children’s
room to dress her up. Her father stormed in, dressed in a jean trouser and a
tight fitted T-shirt.
“Who
touched you?” he roared.
Jennifer
kept quiet. He advanced menacingly and Jennifer hid behind her mother who stood
in the way.
“Take
it easy,” she begged her husband.
“How
will I take it easy? Someone had the guts to abuse my daughter.”
He
turned to Jennifer and asked her again. She just sobbed and did not answer him.
He stormed out.
“You
better start talking now.” Her mother told her. “You know what your father can
do.”
She
just continued whimpering. Her father stormed in again with a cane in his hand.
“Will
you talk now or should I flog you?”
Her
mother wanted to stand in between and he shoved her aside and went closer to
Jennifer. Jennifer shouted in fear.
“Tell
me now,” he said as he reached out to hold her.
“It
is uncle Bassey,” Jennifer blurted out and burst into tears.
There
was momentary silence.
“Which uncle Bassey?” he asked her.
“Your
teacher?” her mother asked.
“Yes,” Jennifer replied.
“The
one that lives down the road?”
“Yes
mummy.”
“When
did this happen?”
“After school today.”
She paused and wiped her
face with the back of her left hand.
“Ehe,
what happened?”
“He
told me he wanted to show me something and took me to a room when all the
others had left the class. Then he…then he…”
“Then
he what?”
“He
put his ntanta inside my pant.”
“Then
what happened?”
“He pushed
his ntanta inside.”
“Nobody came to help you?”
“It
was when I shouted that he stopped.”
“Why
didn’t you tell anybody what happened?”
“He
said if I tell anybody, he will make me fail my exam and repeat class.”
“Kai!” her father shouted. “Bassey Bassey. You will meet your ancestors
today.”
He
rushed into the kitchen and got a machete and rushed out of the house.
Jennifer’s mother held her close and told her all will be well. Michael and the
twins came into the room.
“Jeni
who beat you?” one of the twins asked.
“Is
it daddy?” the other twin asked.
No
one answered them. After a while, they heard heavy knock on the door. They were
quiet. Then they heard banging.
“Stay
here let me see who it is,” their mother said to them and left.
She
saw the door was ajar and met a neighbor inside the sitting room.
“What
is happening?” the neighbor asked. “Where is your husband going with a
machete?”
“What!” Mama Jennifer shouted. “Which side did he go?”
“He
just ran out of the compound.”
“Bassey o.”
“Who
is Bassey? What did he do?”
“He
is Jenifer’s school teacher. He raped her.”
“Ewooo! Poor girl. That means your husband is going to kill the Bassey
if we don’t do something immediately.”
“I
need to run after him.”
“Who
will take care of the kids?”
She
went in and brought the children out and left them in the care of a woman;
their neighbor. By then the whole yard had gotten wind that something was going
on.
When
Jennifer’s father rushed out of the compound with a machete, his male friends
and neighbours who saw him rushed after him asking him what happened. Soon,
they were a group of men rushing down the street. Everyone took notice. Some
looked out of their windows at the drama that was unfolding.
When
Jennifer’s dad got to Bassey’s compound, he saw Bassey chatting and laughing
with some friends. Immediately he saw Bassey, he charged with the machete
raised. Bassey saw him and took to his heels. His friends ran with him.
“You
Idiot,” Jennifer’s father shouted as he pursued Bassey. “You raped my
daughter.”
All
the people there shouted in shock. Many of the men who went after Jennifer’s
father where shocked when they heard what he said. Bassey ran into his house
and locked the door. His friends jumped the fence into the next compound. Jennifer’s
father marched the door but it did not open. He hit it with the machete but
just left marks on it. One man held him begging him not to kill anybody, that
they would resolve the matter amicably.
“If I
don’t kill you today, know it is not me.”
Jennifer’s
father stepped back and surveyed the window as a way of entrance. He was red
with anger.
“Just
alert the police,” Mr Martin, one of Jennifer’s father’s friends said to him.
“I
left my phone in the house,” Jennifer’s father said, still fuming.
“Don’t worry I have the commissioner’s
number,” another man said. He brought out his phone and called the police
commissioner in the state who promised to dispatch police men to the scene.
That was when Jennifer’s father calmed down and just stood waiting, dangling
the machete.
“When
and how did this happen?” another man asked him.
“This
afternoon after school,” he replied.
“Na
wa o. These idiots are still abusing little children.”
“How is she?” an elderly woman neighbor asked
him.
“She
is traumatized.”
“When
will people stop abusing innocent children?” she said, clicking her fingers and
shrugging her shoulder.
The
men stood in groups discussing what had happened while the women stood in
another group. Jennifer’s mother soon joined them and emotionally told them
what had happened.
“You
need to take her to a clinic,” someone suggested.
“That
is after the idiot is in jail,” Jennifer’s father said. “If I don’t kill him
myself.”
“The
earlier the better o.”
“If I
leave this place, the fool will escape. When the police take him, I will attend
to my daughter. He will not go scott-free.”
“The
patrol team will soon be here,” the man who called the Commissioner of Police
said.
They
heard police siren and two hilux jeeps landed. Police men alighted and came
into the compound. The man in charge asked to know what was going on. They
pointed him to Jennifer’s father, who told them what had happened.
“Where is the criminal?” the police man asked.
“He
locked himself inside.”
He
gave signs to two of his men who broke the door open and went inside. They soon
came out with Bassey. Jennifer’s father lifted the machete again but a police
man collected it from him.
“If
you kill him, it is you we will arrest,” the police man in charge told him.
The
people booed Bassey as he was taken to the hilux. Those whose hand could reach
Bassey donated slaps.
“Who
is going with us?” the police man in charge said as they handcuffed Bassey and
lifted him to the back of the hilux.
“I am going with you,” Jennifer’s father said.
Some
other men also agreed to follow him.
“Let
me bring my car,” Jennifer’s father said.
“No.”
Mr Martin said. “You are not in the right frame of mind to drive now. Let us go
with mine. It is parked very close.”
Jennifer’s
father went to his wife and told her to take Jennifer to their family clinic so
they will check her medically and treat her.
“How
soon are you coming back?” she asked him.
“When
I get to the root of this,” he said.
Mr
Martin drove his car close, Jennifer’s father entered with some of his friends
who volunteered to go with him. They drove off after the police vehicles. Then
Jennifer’s mother went back to the house with some close friends and she took
Jennifer to their family clinic, in the company of Michael and the twins. The
rest of the people dispersed with a sad dramatic story to tell the rest of the
week.
[The End…for now]
These things happen every day under our
noses. We need to be observant always.
THINGS PARENTS AND GUARDIANS SHOULD LEARN
FROM THIS STORY
- ·
Be careful who you leave your children/wards
with.
- ·
Know who they call ‘uncle’ and ‘aunty’
- ·
Try and know all the people they relate with
- ·
Have a relationship with them where they are free
to discuss anything with you no matter what.
- ·
Be observant to pick up early warning signs.
- ·
Just in case it has already happened to your
child/ward, handle the situation with care. It is a fragile issue, especially
as concerning the victim of the abuse.
THINGS CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN
- ·
Be careful who you call ‘uncle’ or ‘aunty’
- ·
Don’t stay in secret places
- ·
When an adult touches you or holds you in a
way you don’t like, stop him or her.
- ·
Always tell your parents/guardians whatever
is going on.
- ·
When an adult gives you a gift, make sure you
show your parents/guardians.
- ·
If you are a victim of abuse, talk to someone
about it, someone you know can help you. Don’t keep it secret no matter the
threats of the abuser.
SAY NO
TO CHILD ABUSE!!!!
Join the communities let us keep pushing this message about Child abuse. Just click;
The uncle next door ©2015
Chinedu Isaac Ezeala.
No part of this publication should be used in
any form without the permission of the writer.
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