It was 1988. I just graduated the lead from Pesega College as a year thirteen student. My grandmother passed away two years ago due to an unknown disease. The very next day after graduation, I searched and got a job: a receptionist at One Word, a book and electronics store; the only electronics there were typewriters, computers, and landline phones. Four months into the job, a strange episode occurred. My boss told me one Friday to stay back after everyone went home. I went to his office and our conversation went as followed:
“Hello, boss,” I said standing by his office door.
He looked at me for three seconds, as if he was studying a vast fine mat.
“Stella, my best employee,” said Jon, this was his name. I giggled a little. I thought he was going to give me a raise. He was a fine looking man, and of German decent he was.
“Why thank you, sir! But, what is the meaning of my holdback,” I asked. I spoke broken English; evidence was that I placed third in my graduating class for the said subject.
He stood up, walked to where I was standing and closed the door.
He caressed my hair and whiffed it.
“Oh, Stella, you are such a beautiful creature,” he said as he lowered his hands to my breast. He squeezed them as if he were pressuring the crossbars on a bike. I slapped his hands off.
“Oh, I like them feisty,” he said, in a voice more sensual than his usual professional. He pushed my hands both to the wall I stood in front and kissed me. I turned away and he ripped off the right hand of my dress.
Right then, I kicked his groin and he growled in pain. I kicked him in the face and he fell down.
“Stupid jerk! I resign from here you idiot,” I said.
I ran out the office and to the road. I went home by car and thought of what had happened. I got home around five in the afternoon and got my sisters, Pam, Valerie and Fanny cleaning the house. They told me they were going with their boyfriends to a bar in the city, RSA. Valerie wanted to celebrate before she left for American Samoa, where my older sisters and brother were working.
At eight, we all got ready. Valerie’s boyfriend was there to pick us up. He called the house phone and told Valerie where he was waiting in front of the village spring. We told Agnes, my youngest sister, to cover for us and tell mother we went bingo. We ran to the car and got in. Just as the car was about to go, my oldest brother, Simon, and older brother, Frank, stood side by side vertical to the car. They both lifted the car and shook it. I was surprised and scared both of them could carry a car with seven passengers in it. My brothers lowered the car and motioned for us to get out. They took us home and we got scolded by mother. My sister’ boyfriends got whacked by my brothers. We went into Valerie’s room planning an escape. At nine, Valerie called her boyfriend to wait in front of our neighbor’s house. After locking the door and turning off the lights, we ripped a hole in my sister’s window’s screen wire. We ran to our neighbor’s house and into the car. We went to the RSA.
I was not a drinker, only my sisters; and, I was the only one without a boyfriend. Then, I spotted him, Jon, my ex-boss. His blue eyes were as beautiful as stars in the sky and he was the most handsome man in the bar. I did not want him to see me so I hid whenever he looked my way. After a while, I went to the bathroom. I used the bathroom then washed my hands. As I did, Jon walked into the bathroom and locked the door. He came right away and pushed me to the bathroom wall. I heard something shattering behind me. He ripped the crinoline off my skirt and I then only wore my cardigan and bodice with my knickers. He kissed me on my legs. He was too heavy for me to push aside, perhaps because he had huge muscles. I found shattered mirrors next to me. I grabbed one, very sharp, and struck at Jon’s head. The blood spilled out like sprinklers were showering me. He dropped on the floor, shaking all over his body. I grabbed my skirt and crinoline and put it on. I wiped off the blood from my face with the tissues on the sink. Lucky for me, my outfit was black, so the blood on the clothes only seemed like watermarks. My luck was as if blessed as my sisters said we were leaving for home. I went home still a little bit shocked about what had happened.
