BEYOND THE SCARS

BEYOND THE SCARS 4

The next day, Mary gave me her grandma's phone to call my mom. Immediately she heard my voice, she started quarreling and insulting me.

"I never knew you were this useless, Onenu," she said. "After all the suffering I've endured for you and your siblings, the best way you've decided to pay me back is by trying to run away with a man?"

I was shocked and couldn't even say a word. I was speechless. If not for Glory,your younger sister, who caught you, you would have successfully ran away with a man, she continued. "Let me tell you, as long as I'm the one who gave birth to you, if you ever marry or run away with any man without my consent, you and the man will never know peace."

"Mummy, it's not true," I tried to defend myself. "It was Grandma who brought the man for me to marry, but I said no. That's why I even called you."

"So, what Mama said is true?" she replied. "So, after she caught you, you've been going around spoiling her name in the village, telling people that she tried to force you into marriage? You've been corrupted to this level, right? Mama has been telling me this, but I refused to believe it. I never knew I raised a prostitute and a liar. You want to bring shame to me, right? What will your father say when he finds out that you ran away with a man, Onenu? If you know you've reached the age of marriage, tell me now, so I can peacefully hand you over to the man you've chosen to marry instead of doing it shamefully."

"Mummy, allow me to explain what really happened," I said, but before I could finish the statement, she had already ended the call.
I dont really know why my mom doesn't always listen to me before concluding on what ever people told her about me, that was the same thing she did the night i was raped...

FLASH BACK TO THE NIGHT I WAS RAPED

I can still remember how everything happened; it's like a movie scene stuck in my head forever. It happened when my mom took me to Lagos; we were staying in Akesan, Igando Local Government Area of Lagos. The compound we were staying in was a face-me-I-face-you compound. My mom had remarried, so I was staying with her and her new husband (my stepfather).

There was one man in the compound who used to stay there with his wife and children. His wife was a nurse; my mom respected the man a lot, and I also used to respect him until the day he started molesting me. I was 14 years old at that time; I was smaller than my age, though. If not for the tiny oranges (breasts) that had started developing on my chest, you would think I was around 9 or 10 years old.

Due to that reason, my mom used to leave me with the man's family. Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you the man's name. His name was Mr. James Chukwuma, but we used to call him by his children's names, which were Mercy and Glory. But my mom used to call him Papa Mercy.

Whenever she wanted to go to the market, she would tell me to go stay with Papa Mercy. My mom owned a beer parlor then, so she always went to the market in the evening and came back late at night. My stepdad used to work at a shipping company, so he only came back on Saturdays or Sundays.

So, whenever my mom wanted to go to the market, she would tell me to go stay with Papa Mercy's wife. It was during that period that he started molesting and abusing me sexually. At times, when he came back from work, he would send his children to go and do one thing or the other for him, so that he could get the chance to touch and squeeze my breast while touching my private part.

He started doing it too much. So, one day, I reported him to my mom. She was so furious and angry; I even thought she would swallow the man when she saw him. She stormed out and went to confront the man; she came back a few minutes later, looking even angrier.she straight to me and slapped me hard on my face,she looked for turning garri stick and started beating me with it ,"So, Papa Mercy caught you with a boy and threatened to tell me, and the best thing you could do was to lie against him first, right?" she asked while hitting me harder. I was crying and shouting for neighbors to come to my rescue. It was that same Papa Mercy who came to my rescue, after collecting the stick from my mom and calming her down.

He turned to me and said, "Blessing, as he fondly calls me, after I caught you with that dirty-looking boy yesterday night, you went and lied to your mom that I have been molesting you? Why would I molest you? I also have my children, and they're females like you. If I abuse you sexually, that means someone else will do the same to them."

I hurriedly answered, "Amen" loudly. My mom gave me a hotter slap. "Ngwanu, apologize to Papa Mercy now," she added. I shook my head; she added another slap again. "Ngwanu, kneel down and apologize to Papa Mercy now." I knelt down and apologized to Papa Mercy as she instructed. She also knelt down and apologized to Papa Mercy.

"No, no, no, Mama Blessing, stand up. I'm not angry at all. After all, Blessing is like a daughter to me; I can't be mad at her for just this little mistake. I guess it's puberty that's affecting her."

From that day onward, I stopped going to Papa Mercy's house, even when my mom tells me to go there. I just run there for a few minutes once she leaves for the market; I run to Monica's place.

Monica was one of my classmates; her house wasn't far from my house, so I used to go there at times. But since that incident with Papa Mercy, I have been going there each time my mom went to the market.

After some months, my mom's sister came visiting. She was very harsh and ruthless, even to my mom. There was a day I went to Monica's place as usual. As I got there, I met her watching one Korean drama (Playful Kiss). I got so interested in the drama that I started going there every evening to watch the film because her elder brother used to turn on the generator every evening when he comes back from work.
one day I went to Monica's place to watch the film as usual. As we were watching the movie, Monica's elder brother gave her money to go and get something for him (I don't know what he sent her tho)...because he was speaking to her in their dialect. As she was about to go out, I stood up and wanted to follow her. She quickly said I should sit and wait for her so that when she comes back, I can narrate the movie to her, since her elder brother won't allow her to rewind it backward. I decided to wait for her as she said. I didn't suspect anything at all, because her elder brother was someone I respected a lot; few minutes after Monica went out, her brother removed the cassette and put a musical cassette instead. I stood up and wanted to go out; the next thing, he stood up and blocked me. He pushed me back and locked the door; he turned up the volume of the music. I knew what he was about to do, so I knelt down and begged him not to.
He laughed and said, "You think you're too smart, right? You think you can just come here, watch movies and go? Today, you'll pay the price." He started dragging me to the bedroom. I was shouting and crying, but he was too strong,i begged him not to do it but he just smiled and carrried me to the bed,he pinned my hands above my head with his one hand while trying to remove my pant with his second hand i worn a skirt so it was easy for him,(thats the reason i stopped wearing skirts )i kept prostesting and shouting,but he was too big for me and the music was too loud no one could hear me,i just twisted my legs together,so he won't be able to remove my pants...he slapped me hard on my face, while pressing me down with his body.,i was helpless,he forceful pushed his manhood in my private part and had canal knowledge of me,i scream my lungs out but nobody came to my rescue, after he was done damaging me,he untied me and openend the door for me,.....when i went out it was already dark outside,i was bleding from my private part,my legs were shaking...
I ran out of the house, crying and shouting. I didn't know where to go or what to do. I was in pains and felt so dirty. I circled around for a while trying to process what had just happened.couldn't walk properly,my laps were paining me ,my vaginal felt like pepper was poured there,my wrist,my face ,i felt pains over my body from all the struggling i was struggling...I Sha dragged myself home.