BROKEN

JAMES

  *Edited*
       The remaining days in Grandpa's house was a nightmare. I just wanted to go home, as all my laughs and happiness was a mere facade. What came over my cousins? Was there something they saw that made them want to take advantage of me?

My cousins pretended as if nothing was wrong. They didn't feel any remorse. I was devastated. If only they had apologised and told me they were drunk, maybe I would have forgotten about it. Did they think I was too young to understand all that was going on?

One evening, while I sat on Grandpa's bench thinking, Sam walked up to me interrupting my thought flow and asking if he could speak with me. Sam had become my number one fan since the day he defended me. I liked him and was prepared to listen to whatever he wanted to say.

"Sam, how are you," I said to him smiling. "Thank you for the other day" I said, pushing him playfully. "Jane, you are welcome," he replied, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I know you are thinking about what happened the other day. Jude and James are really sorry for that day; they just don't know how to apologise," Sam said. "Really, are they?" I asked. "Of course, they are. They didn't know what came over them," he said apologetically.

I believed Sam and trusted his words. I didn't have any reason to doubt him, so I readily forgave my cousins and moved on. It was easy for me to let go of everything that happened, perhaps because I was a child. Jesus Christ was right when he talked about the tender heart of a child and the importance of becoming like little children with child-like faith. Although I later got to know that Sam lied, I overlooked it because he only wanted to clear the air the way he knew how best to.

I returned to Lagos with my parents, happy that I could forgive Jude and James. The whole family loved the way we bonded at Grandpa's house, so they decided that during the holidays, we would take turns to spend some days in each other's houses. I thought it was a joke until James's dad came to pick me and my brother during the holiday to spend two weeks with them before moving to Sam's house.

My cousins were so happy to see us. I remember how Shola, James's sister, ran to hug me and helped to carry my bags. It felt so good to be together again. I tried my possible best to not allow what happened between James and I happen again. Because of this, I avoided James like a plague. We only ate together and that was it.

The two weeks we spent there were the most dreadful of my life. Two weeks I never want to remember. Two weeks that taught me that konji na bastard. Let me tell you why I said so. James felt I wasn't happy with him and tried to talk to me on many occasions, but I seriously avoided him.
One day he called me, my brother and his sister together to tell us a story. He told us the beautiful story of the tortoise and the dog and we laughed over it. After the story, he told us to leave the room because he needed to sleep. I got up first as I didn't want to be the last person to leave the room. "Jane, you wait. I need to tell you something. Let Shola and your brother go outside to play," he said.

Shola and my brother left the room and I stood by the door thinking that in case anything happens, I'd just run outside, but I was wrong. James walked towards me, locked the door and said "I want to talk to you there, not here" pointing to the bed. I was so scared at this point when I saw his erect penis. I knew I was in trouble but I comported myself.

James walked towards me and touched my shoulders and said, "you shouldn't be scared of me, Jane. I understand that you might be unhappy with me because of what happened that night. I'm sorry, I only wanted to show you these things." "Hmm... I understand. Can I go now?" I said, shivering. "Not so fast," he said, pushing me to the bed slowly and pinning me down.

"What do you want, James?" I cried. "I want you and you must want me back," he said while bending over to kiss me. As I struggled with him to let me go, I heard a knock on the door––it was Shola. "Brother James, daddy is back," she said. James quickly stopped kissing me and said, "you must tell no one what happened here, do you understand?" he threatened. "Yes, I do," I said.