Safe

Seven

Was she asleep? Sleep had never felt that way before.
Her eyelids were glued together for some reason and she couldn't open her eyes despite feeling very awake. Someone grunted and she realized it was her when pain slammed into her.
Her body was on fire and her head felt like it didn't belong to her. Unable to open her eyes or move, she grunted and moaned in pain.
For a while, nothing happened. No one came and she just laid there, the pain worsening by the minute. When she came to finally, she was surprised to find herself on the floor with only the wall in her line of sight.
An attempt to turn her head led to a blinding pain consuming her and she stopped as fresh tears leaked out of her eyes.
She'd tried to get away and they'd caught her. Had she even gone far at all? It had seemed like a good idea at first when she thought it up but then, lying on the cold cement floor with barely any vision and fire in her limbs, she wondered if she should just have stayed and waited for someone. Anything would be better than the pain she was in.
She'd probably made things worse by running and considering they'd never beaten her before, she was probably right.
Her head hurt and her ears swam so she was unable to hear much other than static like noise.
Suddenly she coughed and something came up into her mouth. It flowed out when she gasped in horror realizing what it was. She coughed again and more came out. It streamed down her cheek into the crook of her shoulder then dripped onto the hard floor.
The noise had alerted someone and the door opened. She heard someone come in probably to peek at her then their steps retreated and there was a shout.
Then more footsteps and the room suddenly felt smaller.
Nike closed her eyes tightly hoping they would think she was still unconscious and leave. Only whoever it was didn't fall for it and pushed her head with a foot causing it to roll to the other side.
She groaned and sputtered some more blood.
With no other choice, she opened her eyes and squinted to make out two, maybe three pairs of feet.
"Shit! She's coughing blood. That can't be good."
There was a reply that she couldn't hear and the feet moved. Then there was shouting and banging.
"Why did you beat her? You didn't have to!"
"You want me to play with her like you've been doing? Where do you think she got the confidence to run?"
There was shuffling and a crash then, "you want me to beat a girl? She's barely more than a girl!"
"Didn't stop you from fucking her though!"
"You bastard!" Then more shouting and she could only assume they were fighting.
Through the haze in her head, she managed to roll over placing her cheek against the cold ground. She sighed a little at the relief it brought.
After that, she was alone for the rest of the night and she drifted back into oblivion only to wake when she felt someone grab her by the arms and hoist her up against the wall. He crouched in front of her and she turned her head away so she couldn't see his face. He grabbed her face and turned it to him and she quickly closed her eyes. She felt a cloth press to her cheek and she hissed in pain. The assault didn't stop and she cried out as he washed her face and arms.
He wrestled her shirt off and cleaned her torso too then laid her back down on the ground.
She gasped and tried to resist when he grabbed her jeans and dragged them off but he didn't do anything except run the cloth over her legs.
Something was dragged across the floor and she flinched when something else pressed to her wounds. He made quick, brutish work of cleaning her cuts and helped her onto a blanket he'd laid on the floor before he left.
She fell back asleep after that.
Over the next few days, she didn't see Tj. In fact, she saw no one but the one man that had cleaned her wounds. He brought her pain relievers, cleaned her wounds and fed her twice a day.
Other than that, the door never opened and nothing happened.
By the end of the third day, she found herself wondering where Tj was and had taken to crying softly whenever it occurred to her that he might be hurt because of her.
Would they have killed him for letting her escape? Maybe they didn't trust him to watch her, maybe it was why she didn't see him anymore.
She thought of how kind he'd been to her, playing with her and talking about random things. She wished she had that company, maybe with it, she wouldn't feel as though she was going crazy.
Her wounds stopped hurting but a different kind of pain worked it's way into her heart. She missed Tj and unconsciously, every time the door opened, she looked up hoping it was him. It never was.
A few days after her assault on a sweltering afternoon, the same horror that had started her ordeal started again. Out of nowhere, gunfire had started, going on for almost half an hour.
She'd folded herself into a ball in a corner flinching every time something came close to her hoping she was being rescued and not being passed into more trouble.
When the shots stopped and the door opened, Nike nearly died of relief. A man suited in military fatigues pushed into the room and stopped in front of her.
He said something into his radio that she didn't hear since her ears were still ringing from the gunfire.
"Miss! Can you hear me?"
He was waving his hand in front of her face and she nodded at him. He put out his hand and she grabbed onto it and let him pull her onto her feet. It was the first time that day that she'd been on her feet and she stumbled back on trembling legs, still not used to moving around.
The room filled up quickly and the man holding her helped her to sit on a chair that had been brought in. Another policeman higher ranking by the looks the other men gave him crouched in front of her and pushed off his helmet.
"Good afternoon. My name is Sergeant Umoh and I'm with the Lagos divisional police headquarters. My men and I are here to take you back to your family."
She tried to speak. To tell him she understood and ask him if her parents were there but nothing came out of her open mouth.
She cleared her throat and tried again croaking the words out.
"Are my parents here?"
"No miss. They're waiting at the barracks. Is it alright if we move you? I don't think you can walk."
She nodded and he stood and helped her stand then slowly walked her out of the room.
"You might want to close your eyes for a while." Sergeant Umoh said and she looked up at him wondering why he'd said that before it occurred to her that there was something she'd rather not see so she obeyed and closed her eyes.
She opened them again when she heard gravel crunch and for the first time in almost two weeks, she saw the sun. It was enough to make her buckle at the knees, losing balance and falling into the man holding her.
He wasted no time in scooping her into his arms and carried her to a waiting truck. After she'd gotten comfortable, a series of orders were given and they started moving.
"Drink this please." A bottle was pushed into her hands which were now shaking most likely because the adrenaline that had kept her sharp was now leaving her body. She sipped some of the water and returned it then rested her head against the glass and told herself jot to fall asleep because she wanted to see her surroundings.
She hadn't wanted to but she did fall asleep only waking up when a soft tap landed on her shoulder.
"We've arrived miss."
The Sergeant helped her out of the van and no sooner had she stepped out did she hear a sharp cry from afar. She looked up, squinting against the harsh sunlight and smiled, a weak, disbelieving smile at the sight of her mother running towards her.
With the Sergeant's help, she walked forward and met her mother who fell against her with a loud sob halfway.
She stumbled a little but didn't fall and silently thanked God for the man holding both of them up.
Nike's mother, Josephine didn't know what to feel. Relief that her child was back in her arms or horror that she looked as if she'd been run over by a train. Pulling back, she looked at her daughter, fresh tears welling up at the sight of her battered body.
"Ah! Nike! What have they done to you!" She cried. Her fingers gently traced Nike's swollen face as the girl tried to smile and put on a brave face for her mother.
Surely, they were a sight to see. Standing in the middle of road carrying on as her mother was and Nike was oddly grateful when her father appeared behind her mother prying her off her and taking her by an arm, led her into the building.
Inside, he was a different man than he'd been outside. As soon as the door shut behind them leaving her with her parents and one other man, her father had dissolved into tears kneeling in front of her, her small hands in his much larger ones.
There were no words spoken, none could possibly be enough for the situation and Nike who seemed to just realize that she was with her parents again, cried along with both of them.
"I'm fine daddy. Please don't cry." She managed to croak out which just triggered a fresh bout of tears from her father.
"Mr Makinde, I understand you might not be ready to have a discussion on the culprits right now but she needs medical assessment."
That seemed to wake him up and he stood leaning across the table to match gazes with the man.
"Where are the men who did this?"
"We have three men apprehended on the scene in custody and I can assure you, the others will be found soon."
"Good! I want them all found Inspector! I don't care what the cost is. Find the men who did this to my daughter!"
"Of course sir."
"We'll see the doctor now please." Josephine said helping Nike up.
The thought of been seen by a strange man after what had happened terrified her and she shook her head quickly surprising the adults in the room.
"Are you okay?" Her father asked with concern crouching to look at her.
"I don't want to see a doctor." She managed.
"Why? You're not fine, you need a doctor." Her mother answered bewildered at her response.
Still, Nike shook her head and looked at her father with pleading eyes.
"Please daddy."
"But aren't you in pain? You don't look very good." He asked placing a hand on her cheek.
She shook her head again and he stood with a sigh.
"We'll take her home now."
Josephine rose to protest but a look at her husband held her back and she turned to the general with a nod.
"She'll see the doctor when she's more comfortable."
"Alright then! Have a safe trip home and do come back at your earliest convenience."
The family moved out of the office slowly and the driver rushed to help to open the car door for them.
Nike settled inside and closed her eyes, leaning her head back. She was aware of her mother's worried gaze on her and she wished she had the strength to assure her that she was fine but all she wanted to do was sleep. In her own bed, in her home with her siblings.
"Kola, are you sure we shouldn't take her to the hospital? She's clearly ill."
"Please Jo, she already said she's fine."
"Are you sure honey?" She asked Nike still clearly worried.
Nike nodded and moved to rest on her mother's shoulder which must have convinced her because the car started moving and no more was said about the hospital.
The drive home was thankfully smooth and quick and when the car entered the compound, they were greeted by a shout then a door slam and they were swarmed by her siblings.
"Oh my God! Nike!"
That could have been Lola but she wasn't sure, it could also be Sade. Nothing was clear to Nike yet.
"Please let's get her inside first." Josephine said and the girls stood by wringing their hands as Lekan led her inside. The two girls were ushered in by their parents and they hung back while she got comfortable on a couch afraid that they would somehow hurt her even more because of how frail she looked.
Lekan however knelt at her feet and with her hands in his, whispered to her. She nodded a few times and he buried his head in her lap and cried. His sobs shook his shoulders and drove the other two to tears also.
Then they found spots on the couch and hugged her tightly all trying and failing to control their emotions.
"I'm so glad you're back Nike. It's been terrible without you." Sade sobbed and Lola nodded vigorously.
"We didn't know what to do without you." She agreed while Lekan just kept running his hands over hers as if trying to convince himself she was actually there.
"Let's thank God for bringing her back first." They heard their father say and all three siblings sat up, sniffling and wiping tears so they could pray.
"Father, we thank you for our baby girl. Thank you for returning her to us. We..." It was as far as he got before he started crying too and the prayer just kind of ended because he couldn't keep speaking while he cried.
Nike despite all the noise was in a confusingly calm state. She knew she shouldn't be but she was. The tears and hugs didn't really concern her and she felt like she was an onlooker, watching the events from outside her body. It didn't feel real or right that she was sitting in her home surrounded by her siblings and parents.
A little while later when everyone had calmed down, they finally finished the prayer and feeling comforted, Lola asked if Nike wanted anything to eat. She shook her head and Lola offered to take her upstairs to shower then sleep. She didn't seem to have any issues with that so Lekan carried her upstairs and set her down on the bed while Lola gathered some things for her use.
Lekan left while she was getting undressed and Lola helped her out on the closed toilet while she washed her carefully, trying very hard not to cry at the still raw cuts all over her.
After, she pulled a loose night dress over her head and helped her into bed. She didn't know what else to do since Nike wasn't saying anything so she turned on the air conditioner and told her she would be back before leaving to talk to her family.
"She's in bed." She said as she descended the stairs.
"Did she say anything?" Josephine asked worriedly.
Lola shook her head just as worried and Sade quickly supplied that she was probably still in shock from all of the days events. They agreed that the girls would sleep with her that night after arguing for a while about what was best for her and everyone retired upstairs even though no one could sleep even a wink through the night.