I grew up to know my mum as my only
parent. The idea I had of my Dad was so faint that I could hard guess how he
really looked like. Whenever we asked of his where about, mum always told us
that he had travelled abroad since and he had not come back. How can somebody
travel just like that and would not venture to write or phone his family? I
wondered.
Many at times, especially when our mum
maltreated us, my younger brother, Jide and I used to ponder on this issue of
our dad’s absence.
We eventually got a clue to the misery when I
was about ten years old. Mum had a squabble with one of our neighbours, Aunty Odun.
This young woman was the third wife of
her rich husband. We learnt she was always quarrelling with the other wives and
the members of the man’s extended family. Her matter became worse because she
was yet to have a child. Rumor had it that Alhaji Danmole was her sugar daddy
right from her secondary school days. And that the last abortion she had for
him almost claimed her life. She had had two failed marriages before she met
Alhaji again. Both of them decided to live together as husband and wife.
There was a huge quarrel that involved
almost everybody in the household. Alhaji’s mother intervened. Aunty Odun
accused her of taking sides. She even brought the police to arrest the old
woman. Danmole was scandalized. He was still infatuated to this lady. Instead
of sending her away, he decided to rent a house for her few kilometers away
from his house. That was how Aunty Odun started living alone.
Aunty Odun’s tongue was very sharp. One
thing led to the other and our mother called her a childless witch. Only God
knew how she was able to gather the information she used in abusing our mum on
that day. She called her a useless harlot. She narrated with gusto how she used
her feminine assets to get undeserved
promotions in her place of work. It was because she was earning more salary
than her husband that she turned him into her servant. How she used to bring
men to her matrimonial home in the presence of the helpless man.
“Asewo bastard!” she yelled, “You think
we don’t know how your Oga’s wives used to harass you in the office because of
the evil spell you cast on their husbands? How many men had slept with you this
month alone in this house? Answer me now?”
“We know how you were maltreating your
husband before the poor man decided to vacate the house for you. If not because
of his family members who contributed money for him to travel abroad, the man
could have been dead by now. Do you think you can abuse me and go scot free?
You don’t know me at all!”
Aunty Odun went on and on. Mum was
enraged. She rushed at her and gave her the beating of her life. Aunty Odun was
all mouth; she was not a match for mum in the physical realm. When neighbours
could not settle the fight, police were called in and both of them were whisked
away. They were let off the hook after some hours; Alhaji Danmole brought his
wife and Uncle George brought mum home. The two men slept with their ladies
that night.
It was this quarrel that mum had with
Aunty Odun that gave us the clue to what happened between our parents with a
renewed assurance that my dad was still alive somewhere with a bright prospect,
I allowed the issue to rest as that.
True to what Aunty Odun alleged, mum was
still bringing in her various male partners. There was this young man, Uncle
Jimmy, who should be in his late twenties, he used to sleep in our house
periodically.
I thought he was pursuing some matter in
one of the government parastatals. He would come from Benin late in the evening
and rush out early in the morning to meet up with his appointment. He would
come back in the afternoon dejected and spent. Mum would always console him and
assure him that everything would soon be alright. I got to know later on that
the man was pursuing a visa to travel abroad.
One evening, mum came back from work
with Uncle Jimmy. This was unusual though. I soon knew the reason. Both of them
were happy and mum kept on congratulating him. I learnt he had succeeded in
obtaining the elusive visa at last. And that was why he branched at her office
to inform her. Before we could wake up the following morning, (we woke up late
though being a Saturday). Uncle Jimmy had left.
He came the following week and spent
three days in our house. He would go out in the morning and come back with a
lot of goods. He must have been doing some shopping. He would invite me to his
room, where I would assist him in sorting his things out. He would embrace me,
hug me, kiss me straight in the mouth and pinched my bum-bum. All these seemed
strange to me, because each touch arose some funny sensations in me that I could
not fathom. I thought he was doing all these because of his success at the
embassy.
On the third day, this was his take-off
day, when everybody had gone out; mum had gone to work, Jide, my younger
brother had gone to school and I was preparing to go for computer lesson (I had
to go for this training in order to beat boredom before my resumption in the
polytechnic) I was about sixteen years old then.
Uncle Jimmy called me to his room. I thought
he wanted me to assist him as usual. I was wrong. He held my hand and was
telling me how much he loved me; how he would come to pick me after settling
down. He would want me to be his wife. He said we should start planning for
that future now by doing what husband and wife use to do.
As he was talking, he was practically
pulling off my gown. I pushed him off and tried to scream. I ran towards the
door. He ran after me and dragged me back into the room. He carried me and
spread me flat on the bed. He pulled my gown up and used it to cover my mouth.
He used his left hand to pin me down and
used the other one to untie his towel. His manhood, the biggest I ever saw
then, was pointing menacingly at me… nodding like agama lizard. Without being
told, I knew I was in for a serious trouble. He spread my legs wide apart and
tried to enter me. He got stuck. When he made several futile attempts, he got
up, went to the dressing table. I peeped at him and saw that he was rubbing
some cream on his manhood. Before he could finish this, I made another attempt
at the door.
He gave me a sliding tackle and I landed
on bare flour. There, right on the floor, Uncle Jimmy jumped on me spread my
legs again and drove that hot bludgeon into my private part. I felt a searing
pain between my groins.
I tried to raise my head as he was
pumping in and out menacingly as if his entire existence depended on it. I
realized that his manhood was soaked with blood, my blood!. The pain was
becoming unbearable. I held his arm and gave him a bite. He sustained a deep
cut and blood was gushing out of his arm. He seemed unperturbed by this wound;
the beast was enjoying his send off feast.
I was praying silently that the siege
should end fast. After several pounding and jerking that seemed like eternity,
Uncle Jimmy gave a shuddering jerk and collapsed on top of me like a deflated
balloon. He rolled over, jumped on his feet and sauntered into the bathroom. He
seemed to have enjoyed it all.
Come and see, the future husband who was
talking about marriage and love few minutes ago. He did not even care how I
felt. He left me there on the floor. Before he could come back from the
bathroom, I stood up. I could not walk properly, but managed to stager to my
room. I locked myself in and phoned my mum in the office. I explained all what
happened to her.
She was furious on phone and asked me to
play along with him. She said I should not give him the impression that I had
called her. How could I play along with this beast of a man? I was the one who
went through the ordeal not her. I decided to stay put in my room.
About an hour and half later on I had my
mum’s voice. She was banging on my room’s door. When I opened the door, I saw
her with a man and a woman in police uniform. She must have reported to the
police. They were just asking for Uncle Jimmy. “Where is the man?” The police
officer asked. I pointed to his room.
When we got to his room, there was no
trace of Uncle Jimmy. He had packed all his belongings and left for good.
Mum broke down and wept bitterly; she
made some calls and it was confirmed that Uncle Jimmy’s flight which was
supposed to take off in the midnight had been re – scheduled for 4:00 pm that
day.
She lamented that Uncle Jimmy was not
our relative. He was introduced to her by one of her numerous male
acquaintances. Uncle Jimmy was the man’s school son.
You see how my mummy’s free life-style
had rubbed off on me negatively. How can I ever forget the ordeal I went
through in the hands or should I say in the groins of Uncle Jimmy. What a
harrowing way to start womanhood.
