[Whatsapp Stories] Forbidden Love by Benita Okafor (Full Episodes)

Episode 1

“Welcome uncle Sam!!!!” I screamed as I hugged him after opening the door. “How are you, my dear?”, he had replied. Uncle Sam was one of my favorite uncles. He would bring a lot of gifts for me and my sister whenever he came for visits. He would take us out and spend time with us. Some people even started calling him our second father because of the relationship he had with us. He was my father’s only brother. He wasn’t married even though he was about twenty-six years old, but he lived a comfortable lifestyle alone in a very fine bungalow. On the other hand, I lived with my parents, my sister, Esther and the house help, Francis who we usually called Frank. ‘Where is your sister?” Uncle Sam asked. “She is sleeping”, I replied. “And your parents?”, he asked further. “They’re out”, I replied again. “And Where is Frank?” “Uncle Sam, it seems like you missed everyone oo, this one you’re asking about them like this?” I replied. “Eh! Yes! yes, I did. So where is Frank?” He asked again and so I told him he went out with my parents. Immediately I said so, he smiled. “So we are the only ones around?” He said.

“Yes and Esther”. He moved from behind the couch where he had been standing and sat on the couch. “Meso!!!” He called my nickname just as everyone did. “Yes, uncle Sam”. “I’ve told you to be calling me Sam, not uncle Sam, you know I’m not as old as your Father”, he said as he winked at me. “But uncle Sam, you know mama will slap me when she hears me say your name without adding the uncle before it,” I argued. “Oya, call me by my name only when we are alone”, he said and I nodded in response. I asked him what he had brought for us this time. He simply gestured his hands for me to sit beside him. I skipped happily as I sat down close to him. He gave me the fancy looking bag that he had been holding and I collected it immediately. Excited to see what was inside, I removed the first item my hand was able to grasp. It was a nice looking blouse, I smiled when I saw it, but he said it was for my sister so

I reached into the bag to grab something else. This time, I grabbed a blouse again, this one even fancier than the first. He said it was for my sister again. This happened for two more rounds until I spoke up. “Uncle Sam, this bag is already getting slimmer oo”, I squeezed my face, but he insisted that I kept checking so I reached for another Item and this time, it didn’t feel the same as the other items I had reached for. Some parts of this item had soft spots while the other parts had a harder spot. I squeezed my face as I brought out the item. Behold it was a bra. I looked

puzzled when I saw this, but uncle Sam just smiled at me and said, “They told me that you are now a big girl so I just decided to buy this one since that is what big girls wear”.

Indeed, my adolescence stage was running ahead of me as I had started growing breasts and seeing my monthly flow just at the age of eleven, but I was just surprised that my uncle would get bras and panties for me.

I was happy that I could add to my collection from the ones my mum got for me, but I felt very embarrassed because even my father had never had to buy girly things like this for me. My mother was always the one

who took care of the female issues. I slowly muttered a ‘thank you’ before he said “So, go and try them, let me see”. I looked at him in confusion and said. “Ahh Sam, I can’t wear these ones in front of you

oo”. He just laughed and said that I shouldn’t be shy because he even remembers carrying me naked in his arms when I was a baby. I only used my hands to hide my face from embarrassment but I didn’t try them on. While I was about to leave with the gifts he got for us, he held my hands and pulled me back. “There is one last thing you haven’t opened”, he said as he handed me another fancy looking bag, but this one was way smaller. I smiled and collected it with excitement as I dug in to find out what it was. My eyes almost fell out when I saw it was a brand new phone still

in its pack and a sim card. I screamed and screamed with excitement as he laughed at my joy. I always wanted a phone but my parents always told me I was still too young to be using one. Even though I told them that my classmates already had phones they still insisted that I wait till I was a bit older. “Uncle Sam, thank you! thank you!”, I blurted out as I hugged him but he squeezed his face instead of smiling with me. “Uncle Sam, did I say something wrong”, I asked but he squeezed his face even more before he opened up. “Haven’t I told you to stop calling me Uncle Sam? Call me Sam or don’t talk to me again oo” he said squeezed his face while giving me the baby attitude.

I nodded in agreement and said I was sorry before he smiled at me. The bell rang and I dashed out to see who was at the door, my parents and Frank had returned from their outing. “Daddy good evening, mummy good evening!” I said as I opened the door for them to come in. “Ehen, my dear. How are you? Where is Esther?” my mum asked.

“Mummy, I’m fine and Esther is sleeping. Uncle Sam is around and you will not believe what he bought for us” I replied. They all smiled when I said so. I helped them with the things they bought and placed them on the kitchen counter as most of the items were kitchen tools and food items. As we entered the sitting room, I quickly ran to show them my new phone with excitement. But they were busy greeting each other until my mum spoke out; “Meso, this your phone is fine, it is even finer than my own but wait oo, you know you can’t start using a phone now right”.

I whined and squeezed my face, trying to protest before uncle Sam cut in. “Ahh aunty, leave Meso alone oo, she is now a big girl, many of her mates are now using phones sef”.

I looked at my dad and gave him the signal to help me plead before he nodded in agreement that I should be allowed to have a phone. I was so excited that I ran to my room with the gifts uncle Sam got for me and my sister without even showing them the other things he got for us. By the time I got into my room where I share with my sister, she was already awake. My sister who was three years younger than me liked to have the same thing I had so I knew she would go ask for hers when I show her my new phone. Like I imagined, she jumped up happily when I told her uncle Sam was around but ran out to ask for her own phone when I showed her mine. Uncle Sam simply told her that she would get hers when she is older. I felt really happy because I started seeing myself as a big girl. After a few hours, around past nine in the night, uncle Sam came to our room to say goodnight. He came and sat on our bed before

he started speaking to us. He told us that we should always call him whenever we wanted something or needed help and that since I now had a phone, I shouldn’t hesitate to contact him everyday. He hugged us, kissed our foreheads and said he loved us before going out through the door.

That night, I set up my phone and left it to charge for a while before taking it with me to my bed. My sister had already killed my ears with “I’ll be playing games on your phone now”. I smiled at my Nokia 3310 and closed my eyes to go to sleep before a message came in. And it read: “My princess, I hope you like this new gift I got for you. Like I said before, don’t hesitate to contact me when you need anything okay? And dial this code on your phone so that you can be credited with five hundred naira. *222*12347781736282# Goodnight. I love you”. I smiled at my phone before falling to sleep…
Episode 2

The next day, when I woke up, I got down from my bed, went on my

knees and said my morning prayers. You already guessed what I did

next, I reached out for my phone from under my pillow, but I couldn’t

find it. I rolled my eyes knowing that my sister probably took it since

she already told me she would always use my phone to play games.

“Esther!!! Esther!!!” I yelled out my sister’s name as I went into the

sitting room to look for her. I didn’t know my mum was sitting down on

one of the couches so I continued yelling.

“so you cannot greet abi”, my mum said.

“oh! mummy, sorry. I didn’t know you were here. Good morning!” I

greeted.

“Ehen, morning! why are you looking for Esther like this” she replied.

“I don’t know if she took my phone”

“ị biago ozo!(meaning: you have come again in Igbo language) If you

guys like, don’t get ready for church. I and your father will leave without

you people and you’ll have to trek, so if you like, get ready, if you don’t

like, don’t get ready” My mum said and exited the room.

I left the sitting room as well and headed for the kitchen. That was when

I found Esther using my phone with Frank. I quickly went to them and

grabbed it from her hand. They both growled, but I scolded Esther for

not asking me for permission before taking it.

“Na because say you don get phone now, that’s why pesin no go hear

word “Frank said. I looked at him with an angry look and left the kitchen

as Esther followed behind. We went to our room to prepare for Church

and not long after, we were ready. We could hear the horn of our dad’s

car signaling for us to come outside so we could go to Church. I put my

phone into my Church bag as I always called it and left the room with

Esther.

After Church, my parents had a meeting in Church both for men and

women as usual and so we hung out with our friends while we waited

for them. I was talking to one of my friends when I heard my phone ring.

I checked the caller ID and realized it was my uncle calling so I excused

myself. All my friends were already jumping up and screaming excitedly

when they saw my new phone because they thought I wouldn’t be

getting a phone anytime soon.

“Hello?”, I said as I picked the call.

“My baby, how are you?” uncle Sam said.

“I’m fine” I replied.

“This one you’re sounding so cold, what is wrong with you?” he asked

but I told him I was fine, I just needed rest and so he got relaxed.

He said he just wanted to hear my voice since I didn’t reply his message

yesterday night so he told me to end the call so we could text each other

instead. I ended the call and a minute later, I got a message from uncle

Sam and we started chatting, but I went back to meet my friends while

we were chatting. Meanwhile, my friends were still hailing me and I felt

my cheeks turn red with excitement and embarrassment. A few minutes

later, my mum and dad were through with their meeting so we all left for

our house. When we got home, I went straight to the room, took off my

Sunday wear and switched into more comfortable clothes. Immediately,

I took out my phone from my bag and continued chatting with uncle

Sam. We were chatting about random things until he texted.

“Meso, I want to ask you something and please be sincere with me oo” I

looked at the text confused because I couldn’t guess what he was going

to ask me.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” The next text read.

I opened my mouth when I saw this because it never even crossed my

mind and It was weird that my uncle had to be the first to ask. I replied

with a “no!!! uncle Sam, I’m still a small girl now” but he just replied

with;

“Hmmm, small girl ke. Do you know how many of your mates that

already have boyfriends or are even married? You’re talking about small.

You’re not a small girl oo”

“But my parents still say I’m small, and if my mummy should even find

out I have a boyfriend, she’ll bury me alive.”

“hahahaha, Meso you’re so funny. I’ll tell your mum”

“Ahh uncle sam, please oo. I’m just joking oo”

“I know; I wasn’t going to tell anyway. That reminds me, I want to take

you out”, he finally said.

“Oh!! but we are yet to have our first term exams so mummy and daddy

will not want us going out,” I replied.

“who is we?” he asked.

“Esther and I now”

“No I don’t mean the both of you, I want to take just you out”

“But why would you want to take just me out?” I asked.

“Because it’s your turn this time, next time it will be only Esther but that

will be after your exams since you’ll be having your exams now” I

agreed and so he said we’ll talk later. I smiled at my phone and was just

so excited that I was now taken as a big girl. In a month’s time, I would

be turning twelve and I couldn’t wait.

Two weeks later….

I was sitting all alone in a class, waiting for one of my friends to be done

with her extra lessons when Michael, one of my class mates came in.

“Hey Meso!” he called out.

“Hey mike”, I replied.

“Senior Daniel is calling you” Michael said.

I couldn’t figure out why he was calling me. Senior Daniel was one of

the ss2 boys who people said was wicked. I was very scared of talking to

seniors because I didn’t want to be punished for any little thing. So I

summoned up courage and went to the ss2 floor, looking through the

classes hoping to see senior Daniel who called me. Before I got to the

last class, he came out from the class and smiled at me when he saw me.

I smiled back, not knowing the reason for it. Immediately, he told me to

follow him and I followed behind.

We got to a bench not too far from the tuck shop, where they sold snacks

and food, he sat down on the bench, gesturing me to sit beside him and

so I did. He started off by asking If I was scared and I told him I was

scared a little. He just told me to relax because he meant no harm and so

I became at ease. Senior Daniel only told me he wanted to take care of

me as my school father. He told me he was ready to help me with

anything and since I would be starting with my first term exam as a jss1

student, I shouldn’t hesitate to meet him if I needed any help. I just

couldn’t understand where all this came from because I had never even

spoken to him. I nodded because I knew it was normal for a senior boy

or girl to make you their school daughter or son. Before we left, he

asked If I had a phone so he could always call to make sure I was okay

and so I said yes and gave him my number. We left the scene and I went

to check if my friend was done with her lesson. I was a bit excited

because I now had a school father. Some of my friends were already

posing with their school fathers and trying to make every other person

Jealous.

When I got home, it was a few minutes past 4:00pm and so I went into

my room to take off my uniform, Esther was already sleeping as usual.

Before I could even take my clothes off, I got a message. I didn’t want to

open it just yet because I needed to do some things so I dropped the

phone aside and left to do what I had to do.
Episode 3

After I was done with what I was doing, I decided to open the message

that I received earlier. I took my phone and cuddled up in bed before

finally opening the message. I hissed when I saw this before it was just

one of those mtn messages. I didn’t know why I reacted that way

because I wasn’t even expecting a message. I was about to open the

snake game on my phone when another message came in. I opened the

message and behold it wasn’t from mtn again, it was from a number that

I hadn’t seen before so I decided to read it first. It was my senior, I mean

my new school father who was just asking how about my well being. He

did seem like a pretty nice senior. I smiled and replied his message

before saving his number as senior Daniel. I decided to take a nap before

reading so that I could feel refreshed. My day was really long.

A few hours later, I woke up a few minutes before eight o’clock. I still

felt like sleeping, but I knew I had to read because tomorrow was my

first paper in secondary school. My sister was already done with her

exams. She was just in primary four so they always finished exams and

school early. Older cousins already told me about secondary school and

how I needed to read very well for my exams because it was not the

same as primary school even though I used to come out as top of my

class. I read until it was twelve o’clock and went to bed because I had to

wake up early for school.

A week later, I was done with my exams, I was so happy that finally I

could watch my favorite shows that I couldn’t watch during exams.

When I got home, I went to take a shower, change into comfortable

clothes and went into the sitting room immediately before Frank called

me to come take my food. I carried my food and went to sit down on the

couch closest to the television. Thank goodness my sister wasn’t there,

we would have had to wrestle for the remote control and couch. While

eating and watching my show, my phone rang. When I saw the caller id,

I was happy because it was from uncle Sam so I picked it up without

hesitation. “My princess, how are you?” he said. I told him I was fine

and that I just concluded my exams. He did sound happy for me or

maybe for himself. He told he hadn’t called me since because he didn’t

want to disturb me and my exams. I smiled and sighed because I just

saw him as a nice man. Even though I had a father who cared about me,

I felt more comfortable and happier around uncle Sam. Not just because,

he bought us gifts and all but because he just was always there for us. I

could see the love he had for us, I still couldn’t understand why he wasn’t

ready to settle down. Before he ended the call, he told me, he was

coming to pick me up tomorrow for our outing and so I should get ready

before it was 12:00pm. I told him I needed to ask my parents for

permission but he said he already asked them for me and they were fine

with it and so I agreed. “Goodnight, I love you”, he said and I replied

with “Goodnight” but he called my name with a little anger in his tone.

“Yes?” I answered with confusion. “You don’t like saying you love me

too when I say I love you or don’t you love me?” when he said this, I

laughed because I never expected him to say something like that and so I

apologized and innocently told him I loved him too before he ended the

call with a sigh.

The next day, when I woke up, I did my little house chores before going

to take a shower. After that, I went to look for a nice cloth to wear. I

brought out a purple blouse that uncle Sam had gotten for me and one of

my black jeans. After dressing up, I combed my relaxed hair and

decided to leave it down. When I was done, I went to the sitting room to

wait for him. My sister was already feeling so sad that I was being taken

out without her so I tried to console her and told her that it would be her

turn next time since uncle Sam said so. I gave her my phone to play

games to make her feel a little better but not long after, it rang and so I

collected it from her and picked the call. It was uncle Sam, he said he

would be in my house in five minutes and exactly five minutes later, he

was at the door. My sister quickly ran to hug him when she heard his

voice. She started acting really sad around him and uncle Sam

immediately guessed what was wrong so he promised her that it would

be her turn next time and he would take just her out, he even promised to

buy her something when we go out. Her lips began to curve into a smile

and soon enough we all departed in happiness. Uncle Sam was just a

natural. He was good at everything; I just couldn’t believe he could be so

perfect in everything. We got into the car and drove off.

On our way, he asked where I wanted to go to first and I told him

anywhere he was willing to take me as I did not have anywhere in mind

yet so he said we would go have lunch first and maybe I’ll be alive by

then. I laughed when he said so because I was actually hungry. I didn’t

have breakfast in the morning because I knew uncle Sam would spoil me

with food and snacks when we go out. After about one hour of driving

and sleeping in traffic, we finally got to sweet sensation, one of my

favorite restaurants. He parked and we both hopped out of the car. When

we got into the restaurant, we went straight to order food at the counter.

I ordered my usual rice and roasted chicken with plantain and he ordered

grilled fish with rice and moi-moi. A meal he enjoyed whenever we

ordered food there. We took our tray of food and went to look for a seat.

We found one at the far end of the restaurant, just in a corner and so

went to sit there. He smiled when we sat and I smiled back at him in

confusion. “I’m glad I’m here alone with you”, he finally said. I just

smiled at him, feeling so shy. He even complimented me and called me

his beautiful angel. My shyness at that moment knew no bounds, but I

felt happy and different about the compliment. The way he

complimented me left me feeling like a girl, like I was loved and I was

at peace. We were having our lunch and just talking, when my phone

that was just right beside my tray started ringing. I looked at the caller id

and realized it was senior Daniel. Looking back up, I noticed uncle Sam

squeezing his face but I wanted to pick the call.

 

Episode 4

I excused myself and picked the call right in front of uncle Sam. He just

kept staring at me with a very straight face. I couldn’t really tell if he was

angry or not. I mean, it’s just a phone call right. “Hello?” I said when I

picked the call.

“How are you Meso? I just called to say hi” senior Daniel replied.

“I am fine senior Daniel.” I said.

“No, no, no. You don’t need to call me senior Daniel. Just call me

Daniel. I am your school father now.” He said. “Okay, I’m sorry Daniel.

I won’t call you by senior Daniel again.” I replied.

“That’s much better, my baby” he said. “My baby?” I questioned myself

in my mind.

“What are you doing? I hope I’m not disrupting anything.” senior Daniel

said.

“I’m actually busy with my uncle”

“Oh!!! so sorry. Then I’ll call you later. Just call me when you’re free”

He said and I replied with an okay before we ended the call. Dropping

the phone back on the table, uncle Sam finally spoke up.

“Who was that? your boyfriend abi? you’ve started dating ehn?”

“No uncle Sam, He’s not my boyfriend oo, I don’t have any boyfriend.

He is just my school father.” I replied.

“You don’t know that’s how it all starts. Don’t pay attention to them oo.

You don’t know I’m the one that’ll marry you.” He said with a smile. I

just laughed because it was not the first time he was saying it and he

reminded me of my dad. My dad would always say that to me when he’s

trying to tell me to forget boys and not have boyfriends.

When we were almost done with our meal, uncle Sam cleared his throat

and told me he wanted to tell me something. “My princess, do you know

I like you. I love you so much. In fact, my love for you cannot be found

in this world”

“Unc….” I was about to call him uncle Sam before I remembered he

didn’t like it. “Sam, (it still sounded weird for me to call him that but I

did anyway), I love you too, we all love you. You are a very nice man.

Even my friends tell me especially after you bought things for them the

day you took all of us out.” I said.

He just smiled when I stopped talking and replied, “No, Meso, I don’t

mean that. I…….don’t worry”

I couldn’t understand what was going on or what he was trying to say,

but he just smiled. We finished our meal and waited for some time

before we left the restaurant. When we got into the car, uncle Sam didn’t

start the engine immediately. He looked up at me and leaned in closer to

me. I thought he was trying to grab something from my side of the car,

but he pecked me on my cheeks instead and whispered, “I love you”.

There was something different in his voice especially the way he said he

loved me. it didn’t really sound like the uncle Sam I knew. He sounded

more like a different man. I was just eleven, almost twelve so I didn’t

really suspect anything. He was just my uncle after all. He later started

the engine, asking me where I wanted to go so I told him I want to go to

the movies and so we left the scene. When we got to the movies, he

bought me popcorn and a Pepsi and got the same for himself. It wasn’t

time for the movie we picked to watch and so we went to check out

some other things. The movie theater was in a big shopping mall, so we

decided to go site seeing and possibly buy something for Esther.

An hour later, we were back to the movie theater. We took our seats on

the third row, right in the middle. During the movie, uncle Sam kept on

glancing at me. I just smiled whenever I caught him stare. I was

enjoying the movie, so I paid little attention to what he said or did. I

laughed almost every single minute and couldn’t control myself even

uncle Sam noticed how much I was enjoying the movie. Two hours

later, we were done and we left the cinema. Uncle Sam told me he

wanted to get something from his house and so drove there immediately.

When we got into his house, he asked if I was hungry. I laughed and

asked him if he wanted to kill me with food so he got the message that I

wasn’t hungry. He dropped his keys on the table and asked me to follow

him to his bedroom. I didn’t see anything wrong with it because he was

my uncle so I followed him. We got into his room and he went to his

closest immediately. I guess he wanted to grab something. I just went for

the bed. I was about to sit on the bed when he said I should check in the

drawers beside his bed for a blue paper. I was guessing it was an

important document so I reached for the drawers and opened the first

one. I didn’t see any blue paper so I decided to check the other two

drawers below the first one. When I opened the second one, my eyes

automatically became big. I saw a drawer filled with what looked like

condom, although they were all still in its pack, I didn’t stop at staring. I

decided to touch one and I realized it did feel like what they had brought

to class one time during our integrated science period. My teacher had

shown us a condom when she was teaching on a topic under

reproduction. She made everyone get a feel of what it looked like. She

didn’t encourage anyone to have sex or something but she mentioned

that, it was one of the ways people prevented STDs or getting pregnant.

To my guess, I concluded it was a condom. I turned back to see if uncle

Sam noticed what I had seen, and just about that same moment I turned

back, he turned as well. He looked down to the drawer and realized what

I had seen. My heart started pounding like I just saw the devil.

 

Episode 5

I fidgeted when he looked back at me because it just felt awkward. He

moved forward towards me and finally spoke up.

Stammering and squeezing his face in disgust he said, “They…they share

th…that at my work pla…place so that we could give all these people

who need it”

I said “okay” and swallowed the remaining saliva in my mouth until it

was as dry as a dead dingo’s donger. Something about his statement

didn’t sound okay, but I didn’t object. I immediately opened the last

drawer and saw the blue paper he had asked me to grab. Standing up, I

said “I found the paper” in order to break the silence even though he

knew that already.

Uncle Sam’s POV

“How could I have been so stupid to send her to those drawers,” I said in

my mind when Meso handed me the paper I had asked her to fetch for

me. I was so sure Meso would look at me as a different person and

always suspect. I was so angry and upset at my stupidity, but I made

sure I maintained myself in order for Meso not to suspect anything. We

later left the bedroom for the car. I was to take Meso home because it

was already getting late. I didn’t want her parents to start calling and

getting worried because we left since 12:00pm in the afternoon.

“Meso, I hope you had a nice time,” I said when we got into the car. She

looked so beautiful and I couldn’t just resist staring at her. Puberty was

really in her favor because everyday she kept looking more beautiful. I

wanted to have her in my arms and my arms alone. My heart ached

every time I realized she was just my niece. Am I wrong for thinking

this way? I asked myself that question everyday.

“Yes!!! it was fun hanging out with you Sam. I really enjoyed myself.”

Meso replied with enthusiasm bringing me back to life from my deep

thoughts.

“I’m glad you did” I said smiling and winked at her. I drove her home

and in less than an hour, we were at the house. I could hear Esther

already jumping and screaming in happiness.

“Uncle Sam!!! Uncle Sam!!!” she yelled my name as she ran to hug me.

“My baby, how are you?” I said to her.

“I’m fine uncle Sam, I missed you guys. You left me all alone in the

house.” she said.

I comforted her and gave her what Meso picked for her at the mall. She

was excited when she saw her gift and that gave me peace of mind. At

least, she wouldn’t have to whine again. I kissed their foreheads and

bade them goodbye before leaving for my house.

Meso’s POV

I sighed as I jumped into the bath to take a shower. I had a lot of fun

with uncle Sam. I couldn’t believe the day had finally come to an end. I

closed my eyes and allowed myself feel the warmth of the shower drops

that fell on my skin. I was really enjoying the shower until I remembered

senior Daniel called earlier and told me to call back when I was free. In

less than twenty minutes, I was out of the shower. I wore my nighties

and cuddled up in bed. Picking up my phone, I realized I had a missed

call and it was from senior Daniel. I didn’t know he called because I

didn’t even hear it ring, but I decided to call back so I dialed his number

and waited patiently for him to pick up. It was already past nine in the

evening, I wasn’t sure if it was okay to call back at that time but I

continued anyway since he called first. When he picked up the call, he

asked how I was, sounding so excited. I told him I was fine and

apologized for missing his call the first time he called. He said it was

okay and we kept on talking on random things. We talked for about

thirty minutes until senior Daniel asked If I had a boyfriend. I squeezed

my face in confusion and tried to understand why everyone had to ask

me if I have a boyfriend. I was about to reply when I heard my mum call

my name.

“Please senior, can we talk tomorrow? My mum is calling me.” I said

standing up from the bed.

He said, “okay” and I ended the call before going to answer my mum.

When I got to the sitting room where my mum sat, I walked up to her

and greeted her before asking her why I was called. She said she just

wanted to see me since I went for an outing. She asked me about my

outing, if I had a good time or not. She was fond of doing that every

time we were taken out for an excursion by my school or outing by

uncle Sam, so it was normal when she asked. I told her about everything

we did, from the lunch we had in sweet sensation to the movie we

watched at the theatre, but I didn’t mention what I had seen in uncle

Sam’s second drawer. I wasn’t really close to my mum, but I shared a

few things with her. After a few minutes, I hugged her goodnight and

went to bed.

It was a very beautiful day when I woke up the next day, it was a

Saturday. Although Saturday was one of my dreadful days because that

day was a thorough cleaning day. It took all our might and strength to

fully clean the house. My parents were always so particular about

cleaning; we would be asked to clean from the corners of the walls in the

house to the part that demarcates the house from the street. When I said

my morning prayers, as usual, I went straight to my phone to see if I had

any message. I didn’t get any so I dropped the phone on the table in my

room. Esther was still sleeping beside my bed. We had two beds in the

room so I arranged mine and left Esther still sleeping. My mum made

me do more chores since I got to secondary school. She said I was

growing up and I needed to learn how to do the chores even when Frank

doesn’t do it so I swept the whole house both inside and outside the

house. Frank’s job was to take the bins out, watch the gutters right

outside the house and wash the cars. After a few hours of working and

sweating, we rounded up and went to take a shower. Esther had already

taken her bath so later on, I joined her on the dining table to have brunch

because on Saturdays, none of us barely had breakfast due to the

cleaning. Later that same day, I was struck with menstrual pain. I rolled

and rolled on the bed with my sister petting me and saying sorry. I cried

because I was in pain. My mum just gave me a cup of unsweetened tea

and some drugs. I even got calls from senior Daniel, uncle Sam and

Anabelle, one of my friends but I didn’t pick any of their calls because I

was in so much pain. I couldn’t understand why girls/women had to go

through such pain. I slept off after a few hours even with the

excruciating pain. I made sure I forced myself to sleep because I just

couldn’t take it anymore. I woke up after a while and felt much better so

I was able to reply my missed calls and messages. While chatting with

senior Daniel, he asked me to answer the question I had asked earlier

and so I told him I didn’t have a boyfriend. He asked if he could call me

but I told him I wasn’t in the mood to talk so he didn’t call. Instead, he

said he would talk to me the next day and ended his message with,

“Goodnight, my baby.

Episode 6

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday

Meso…..,” I opened my eyes to my family singing right beside my bed. I

couldn’t believe days had gone by and it was my birthday all of a

sudden. I covered my face with my palms trying to hide my tears of joy.

My parents had always celebrated my birthday but never had they seem

so excited to surround my bed early in the morning to sing happy

birthday to me with a cake. It was so weird to see them sing for me like

this. Normally they would just wish me a happy birthday, pray for me

and tell me they would fry chicken for me. I mean they used to celebrate

my birthday at times but It wasn’t regular especially in this manner. I

removed my face and looked up as uncle Sam slowly walked into the

room. My smile became wider and I giggled with joy in my heart.

“It was uncle Sam that got the cake for you and told us to come and sing

for you!” Esther said and jumped up with excitement when she saw him.

I guess she shouldn’t have snitched that way because I suddenly became

a little sad. Although, I still smiled on the outside to show my

appreciation I wasn’t really happy. Probably because I already thought

my parents must have been so excited for me to decide to buy a cake and

come sing beside my bed. I pushed that to the back of my mind and

focused on what was going on at the moment. “Blow out your candles!

Blow out your candles!” Esther yelled. I smiled at her and blew out the

twelve candles that stood on the cake as they clapped and prayed for me.

I thanked everyone and they all left the room except uncle Sam. He

smiled at me and sat on the bed beside me. He stared at me for a moment

and finally asked if I liked my cake. I said yes and thanked him for

buying it for me.

“Anything for my love,” he said.

I just smiled at him and he hugged me. His arms were around me for a

while which seemed weird until we heard Esther yelling out my name

before he suddenly stood up and said he would talk to me later. I stood

up, went in to take a shower and later went to spend the rest of the day

with my family. Senior Daniel even texted me and wished me happy

birthday he said he even had a gift for me and would give me when we

resume school. I also got calls from some of my friends wishing

me, happy birthday. I was so happy all through the day and didn’t let

anything ruin it for me.

A week later……

“Uncle Sam, please leave me alone. I don’t want to do that with you.”

“Just once and that’s it. Meso please do it for me. Don’t you love your

uncle? Just once” Uncle Sam held me as he was begging me.

I was crying and telling him I didn’t want to do it with him before I woke

up to sweat running down my forehead and tears running down my eyes.

I just had a very confusing, weird but scary dream. Why was I crying in

my dream? Why was uncle Sam begging me? I asked myself. I sat up

when I realized Esther was beside me. She said she had been waking me

up but I just kept saying,”No! No! No!” I just told myself it was a dream

and let it go. It was the first day of school after our Christmas break and

I couldn’t wait to see my friends and school father. While I was

moisturizing my body, Frank suddenly walked in. I immediately grabbed

the towel that was beside me and covered my nakedness. I couldn’t

believe that just happened. Why does my day have to start this way?

“Ah! Sorry oo, I tink say you dey for bathroom. I dey look for Esther.”

he said when he saw me naked.

I felt like using the bottle of cream in my hand to throw at his mouth. He

just had to walk in at that moment. I grumbled in annoyance and quickly

dressed up before he would come in again and say it was a mistake. I

hissed when I was done dressing up and went to have my breakfast

before leaving for school. Frank already took Esther to school since he

was the one who usually takes her to school while I went to meet my

friend who lived two blocks away from my house, so we could go to

school together.

After school, my school father sent for me so I went to see him in his

class. When I got there, all his friends that were with him started hailing

him and smiling at us. I couldn’t understand why.

He just smiled at them and said, “You guys now, Na my school daughter

oo.”

I just stood there until he asked me to hug him. I found it really strange

and it became really awkward between us because I had never hugged

him before and I never even hugged my own class boys. I didn’t want to

cause more awkwardness so I just hugged him. All his friends were just

raising their brows and winking at him. They sure looked funny. He later

reached for his bag and brought out something in a gift wrap.

“Happy birthday!” he said as he handed the gift to me.

Smiling, I thanked him and then he said I could go and insisted that we

talk on the phone later. As usual, I went to meet my friend who had been

waiting for us to go home and we left for home together. Later that

night, I spoke with senior Daniel on the phone and he apologized for the

behavior of his friends. I told him it was okay and I found it rather funny

than upsetting and he sighed in relief before saying goodnight. In a

week’s time, I was going to the hostel as a border. My mum had broken

the news to me the night before we resumed school. She said one of her

friends told her that the boarding house was very good for training

students and so she told my dad about it and they both decided I become

a boarder. I was a bit excited and sad. I was definitely going to miss

home but I was excited to experience the life as a boarder. All my

friends who were boarders already talked on how they found the

boarding house both tough and interesting. There was always something

to talk about whenever you were with a boarder. I couldn’t wait to join

them and experience it myself.

 

Episode 7

Five days later, after school on Friday, Uncle Sam came to pick me and

Esther. I begged my parents earlier to let me spend the night with Esther

and uncle Sam at uncle Sam’s place since I wasn’t going to have the

opportunity to do that when I go to the hostel. Uncle Sam also helped to

beg and told my parents to let me so that we could have fun together

before I go to the hostel. I packed I and Esther’s clothes into a small

suitcase and uncle Sam put it into the trunk of his car. Before we drove

off, my mum told uncle Sam to bring us back before noon the next day

so that we could finish the school shopping and get ready to go to the

hostel on Sunday.

“Yes ma! No problem!!! We will be back soon. Don’t miss us oo,” uncle

Sam replied my mum before starting the engine and driving off.

Esther who sat behind me while I was seated in front, at the passenger’s

seat just kept waving at my mum until she was out of sight. In no time,

we were at his place. I got down from the car, went directly to open

Esther’s door and was about to open the trunk of uncle Sam’s car when

he told me not to worry, that he would help us with it. He said we were

his guests and didn’t want to give us stress so he told us not to do

anything except to ask him what we wanted to eat or do. We got inside

and uncle Sam directed us to the room we would be sleeping in. He told

us to change and come out to watch the television or eat whatever we

wanted. He even mentioned ice cream being in the freezer which made

Esther jump happily.

“My refrigerator is all yours, in fact, my house is all yours,” He had said

laughing.

I went into the room he had assigned us with Esther and brought out

comfortable clothes for us to wear. Esther was putting on one of her

princess dress like she always calls it so I got her to change into

something much better. I was putting on jeans and a simple blouse so I

just change the jeans into some shorts instead. After we were done

changing, we went into the sitting to join uncle Sam who had also

changed into a shirt and shorts. My sister immediately went to meet him

and asked for the ice cream he had mentioned earlier. Funny Esther, he

stood up and they both left for the kitchen. While they were dishing out

their ice cream, I was going through my phone to be sure I wasn’t

missing a call or message. There wasn’t a missed call or message so I

dropped my phone aside and looked around in search of the remote

control to the television. When I spotted it on the table beside the chair

uncle Sam had been sitting on, I stood up to go get it when I heard uncle

Sam and Esther approaching from the kitchen. I looked up and saw them

with cups of ice cream in their hands.

Uncle Sam’s pov

After dishing out the ice cream for Esther, she insisted I dished her mine

and her sister’s as well. Esther the ever caring girl and so I did as I was

told and we left the kitchen with Esther smiling. When we got to the

sitting room, my eyes noticed Meso straight away who also looked up

the moment we approached the room. She looked as beautiful as ever. I

wanted to take her right there at that moment but we weren’t alone, so I

managed to hold myself to behave. I gave her the ice cream we had

dished for her and we all sat down to enjoy the moment. I noticed she

had already changed the channel to one of those her shows she enjoyed

watching but Esther who wanted to watch something else started

whining.

“I want to watch cartoon, Meso please..,” Esther said.

Meso who already guessed she was going to do that, shook her head and

sighed in annoyance before changing the channel to a cartoon station. I

couldn’t help myself but to stare at her every movement. I only took my

eyes off when I felt she noticed I was staring and pretended to press my

phone. I was going crazy for her. I just couldn’t understand why I hadn’t

felt this way for a woman before. It got to a point I even opened the

camera app on my phone and pointed it towards her direction in order

for me to stare at her beauty without anyone noticing. I zoomed the

camera until I could see every part of her body since she was sitting

down on the couch across where I sat. My eyes scanned from the

gorgeous eyes that sparkles in my mind to the fresh thighs that

laid marvelously on the couch. I just couldn’t understand why I couldn’t

control myself at that moment. I had to confess my love for her. I needed

to let her know so I would probably feel better. I needed to do

something. My heart was beating so fast and I didn’t feel comfortable

anymore.

Meso’s pov

I felt so restless since I wasn’t able to watch my show because of Esther

who wanted to watch her cartoon. Instead of looking around, I decided

to play games on my phone but I wasn’t feeling comfortable because I

felt like I was being watched by something or someone so I looked up to

uncle Sam who sat across me and saw that he was busy with his phone. I

guess it was just a misconception. I went back to my phone and not long

after, uncle Sam spoke, standing up;

“Meso, please can you come with me. I need you to help me with

something.”

“Okay uncle, I’m coming,” I said as I stood up and followed him.

He was going into his bedroom and so I followed behind. Esther who

didn’t seem to care or notice just kept on watching her cartoon. When I

got into his room, uncle Sam went to sit by the chair that stood beside

the table in his room while he gestured for me to sit on his bed. I

couldn’t understand why because he had said to follow him so I could

help him with something. I didn’t say anything, I just did as I was told

waited patiently for him to talk. I actually thought he was going to give

me one of those lectures about school. The ones on facing your studies

and being a good girl since that had been the only talk ever since my

family and relatives heard I was going to become a boarder until I heard

him say;

“Meso, I’m in love with you.”

I was still confused because I didn’t know where this was heading to

until he left the chair he was seated on and went on his knees right in

front of me.

“Meso, I love you with all my heart. I want to make love with you. I

want to you to be all mine. I want you in my arms. I can’t hold it any

longer.” He kept on saying, still leaving me in shock and confusion.

Make love with you?…..all mine?….you in my arms?. It kept on

repeating in my mind because I was trying to understand the meaning of

all he was saying. “Uncle Sam, I don’t understand you.” I remember

saying to him.

“Let’s just do it now, just once and we keep it a secret,” he said, taking

his shirt off.

That was when I realized what uncle Sam had been trying to say. He

wanted me to have sex with him. I stood up immediately trying to step

away from him but I wasn’t fast enough because he went straight to the

door and locked it, keeping the key to the door on a high shelf that stood

beside his closet. My heart was pounding as I was trying to process

everything. In my heart, I was hoping it was a dream. I looked into my

uncle’s eyes and I swear I was terrified of him. I had never seen him with

so much hunger in his eyes, so desperate and so scary. I wished I had

seen the devil instead. I moved back when I realized he was coming

towards me.

“Uncle Sam, please, please. Don’t hurt me. I beg you, uncle Sam,” I said

while he was moving closer to me.

“Meso, I really don’t want to harm you. I just want you to love me back.

I promise you’ll enjoy it. Just give me a chance Meso, my love. I love

you with all my heart. I promise you’ll like it.”

Uncle Sam’s pov

I could see the fear in her eyes, I knew she was going to hate me after

this but I just couldn’t control myself. I needed her as much as I needed

the air I breathe. I wanted to be all over her. I noticed the tear that

dropped from her eyes as she started crying.

Meso’s pov

I cried and pleaded with uncle Sam but he wouldn’t listen. I ran to the

door and started banging on it, hoping Esther or some neighbors would

hear but I guess that made uncle Sam mad and so he dragged me away

from the door and threw me on the bed. Before I could even move, he

started placing kisses all over my body. He tried to kiss me on the lips

but I kept moving my face, trying to get away from his grip but he was

too strong. He held me down so tight and manage to take off my clothes.

I was left in my underwear and him, in his boxers. I told myself I could

still escape and kept struggling but it was all a waste when he finally got

what he wanted. He raped me and kept placing kisses all over my body

despite my cries and pleas. He had taken my virginity; my dignity I had

lost. I could only feel pain after he was done. He laid beside me, panting

like a dog until he sighed and stood up. He looked down at me and said;

“Meso, why you doing like this now? You’ll be acting like you didn’t

enjoy it. Oya go and clean up in the washroom. Let me change the bed

sheet because there’s blood everywhere.”

I laid there in shock, with no words in my mouth. My heart ached like it

had never, like it had been pierced with a sword. I thought I was going to

die of shock because I still couldn’t believe uncle Sam would do this to

me. Uncle Sam who people liked and praised like he was our father. He

ruined me, I felt my life had fallen and shattered like a broken glass.

 

Episode 8

Still in shock, laying down on the bed and staring into space, uncle Sam

said, “Meso, stand up now and go and clean yourself or do you want me

to wash up for you?”

I didn’t say a word, I only stood up, picked up my clothes and went

straight into his bathroom to clean up. When I got in, I stood right under

the shower and let the water pour down on me. I didn’t even move for a

while or realize when tears started running down from my eyes. I felt

very unclean. I felt like a wasted good. I didn’t know much about sex or

virginity but I knew that as a Christian, everything that happened was all

wrong. I wasn’t supposed to have sex at this age, let alone with my

uncle. I was supposed to wait for the right time. “Keep yourself for your

husband,” my mum had said to me one time. My mind couldn’t stop

processing a lot of things at once. What just happened? What will I do?

Who will I run to? I kept asking myself those questions while crying.

When I was done having my bath, I stepped out of the shower, dried

myself up and put on my clothes uncle Sam had almost torn while trying

to get me naked. I was in so much pain I couldn’t even walk well. Apart

from the fact that I had just been raped, I had body pains from his tight

grip and weight that rested on me while he raped me. I got out of the

bathroom, looking around to see if he was somewhere in the room but he

wasn’t. He had also changed the bed sheets and arranged the room

leaving it looking as innocent as it is a lie. On my way to my room for

the night, I stopped by the sitting room to check for uncle Sam or Esther.

I sighted Esther still engrossed in the cartoon she was watching and

uncle Sam busy with his phone. I didn’t want them to notice my presence

so I walked quietly to the room. I guess that didn’t work because

immediately after I shut the door, I heard footsteps coming from the

sitting room and I was so sure it was uncle Sam. I ignored it anyway and

got in bed to continue sulking when I saw the door open and uncle Sam

walked in, shutting the door behind him.

“Meso!!! Meso!!!” he said as he walked to the side of the bed where I

laid and went on his knees.

I didn’t want to see him and so I turned the other way, my back facing

him.

“Meso, I know you’re angry with me and I’m so sorry. I don’t know what

to call my action. I’m very sorry Meso. It’s just because I love you. I

can’t stay away from you too long. I needed you at that moment, if not, I

don’t know what would have happened to me. Meso, please forgive me,

I know I shouldn’t have forced you but I don’t know what came over me.

I love you, baby. I really do. You know you’re the only one that has my

heart. Please! Meso forgive me. Please let’s keep it a secret. Let it just be

between us. I know you love me too,” uncle Sam said. I just couldn’t

face him after what had happened because I was scared of him. I wanted

to recover and possibly just wake up from a dream like the one I had of

him one time. If only I knew that the dream was trying to tell me

something, I wouldn’t have pushed it aside. The funny thing was even

with what uncle Sam did to me, there was no hatred in my heart for him.

I didn’t even dislike him which was strange but I was definitely scared.

Uncle Sam’s pov

I knew Meso would be so scared of me. I knew she wouldn’t want to

look me in the eyes again but I needed her forgiveness. I really loved

Meso and I didn’t want the relationship we had to destroy because of my

action. Her back still facing me, I kept on begging her hoping she would

just turn to face me even if it was just for a minute. I actually felt really

bad for doing what I did but I couldn’t take it back. I don’t know why

Meso had just been all up in my head for a while now. I mean I had had

affairs with other women that were more mature, wife material and all of

those package as they call it but something kept on pulling me closer to

Meso. Trust me, I knew it was all wrong but I couldn’t figure out what

was happening to me.

“Uncle, why me?” Meso said as she finally turned to face me, still not

looking into my eyes.

“Meso, like I said, I don’t know what came over me but I really love you.

I’m sure you know that. Please, Meso, forgive me,” I replied hoping she

would say something else but she just turned her back on me without

saying a word. I sighed, standing up and said, “Thank you” before

leaving the room. I had a feeling Meso had forgiven me but I still felt

bad.

The next day, I had to take Meso and Esther back home before noon and

so I got them ready by ten o’clock in the morning and drove them home.

Meso wasn’t still in a bright mood but I didn’t want to push it so I didn’t

say a word to her while we were in the car. We just drove off in silence.

When we got to the house, I greeted my brother and his wife before

saying my goodbye. Before I left, I glanced at Meso one last time who

also glanced at me before I got into my car and drove off.

Meso’s pov

Later that day, my mum took me to the market to buy the remaining

items I needed as a boarder. I didn’t even say a word about what

happened between me and uncle Sam. I just kept looking and acting like

a dummy because my expression only showed forth sadness. I was able

to walk better than I could before, from all the pain so I managed to

endure and pretend like I was okay in front of my mum. She noticed I

was sad but she only thought it was because I was going to the boarding

house and so she consoled me for the wrong reason. I tried my best to

cheer up and forget it. I didn’t know why I couldn’t tell because uncle

Sam didn’t even threaten me or something, he only begged. It hurt me

that I wasn’t even angry with him. Usually, when I hear of other people’s

rape incident or movies on rape incidents, I see how bitter and angry the

victims are. They spit and throw curses on their abusers but I wasn’t in

that state. I couldn’t understand my situation. I could only feel hurt in

silence.

The next day, after church, I took my meal and slept for about an hour

before I was being woken up by Esther who said I was being called by

our parents. My parents called me into the sitting room, sat me down and

gave me lectures on you know what. They told me to always be focused,

be prayerful, face my studies and all of that in which I paid attention.

They even concluded that they knew I was sad about leaving for the

hostel but It was for the best and all of that. I just kept on nodding and a

few minutes later, we were done talking. After about an hour more, I

packed my luggages into the trunk of the car and we drove straight to the

hostel with my parents seated at the front and my sister, beside me in the

car. I took it upon myself to forget about all that happened between me

and uncle Sam since it had already occurred and vowed to keep it a

secret.

 

Episode 9

As long as I had waited for this day and as happy as I should have been,

I was still very sad about what happened between me and uncle Sam. I

couldn’t just smile at the tall building that was standing in front of me

with ‘Girls hostel’ written on it. I wanted to be happy that I was finally

going to experience the life as a boarder but I just couldn’t take my mind

off everything. I put on a fake smile as my dad helped me with my

suitcases. My mother who carried her bag and just my pillow in her

hands was smiling warmly at me. I guess she still thought I was sad

about leaving home. My sister on the other hand really looked sad that I

was leaving. She took my buckets out of the trunk and went to stand

beside my mum, not saying a single word. I felt really bad that I was

leaving her but it had been the decision of our parents to make me

boarder. I couldn’t even console her. I was just too weak to be in any

other mood. We walked into the gates after greeting the security guards

who stood there. They even helped with some of my items which made

it easier for us while one of the security guards directed us to where we

were supposed to get checked in. We walked about five minutes until we

came to a point where five women were seated at a table under a canopy.

They looked like the ‘house mothers’ like I usually hear the boarders call

them. They looked a little old except two who looked like they were in

their early thirties. They smiled at us as we approached them. My dad

and mum who had been smiling all the way from home greeted them and

exchanged words before I was asked to open my suitcases for search.

They said it was a normal thing since provisions and some other things

weren’t allowed, they needed to make sure there was no contraband

brought to the hostel.

“Did you label your items with your name written on them?” one of the

house mothers asked.

I nodded my head and muttered a “yes ma” while I and my dad were

asked to sign some papers. After I was being checked in, they told me to

say my goodbyes as my family weren’t allowed further at that point.

After holding everything in, the tears that had built up since began to

drop and I cried as I hugged them. I didn’t just cry because I was going

to miss them. I cried because all of a sudden I became scared. While

clinging to them, one of the house mothers called me a baby and asked

to take my things to room seven on the second floor. I waved my family

goodbye as I watch them leave the premises. I carried the lightest items

and hoped that I would find someone to help me with the rest and just

when I was thinking about it, one of the young house mothers decided to

help with some of my belongings. She just kept smiling at me which

made me feel a little better. On getting to room seven on the second

floor, I heard one of my friends, Annabelle talking loudly. As I opened

the door of room seven, I saw some of my mates seated at a corner in the

room, just talking. By the time they looked up, they all shouted “Meso!!!

Meso!!!” as they ran towards me. Smiling, I hugged them one after the

other. They collected my belongings from the house mother who had

helped me carry some of them and they all followed me to get the rest. I

don’t know what happened but all of a sudden, my sadness dissolved and

I was filled with joy.

After about two hours, I was done unpacking. My friends had helped me

with most of the unpacking. They arranged my clothes into the closet,

they arranged my bed and helped me with a few other things. Not long

after, I heard the bell ring and asked Annabelle the reason for the bell.

“It’s time for dinner,” Anabelle said. She hadn’t stopped smiling ever

since I arrived.

“I’m so happy you’re here” She had said earlier.

I said, “okay” and followed them as we all left the room to the dining

hall which was a two minutes walk from the girls’ hostel. We all got into

the hall and went to take our seats. The hall was a big one indeed, the

hostel boys and girls shared it and so it was flooded with a lot of

students. I looked around while seated on my chair amazed at the plenty

students that came in. From the senior boys and girls to the junior boys

and girls, all in our house wear. The junior girls had a long ugly looking

gown while the senior girls had a different type of gown but much more

good looking. Same as the boys with the juniors in shorts and seniors in

trousers. You could tell the difference from the way they dressed and

also the way they behaved. You could see the junior boys like the ones

in my set, Ayo and co, running around and playing in their short bodies

while the senior boys strolled in coolly with their hands in their pockets.

I noticed senior Daniel among the midst of some of the other senior boys

laughing and chatting but I looked away not wanting him to notice me

yet.

“Everyone settle down and keep quiet,” I heard the senior prefect boy

shout and immediately the hall was as quiet as a graveyard. “Shall we

pray,” he said again and everyone stood up with their heads bowed and

eyes closed.

The next thing I heard was “For the food we are about to eat, we thank

you oh lord” echoing all over the hall before they took their seats again.

They began to call row by row to line up for their food. While I and my

friends were still waiting to be called on, we kept on chatting until I felt

a tap on my shoulder. I looked at who had tapped me and saw a junior

boy holding a plate with a piece of meat in his hands.

“Senior Daniel said I should give you this,” looking at him confused, I

told him I didn’t want it. I mean how did he even know I was around. I

didn’t even tell him I was going to be a boarder. I guessed he had seen

me too. The boy refused to return it and said senior Daniel had said not

to go back without handing the plate of meat to me. I sighed and

collected the plate from his hands before he dashed out of sight.

“If you don’t want it, give me oo. You people will just be forming for

school father again,” Funke who had probably been eyeing the meat

said.

I just laughed and handed her the plate of meat before our row was

called to get our food. After dinner, the same junior boy who had

brought the plate of meat earlier came walking towards me.

“Senior Daniel said he wants to see you now,” he said. “He is beside the

palm tree just outside the dining hall”

I nodded at his message and went immediately to see him. I already

waved my friends bye and told them I would see them in the hostel. On

getting to the place the junior boy had described, I saw senior Daniel

leaning coolly on the palm tree.

“Hey! my baby,” he said when he saw me.

I smiled and greeted him with a ‘good evening’.

“You know, you can just say ‘hey dad’ or ‘hello dad’ or ‘hey Daniel’ you

don’t have to be so formal. I’m not the house master. Anyway, how are

you?

“I’m fine,” I replied.

“You know I’m angry with you,” he said again.

Smiling I said, “Did I do something wrong?”

“Your number one offence is you were coming to the hostel as a boarder

and you didn’t even tell me. Two, you rejected my meat, you think I

didn’t see you ehn and three you can’t even hug your school father.

Chai!! My life”

“No now, it’s not…” before I could complete my statement he completed

it for me.

“like that. I know oo. It’s not always like that.” he said and opened his

arms gesturing me to hug him in which I did.

“I’m just teasing you but I’m still angry oo” he said but before we could

talk further, I heard and saw someone call his name while walking up to

us.

“Daniel, the senior prefect boy is calling you” the other senior boy said.

I’m guessing it was his friend because I used to see them hanging around

together. Senior Daniel who heard this told me to go back to my hostel,

that he would see me later and immediately he followed the other boy as

they walked towards the boys hostel. I guessed he couldn’t say no to the

senior prefect since he was still a class below him so he had to leave.

 

Episode 10

On my way to the hostel, I met two senior girls who were also walking

to the hostel a stone throw away from me.

“Junior babe! Junior babe!” one of them called out.

I looked at them to see who they were calling and realized it was me so I

walked up to them and greeted them. When I did, they laughed and

insisted I say hi or hello. I didn’t know why the seniors had a big deal

with good afternoon or good evening. I guess to them it was their way of

acting ‘tush’ like Anabelle once said. They asked if I was new in the

hostel and I told them I had just arrived that afternoon. They also said

they had seen me with senior Daniel and asked if I knew him and all. I

told them that he was my school father and their face seemed to brighten

up when I mentioned it.

“So he is your school father. So what’s your name?” one of them said.

“Meso,” I replied.

“Okay Meso, my name is Onome and this is Joy,” the same senior girl

said as she pointed at the other girl.

“Okay senior Onome and senior Joy,” I replied.

“No! No! No! You don’t need to call me senior. Just call me by my

name, Onome. From now on, I will take care of you as my school

daughter. If you need anything, food, money, advice. Just meet me

okay? My room is room seventeen. So you know where to find me now.

Okay?” senior Onome said.

“Yes senior…I mean Onome.”

“Good, now you can go to the hostel, freshen up and prepare for lights

out. The senior prefect girl will be ringing the bell for that soon”

“Hmmn Onome, the school mother. You know we also observe lights

out too, we better start going to. I don’t want senior Ada to start her

madness this night.” I heard senior Joy, the other senior girl say while I

was walking away from them.

When I got to the hostel, I noticed that most of my mates were in their

towels, some already in their night gowns. I guessed they were all

preparing for lights out. I asked Anabelle what time they observed lights

out and she told me the bell was to be rang by 10:00pm every night. I

asked if there would be prep before then and she said there wouldn’t be

because it was the first week of school so I also took a shower before

changing into my nighties.

An hour later, the bell was rung for lights out. Demilade stood up from

her bed and went to put out the lights while every other person cuddled

up in their beds. A few minutes later, a senior came into the room and

when she saw everyone was on their beds, she left the room, closing the

doors behind her.

The next day, I heard the bell ring for some time and Immediately all my

mates who were sleeping stood up from their beds, rushing out and

yelling, “I’m after you! I’m after you!”. As confused as I was, I decided

to ask Anabelle why they were yelling.

“You know we take turns to have our bath and the lines for each of the

bathroom are usually long. That’s why we keep spaces oo because

sometimes some seniors even come to bounce us so that they’ll have

their bath first,” Anabelle said.

That was when I understood the reason for the yelling. I asked Anabelle

if she had found space to take her bath and she said she already kept

spaces for both of us. I thanked her and hugged her dearly. Meanwhile, I

decided to get my uniform and shoes ready. I don’t know what happened

but an image of uncle Sam flashed in my mind and I suddenly

remembered the very day my uncle took advantage of me and tears

began to roll down. I didn’t want anyone in the room to see my tears so I

tried hiding my face. Anabelle who left the room a few minutes ago

came inside again. She walked up straight to me and I tried to wipe my

tears as quickly as I could but Anabelle caught up with me. She looked

at my eyes and saw that I had been crying. She said she was going to tell

me to go and have my bath as I was after the person that was in the

bathroom at the moment but she met me crying instead. She asked why I

had been crying and I remember saying I was missing home. I didn’t

want to tell anyone about uncle Sam and I. I was too embarrassed and I

didn’t want people to think uncle Sam was a bad person. How stupid I

was. Anabelle consoled me and tried to make me laugh. She told me it

was normal to miss home and I shouldn’t be crying because I just got to

the hostel the day before. She told me it would be okay and even though

deep down I wasn’t okay, I nodded at her statement. I wasn’t okay for a

reason completely different from what she thought but I told her I was

fine and thanked her. Anabelle had always been like a young mother

even from primary school. We had been very close, sometimes people

mistook us as siblings because we did almost everything together. I told

her almost all my secrets but this was one secret I didn’t think I had the

guts to spill. Later that morning, the bell was rung for a morning

devotion which was conducted by the chapel prefect boy and girl, and

after we had our breakfast. Throughout that day, I tried as much as

possible to forget everything that was in the past, but I guess as much as

I tried to forget, the sicker I got. I just wasn’t feeling fine.

 

Episode 11

Meanwhile…..back at uncle Sam’s house

Uncle Sam’s conversation with his friend, Tunde on the phone…

“Guy! how far now?” Uncle Sam said.

“I dey oo. How you dey na?” Tunde replied.

“I’m good oo. Na wa see as you forget pesin. You go abroad, you no con

remember your guy”

“Ahn ahn! Sam! Sam! No dey talk like that na. I spoke to you like a

month ago. You know now, with work and all. I’ve been really busy. But

how you dey now? When we go receive your wedding invitation”

“See my guy!!! Talking as a married man. Na because say you marry

Chioma abi. You’re now giving me the “get married” talk. Not yet jare.”

“But guy seriously, you’re getting old oo. Your almost thirty and you’re

not even thinking about marriage. Shay you still dey follow all those

your babes.”

“No oo. Those ones are history. You won’t believe what that Cynthia did

to me. She chop my money, con waka.”

“Ehn but na you cos am. Didn’t you tell her you weren’t serious about

marriage yet.”

“Wo! E don do. I didn’t call you to give me all these talks oo. So how is

baby now and your wife?”

“They are all fine. Baby is turning one in two weeks sef”

“Are you serious? See my guy that just got married oo. Na wa oo.”

“That’s why I’m telling to start thinking about it. I mean, you’re a

successful banker, a smart guy and ripe for marriage. You’ve already

achieved a lot so why not look for a woman who will stand strong for

you. That will be your pillar. Okay see now, when I get home, I know

my wife has already prepared one of my favorite dishes. When I want to

you know, I know there is someone who won’t turn me down. She has

always been supportive with my decisions, helps me avoid mistakes….”

Sam cut in, “E don do guy!! I hear you. E be like say na this Chioma fit

you. I remember when you used to make jest of her going to church

everyday parade. Who knew you would end up with her. Bad guy! ”

“That was before oo. I’m not like that again oo. But It’s all good.”

“Yeah…okay now! I have to go, let me leave you to your “wife”. We will

talk later.”

Tunde laughs saying, “My guy!!! Okay now, we go see. Bye.”

“Yeah bye,” uncle Sam says ending the call.

Uncle Sam’s pov

“Wow, wow, wow, Tunde my guy! Who knew this man would be

happily married.” I said to myself after ending the call with Tunde, my

long time friend. I couldn’t believe that the same guy who used to mess

around with me while we were still in school could actually get married.

Back then, he used to say married men were weak men and all of a

sudden, he encourages me to settle down. Life is indeed funny. I went

into my room to take a shower. I needed to get out of my suits. As I

stepped into my room, the image of Meso flashed through my mind. I

never stopped thinking about her and all that happened that day. I felt

bad that I hurt her but I still wanted to be with her. The more I thought

about her, the more I desperately wanted to see her. I shook it off my

mind and told myself that she was in the hostel. It wasn’t possible to see

her like I used to. I was even sure she would probably not want to see

me if I did visit her. I knew she was still mad.

Meso’s pov

Two weeks later, we had a guest speaker who came to talk to all the

students in the school concerning sex education.

“All boys and girls!!! Move to the multipurpose hall,” the senior prefects

said as they entered each class.

I needed to use the washroom so I left with Anabelle who decided to

follow me. When I got in, I shut the door behind while Anabelle stood

outside, waiting for me. As I pulled down my panties, I checked to see if

I was on my period. I had intentionally worn a sanitary pad that morning

because I was expecting my monthly flow but to my surprise, It was as

clean as I had put it on. I didn’t think it was a big deal since the day

wasn’t over and so I took a pee and left the washroom to join Anabelle

outside. As we got to the multipurpose hall, we took our seats where

other junior students sat and a few minutes the speaker came up to the

podium. She started by introducing herself before proceeding to the talk

of the day. She spoke on a lot of issues relating to sex and even though it

was something that was repeated often, she said something that struck

me. She mentioned things regarding unprotected sex, unwanted

pregnancy, rape and that was when my hears decided to listen. When she

started talking on unprotected sex, I recalled the day uncle Sam raped

me. I remembered he didn’t use a condom and that was when I wished I

would instantly fall down and die. I wanted to run mad. My eyes began

to fill with tears. It meant I was pregnant. That explained everything.

Why I hadn’t seen my period. Why I was always weak. I didn’t know

what to do as I was seated there. I stood up from my seat and decided to

take permission from the senior to let me leave the hall but she told me

to remain seated since the program was about to end. When I sat down,

Anabelle who had been sitting beside me asked if I was okay. I nodded

and pretended like there was nothing wrong. She said, “Okay” and went

back to listening to the speaker while I kept on trying to remain calm.

Who would I talk to? What will I tell them? Just when I was thinking of

all this.

The program came to an end and the lady speaker announced that If

anyone needed advice or anything of some sort to see her after the

program. In my mind, I debated whether to see her or not and concluded

that I wasn’t going to. I didn’t want anyone to know. They would have to

tell my parents and the whole school would find out. I would bring

shame to everyone. I couldn’t risk it. As the students marched out of the

hall to their various classes, I told Anabelle that I would see her in class

and ran to the washroom. I entered into one of the vacant spots and shut

it behind me. I cried my eyes out. I cried in silence so that I wouldn’t be

heard. I couldn’t believe that I was going to have a child for my uncle.

 

Episode 12

I kept on crying in silence until I could cry no more. I just sat there on

the toilet seat and stared into space for as long as five minutes until I

heard the sound of the siren which indicated long break was over. I

heard two other girls come into the washroom so I wiped my face with

my uniform, stood up from the seat, flushed the toilet and came out

pretending like I had just used the toilet. I found out that the girls were

jss2 girls and not my set mates. I went over to the sink, washed my

hands and headed for my class.

When I got to the class, I found Anabelle sitting on her chair and reading

a book so I went over and took my seat beside her. When I sat down, she

looked at me and gave a puzzled look. I looked at her hoping she

wouldn’t start with her questionnaires, then I asked why she was staring

that way.

“What took you so long?” she asked

I told her that I had a running stomach and she believed without asking

further questions. We had Introductory Technology and so Mr. Alabi

walked in, which shut everyone’s mouth. All through class, I was just

thinking and thinking, I didn’t know what I would do next. If there was

anyone I was going to speak to about the child in my womb, it would be

uncle Sam since he caused it all. I needed to act fast and prevent my

tummy from growing bigger so people wouldn’t suspect. I had heard

when other seniors talked about how some students had been expelled

for getting pregnant. I didn’t want my case to be that way. I am so sure

that throughout that day, I panicked a lot. My heart was pounding and I

didn’t think it would reduce. School ended and the boarders left school

for the hostel while the day students went to their various homes.

When I got to the hostel, I went straight to the room, took off my shoes,

put my school bag aside and layed on my bed without taking my

uniform off. On a normal day, I would have taken it off, washed it and

possibly taken a shower but I was in no mood to do all that. In fact, I

was very weak. I felt sick thinking about everything all over again. In

my mind, I was hoping I wasn’t pregnant and that I was getting it all

wrong. I forced myself to sleep until I heard the bell ring for dinner.

When I got to the dining hall, I almost felt like throwing up because of

the strong smell the yam and egg possessed which was supposed to be

our dinner. I thought the egg smelled rotten and so I instantly lost my

appetite. I decided to go back to the hostel and prepare for prep since it

was immediately after dinner. We usually had prep in school and so I

got my things ready and without waiting for anything or anyone, I left

the hostel for school. I got into my class, went straight to the back and

sat on one of the chairs. A few minutes later, senior Daniel walked in. I

was surprised because I didn’t think anyone would guess I was already in

school.

“What are you doing here all alone? Waiting for your boyfriend abi” he

said as he walked up to me and took the seat in front of me. I’m pretty

sure he was trying to make me laugh or smile but I just shook my head

and told him I decided to come early for prep. He said he had asked

after me at the girls hostel and was told that they hadn’t seen me until he

found someone who told him she had seen me going towards school

with my school bag. I didn’t mention not having dinner because he

would be upset with me and try to get me to eat something. He was a

nice senior but I just wasn’t in the mood to talk to him. He saw that I

gave him straight answers when he asked questions and didn’t smile at

his joke so he asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine, just tired and

again he believed me so he came closer and hugged me. I already got

used to hugging senior Daniel and so I hugged him back. I actually felt

good hugging him. It reduced all of the tension and pain I was feeling at

that moment. I actually felt loved but he was another person I wasn’t

willing to share my secret with.

“I love you, my baby!” he finally said and let go of me. He told me to try

to balance school and get enough rest so I wouldn’t feel tired and weak

all the time. I nodded and held back the tears that were already forming

in my eyes. Why couldn’t I tell anyone about the real pain that I was

going through. I wanted to scream and tell someone that I was being

abused by uncle but I just couldn’t. He stood up when we heard other

students voices and told me he would see me after prep.

During prep, I was asked to jump by my school mother, senior Onome,

who caught me putting my head on the table to sleep several times. She

always tried to make sure I wasn’t wasting my time during prep and so

whenever I was caught doing something else other than studying, she

made sure she punished me for it. I was really feeling sleepy and tired

but she wouldn’t understand any of that and so I kept jumping until I was

able to stay awake a few minutes before prep was over. When we got to

the hostel, I went straight into the bathroom, washed my uniforms, took

a shower and went straight to sleep. I didn’t even talk to any of mates

throughout that night, including Anabelle.

Uncle Sam’s pov

It was a Friday morning and I was too tired to stand up and prepare for

work. I had slept late thinking of what to say when I eventually call the

girls hostel to speak with Meso. I had collected the hostel information

from my brother’s wife so I could contact my Meso. I needed to talk to

her because since the night of my misbehavior, I hadn’t felt peace. I

needed to hear her voice. I needed her sincere forgiveness. I was quite

shocked that she hadn’t said a word to anybody because I thought that

would be the case but I already had a feeling she wasn’t going to spill.

Later that Friday afternoon, I got home early and the first thing I did was

dial the hostel number. It started ringing and before I knew it, a woman

answered;

“Hello? Riverdale girls hostel, how may I help you” the lady on the

other end of the line said.

“Good afternoon, my name is Sam, Meso’s…I mean Mesonma’s uncle.

Please, I would like to speak with her”

“Do you mean Mesonma Okojie?”

“Yes please”

“Okay, please hold on. Let me get her”

“Alright thank you”

After about three minutes waiting, I heard my Meso’s voice;

“Hello?” she said.

“Hello, Meso. It is Sam. How are you?”

“I’m fine, uncle Sam”

“How’s school?”

“fine”

“And the hostel? Hope you’re coping?”

“Uncle Sam, there’s something you need to know,” when she said this, I

suddenly became anxious to know what was up.

“Meso, what is it?” I asked.

“uncle Sam, I can’t tell you on the phone.”

“You can’t tell me on the phone? why?” I asked squeezing my face. “Did

anyone hurt you? Because I’ll come over to your school right now and

give them a warning”

“No, uncle Sam. It’s worse than that. Please just come to school right

now.”

“Meso, are you okay? what’s wrong? I’ll be there in a few minutes okay?

Please just be okay for me. I’m coming,” I said as she replied with an

okay before dropping the call.

What could be wrong with Meso? I thought. I didn’t understand because

it was Meso who barely wanted to see my face and now she insisted I

drive down to her school. Has she told someone about what happened

between us? Is this some sort of plan? Something doesn’t seem right. I

finally told myself that it wouldn’t get up to that extent. I called her and

not the other way round so there was no possibility of her snitching on

me. I took up courage and decided to drive down to her hostel.

When I got there, I greeted the security officers that were at the gates

and told them I was there to see Meso. One of them went inside and

came out in about two minutes with a woman. I was still standing at the

gate because they said they weren’t allowed to let unexpected visitors

walk in. I greeted the lady and told her I was there to see Meso so she

took me to her office and told me to have a seat.

Meso’s pov

That Friday morning, I had decided to call uncle Sam and tell him about

my situation. I didn’t want to keep shut and allow my tummy grow

bigger while I was still in the hostel. After school that Friday, I decided

to call him after our afternoon siesta, an hour of the day when every

student was to be in bed, sleeping and just resting. I was going to tell

him about my pregnancy but not long into our siesta, one of the young

house mothers called for me. I went into her office and she pointed at the

landline phone that was on the table, saying my uncle was on the line. It

was at the corner of the room, the spot where one was to answer calls

from home so I approached the table and picked it up.

“Hello?” I had said before uncle Sam revealed himself. He asked about

my well-being and school and all in which I replied but I decided to

bring up what I had planned on telling him but I couldn’t talk freely

because one of the house mothers was still in the office with me. So I

told him he needed to come to school. I made it known to him that it was

urgent and so he said he would be in school soon before responding and

dropping the phone. I stood up from the chair I had been sitting on,

greeted the house mother with a thank you before leaving. Not long

after, she came to call me again and this time as I got into the office, I

saw uncle Sam in his corporate clothes sitting on the chair in front of the

house mother’s desk. I falsely smiled at him while he stood up to hug

me. The house mother then said I was excused to talk to him since I

knew him while she left the office to give us some privacy. Immediately,

without beating about the bush, I told uncle Sam that I was pregnant. I

told him that I hadn’t seen my period for the past two weeks and I wasn’t

feeling normal. I told him I got irritated easily and didn’t have the

appetite for the meal we were being served at the hostel.

When he heard this, I could tell from his eyes that he was shocked. He

put his palm on his mouth and shook his head. He was disappointed. I

even almost burst into tears because I knew this wasn’t a small issue.

Despite it all, I still saw my uncle Sam as the man I loved like my father

but more like an elder brother, that was why I didn’t want to tell anybody

because I knew he would be in so much trouble. He told me it was going

to be okay and that we would try to get rid of the baby. At first, I

objected and didn’t hesitate to show how scared I was but he calmed me

down and kept on saying it would be okay. He hugged me and I hugged

him back, the man who had hurt me and gotten me pregnant at this stage

of my life.

 

Episode 13

The same house mother later came in and uncle Sam asked her if I could

be taken home. The house mother told him that students weren’t just

allowed to leave the hostel but immediately she said that, uncle Sam told

her that I wasn’t feeling fine and needed to see our doctor and made up

an excuse that he hoped would work. When he said this, the young

house mother looked at me and asked why I didn’t go to the sick bay and

I lied. I told her I had been going to the sick bay but still hadn’t felt

better. I was beginning to get scared that she wasn’t going to

allow me leave with uncle Sam until she said;

“It’s okay, let me just write your exeat and get big mummy (referring to

the eldest house mother) to sign for you so you can show the security

officers at the gate. I’ll be back sir.” before leaving the office.

I glanced at uncle Sam who was probably staring at me all along. He

was definitely not happy with the whole situation but I was the damaged

one, the victim, which meant it was worse for me. In less than five

minutes, the house mother came in and handed the exeat to uncle Sam,

telling me to go pack my things before leaving with my uncle. I went up

to pack the books and assignments I would be needing for that weekend.

There wasn’t much to pack and so I locked my locker and gave

Annabelle the keys, letting her know that I wasn’t going to be around for

the weekend. As expected, she started asking questions and asking if I

was okay. I didn’t want to explain anything just yet so I let her know that

we would talk when I got back and hugged her before exiting the room

to join my uncle at the hostel office.

When I got into the office again, my uncle looked up and saw me so he

stood up, thanked the house mother and we both left the office. When

we got to the gates, my uncle handed them the exeat and so we were

allowed to pass the gates. But before we left, he reached into the pockets

of his trouser and handed them some change. They were very happy and

so they thanked him until we were out of sight. I got into uncle Sam’s car

as he started the engine before driving off. In the car, it was as silent as a

graveyard until uncle Sam broke the silence.

“Meso, I’m sorry for what I’m putting you through….I still regret all that

I did. I promise it won’t happen again. I know that you didn’t mention it

to anybody that’s why I’m so grateful. I sincerely love you. Don’t worry,

I’ll fix this”

When he stopped talking, I didn’t even mutter a sound. I just kept mute

because honestly I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t hate him, as much I

thought this situation would cause me to.

“Am I forgiven?” he said facing me and trying to smile.

I nodded my head, still not finding any reason to reciprocate his crooked

smile. When he saw this, he focused back on the wheels and road. I saw

his hands shaking as he steered the wheel. I was a bit scared that my

parents would call the hostel and possibly find out that I had left with

uncle Sam because my curious mum would want to know why they

weren’t informed.

In no time, we were at his house and immediately we got in, he asked if

I was hungry. I nodded and he went straight to the kitchen to fetch

something for me. I was truly hungry as I hadn’t eaten properly for the

past days due to my loss of appetite at the sight or smell or the hostel

food. I managed to eat the rice and stew he had warmed up for me.

While eating, I watched him from the dinning table talking to someone

on the phone and walking around. He seemed to be on the phone for a

while before he ended the call, then came up to me and said;

“Meso, I just spoke to the doctor, we will be leaving the house first thing

in the morning so that we can be at the hospital on time for our

appointment, okay?”

I just nodded. I don’t remember saying more than three sentences that

night before heading to the room to rest. As I sat on the bed, I thought

about so many things, from the child in my womb to the man(my uncle)

in the other room, to my family back at home. I became so scared of

what I would have to face if I had to raise a child at that age. That night,

I tried sleeping but I couldn’t. I kept on rolling on the bed and feeling

very uncomfortable. It was also hot because there was no light and so

the fans and air conditioners weren’t switched on. And I guessed uncle

Sam had forgotten to switch on the generator.

I finally stood up and decided to get water from the kitchen as I was very

thirsty. I managed to find my way even with the darkness, through the

moonlight reflection coming from the windows. As I got to the kitchen, I

took a pure water bag from the fridge and made my way out when I

suddenly ran into uncle Sam. He said he had come to check up on me

and apologized for the darkness and heat as he had forgotten to get fuel

earlier that day. I told him I couldn’t sleep and was thirsty, that was why

I was up and out of my bed, and so he offered me to come to his room as

his wasn’t as hot. I showed a little hesitation and he looked at me and

said he promised he wouldn’t do anything in which I believed and so I

followed him back to his room. Funny enough, as I laid on the bed for

about five minutes, I found myself falling into a deep sleep that I hadn’t

been able to in days. I remember uncle Sam who laid beside me,

watching me until my eyes were closed.

 

Episode 14

The next morning, I woke up in the arms of uncle Sam. I hadn’t realized

we had cuddled up while sleeping. I slowly moved away from him but

as soon as I got up, he woke up. He looked at the wall clock just

opposite him and jumped up. I knew we were already running late for

the appointment. He told me to quickly take a shower while he also gets

ready and so I left to other room where I was supposed to have stayed

for the night. I only had the shorts and shirt I had brought with me,

which I wore on Saturday mornings in school for our morning exercise.

Anyway, I took a shower and got dressed. In no time, we were done and

ready to leave the house, so he locked the doors behind and we drove off

to the hospital. When we got to the hospital, I looked around lost,

knowing that it wasn’t the same hospital my parents usually brought I or

Meso to whenever we needed to see the doctor. We got into the

reception and uncle Sam told the nurse about our appointment before she

asked us to take a seat in the waiting room. I looked around really

nervous and I guess uncle Sam noticed it because he looked at me, and

held my right hand. I swallowed and tried to hide the fact that I was as

scared, nervous and whatever you could call a state that was scary and

unexplainable. I was scared that I was going to have an abortion which I

hadn’t really heard pleasant things about. Something I had never thought

I would ever do. I was pretty young to understand a lot about what was

going on, what to do or say so I went with the flow hoping that I would

be leaving the hospital without being pregnant. My heart was pounding

because nobody knew any of this except uncle Sam and I…….and maybe

the doctor and nurses soon.

At that point, I didn’t even care what the doctor or any of the nurses

would think of me. I was so embarrassed with the whole situation, I just

wanted it to be over. I wanted to burst out and just cry like the baby I

was. I saw the sadness in uncle Sam’s face. I saw the anger in his eyes.

He was definitely angry with himself but it didn’t look like it, only I

could tell, so I thought to myself. After about five more minutes, a nurse

came up with a file in her hands and called uncle Sam’s name so we both

stood up and followed the nurse behind as she led us to the doctor’s

office. She knocked, opened the door and let us go in before shutting the

door and leaving us to the doctor.

“Good day Sam Sam, how are you?” he said as he stood up to shake

uncle Sam.

“Samo! Doctor, Mr. Samuel Adekunle! Nice to see you again. You

know ever since You became a doctor, I haven’t called your nickname in

ages. Ahh Samo! Nice to see you. Nice to see you.” uncle Sam replied.

The way they laughed, talked and exchanged words got me thinking that

they were long time friends.

“This is my niece, Mesonma and Meso this is Samuel, my long time

friend.” uncle Sam said introducing us to each other.

I fake smiled at him and greeted him before he asked us to take our

seats.

“Mesonma, your uncle here already told me about everything so I’ll just

ask you a few questions before you take the pregnancy test. Don’t worry,

I know you’re nervous but it will be okay.” the doctor said with a warm

but professional look.

I looked at uncle Sam before I nodded, I can’t remember why. The

doctor started with his questionnaire, from when last did I see my period

to how I had been feeling lately. I answered him as accurately as I could

before he asked if I was ready to take the test. And when I told him I

was ready, he took up the landline on his desk and phoned someone who

was probably the nurse that was to help me with taking the test. In like a

minute or two, we heard a knock on the door and a nurse came in. Then

the doctor asked me to follow her to take the pregnancy test.

Uncle Sam’s pov

As I watch Mesonma leave the office, I looked at Samuel who looked at

me with a not so pleasing eyes. I knew what he was going to say next.

“Twelve years old Sam, ahn ahn, You no even try oo. Your niece again.”

“It’s okay now Samuel, I didn’t say you should start making me feel

worse than I already feel. I know I was very wrong and I shouldn’t have

done what I did but it has already happened. Thanks man for this though.

I appreciate.”

“Honestly, don’t thank me because I’m really disappointed oo. Look at

the kind of risk you’re putting me into. If not because of our friendship, I

would never have agreed to such. Do you know what all these mean.

Getting a small girl pregnant and asking me to help you with an

abortion. Common Sam, you’re better than this. You need to change

your ways oo.”

“Boss, I don hear you.”

We didn’t converse for too long before Meso came in with the same

nurse she left with. And as Meso took her seat beside me again, the

nurse gave Samuel, the doctor a file she had been holding.

Meso’s pov

As the nurse handed the file to the doctor, I sat down in suspense waiting

to hear the results of my test. My eyes were fixed on the doctor and the

file. The doctor waved for the nurse to leave and so as she left, he

opened the file and after about a minute, he looked at me and said;

“Mesonma, you’re not pregnant.”

 

Episode 15

As the doctor said I wasn’t pregnant, I opened my eyes in shock and then

sighed in relief. I wanted to express how happy I was but not in front of

the men with me. I looked at uncle Sam who looked like he had just

managed to escape death. I was so happy I didn’t know what to say. I

finally muttered a “thank you Jesus” before turning to the doctor and

saying a ‘thank you’. He just smiled at me and told me it was all the

result. He explained to us that I had something called Pseudocyesis, the

belief that I was expecting a child when really I wasn’t. He also said this

belief caused me to have symptoms of pregnancy as It was a

psychological effect. Because I knew the signs and symptoms of

pregnancy and assumed I was pregnant, I began to have actual

symptoms of pregnancy. He mentioned a lot more that got uncle Sam

and I overwhelmed but relief at the same time.

After a while, uncle Sam thanked the doctor and exchanged a few more

words before we left the office. As we got into the car, Uncle Sam

looked at me as I was seated beside him. He smiled at me, saying how

happy he was and apologized for everything over again. I smiled,

nodding at him. He said I hadn’t said much since I got back from school

and asked if I was hungry. Without even giving me a chance to reply he

said;

“I’m sure you’ll be so hungry, let’s go and get something okay?”

I just nodded as he drove off to a restaurant where we got a takeaway

package and headed for his house. As we got home, I went straight into

the room after saying a thank you which when I look back, I ask myself

why I did so. I thought of home and wondered if they had tried to reach

me. I knew that if my parents eventually found out I was with uncle

Sam, he would cook up something to say. All I needed was to think of

the whole lie I was going to tell Anabelle.

That Saturday evening, uncle Sam asked If I was ready to go back to

school and I said yes. We were supposed to leave the next day but I had

told him that I wanted to go back to school and catch up with a lot of

things. We left the house and got to school in no time but just before I

got down from the car, he brought out some 500 naira notes from his

wallet. He stretched his hands towards me, gesturing. I didn’t want to

collect it but he insisted I collected it, so taking it and putting it inside

my school bag, I thanked him and headed for the hostel gate.

As soon I as got in, I signed in and went up to my room. The first person

I saw was Anabelle who screamed and ran to hug me. I was so happy to

see her even though it wasn’t up to a day since I last saw her. My other

mates also ran to hug me, welcoming me and asking a lot of questions. I

just gave them one excuse and they didn’t ask further. Anabelle hugged

me one more time and asked if I was okay. I told her I was fine and

mentioned the same excuse I gave the rest. I really made up my mind not

to tell anyone even Anabelle, my very close friend. We talked and later

that night, did our assignments together during prep. She even

mentioned that senior Daniel had been looking for me. I actually

couldn’t wait to see him.

The next day, we all got up as we heard the morning bell to prepare for

church as all the declared Christians were to meet up at the school’s

chapel by 9:45am. We usually had breakfast early on Sundays so I and

Anabelle finished our meal on time and headed for the school’s chapel.

When we got there, we decided to sit down while we waited for the

service to begin. There were a few students in the chapel as well and I

thought I saw senior Daniel but it turned out it wasn’t him. I was looking

around to see if I would sight him but he was nowhere to be found so I

turned to face Anabelle who had been ranting over and over about

random things. When the service was over, I was walking with Anabelle

back to the hostel when I heard someone call my name. I looked back

and saw that it was the errand boy, the same junior boy senior Daniel

sent to me whenever he wanted to pass a message. He told me I was

called by senior Daniel who was at his usual spot waiting for me. I

looked at Anabelle when he said this and she gave me the gesture that I

could leave and so she said to meet her at the hostel. The junior boy

went his way while I went to look for senior Daniel. As I got towards the

quiet place I usually met with him, I could see him leaning on the tree as

usual and just playing with a stick or so.

As he looked up and saw me, he smiled at me warmly but then squeezed

his face. I was trying to figure out what he would say this time. I got

closer and we hugged before he asked;

“what took you so long?”

“I came immediately now,” I said to him smiling.

“Why can’t I just get mad at you. You’ll be deceiving someone with your

charms.” he replied rolling his eyes jokingly.

“I’m sorry now”

“Don’t mind me. I was just pulling your legs.”

“I hope you’re fine, this one that you’re always looking skinny. Ehen!

when I asked Anabelle to call you for me when I wanted to speak with

you. She told me you weren’t around. Where did you go?”

“Oh! I went home.”

“Home? Why? Was something wrong? I know, I’m asking too many

questions.”

I gave him the same excuse and he believed me. We talked for a while

and then he said he had to go. He handed me a nylon that was quite

heavy and when I opened it to check what was inside, they were filled

with cookies and Lucozade. I asked why he had fetched all of this and he

said;

“You that if they should touch, you’ll just break. I know you complained

that you were feeling weak the night I spoke to you so I went to get this

to give you strength like mine, I got them from the tuck shop so don’t

worry,” he said, winking at me.

I just smiled and thanked him before saying our goodbyes as I headed to

my hostel.

 

Episode 16

Three weeks later…..

Life went on as usual, assignments to do, tests to read for, calls from

home and even uncle Sam. Believe it or not, I took life like nothing

serious had happened before. I let go of the past, not that I forgot or

wasn’t still hurt but it wasn’t as hurtful as I imagined it would be. As

long as I wasn’t pregnant or ill and no one knew about it, It didn’t bother

me. I was just fine, so my young mind made me believe anyway. I still

got to see senior Daniel at our usual spot who just always made me

happy. At least, he still had one more year to spend before leaving

secondary school. I would really miss him and all his caring and loving

features, I kept telling myself. I was even closer to him than I was to my

school mother.

Speaking of my school mother, senior Onome. She called me one

evening after prep and told me to come arrange some things in her room.

As much as I hated going to seniors’ room, I obeyed. When I got to her

room, she pointed at a heap clothes on her bed and asked me to fold

them neatly and put in her locker. I really hated her that moment as I

was doing an assignment with Anabelle. Anyway, I started folding the

clothes and I noticed they weren’t the normal type of clothes you would

expect students to have with them in the hostel. They were fancy and

actually pretty. I saw some dresses that got me looking for the hand and

some I thought were smaller than her size. While I was arranging, I

slowly chipped into senior Onome’s conversation with her other friends.

They were talking about parties and boys and what not, not that I really

wanted to hear it but their voices weren’t as low either. I heard one of the

seniors say something about ‘doing it’. Although I didn’t understand at

first, I knew what she meant when she said some other things. She was

talking about how much she enjoyed her first time with a married man

and this time, my eyes opened with shock. But as shocked as I was, I

made sure it wasn’t obvious that I heard. She mentioned some other

things about how she gets money from them just by having sex with

them, calling it ‘a small thing’. Not only did she say married men, but our

school teachers. I could remember her mentioning Mr. Pete, one of the

science teachers. The man had always been a pervert anyway. They went

on and on with topics like this and I could see them jumping up and

being all excited. Senior Onome and the other senior wanted to try all

the things the other girl had been saying so they were too engrossed in

their topic to notice that I was done with the clothes. As I was about to

leave, senior Onome finally noticed and called me back.

“Ehen Mesonma! Did I tell you to leave? Am I done with you?” senior

Onome spoke out.

I shook my head not saying a word.

“I hope you didn’t hear anything. If you open this your mouth to say

anything about us ehn. You’ll know how far. Get out.”

I ran out of the room not looking back. I couldn’t believe my ears. I

always knew things like this occurred in school but it was just my first

time hearing it from the executors themselves. I didn’t forget it instantly

as I thought about all they were saying. They made everything seem so

right. I mean my mates were already having boyfriends with boys even

their seniors and doing things that you wouldn’t imagine them do. The

seniors even did worse and some teachers were even involved. I just

came to think that it wasn’t bad after all. I thought it was a normal thing

and so I didn’t see it as something wrong even though Anabelle still saw

it as something not right.

The next Saturday, my uncle with Esther came to see me. He had said

Esther really wanted to see me. And since my parents weren’t able to

bring her, he had offered to bring her as he also missed me. Remember I

made mention that I was no longer angry with my uncle. I was actually

happy to see him. I talked and played with Esther until it was time for

them to go home which got both of us really sad. Uncle Sam told Esther

to wait for him in the car while he spoke to me for a while.

“Can I sit at the front now uncle Sam?” Esther asked.

“For now, just sit there but you know when I come, you’ll have to sit at

the back”

“Okay…,” Esther replied with a sad face. She always wanted to sit at the

front but they never allowed because she wasn’t always behaved. And

she could be a distraction to the person driving even though children

under twelve weren’t advised to sit at the front.

Anyway, in order not to digress, I spoke to uncle Sam for a while and he

asked about school and everything in general. Saying he couldn’t wait

for me to come home for the break. He mentioned how much he loved

me and I told him I loved him too. Despite the fact that he did what he

did to me in the past, I still thought he was very loving and caring. He

fed me with a lot of things that I enjoyed hearing. Things that I didn’t

hear often. This was my uncle but it started to feel like he wasn’t. It felt

different, more like a boyfriend. Yes, very stupid of a thought especially

because I was still so young and he was my uncle but it felt that way.

Maybe because I wanted to feel what my other mates said they felt with

their boyfriends or maybe it was just because of the situation and the

way my uncle was. I really couldn’t tell. I hugged him when we were

done talking and went back to my hostel.

Now this was when things got. After the term’s exams, we were usually

supposed to stay in school a week before going on our holiday. I guess it

was because they wanted to finish compiling our results for us to have

them before going home. Some people lived in other states and very far

from school so it was more convenient.

On a very calm night, just two days before school was to close for the

break. I was returning from where I went to meet senior Daniel when I

saw some other senior boys at the extreme end of the uncompleted

admin building calling out to me. Initially I thought they were saying

something else or calling someone else but I noticed it was me when I

saw that there was no one else around. I did like I didn’t hear because

they didn’t look like they were in their right senses and I knew that

corner wasn’t safe either. I kept walking hoping that they wouldn’t call

out again but I was wrong. They all walked up to me and grabbed me

scolding me for not answering but it didn’t end there. They dragged me

to the uncompleted building even when I was shouting for them to let

me go. I struggled and struggled and hoped it wasn’t what I thought they

wanted to do to me. These boys didn’t even look like high school boys

even though they were. They were big boys who looked drunk of some

sort.

I kept struggling and started screaming when I saw one of them

fumbling with his belts and trouser. I screamed and screamed thinking

this would be another case of rape. I couldn’t and wasn’t ready to go

through it again. I almost bit the one pressing me to the ground but he

realized on time and removed his hands. The two boys kept on telling

the one pressing me down to be fast. At that point, I was ready to give

up but I kept screaming and not long after senior Daniel came to my

rescue. I guess he had just been leaving our spot when he heard me

scream. Immediately senior Daniel got to where we were, two of the

boys ran away. The other one who was pressing me to the ground was

too slow as senior Daniel punched him in the face. He kept punching

him and I could see the anger in his eyes. That was the first time I saw

him very serious and angry. I began to get scared for the boy so I started

pleading for him. I told senior Daniel to let him go as I was okay now

but he didn’t even listen to me. He kept beating him up even as I kept

pleading. I could see blood on his face and how weak the boy was

getting until he was too weak to even move.

 

Episode 17

When senior Daniel saw the boy was so weak, he finally left him and

stretched his hands towards me. At this point, I became really scared. I

don’t know if I was scared that the boy senior Daniel just beat was

probably dead or because I had never seen senior Daniel in that state. I

hesitated because I knew he meant I should hold his hands but he

grabbed it anyway and we left the scene with the boy still lying on the

floor. As we were leaving, I looked back to see if he was going to move

and when I heard him cough, I became a little calm. At least, he was still

alive, so I thought.

That night things became even worse, there was so much noise in the

hostel. Boys and girls were all screaming and I couldn’t understand why.

I already left senior Daniel for my hostel so I was in my room talking

with Anabelle and telling her all that happened that night. The noise

became louder so we decided to go out and find out the reason. When

we got out, we realized almost everyone was leaving the hostel for the

hall so we joined them and not long after, we heard someone ring the

bell and shout; “All girls! Move to the dining hall.” Then, we knew it

was an announcement as It was already past dinner time. I began to hope

it wasn’t because of the encounter I had with the senior boys and Daniel.

When we got to the dining hall and everyone was settled. The house

master spoke up by greeting us first and then going right into the

message. He said someone was in serious condition as he was beaten up

by one of the students. This time, I knew it was because of what had

happened. He mentioned that the student was unconscious for a while

but was now conscious and being taken care of in the school’s clinic. He

said so many things but didn’t mention the reason behind it. He only

advised every student to be aware that there would be a serious

consequence for a student who is involved in a fight. He also said that if

someone else does wrong, we don’t have the right to beat them up but

report instead. I knew senior Daniel was in big trouble. After the

message, all students were asked to leave for their hostels except me

who was told to wait behind.

After all the students were dismissed, they took me to the hostel office

where I saw senior Daniel and the boys that almost raped me except the

boy senior Daniel had beaten. We were spoken to for a while and then

asked to write a statement. We were told that the principal had already

heard about the incident and would take it up tomorrow. I was so sad

that everything had become so serious. I wished all that happened never

did. I was sad because someone had been hurt and there was a

possibility that senior Daniel would be punished. After we were done

with our statements, they told us to leave for our hostels, I couldn’t even

talk to senior Daniel.

When I got to the hostel, I told Anabelle why I was told to wait behind

and she just hugged me, hoping that everything would be okay by the

next day. We packed our luggage that night as we were to close for the

holiday the next day and when we were done, went to bed. I really

hoped that tomorrow wouldn’t be a rough day due to the incident.

 

Episode 18

The next day at school, the siren went off for our morning assembly. I

was certain that assembly was going to be long as it was the last day of

school and the incident that happened last night was going to be talked

about. After our normal activity on the assembly, the principal walked to

the front of the students for the usual announcement but with a very

stern look. She cleared her throat before speaking and then brought up

the incident that happened the night before. She said basically

everything the house master had said that night and said the boys were

not going to go scot free. I wasn’t mentioned because I was just a victim

but they did mention that a girl was almost raped by them. Senior Daniel

unluckily wasn’t going to go unpunished either for beating up someone

to an unconscious state.

The three boys who had almost raped me were expelled while senior

Daniel was suspended. They were all called out by the angry principal

and flogged by the strictest teacher in our school, Mr. Alabi.

Assembly that morning got some looking very excited, some looking

very serious and the rest unhappy. The principal made mention that

anyone who committed an offence like them or even close would also

not go unpunished. I was so sad for senior Daniel because I knew it was

all because of me. I started feeling very guilty. If only he had just left the

boy when he was still very much okay, this wouldn’t happen. I needed to

talk to him but I couldn’t get hold of him because they were all taken to

the principal’s office after. The drums began for us to match back to our

classes.

Later that day, Anabelle left school for her house as her parents’ driver

had come to pick her up and a few minutes later, I was told that my

uncle was waiting to pick me up. I was actually expecting my parents to

come for me but anyway, I was happy I was finally going home. Even

though I wasn’t as happy as I thought I would be, because of the case of

senior Daniel, there was nothing I could do. The principal had called me

earlier and spoken to me about the whole situation, consoling me and

being thankful to God that senior Daniel came on time even though he

still ended up doing something wrong. I was pushed to say that senior

Daniel be left alone since he was only trying to help but I couldn’t

because he wasn’t supposed to overly react and beat someone almost to

death.

Anyway, I went to meet uncle Sam who was waiting for me at the hostel

gate. He smiled when he saw me even though I felt it didn’t look

genuine, He hugged me and told me to go bring my luggage. After I was

down with my luggage, I signed out of the hostel and drove off with

uncle Sam. The uncle Sam I knew didn’t say much while we were in the

car. I was tempted to tell him all that had happened but I kept quiet as

the atmosphere didn’t seem like it was convenient enough. When we got

to my house, excited to see Esther and my parents (that is, if they would

have been back from work), I jumped out of the car. I went to bring out

my luggage from the trunk of the car when uncle Sam told me not to

worry as he would help me with it. I skipped happily into the house

shouting Esther’s name. I saw Frank who didn’t look so bright but

greeted him as he opened the door for me to enter. As I got in, I saw a

lot of shoes at the end of the corridor. My parents and visitors! What are

they celebrating this time around? or do they want to welcome me from

my first come back from the boarding house? I thought to myself.

When I entered the sitting room, I saw a lot of my relatives, including

the ones I barely see all looking like a bad omen was in the air. They did

not look bright at all. I greeted all of them, looking around looking for

Esther and my parents who were not in sight at all. At this point, my

smile was beginning to turn into a frown. I looked at uncle Sam who

came up behind me and asked him for Esther. He swallowed hard and

told me that Esther was in the room. Without even waiting for anything,

I slowly left them in the sitting room and walked into the room to meet

Esther with aunty Mary who was holding and consoling crying Esther. I

went up to them very quickly and confused asking the reason why she

was crying. Esther who had been crying looked up at me and hugged me

immediately. I hugged her back very tight and asked why she was

crying.

I got to find out that my parents had an accident on their way back from

the village where they went for my cousin’s wedding. They had passed

on even after they were rushed to the hospital. I couldn’t believe my ears

when I heard all of it. I kept screaming to be woken up from a bad

dream. Why must I, at that young age face such? I just didn’t know what

to do. I was about to run mad. My eyes became very watered and sore as

I cried non-stop. I kept on crying, not listening to my aunties and uncles

who were trying to console me. I kept telling them to go and bring my

daddy and mummy home. I was not ready to settle with the news I had

just heard. Why would so many things happen within a short period on

the day I was finally coming home. After counting down days to go

home with Anabelle, after senior Daniel had been expelled, another

horrible news. There was no way I was going to settle for less. I kept

trying to leave the house but they kept pulling me back.

Uncle Sam finally took me away from everyone so he could talk to me

in private. He held me close and consoled me. He told me to be strong

for my sister, Esther, as she needed me to be as strong as I could be. I

kept asking him what I did wrong for my parents to leave us behind. I

was now an orphan, barely gone anywhere in life. My parents hadn’t

seen me graduate yet, my mum hadn’t danced at my wedding like she

promised she would in future. Everything just didn’t seem right. I mean,

I did hear of deaths from other close family members. My parents even

helped in any way they could to support them but I didn’t think their

turn was going to come this soon. I was just twelve years old and my

sister still eight. It was a lie, it’s not even possible, they were still alive, I

kept telling myself. I came to accept it later on and decided to be the

strong senior sister for my younger one, Esther. Life I thought, was

useless without my parents.

 

Episode 19

Two years later

After the death of Mesonma’s parents, their relatives came to a

conclusion on who would be responsible for both Mesonma and Esther.

As much as they didn’t want them separated, Esther was to move in with

one of their aunties while Meso was to move in with uncle Sam in order

to reduce cost and reasons only known to them. Things were not so

smooth the first few months after the death of Meso’s parents because

there were a lot of changes and transition. She was separated from her

sister, separated from friends and her old life basically. She also had to

change school where she eventually lost contact with Anabelle, her close

friend and Daniel, her school father.

Meso’s pov

It was a Sunday morning and there I was in the arms of a man who I

thought I loved and cherished. Uncle Sam who had crept into my bed the

night before held me close to his chest as he kept snoring. He had made

love to me and filled my ears with nothing but love words the previous

night. This was my father’s brother. Yes! You are about to say how

wrong and filthy it is but at that point in my life, he made me as happy

as I could be. He made it seem right, so I thought anyway. When I look

back, I wish I hadn’t allowed it.

At the age of 14, I was already experiencing the things I never thought I

would at such a young age. Uncle Sam had promised to love me forever

no matter what. He had mention so many things I always wanted to hear

and he succeeded in winning my heart over with them. I was so young

yet I knew what it all meant. This was the phase of my life when I

thought I wouldn’t be able to live without my uncle.

It all started a few months back when I had been seriously down. I had

been feeling down because I felt like my world was turning upside

down. I was being bullied at school and called ugly several times. I was

missing my parents and my sister. I was never just in a good mood. This

particular Friday evening, uncle Sam came back from work and I didn’t

go out to greet him as usual. I was actually just sitting down on my bed

in my room with only a towel wrapped around my body. I sat at the edge

of my bed crying silently. I was drowned in my own thoughts that I

didn’t realize uncle Sam had been calling out for me.

I recall uncle Sam coming into my room like he had just seen a ghost.

He came and sat close to me trying to get me to say what was wrong

with me. He had said he was calling out my name but because I didn’t

answer, he decided to come check me in my room. I remember that the

stench of his breath was very discomforting. He had had a few drinks

again. Even though he wasn’t usually drunk, he wasn’t still in his full

senses. I didn’t care at that point, didn’t care about anything. I was just

very upset with life. He held me close, still insisting that I tell him what

was going on. So I finally spoke up and told him about everything. How

much I was being bullied in school, how much I missed my sister, how

much I missed my parents and how upset I was at life itself. He only

consoled me and made promises. Promises to make it up to me,

promises to always make me happy, promises to do what ever it would

take to make me see life as meaningful again.

I don’t know why this happened but it suddenly became quiet and uncle

Sam held my face, bringing his lips closer to mine. I don’t know why I

didn’t move but I let him take charge. He slowly took off my towel and

crashed into me. I didn’t struggle, didn’t object. I let him do to me

whatever he wanted. He said he loved throughout that night while he

made love to me like he would call it. Because I didn’t know the

meaning of everything, I told him I loved him back with tears rolling

down my eyes. I thought that was what love was about but deep down I

knew it didn’t feel right. My heart aches each time I remember that night

because I didn’t fight back. That was the beginning of a forbidden love.

Something that should never have been called love in the first place.

 

Episode 20

That Sunday morning, I got out of uncle Sam’s arms, leaving him

snoring on the bed. I went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I fried

some plantain and egg then boiled water for tea. I wanted to be done

before he was awake so I could serve his breakfast immediately. He

always enjoyed when his breakfast was ready before he was awake and I

had taken joy preparing it for him always. I had been draining the last set

of plantain when I felt someone from behind hold my hands that held the

plantain in the strainer. I knew it was uncle Sam so I turned to face him

before greeting him. He planted a kiss on my forehead and greeted back.

“Hmmm, Meso will not kill me with food. Who knew the small Meso of

those days could take care of a grown man like me. Why wouldn’t I be

happy?” he said smiling at me.

I only blushed and served his food on the dining table where I joined

him. We talked about a few things laughed about some until he kept

a straight face. He stared at me for a while before he said;

“Meso! I love you so much okay? I’m not going to let anything harm

you or your sister. I know so many things have happened in the past and

so many things are happening now but it’s what we call life isn’t it? Just

let me know whenever you need me. Any time you need my help, you

know where to find me Meso.”

I looked at uncle Sam for a while before saying;

“I wish Esther lived with us”

“Meso, you know the reason why Esther stays with your aunty. She is

still much younger than you are and needs guidance. Remember

everything that was explained after the meeting with everyone two years

ago. I promise that it won’t be like this forever. You will get to be with

Esther soon. They all just want you to finish your secondary school in

Lagos first. And you know all about cost as well. See…..”

At this point, uncle Sam stood up and bent down close to me. He held

me close to his chest while he consoled me as tears were already

streaming down from my eyes. He continued with his talking and

consoling until I told him I was okay and not going to cry anymore. It

became quiet for a while and I decided to ask him a question;

“Can I ask you a question?” I said to him.

“Of course! You can ask me anything.” he replied.

“Sam, when you get married, what will happen to me?”

He must have been very shocked because he paused for a while and just

before he was about to answer, he heard his phone ring so he excused

himself and stood up to get it from the room. I immediately stood up,

packed the plates and took them to the kitchen. I decided to wash the

plates, then clean the house as uncle Sam was not yet back from where

he went to get his phone. After I was done with the cleaning, I retired for

my room. As I got into my room, I heard uncle Sam call me from the

living room so I quickly went to answer him. When I got there, he was

all dressed up in a casual outfit. Before I even asked, he already said he

was going to meet up with a friend and I was surprised because It was

just 11:36am on a Sunday. Nevertheless, I didn’t ask further because I

knew he was a busy man. He brought out some naira note and told me to

use it to get anything that was needed by me or the house. He was very

fond of doing that. It was a Sunday and I wasn’t planning on going

anywhere so I told him, we didn’t need it as always but he insisted I kept

it anyway so I collected it and thanked him. As usual, he pecked me on

the lips and went out the door while I shut it close.

I got back to my room and went to take a shower and after went straight

to lay on my bed. I hadn’t been to church for over a month and I didn’t

have any reason. Uncle Sam didn’t also care as much because he always

said he wanted to spend the Sundays with me alone. Even though he

didn’t mind if I wanted to go to church, I never just did for a while. So as

laid on my bed, I thought about a lot of things. I remembered Anabelle

who used to be my close friend that I hadn’t spoken to in a while. I also

thought about Daniel, the senior who was my school father and it made

me miss them a lot. I remember I used to get in touch with Anabelle but

after a while, we lost contact. I never even spoke to Daniel after that day

he got suspended for beating up a student. I used to ask Anabelle about

him but she always told me that she hadn’t seen him in school either. I

still felt guilty because everything that happened to him was all because

of me.

 

Episode 21

I slept off while thinking of Anabelle, Daniel and my sister. When I

woke up, it was about 2:45pm so I went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Uncle Sam wasn’t back yet so instead of dishing out his food

immediately, I dished out just mine and got back to my room. After

eating and washing my plate, I decided to read since the last time I

opened my books was Friday evening. Junior WAEC was coming up

and I wouldn’t say I was very prepared but I was ready. I read for about

three hours taking little breaks until I got really tired and bored. I was so

tempted to call uncle Sam and ask when he would be returning but I just

couldn’t. He was probably busy and I didn’t want to disturb so I went out

to the street for a stroll.

I walked all the way to the end of the street and turned around to head

back home. As I was walking back home, I felt like I was been watched

which made me so uncomfortable. I looked back and saw a car slowly

driven behind me. I kept walking like I hadn’t noticed until the car pulled

up beside me. I stopped and looked to my right where the car had

stopped. I saw that I didn’t know the man who was behind the wheels so

I started walking and even picked up my pace when I saw the car still

following me. I got confused and really scared as to why I was being

followed.

On getting to the gate, I told the gateman to lock the gates as I was being

followed by someone that I didn’t know and he obeyed immediately. But

as I was heading to the door of the house, I heard a car horn. I thought

about the man in the car that I had just seen but I also remembered that

uncle Sam wasn’t back yet. I stood at the front door of the house

watching Muhammad, the gateman go out of the gate. At that point, I

knew it wasn’t uncle Sam because he easily recognized when it was

uncle Sam. I still stood there waiting and watching for what was going

to happen next. Finally, Muhammad came in and opened the gates for

the car to come in. My heart began to beat faster when I saw it was the

same car that was following me. I thought Muhammad was crazy to

have let the man inside until I saw what happened next. The man parked,

got down from his car and went over to meet Muhammad who was still

closing the gates. Then, Muhammad bowed, greeting him

and hailing him. He kept shouting “oga oga” and I couldn’t understand.

Then I heard him say “Long time, oga” and my nerves were calm. I

guessed he must be a friend of uncle Sam. They greeted each other and I

saw him give some naira notes to Muhammad.

When they were done chatting, I saw him heading to the door. By

this time, I already locked it and pretended like I hadn’t been watching

from the door. He pressed the bell and I immediately left the corner

where I had been peeping through the window. I let him press the bell

one more time before I went over to open the door. I don’t know why

Muhammad didn’t tell him that uncle Sam wasn’t around.

“Good evening sir” I said, when I opened the door.

“Good evening, fine lady.” he replied.

He looked young just like uncle Sam, if not a bit younger. He had a nice

outfit on with a breathtaking cologne. I stood there waiting for him to

say something.

“Is Sam around?” he asked but before I could reply, he continued.

“My apologies, My name is Femi, I am Sam’s friend.” he said, stretching

his hands out for a handshake.

I shook him and replied him with;

“He isn’t around. He went out since morning and isn’t back yet.”

“Oh! Wow! and do you know when he would be back?”

I shook my head and he looked really disappointed.

“I’m sorry.” I said to him, I don’t know why.

“That’s fine. It’s not your fault. I wanted to surprise him as I haven’t seen

him in a while but I guess I was in for a surprise instead. Where would

Sam go on a Sunday? Crazy man.”

“Would you like to wait?” I offered, since we had been standing at the

door for about five minutes.

“Okay, I’ll see if I can wait.” he said and I opened the door wider for him

to come in.

As he sat down, I put on the television and dropped the remote beside

him and then asked what he would like to drink.

“I’d have five bottles of beer. Ha ha! Just kidding. I’ll just have water,

thanks”

I don’t know if he found himself to be funny or charming but that was

just annoying, I thought to myself. I went in and out of the kitchen,

returning with a bottle of water and a glass cup placed in a serving tray. I

set it down on the table and served him the water.

“Thank you, fine lady.” he said and I just faked a smile.

I didn’t even find it flattering. As I was about to head back to the

kitchen, he called me and asked to keep him company. I was very

nervous and didn’t want to stay but I wanted to be nice to the guest so I

sat on the couch opposite him. He looked at me weirdly for a while

before he started with his questions. He asked a few random questions

before asking who Sam was to me. I told him he was my uncle and he

looked very surprised. He hadn’t completed the question asking how old

I was when I asked to be excused. I lied that I had left something on the

fire. Why didn’t I think of that in the first place? I don’t know why. I was

feeling really uncomfortable around him and I needed to leave his sight.

Not long after I was sitting on the kitchen stool trying to get hold of

myself, I heard him say, “Hello? Hello? Young lady?”. I knew he was

calling me as I hadn’t mentioned my name yet so I stood up and went

into the sitting room to meet him. He was on his feet and saying he had

to leave so I escorted him to the door. But before he left, he asked for

my name and I replied “Mesonma.”

 

Episode 22

Uncle Sam returned that night around 11:00pm. I had slept off on the

couch in the sitting room while waiting for him. So the time I saw him

was when I woke up in his arms while I was being carried to my room. I

remember sleepily asking why he was late and if he wanted to eat. But

he only told me not to worry and just go to bed. He placed me on my

bed, covered me with my blanket and kissed my forehead good night

before leaving my room. I must have been so tired because It wasn’t up

to five minutes when I drifted to dreamland again.

I woke up the next morning to a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. It was

that time of the month and I was feeling very moody. My bed sheet was

stained and I had to still prepare for school. I managed to stand up even

with the pain, change my sheets and got into the shower to prepare for

school. I woke up quite early so I took my time because the pain

wouldn’t even allow me go any faster. To add to my pain, I had a

terrible headache. I wasn’t just myself that morning. I tried to prepare

breakfast for I and uncle Sam since he used to leave the house at the

same time I did. When I was done with the preparation, I tried to eat but

I couldn’t eat much. I only forced myself to eat two slices of bread and a

boiled egg so I could take some drugs. I was prepared for school but

uncle Sam wasn’t out yet so I decided to go check up on him.

I knocked on his door twice and then the third time, he announced to

come in. He asked why I was knocking as he had told me I could come

in whenever I wanted. That wasn’t the case that morning as I wasn’t

even in the mood so I told him I had come to check up on him since he

wasn’t out yet. He was still in his pajamas which was surprising so I

asked why he wasn’t dressed. He told me that I had forgotten he took

two days off work. That was when I remembered he mentioned it to me

on Friday night. I wasn’t really sure why he took two days off work

because he wasn’t travelling and he didn’t look as tired as he used to be.

I told him I was ready to go to school and was about to leave when he

said to wait for him while he gets his car keys so he could drop me off. I

told him not to worry as I could take a public transport and immediately

he squeezed his face.

“I told you not to say that whenever I’m around. Can’t I take you to

school?” he said looking pissed.

I apologized, telling him that I didn’t want to disturb him and his frown

turned into a smile. He put on a hoody, picked his car keys and we left

the room together. When we got to the gate of my school, he held my

hands and whispered I love you just before I was about to get down from

the car. I smiled at him and said I loved him too before getting down

from the car. He couldn’t kiss me like he would if we were alone

because we were in public and people could easily sight us from the car.

I remembered that I hadn’t told him about his friend that came around

the previous day so I told him about the man named Femi as I was

standing beside the car. After speaking with him about his friend for a

while, I waved him off before heading to the school’s gate to sign in.

Immediately I was done signing in, I heard the bell for the morning

assembly so I quickly ran to my class which wasn’t very far to drop my

bag. After dropping my school bag, I left for the assembly ground with

the other students.

Assembly was quite long because there were a lot of announcements

especially concerning the jss3 students. The pain I felt in the morning

came back. I hated when I was on my period because no amount of

drugs ever made the pain go away permanently. I endured the pain until

we were done with the assembly. That day felt really slow and I could

not wait to go back home. I was tired and frustrated with all my classes.

We had extra hours for all our subjects so it was pretty intense due to the

coming up junior WAEC. Later in the evening, we closed two hours

after all the other students had closed. I ran out of school to catch a bus

home. It was already 5:00pm and I couldn’t wait to see uncle Sam and

spend the rest of the day with him.

When I got home, I came in through the gate and saw that two of his

cars were still parked in the compound so I knew he would be around. I

actually expected him to have come to pick me up but it wasn’t a

problem. Sometimes I preferred taking the public transport anyway,

especially when I was moody. I got in and smelt the most amazing

aroma ever. Uncle Sam must have decided to surprise me, I thought. A

smile broke on my face as I walked into the sitting room. It soon turned

into confusion as I sighted a fancy handbag laying on the couch that

definitely didn’t belong to me. Then I saw the rest of the belongings that

belonged to the stranger that I was yet to meet. I heard voices in the

kitchen as I walked into the sitting room, one that definitely belonged to

uncle Sam and a woman. I decided to drop my things first before

heading to the kitchen. So as I dropped my bags, took off my shoes, I

went straight to the kitchen.

To my greatest surprise, I saw uncle Sam wrapped around the arms of

another lady who were both resting by the kitchen sink. Nothing but

anger rushed through my veins by the sight. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

They were not only wrapped in each other’s arms but were also kissing

and laughing. As angry as I was, I spoke up since they hadn’t noticed

my presence. “Good afternoon,” I said. That was when they both looked

up and saw me standing beside the door. There were food items, both

cooked and uncooked all around the kitchen.

“Good afternoon Meso! You’re back from school.” Uncle Sam said.

I could see a lot of expressions on his face. The kind filled with guilt and

confusion.

“Meso, this is Jennifer. Jennifer this is Meso, my niece.”

He said introducing us to each other. The lady stretched out her hands

towards me for a handshake and as confused and angry I was, I shook

her hand. Immediately, she smiled and said;

“Your uncle’s fiancé. Nice to meet you dear”

I wasn’t sure I heard right when she said fiancé. I faked a smile and

glanced at uncle Sam who had also been looking at me. He must have

known what was running through my mind.

 

Episode 23

After taking my eyes off Uncle Sam with the anger that was boiling up

in me, I looked back at the lady who was standing in front of me with a

smiley face. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before she

broke the silence.

“Uhm Meso, why don’t you go and wash up, then come and have lunch.

There is enough food to get everyone really tired.” the lady said.

I didn’t want to seem rude or anything so I smiled and replied with an

“Okay” before heading back to my room. I washed up, got dressed and

decided not to go out. I was really pissed so I laid on my bed and played

with my phone. As I was playing with my phone, I got a message from

uncle Sam saying to please come outside and behave properly, that he

was going to talk to me about the whole thing later. At first, I hesitated

and wanted to be stubborn but I didn’t want his fiancé to feel like I’m

unnecessarily stubborn so I left to join them outside. She asked me to

dish out what I wanted. From the vegetable soup to the jollof rice to the

fish stew to the fried chicken. I couldn’t understand why she had to cook

this much but I went to the jollof rice pot anyway and dished out a little

portion. I was about to head out of the kitchen when she called me back

and said to take chicken and meat from the small cooler. I did as she said

and I was called back again but by uncle Sam who asked if the food was

enough for me. I let him know it was very okay for me without trying to

express any feelings or emotions, then I left the kitchen for my room. I

was hoping they wouldn’t call me to join them at the dining table since

they were going there to eat. I stayed in my room and ate my meal all by

myself. It was actually really delicious and I began to think Uncle Sam

was getting tired of my cooking. I knew he wouldn’t get married to me

but I also knew that most of the attention he had been given to me would

be given to his soon to be wife. Each time I thought about it, I became so

sad.

A month later, I felt like I was forgotten because uncle Sam barely spoke

to me or say the sweet things he always said. He didn’t sneak up on my

bed in the night like he used to or even kiss my forehead goodnight. He

was always busy, coming home later than usual and I began to get

worried. You know at a very young age, when you lose the attention that

you were once given, you feel less loved. I only consoled myself with

the fact that uncle Sam had promised to take me to Port Harcourt to see

my sister after my junior WAEC. Uncle Sam finally came to talk to me

one night about everything that was going on. He said he still loved me

but he had to get married and move on with his life like I would move

on with mine. He explained a few other things that I obviously knew and

understood but I wasn’t willing to accept the fact that he was right. I

knew he was my uncle, my late dad’s brother. In fact, I knew whatever

feelings I had for him or vice versa was absolutely wrong. But I didn’t

see it as anything anymore, not after he was the same person to take

away my virginity at a very young age. This weird feeling got weirder

every day and I got to live like that.

He announced to me one night that his wedding would be coming up in

two weeks and even though he wasn’t doing much, he wanted me to be

happy for him. I couldn’t understand what was there to be happy about.

He was getting married and I would be the one tossed into the gutter so

why was I supposed to be happy. Before his wedding, I started my junior

WAEC so I tried as much as I could to forget about him or his wedding

and what not. I made sure that my school came first this time. I suddenly

didn’t care and started digging into my books. I even started talking to

people that I never really talked to in school since I was a loner like I

was already tagged by some. I wouldn’t say I made friends but I began to

know and talk to certain people. Everything was going fine until my

uncle’s wedding eve. I slowly became sad and angry at myself and uncle

Sam. After I let him use me to fulfill his sexual pleasures, he was going

to get married and I may become his wife’s slave. I would be the one at

lost.

The next day which was a Saturday, my uncle finally got married to his

fiancé just like that. It all happened so fast I couldn’t believe it.

Surprisingly, I saw Esther, my aunty and my cousins at the wedding

even though it wasn’t a big wedding. I was surprised because they had

told me that they wouldn’t be able to make it for uncle Sam’s wedding

but I guess they really wanted to surprise me. I couldn’t stop smiling

when I saw them. I hung out with Esther who had added weight and my

cousins. They looked so bright and happy. I was happy to see them and

to see that they were really happy. Even though at the end, Esther

became really sad. She had almost cried that she missed me and our

parents. I felt really bad because I couldn’t help her.

After the wedding, they made them stay over at one of our distant

relatives’ home. They were going to be heading back to Port Harcourt

the next day. I also joined them, just to leave the newlyweds to

themselves for the night and spend some more time with my sister. I

kept smiling and trying to cheer Esther up while catching up with what’s

going on in her life. I had spoken to her few times on the phone but you

know it would be way different when in person. So we talked about a

few things and later allowed her to rest since they had to leave the next

day.

The next day, I said my goodbye with tears in eyes and hurt in my heart

as I watched them leave the house in a Taxi. It was time for me to go

back home so I was dropped off later in the evening. Thankfully I didn’t

have an exam the next day until two days later so I could rest from the

whole drama. I got home and met uncle Sam and aunty Jennifer on the

couch relaxing and watching television. Then I greeted them and went

straight into my room.

In order to cut things short, three weeks later, I ended my junior WAEC.

I had just Lagos state exams left. By this time, everything was normal at

the house. Funny enough aunty Jennifer was really nice. Initially, I

thought she was going to turn me into her personal house maid like what

happens in the movies. Most especially because she was recently

married to a man that has his niece under his and now, her care but she

was just a really nice person. Maybe she was just pretending, I thought

to myself several times because she was just too nice. She cooked most

times, cleaned sometimes and bought me things. I started to see her as a

loving mother. She was quite young but she acted like a mother with

experience, so loving, mature and wise. I started to think less of uncle

Sam and feel really happy for her and her marriage. The fact that I got to

meet a wonderful woman instead of what I thought would be of me

when uncle Sam gets married made me happy too.

One night, uncle Sam snuck into my room and came to lie with me. I

was very shocked as to why he was in my room by the middle of the

night after two months of being left alone. He suddenly started kissing

me all over and tried to take off my clothes but I refused. I refused to let

him touch me and was whispering a ‘No, no, no’ so no one could hear,

then he got angry. He said I didn’t love him anymore and filled my tiny

head with lies that made me feel guilty and so I allowed him sleep with

me. After he was done using me as his sex toy, I didn’t feel the same

way I did like the other times he had laid with me. I felt different, I felt

horrible and guilty. I felt disgustingly strange. I felt like I had just

betrayed aunty Jennifer which got me really disturbed. Now, he kissed

me goodnight and was about to stand up when we heard aunty Jennifer

call out uncle Sam’s name.

I was suddenly so scared because what would be his explanation If he

was found in my room by the middle of the night. He left my room

immediately and I quickly adjusted my nightgown before pretending to

be asleep. I heard uncle Sam say something about him going to check if

there was light so the generator could be turned off. I’m sure she would

have been confused because it was Mohammed’s job and not his but the

liar that uncle Sam is, would have come up with something else to

remove any trace of suspicion.

I didn’t see uncle in my room again after another week. Probably

because he was trying to avoid getting caught like he almost was the

other night. Although, he always texted me, whether I was in the same

house with him or not. I didn’t say a word to aunty Jennifer about the

other night as guilty as I felt. She didn’t have any suspicious look either

so things went on normally until the day things got worse. I had just

finished all my exams for junior school and uncle Sam had promised to

take me out. I was actually excited and couldn’t wait to spend time with

him just as my uncle and nothing more. It wasn’t only because I wanted

to spend some time with him but because I was happy that I was finally

done with junior school. I had managed to carry my phone to school that

day even though it wasn’t allowed. This was because uncle Sam said he

was going to text me before he comes to get me since I already told him

what time my last paper was going to end. I waited in school for about

an hour and didn’t hear from uncle Sam. Another hour went by and all

the jss3 students that had been running around all happy and excited that

exams were over were already leaving for their homes. It was getting

late so I decided to go home disappointed in uncle Sam than wait till it

got really dark. I got home and no one was home yet. I checked the

messages I had sent to uncle Sam and not a single reply yet. I decided to

change and have my dinner while I wait for him to come home.

I was in my room when I heard someone come in so I went out to see

who it was and found aunty Jennifer. I greeted her and she asked about

my wellbeing, my exams and even Uncle Sam. I told her everything was

fine but that I hadn’t seen Uncle Sam. She said ‘okay, my dear’ and left

for her room. But before she left, I asked if she was hungry and she said

not to bother myself, that she would eat when she was hungry so I went

back into my room. Just five minutes later, I heard a scream. I jumped

up from my bed and rushed out to see the reason for it. I found aunty

Jennifer on her feet standing by the dining table with a very sad look on

her face while talking with someone on the phone. Before I could even

ask what was wrong, she told me to go get her car keys. When I came

back with them, she told me that we were heading to the hospital

because uncle Sam had just been involved in a terrible accident while

trying to escape some armed robbers.

 

Episode 24

As we got to the hospital, aunty Jennifer rushed to the front desk at the

reception and asked the lady behind for some information concerning

uncle Sam. I had anxiously been waiting for her in the waiting area

while I watched her talk to the lady behind the desk. Then I saw a nurse

coming out from somewhere and aunty Jennifer going to meet her. I

stood up when I saw them talking because aunty Jennifer was looking

really distressed. The nurse walked away immediately I joined them, so I

asked aunty Jennifer about uncle Sam. She didn’t say anything for a

while, then sat down on the closest seat as she said;

“They said he’ll be fine hopefully Meso but that he lost a lot of blood

due to the shooting and car crash.”

All that rang in my head was ‘shooting’. Uncle Sam was shot? I almost

said out loud. I was so scared because I knew that there was a

probability he wasn’t going to make it. At that moment, he was in the

emergency room so I bowed my head and said a little prayer. I asked

God to help uncle Sam so he could live again. I begged God and

promised him that he would change his ways and I would change mine

as well. In my mind, I thought God wanted to punish us for the things

we had been doing behind the curtains. I looked at aunty Jennifer who

sat beside me with her face buried in her palms. She was muttering some

things and I could see she was really worried. Tears were rolling down

her eyes and I joined her in tears. Not just because I was worried about

uncle Sam, but also because uncle Sam and I were guilty of a crime that

if only she knew, would be so disgusted with us and feel even worse.

She looked up and saw me crying, then held me close to her chest,

whispering to me that it would be alright. She also said a little prayer

and I whispered an ‘Amen’. Aunty Jennifer was a good woman. As

much as I loved uncle Sam, I knew she deserved a better man. A lot was

going through my mind as my head rested on her chest.

After about an hour, a doctor came out to meet us at the waiting area.

“You must be Sam’s wife and his niece”

Aunty Jennifer stood up and responded with a ‘yes’.

“It’s a miracle he’s alive.”

When we heard this, we sighed in relief and thanked God.

Then the doctor continued, “….Please come with me to my office.”

We followed him to his office and he spoke to us concerning uncle

Sam’s condition. He told us that uncle Sam was really lucky to have still

made it even with the shooting and car crash. He also said if he hadn’t

been brought to the hospital immediately, we would have probably be

mourning him already. Then aunty Jennifer said she wanted to see him

so the doctor picked up the landline, dialed a number and spoke to

someone, before a nurse walked in. The nurse was asked to escort us to

uncle Sam’s room so we left with her. We got into his room and saw

uncle Sam in the worst condition we had ever seen him. He had bands

on his left arm extending to his chest area. He had a drip placed on his

wrist with an oxygen mask resting on his nose and mouth. He really was

in a horrible state. He was asleep, so we took our sit on a couch that was

in the room. None of us could say anything because we were still trying

to believe the state of uncle Sam. It was not a pleasing sight at all. Uncle

Sam woke up after some hours. It was about 10:00pm in the night.

Neither I nor aunty Jennifer closed our eyes to rest. We had been waiting

for uncle Sam to wake up so when he opened his eyes, aunty Jennifer

went and sat beside him. I just sat where I was and watched them both. I

watched as aunty Jennifer leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. He

was trying to smile at us but I could see he was in pain. I was only at

peace because he was alive. Aunty Jennifer had asked if I wanted to go

home and I had told her that I was fine staying with them so we were up

till about 2:00am.

At this hour of the night, uncle Sam suddenly started gasping for air. I

couldn’t understand what was happening because he was using an

oxygen mask. My heart was racing as aunty Jennifer signaled to go get

the nurse or doctor. I ran out and returned with a nurse who checked and

saw that his oxygen mask was working fine. She tried doing so many

things but it didn’t take long before uncle Sam stopped breathing. The

nurse looked at us and said he was dead. He was recorded as a dead man

right there and then, in our faces.

“eeehhhhhhh, eeeehhhh, Sam! Sam! Samuel!” aunty Jennifer who was

right beside uncle Sam shouted while crying and gripping him.

The only thing I can remember is that at that moment, I blacked out. I

woke up beside a very sad aunty Jennifer who was seated on a chair with

some people I guessed were her colleagues, consoling her. She had even

stopped crying. She was just mute. I looked around and found myself

laying on a hospital bed with a drip placed on my wrist. Then, my eyes

went straight to the wall clock that hung on the wall directly opposite me

and I saw that it was almost 2:00pm. I was about to get up when one of

her colleagues asked me to lay back while she goes to get the doctor.

The doctor came into the room and checked me up. He said I was

discharged but decided to spill the result of my blood test, they had

obtained when I passed out.

“Do you know that you’re pregnant?” the doctor asked, looking down at

me.

I looked around first and saw that everyone in the room heard the doctor

including aunty Jennifer who laughed sarcastically before maintaining

an expressionless face. The people around her were just talking to her I

guess trying to console her. I thought I didn’t hear properly after the

doctor broke the news. First, uncle Sam was dead, and then me being

pregnant. This had to be a dream.

“Pregnant? I’m pregnant?” I asked the doctor in a surprised but sad low

tone.

“Yes! Miss Meso, you’re one month pregnant. You haven’t had any

symptoms?” I shook my head in reply to the doctor as I began to shed

tears. How was I pregnant and didn’t have any symptoms? I did miss my

period but I thought it was normal after I learnt about irregular periods.

It didn’t even cross my mind that I could be pregnant. I was definitely

pregnant for uncle Sam. I cried even more when I remembered that he

was no more. There was obviously no other explanation. I remember it

was about a month ago when uncle Sam came to lie with me the night

we almost got caught. I didn’t want to believe my ears. Not after uncle

Sam already passed away. What would I say to aunty Jennifer? How will

I tell her that uncle Sam was the father of my unborn child? What would

I tell my sister, my relatives? This would be too much to bear in just a

day. I thought about uncle Sam and I didn’t know whether to cry that he

had gotten me pregnant just before his death or to cry that the man I

once said I loved and couldn’t do without was nothing but a corpse. I

couldn’t understand what was happening. Everything was too confusing.

Was uncle Sam really dead? Am I really pregnant? I couldn’t even say

much again so the doctor spoke to aunty Jennifer and I in his office

before we left the hospital. One of aunty Jennifer’s colleagues drove us

home. Even when I had just heard the news of my pregnancy, the only

thing I could think of while seated in the car was uncle Sam. I let down

the tears that I had been trying to control but hid it so that aunty Jennifer

who sat beside me wouldn’t see me. She didn’t even say anything to me.

Nothing about uncle Sam or even my pregnancy.

Nobody in the car even acted like they knew I was pregnant. Neither did

any of us mention uncle Sam. I looked to my right where aunty Jennifer

sat and found her in a worried state. Her face was swollen from crying a

lot. I was expecting her to ask me questions concerning the pregnancy

because we were both seated at the passenger’s seat, behind. I was ready

to lie to her that I was once raped by a stranger but she didn’t say a

single word as we drove home. It even scared me because I thought she

would have guessed uncle Sam as the father to my baby. When we got

home, we saw cars packed both outside and inside the compound.

Everyone was waiting for us to come back because of the news of uncle

Sam, including his families and friends, except my relatives who lived

outside Lagos and Esther.

As I got inside, I went straight to my room with tears still in my eyes. I

sat on my bed as I wept bitterly. At that moment, some of my aunties

and uncles walked into my room and came to console me. They sat

beside me and told me to take heart even as they were trying to console

themselves. Everybody had a worried look. When the doctor had said he

survived, I didn’t know things were yet to get worse. I thought he would

live and things would be different after the promise I made to

God. Nobody couldn’t just believe that uncle Sam would leave this soon

especially after just getting married. I even heard aunty Jennifer from the

sitting room wailing and screaming on top of her lungs for her husband

to be brought back home. She shouted for a while, then kept quiet before

continuing with her lamentation. She bitterly cursed and cursed the

armed robbers who had caused the accident.

My relatives who surrounded me thought I was mainly crying for uncle

Sam but I was crying because of the guilt that I felt, because of his death

and because of the baby in my womb. They didn’t even know I was

pregnant except aunty Jennifer and a few of her colleagues who still

hadn’t said a word about it. I wished I could turn time or change a lot of

things but it was too late. It was probably when he was coming to pick

me up, that he got attacked. This thought caused me to blame myself for

everything. From his death to my pregnancy and the pain everyone was

going through.

I had a plan. I suddenly stopped crying, then wiped my tears and told my

relatives that I wanted to sleep so I could get some privacy. Only one of

them stayed with me for a while before I was left completely alone. I

told myself that I wasn’t going to keep the baby so I decided to abort the

baby on my own. I even thought of committing suicide because I

believed it to be the best decision for myself. I didn’t want to live to see

the shame and disappointment that I would bring to my family when

everyone finds out that I was pregnant for my dead uncle.

To leave the house, I had to pass through the back door so no one could

see me. I had already gathered all the money I had saved from the times

uncle Sam gave me money. I put them into my small shoulder bag, put

on a sandal and left my room. The back door was in the kitchen and my

room was on a corridor which was the closest room to the kitchen. The

kitchen wasn’t around the sitting room where everyone was present so I

was able to get out of the house through the back door. I didn’t see

Mohammed at the gate so I ran out as fast as I could, making sure that I

wouldn’t get caught.

I managed to escape and walked as far as I could from the house. It was

dark after sunset and I had a scarf tied around my head and face so no

one could easily recognize me. I was crying as I was walking. I finally

got to the bus stop and entered the first bus that stopped at my front. I

didn’t even want to know what kind of bus or where the bus was headed

to. I just wanted to be as far away as possible from everyone I knew.

 

Episode 25

The bus finally mentioned someplace and I signaled to the conductor

that I was stopping there. He gave me my change and I was soon,

dropped off at my destination. I looked around, not knowing what to do

next or where to go next. It was getting darker and a few shops were

already closed. I looked around to see if I would find somewhere to get

shelter. I wanted to stay in an area that wasn’t crowded by people so

when I looked around, I found a spot just across the road. I looked

around and made sure the road was clear before crossing the road. When

I got to the other side of the road, I went over to the closed shop that I

had spotted. It had a small shelter I guess were made for customers so I

went over to a corner and laid there. Throughout the night, I couldn’t

sleep. I thought about a lot of things. I thought about what I had done

and what I planned on doing. It dawned on me that I ran away from my

family and in a place I couldn’t even tell if it was still Lagos. It dawned

on me that I was about to do something that years back wouldn’t have

crossed my mind. I cried in silent because I felt like I was alone. I was

very scared. I would never have predicted the present. I kept shedding

tears before falling asleep.

The next morning, the sound of a cock woke me up. I had a headache

that made it impossible to think straight. It looked like it was about

6:00am. Some shops were already preparing and getting ready to open. I

had to leave where I had slept because I didn’t know when the owner

would arrive. Like I had thought about the previous night, I was going to

look for a hospital that could help me carry out my plan. I was young

enough not to have known or remembered that I could not just go to a

hospital and meet a doctor to help me with an abortion. I didn’t

remember that it wasn’t that easy. All I knew was that a doctor would

help me with execute my plan. I had once seen it in a movie where

young school girls went to the hospital themselves to abort the baby so I

thought it would be that easy. I was a naïve young girl. I stood up from

where I had laid and set out to the street. Still not knowing how to get to

the nearest hospital, I decided to go to the bus stop anyway. Maybe I

would find people who would direct me, maybe I would find help, I

thought. I was feeling very weak, not sure why but I resisted the feeling

and tried to be strong.

When I got to the bus stop, I looked around to see if I would find anyone

to ask for direction but everyone seemed so busy. It was either they were

rushing to catch a bus, attending to customers or walking really fast. I

managed to see a man who didn’t look as busy as the rest. He was just

standing beside a shop so I walked up to him and asked for direction. He

told me the buses to enter and asked for some money in return. I had no

other choice but to give him some money so after speaking to him, I set

out to catch the bus.

As I stood by the side of the road, a car stopped by me. Remember Femi,

the man who came to look for uncle Sam some time ago, he was the one

in the car. He called out to me smiling warmly;

“Hey fine girl Meso, how are you? Are you okay?”

I went closer to the car, pretending like nothing was going in my life.

“I’m fine sir”

“Sir? Naa I told you my name is Femi. What are you doing here far

away from home? I was actually going to see your uncle this evening

even though I haven’t called him yet.”

When he said this, I knew he hadn’t found out about the news of uncle

Sam so I pretended still.

“Oh I’m going to get something somewhere.” I said, completely

ignoring the part about uncle Sam.

“Do you mind if I drop you. A girl like you shouldn’t be on the streets

alone.”

“I’m okay sir, I’m actually at my destination, thank you.”

“It’s okay if you say so. Maybe some time we could hang around. I’ll

see you later this evening.”

As he said this, I only faked a smile. He didn’t even hide his

perverseness. I could see that he had other intentions. From the look in

his eyes to the way he spoke. Maybe he didn’t know my age, maybe he

didn’t know I was still a young confused teenager. At fourteen, a lot of

people already told me how grown and mature I looked. Maybe that was

what got to my head to do and allow the stupid things I regret. He smiled

before driving off. I sighed in relief because I didn’t want him to know

the truth. I didn’t want him to know what had happened neither did I

want him to know my intentions. I went over to the bus stop and was

walking to enter my bus when I heard my name.

“Meso! Mesomma!”

I looked back and to my surprise found Mummy Nonso, a woman that

sold bread and akara on my street. She was very fond of I and uncle Sam

but when I saw her, I felt strange. I felt a type of energy that I had never

felt before. It made me very stiff and before I knew it, I could only hear

my name before blacking out.

I woke up and found myself yet on a hospital bed with family members

beside. I even saw Esther who sat beside me looking very worried. She

looked like she had been crying and I couldn’t help but feel very guilty. I

tried remembering what had happened and how I came about a hospital

bed before recalling that I met mummy Nonso on my way to the

hospital. I bet she was the one who called my family but how? I don’t

know.

When they saw that I was awake, they came closer and asked about my

well being. I managed to say that I was fine even though my aunt still

didn’t look bright. I held Esther who didn’t seem to want to leave my

side. I could only guess that my aunt knew I was pregnant. When the

doctor came to check up on me, my aunt told Esther and my cousins

(they were two, one around the same age as Esther and the other

younger) to got get something to eat so we could be left alone. The

doctor said that it was not uncommon to go through what I was going

through because the cardiovascular system undergoes a lot of changes

during pregnancy. He also said that the fluctuation in my blood pressure

was part of the cause of the fainting. He mentioned how young I was and

how it would be harder for me. He even said I was lucky to have more

developed organs than my peers because it was one of the things helping

me during that period. After he explained all these to my aunt and I, he

exited the room. My aunt finally spoke up after a two minutes’ pause.

“Meso, where did you go? Why did you leave the house and gave us a

scare? Ehn….even when you know your uncle just died.”

Nothing but tears came to my eyes before speaking;

“I was scared. I knew that everybody would be disappointed when they

found out. I didn’t want to bring shame to our family aunty. I’m sorry”

“Meso, it doesn’t matter what has already happened. Sam’s wife already

told us about your pregnancy. She is even on her way here. True, it is

disappointing but we don’t even know any other thing apart from the

fact that you’re pregnant. It is possible you could have been raped. You

are still a small girl Meso. I didn’t want to believe my ears when I heard

it too. I know you that you know better Meso. What happened?”

When she said this, I didn’t know if to say the truth or just lie to her like

I planned to in the beginning. I was so embarrassed and disappointed at

myself.

 

Episode 26

As scared as I was, I told the truth. I told her from the beginning to the

end. The first time I was raped by uncle Sam to what had been going on

between us. She couldn’t believe her ears after I stopped talking.

“Mesomma, tell me this is not true. Ewo oooo. Ewo ooo.

Àrù (abomination in igbo language). How can Samuel do this? Ahh

Samuel! ị na-adịghị egwu Chineke (Samuel, you don’t have the fear of

God in igbo language)” I watched as my aunt cried while lamenting. She

was an older sister to uncle Sam who were both from my paternal side.

My mum had no sibling so I had no aunts or uncles from my maternal

side.

My aunt could only shed tears. Now that uncle Sam was dead, it was too

late. Too late to prevent all that already happened. I kept mute and watch

my aunt cry in pain.

The next minute, aunty Jennifer walked in. She entered and met aunty

Mary crying so she asked what happened. Nothing could come out of

our mouths. Aunty Mary suddenly stopped crying, looked up at aunty

Jennifer and said;

“Sam is responsible for Meso’s pregnancy.”

“Which Sam?” She asked looking confused and when none of us could

speak, she got very angry.

“You’re telling me Samuel, my husband,

impregnated Mesomma ehh aunty?” She said looking at aunty Mary,

then glanced at me before bursting into tears. She immediately left the

room and aunty Mary followed her behind I guess trying to calm her

down. My heart was racing; I don’t know why. I wanted to just be dead

that moment. Things were going to get worse, I knew that for sure.

A week later, I was discharged from the hospital. Aunty Mary had

spoken to me concerning my pregnancy and moving to Port Harcourt

with her. Nobody spoke plenty about my pregnancy even relatives that

visited me during my stay at the hospital. There were times they spoke

to me about certain things and spoke in private amongst themselves but

nobody ever mentioned uncle Sam. I didn’t even see aunty Jennifer after

that day at the hospital. Everyone now knew that uncle Sam was the

father of my unborn child which was regarded as foul, an abominable

act. Many couldn’t believe it and some even denied him as a relative and

friend. You could tell from their faces and behavior that they were all

disappointed in both of us. I saw it coming so I always tried to hide my

face from the shame. I was never beaten or anything but I was

counselled several times. Things were definitely not the same again.

A month after, I was already in Port Harcourt with my aunt, her family,

and Esther. One of the previous nights, she called me and spoke to me

concerning everything that had and was happening. She said she knew

nobody spoke about uncle Sam because of what he did and that she was

very disappointed in him but she was disappointed in me too. She said

she wasn’t saying it to make me feel bad but to know how she really

feels because I could have prevented a lot of things. She looks at my

tummy and says;

“Meso, this wouldn’t have been so. You are just a baby having baby. It’s

not right and as much as I don’t want to mention this, your parents

would have wanted better. There’s no need to start feeling guilty or sad

hmm Meso! ị na- ege ntị?(are you listening in igbo language).” I nod

when she says this even though tears were already appearing in my eyes

before she continues. “…Life has to move on. Ama m na ị nwere isi (I

know that you have sense in igbo language) but my dear you have to be

careful. You’re just a fourteen years old, a child. I know that things will

change and become different. People will talk and say what is more than

their mouth. You will see things differently but all is not what it seems.

Always remember that you have an elder sister who looks up to you.

You are older than Chinyere and Ijeoma (two of my cousins who are her

children) who also look up to you as an older sister. Please, Meso. Try to

do what is best. Confide in me if you need help and I’ll always be there

for you. ị nugo (Have you heard?)” These words stuck to my head like a

magnet.

After we spoke for a while, we heard the bell ring. I thanked my aunt

before going to see who was at the door. “Good evening sir,” I said,

opening the door to pastor Francis. He was the pastor from the church

my aunt attended. He was told about my situation and I had been

counselled by him several times. He opened my eyes to the things I

wished I had seen earlier. He told me that God had forgiven me as long

as my heart was fully repented. I used to feel different and ashamed to

do anything or even go to church with my aunt and her family but later

on, it became the least of my problem. Pastor Francis counselled me that

day as usual and asked about my well being before leaving.

After about 7 months of ups and downs, I gave birth to my babies. The

night of my labor was not a good one for me. I had just gotten dressed

after taking a bath when my water broke. Luckily, everyone was at home

that day so they managed to rush me to the nearest hospital. For two and

a half hours, I was in labor. The most painful state I had ever been. I

almost gave up because I couldn’t bear the pain neither could I breathe

properly. I managed to survive the whole process and delivered my twin

boys. They looked very adorable but I felt a bit sad. I hadn’t planned to

have children for my uncle neither did I plan on being a mother at

fourteen but even with all the sadness, my babies gave me happiness

because they were innocent. With the days and times that past, my

relatives, especially my aunt helped me with all they could. I was helped

in looking after the babies and assisted in doing a lot of things. I even

started school a few months later. It wasn’t very easy with my babies but

I managed. Sometimes, I looked at Esther and thought of what she might

think of me and the stigma that I may have caused but because she only

showed me love and care, I could only try to be happy. I promised

myself to be a better person. To try my possible best to give good

examples and slowly erase the bad even though damage had already

been done. Many a times I heard gossips about me but ignored it as

much as I could. My aunt was a very strong pillar in my life. A woman

of virtue who taught me about the things I now know. She went through

a lot because of me and I just couldn’t thank her enough. Life moved on

and I lived everyday with the way it was presented.

One day, I came across Daniel who was my school father back at the

school I attended in Lagos. I saw him at the university of Port Harcourt.

I had gone to hand something to my uncle, aunty Mary’s husband who

worked as a professor there. He was the one who saw me first and called

out to me. I remember having mixed emotions when seeing him. I

wasn’t sure if I was to be happy or sad or angry. It was just strange

seeing him after a very long time. He looked really different. He kept a

nice hair cut with a well-trimmed beard. He certainly didn’t look like the

boy of yesterday. I mean this was about three years ago since the last

time I saw him. He gave me an awkward hug and smiled at me for a

while before speaking up. He asked so many questions from where I had

been, what had happened and when I arrived Port Harcourt. I only told

him that I had moved and started a new life after the death of my

parents. He showed his condolence and made a joke in order to ease the

tension that already formed in the air. He told me that he had just

recently arrived Port Harcourt to continue his higher education. I didn’t

tell him about my babies nor uncle Sam. I avoided anything leading to

questions I wasn’t ready to answer. I spoke to him about a few other

things before letting him know that I was on an errand. He asked for my

contact but I couldn’t give him any because I didn’t have at the moment

so the last thing he said to me before I left in a hurry was; “I’ll see you

some other time, Meso. Take care.”

Many times I had cried to God, tears of thanksgiving because he had

given me a second chance. Yes! I was abused by a man who was

supposed to be my uncle but I had also given him the opportunity to do

the many things that he did to me. I was manipulated, deluded and

abused but because I was blinded by what I thought to be love at such a

young age, I put myself at risk and caused a lot for myself. Even when I

was raped by this same man, I still let him into my life because I

believed he would slowly heal the wounds that he had caused me. I gave

myself to a perverted man who used me to fulfill his own pleasure. The

many lies that then, seemed like they were genuine. I used to look at him

like a father, a good-hearted uncle, a loving and caring man because he

in the past, was always there for me, my family and had good intentions.

I didn’t know what went wrong and the unexpected happened. If he was

still alive, the nonsense could have continued and maybe things would

have gotten out of hands. Each time I look at my babies, I remember the

day a mistake began. I remember the man whose own relatives didn’t

want to remember. I think and think of the many explanations I would

give to my babies but each time I hold them close to my chest, they

remind me of the second chance I obtained and I never cease to thank

God.

Download the pdf version of the story HERE

THE END

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A Little about the author

F. Benita Okafor is a Nigerian blogger, aspiring writer and student at the university of Manitoba.
Contact Information:

Email: bigebennytheory@gmail.com

Blog: www.bigbennytheory.com

Other contact information can be found on her blog.

 

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