VILLAINOUS
Pim! pim! Father was back from work already. I rushed to the sitting room to arrange whatever was not in place. My father was like a raging bull and an all powerful god. He did as it pleased him, he had no room for weakness of any kind. I rushed and opened the gate for him and he was already fuming before I came. I rushed to the car to get his bag from the back seat. "Good afternoon sir" I greeted him.
"What were you doing that you left me outside?" He said without answering my greetings.
"Sorry sir" I said as I closed the door to the car. I hurriedly took the bag to his room and came back to give him some water to drink.
"Bring me a bottle of Orijin" he said without even looking at me or the water I brought. I picked a bottle of orijin from the fridge and I mistakenly hit the glass of water from the table beside the fridge. It fell and it broke!
"Sorry Sir" I said freezing with the orijin in my hand beside him. "Bring me an opener"
I brought the opener for him and handed it over to him. The next thing I knew was, I was on the ground bleeding from my nose, I was dizzy. I saw my father talk to me with angering his eyes and I couldn't hear a word he was saying except a whirring sound from the godly slap I had received. Warm tears ran down down my cheeks.
My sense of hearing came back after a minute and I stood up, apologized and ran to the kitchen to check the rice I had put on fire to boil.
Oh my God! It had burned.
"What is burning? Do you want to burn my house?" He said dropping the empty bottle or orijin he had just gulped down."They have told you to burn me in my house as sacrifice abi?" He said removing his belt and folding it as he approached.
I turned off the gas and started crying wiggling my hands . His belt was very thick I always thought it was made from elephant skin anytime I polished it. I started shifting backwards in fear and hot tears fell from my eyes.
"If you make me follow you, I'll double it. Come here" he said leaning on the slab in the centre of the kitchen.
"Sorry sir, it was a mistake!" I cried.
"Shhh..." He said "if you make me come and meet you there, I'll beat you till the sun goes down" he said. His eyes turned red, they were thirsty for blood.
"Sorry sir. Please forgive me I pleaded raising my hands on my knees."
" You must bear the consequences of your actions". He said charging towards me. I jumped up, ran towards him and hugged him " I have come sir, I have come. Sorry sir!"
" Get away from me" he said slapping me on the neck. I held my neck in pain and stepped away from him.
"I use my money to buy the food you waste." He walked towards me and raised the belt up. I closed y eyes and kpum! It landed on my head and the tip hit my neck. I gave outca loud cry and he shushed me.
Voop! Voop! Voop! I jumped in pain. My temperature rise. I felt pain everywhere in my body. I wanted to die.
I ran to my room and locked the door behind me. I removed my bloodstained shirt and looked at my back in the mirror. It was bloody with fat ridges crisscrossing each other. I felt sick.
I sat on the ground holding my mother's scarf as I cried. The one she wore when she died. My mum was killed during the recent Jos crisis when she came to pick me up from school. She took a bullet for me, I will never forget that day. Since then, my father has hated me, he blamed me for her death and promised that I'll share in the bitterness he felt. He forbade me from calling him "Daddy or father" ever in my life, "Sir" was ok.
When my mum was alive, she jokingly told me my father was jealous of me because she loved me more and he didn't get the love he used get before I came into the picture. I thought it was just a joke untill she passed away. I laid in the bath tub crying as I took my bath and planned my escape. I wore fresh clothes, picked some clothes and emptied my piggy bank. Rayfield was my destination. I tiptoed out of my room to the sitting room where he was already asleep with three empty bottles of orijin on the stool in front of him. I opened the door.
"Where are you going?" He asked. I paused. " Kevin I am talking to you. Where are you going?"
" I am going to aunty Kemi's house"
" My friend, come back here, oh! You feel you're old enough?"
" No! I think I am good enough. I deserved to be loved and clearly, you don't have that love to give sir" I recited the lines I got from a Hollywood movie I watched.
"I see you have grown horns eh? You tiny thing, that turned my life upside down.
Kevin come here". He barked throwing and empty bottle at the wall beside me.
" I don't know how mummy managed to stay with a monster like you for 14years. You are as wicked as Thanos" I said.
His eyes burned with anger and I saw my death in them so, I ran out and he raced behind me. I penetrated the gate and headed for the junction.
"Kevin, you're a dead dog" he screamed.
Nothing was going to make me stop. I had seen more than enough for a 12year old. Imhe grabbed my backpack and I turned and wriggled free with force still running. I heard a car horn so loud, something hit me and I felt my bones break, I was in the air. I landed on my back almost hitting my head on the culvert. People screamed and my father rand towards me and cupped my head in his big stronyand manly hands as he called my name.
" At last, I'll be with mummy" I said. I felt very cold and everything turned dark.
BY
PONYAK NAPBUT
More grace.
ReplyDeleteThis is dope
Thank you Very much 🙏🏻
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