WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Episode 4: They promised to help me. They said they would take care of me. But everything changed the moment I stopped going to school! One morning, a doctor visited. He examined me and casually mentioned that my private part was " *tight* ." I didn't understand what that meant, but from that day, things began to change. Every night, Aunty would call me to give me a cup of tea. I drank it without question. But every morning i woke up, my body would itch terribly down there. Pain would spread across my body, and I felt like something was terribly wrong. But I couldn't explain it. It just kept happening. Then one night, I forgot to drink the tea. I didn’t tell Aunty. As I dozed off, I suddenly woke up, only to feel something crawling. Ants were all over the cup. In panic, I threw the tea in the basin. My heart raced, but I went back to sleep, trying to calm myself. Minutes later, I was jolted awake by whispers and footsteps. The couple entered my room. I heard Aunty urging her husband to " *hurry up and do what he needed to do* " to me. He hesitated, clearly uncomfortable, muttering about a C-section or involving someone else. But Aunty shut him down. She said taking me to the hospital was too risky, that a nurse might ask questions and discover that I didn’t even know who had gotten me pregnant. And just like that, I understood. I had been drugged all along. My body stiffened as he climbed on top of me. I pretended to be asleep, but I felt every moment, each movement, every bit of pain. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t move. When he finished, I lay there in silence, tears pouring down my face. It felt like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. I was desperate to tell someone, just anyone. But no one in the house understood English. Not even the gateman, he only spoke Hausa. And the only woman (the chef) who once spoke pigin English had been dismissed. Then I remembered Toyin (my friend). Maybe, just maybe, I could trust her. The next morning, I tried to leave the house. But the housemaid alerted Aunty, and the gateman blocked the gate. Aunty stormed in, demanding to know where I was going. I lied and said I was going to visit a friend. She barked, “You’re not going anywhere!” I had no choice but to go back inside. I picked up my phone and called my mother. I tried to tell her that there was something I’d seen and needed to talk about. But she didn’t even let me finish. She exploded in anger, calling me names, saying how shameful and disappointing I was. Minutes later, Aunty entered my room. “Your mother called,” she said. “She told me you saw something.” I panicked. But God gave me the wisdom to respond quickly, I told her I’d been having nightmares, and that sometimes when I wake up, I notice strange stains on my private part. Right there, I knew I had to be more careful than ever. To be continued…