“What?” said Uncle BJ as he got up in anger and attempted to slap Bola…who ran behind her aunt. Emotions were running wild, voices were being raised, it was becoming a scene and somewhere along the line, Bose started to gasp for breath. The doctor was summoned and he sent all of them out of the room. He said Bose’s life was more important to him than whatever they had going on.
As confused as Aunty Mary was, she wanted to hear what Bola had to say or why she leveled such an atrocious allegation against her husband. She made her husband stop the taunting and bullying so she could ask Bola a couple of questions.
“Are you going to listen to this crap? Allowing her to talk is like saying you don’t trust me” said Uncle BJ.
Aunty Mary made it clear that the only way to dispel any controversy and eliminate confusion was to allow Bola explain herself.
Bola stepped forward and responded
that she had seen Uncle BJ rape her sister not once, not twice. She mentioned
that it happened mostly when Aunty Mary was away on her business trips. She talked about the many times she had
tiptoed into the living room in the middle of the night because she heard her
sister crying and begging uncle BJ not to, but he would say it was just a
little price to pay for letting the three of them stay under his roof.
Aunty Mary turned to Bola and asked
if she was sure of what she was saying
Bola answered that a while back, she
had seen both her sister and Uncle BJ in a compromising situation but didn’t
know what to make of it…she was really confused by what she saw so she
dismissed it. Not long after that, she had heard a sound in the middle of the
night and gotten up to investigate…she heard her sister’s voice
and heard Uncle BJ telling her to keep quiet. She found it hard to believe, so
she peeked through the key hole to be doubly sure and what she saw startled
her. She said that was the day Bose lost the purple top that Aunty Mary bought
her for Christmas…she saw Uncle BJ rip the top and try to strangulate Bose with
it. Bola added that she almost screamed but was too petrified to make any
sound…she also didn’t know what would happen or what Uncle BJ would do to both
of them if he knew she had seen them.She talked of the many nights that her sister sobbed all through, after leaving uncle BJ’s room…how she would ask Bose what the problem was, hoping she would spill the beans or at least confide in her but she always told her not to worry about it and that everything would be alright. Bola added that she had wanted to tell Aunty Mary but didn’t know if anyone would believe her…she also heard Uncle BJ threaten to kill Bose if anyone found out and that really scared her. The brutality of the rape she saw made her feel like he could actually do it.
She asked if Aunty Mary remembered the day she was asking different questions about rape and what the punishment was, according to the law of the land. The answers she got that day made her feel like there was no succor for Bose and the law wasn’t going to help much.
Aunty Mary definitely remembered that day and how she was 'weirded out' by those questions…she wasn’t sure why Bola was asking and why she would be so interested in such a gruesome topic.
“But you could have told me…someone could have informed me…somebody could have said something” said Aunty Mary as she tried to find a seat. The weight of the ensuing reality was too much for her feet to bear.
“I’m so sorry ma…God knows I wanted to tell you, I just didn’t want anything to happen to my sister” Bola responded
At this time, Uncle BJ was trying to rationalize the situation by saying they needed to hear it from Bose’s mouth as her sister could be lying. He was stammering/stuttering…Aunty Mary was just looking at him intently. He later resorted to emotional blackmail and how he was there for them when they needed help and they wanted to pay him back with character assassination and by labeling him a rapist. He moved close to his wife and was trying to say
“Darling are you going to believe this brat over me? Don’t you know your own…” before he could finish the second sentence, his wife landed a dirty slap on his right cheek.
“You better pray to God that my niece pulls through or else I will see to it that you rot in jail. It’s all making sense now…was this not the same thing that happened between you and Agnes our maid when we lived in Yaba?
You denied it…you said the girl was
the one trying to seduce you and when you didn’t fall for it she cooked up a
story to destroy your home. The girl cried and swore that you
were the one that came to meet her in the bathroom while she was taking her
bath but you said it was the other way around.
I chose to believe you because you’re
my husband and sent the poor girl away with ignominy
You said I should never bring a
maid to the house again because they are agents of the devil
looking for homes to destroy and I obliged.
Even if you were born a shameless
goat…I would have expected family to be the line for you. You knew Bose when she was a toddler,
you knew when she was wearing diapers…didn’t that mean something to you?
How could you do this? After
everything I’ve done for you.
Since I married you…I’ve fed you, clothed
you, provided for you, put a roof over your head and you had the effrontery to
use that same home as a bargaining tool to violate my blood. I never asked you for anything but
to be a responsible father and even that you could not do…” Aunty Mary went on
and on as Uncle BJ looked on like a thief caught in the act.
He had no excuse;
he couldn’t talk his way out of this one.
It had already become a scene, a
dirty one at that, in the hospital lobby…as the few people and some of the
nurses were gathering to know what was happening while pretending to help
resolve the issue.
The doctor later came out of the ICU where Bose had been taken...Aunty Mary
and Bola rushed to meet him, Uncle BJ just sat in a corner. The Doctor said Bose
was still unconscious but was slowly responding to treatment. The doctor confirmed
that there may have been some forced intercourse in the past as there were
still mild signs of abrasions, bruises and lacerations and he could get a report for the police if they needed one. He said he was trying desperately
to save Bose’s uterus because she’s still young, otherwise he would have just suggested
and performed a hysterectomy but he would watch her for a while and if
nothing changed…
The shame was too much for Uncle BJ
to handle so he decided to leave…Aunty Mary collected the car key and the keys to
the house from him and threatened to make a scene and call the neighbors on him if he came near the
house.
PART 11 PART 13
© 2015 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved
PART 11 PART 13
Picture Credit (c)nlm.nih.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
© 2015 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved
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