I Should Have Spoken Up (Part 7)

As soon as Bose got in the living room, her aunt yanked her school bag off of her and opened it, exposing the mufti she took to school. Bose’s heart was in her mouth as her aunt screamed and yelled. She talked about the times her husband said Bose was becoming promiscuous but she defended her. She told her how betrayed she felt because she had actually gone to Bose’s school to talk to her teacher about her grades and they couldn’t find her. It was another student that later told her Bose had left school earlier but didn’t say where she was going.

It was then that Bose realized her aunt didn’t actually see her at the entrance of the motel and was only angry at her truancy.
Aunty Mary was really upset and wanted Bose to explain where she went and why she left school. Bose did not have any explanations so her aunt’s logical conclusion was that she must have gone out to meet a boy.
Her aunt wept and called herself a failure…she said she had failed her late sister and with all her husband’s strictness, Bose still ended up making terrible choices.

She asked what Bose wanted that she did not do her best to provide.

She asked why Bose wanted to make her a laughing stock before the extended family members that had abandoned them.

Bose tried to make up a story but it didn’t make sense and she couldn’t convince her aunt. Aunty Mary said she would hand Bose over to Uncle BJ officially and would not meddle with his disciplinarianism. She said she regretted the times she stopped her husband from using tougher measures to instill discipline in Bose. 

Uncle BJ got home later in the day; he must have stayed out for the same reasons Bose couldn’t go inside when she got home from school. As soon as he got in, Aunty Mary called Bose and told Uncle BJ what she found out at Bose’s school. Uncle BJ flared up and said it was her fault…that if she had allowed him discipline Bose, the story would have been different. Aunty Mary apologized and begged her husband to help train Bose so that she would not make a mess of her life. She said she had handed her over and that her husband should use any means necessary to train her.

Bose just knelt there as tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t handle the turn of events…her uncle might have corrupted her but there was still some form of innocence in her. She thought of how much she had betrayed her aunt and how Aunty Mary was oblivious of the truth and was handing her over to the person she was supposed to save her from.

After her aunt went inside the room, Uncle BJ looked at her with a mischievous grin and said “Whew! That was a close one…we should be more careful next time”. Bose wiped her tears and said there would never be a next time.

Uncle BJ thought she was just saying that because of the close call but Bose was serious. After the incident, she avoided uncle BJ like a plague. She cleaned his room only when he was out or when Aunty Mary was home….Bose would rather sit outside, in the compound, than be in the house anytime Uncle BJ was home.

Uncle BJ couldn’t handle it…he threatened to make the house unbearable for Bose but the little girl called his bluff and told him to do his worst. He became very irritable and would hit Bose at every slightest provocation. He would give her ridiculous chores and punish her for not completing them within the stipulated period.

Bose saw a totally different Uncle BJ…mean, callous and cold. He made good on his promise of “my way or the highway”.
At a point in his desperation, he lied that Bose stole his money, he claimed she was the only one that entered his room…he flogged her like he wanted to kill her. He said he needed to do it to get her to confess. Aunty Mary was mad when she got back later in the day and saw the marks on Bose’s body. She protested but her husband responded that she was the one ‘spoiling’ Bose and he would not condone stealing or have a thief under his roof. 

Bose swore to her aunt that she did not steal the money…her aunt wanted to believe her but somehow, Uncle BJ, while going through Bose’s stuff, found the money.
“I told you she did it” he said…Aunty Mary didn’t know what to believe anymore. Uncle BJ then said that the next time Bose stole his money; he would throw her out regardless of what her aunt thought.

After the theft accusation, Bose laid low and was being extra careful around the house. She would quickly do any chore Uncle BJ gave her, no matter how tedious. There was a time he told her to wash his car, clean the bathroom and do the laundry before he woke up from his nap. Bola and Paul had to help her with the chores so Uncle BJ wouldn’t have a reason to hit her (Although Uncle BJ already warned them not to help her). Bola told Bose that she believed her and she knew Bose did not steal the money…she just wasn’t sure why Uncle BJ suddenly became such a bully. Bose told her not to worry about it as everything would soon be alright.

A few weeks later, it was time for Aunty Mary to travel again…Bose knew she was in trouble and was already praying for strength to survive before her aunt returned. Her aunt called her and begged her to be of good behavior…she reiterated Uncle BJ’s threat to send her away if she didn’t behave. Bose promised there would be no problems as her aunt got in the car; Uncle BJ was the one taking her to the airport…

© 2015 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved

PART 6                                                                                          PART 8

Picture Credit (c) weenonline.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

© 2015 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved