Episode 15
“I was r@ped” I said “What! When who how?” he asked “It doesn’t really matter now, the incident is not something I love to remember, am only telling you because I know you won’t take no for an answer” I replied “Was it in school, do you know the person, is he at least in prison now ?” he asked “No he’s not in prison, and I don’t think he can ever be” I said “What! what do you mean, didn’t you report to the police, or is he from an influential family because I know the law is not for the influential and rich in Nigeria” he said angrily. “I wish I can at least meet that son of a bitch and punch his face and break is nose, or even castrate him” he shouted angrily. “Calm down Dave, just relax, am fine now and I just want everything to be in the past “I said “I guess you didn’t go to the hospital immediately it happened, because if you did you shouldn’t be pregnant for that son of a ….” He said still boiling with anger “Well I didn’t, I wasn’t thinking straight then, and when I discovered the pregnancy I couldn’t just abort it” I said “Well you made the right decision dear, I can’t imagine how you will be feeling and what you are passing through because of that animal that cannot control his desire, but I can see you are as courageous and strong as ever” he said as he gave me a hug “For the next three months that we will be here together, I want you to know that I will always be by your side, call me anytime you need help” he said. We exchanged our mobile number and went to our rooms.
It’s so nice to see Dave again, after a very long time, if someone told me this morning that I will be seeing Dave today, I will never believe it, he was my childhood best friend and crush too. Laying on my bed and thinking about how the day went, from the gossips about me, to meeting Dave, I just know God brought him here for a reason. But that reason I don’t know. “I hope Dave is born again too “I thought, and then my phone rang “Hey Kemi how are you doing” I said “Am not fine “she said crying “Babe was wrong, are you okay?” I asked. Kemi has never been as distressed as she is right now over the phone “Talk to me why are you crying, did something happen?” I asked anxiously “It’s Joseph “she said sobbing “Joseph! What happened to Bro Joseph?” I asked “You remember I told you when he proposed to me 3months ago right?” she said “Yes I remember, what about it?” “He is saying he doesn’t love me again, and I found out that he is engaged to someone else” she explained crying “What! That is ridiculous, but you guys have been friends for a while, he has given you many green light before he even propose, so why did he change his mind all of a sudden?” I asked “I really don’t understand too, I called him today after a while and before I could even say Jack Robinson, he told me that he doesn’t want to hear from me again, he said he is now engaged to someone else” she said “OMG! I can’t believe this, what is happening in this our generation even among we called believers” I said feeling surprised “Do you think it is my fault? Do you think 3month was too much for me to pray and be convinced before I make my decision….Jasmine is it my fault” she asked crying “No dear, it’s not your fault, time is a way of testing if anything will last, I don’t think three month is too much for you to pray and confirm first” I said “Are you sure?, It took me 3month to reply him because I didn’t want my emotions to get in the way just like you advice, so I told him not to call me for like 1month so that I can really get things right “she explained “You did the right thing Kemi, don’t blame yourself and stop crying too, sometimes God allows somethings to happen so that he can show us that he is always there to protect us. If you didn’t take time to pray for that long, you wouldn’t have known that you were just an option on his list, this are the type of people who cheats on their spouse when they get married and they will still make flimsy excuse to justify their actions.” “Really! Are you sure Jasmine?” she asked “Yes am sure, you should clean your tears now and thank God instead. God just rescued you from a wrong relationship that would have led to a catastrophic marriage” I said “Okay Jasmine, thanks” she said “I can’t believe you too can cry like a baby, and to think you are crying for a guy is just incredulous” I said laughing “You are not serious Jasmine, if I catch you ehn” she said laughing too. “You must really love this Joseph guy for you to be crying, but just clean your tears dear. They are too expensive to be shed for a madcap like him. God will lead the right men to us at the right time…ok” I said “Thanks so much, I wish I could give you a hug from here. So how is the twins doing?” she said jokingly “That your mouth ehn, if I give birth to twins just know I will dash you one out of the two babies…naughty girl” I replied. We discussed some other trivial things and wished each other a wonderful night rest.
I can stop thinking about what that Bro Joseph did, how can someone be so impatient, am so sure he proposed to more than two sisters at a time, is marriage a game to some people, I can’t just believe it. And I used to place this Bro Joseph at a high esteem, because he is much older than other brothers and I always thought he will be more mature, but I guess age is just a number.
It’s been a week since I met Dave now, and I can say he is an heaven sent, I don’t have any dull moment and when I tell him about the rumors and gossip people keep spreading about me, his words are so good at keeping me calm and secured. We go for lunch and dinner together, and whenever he closes from his office, he always comes to mine so he can walk me to my room, have been wanting to ask about his faith and probably preach to him if he isn’t saved yet, but have been forgetting to ask, but I must ask him today at lunch. “So how was your day today Jas, hope no gossips about you today” he asked. He was my first friend to short my name to Jas. “My day has been good, and the gossip trends is changing from my pregnancy, to me and you now. People are wondering why we are so close and all that” I replied “Nigerian will never cease to amaze me, they can’t just mind their own business for once, who have time for all this gossip in London?” he said hissing “As if you are not a Nigerian too, ‘londonian’ boy” I said teasing him “Me have disown Nigeria since, who Nigeria epp, as you see me so am a ‘Londonian’” “This your British accent can deceive people but when they hear your pigin English they will know that you are a correct Naija boy” I said laughing “So Dave are you born again? I know you were born in a Christian home, but have you had an encounter with Christ” I asked, changing the topic. “ hmmm…yes am a born again Christian as people call it now, even though the word Christian should be enough, but because Christianity is now something else, we need adjectives to describe it.” He said “So yes am a genuinely born again Christian” he said laughing “So when and how?” I asked “It’s a long story o” he said “I have all the time to spare, so spit it out” I replied “Ok. We got to London when I was around 11years old, my parent registered me in a nearby school along with my other siblings, the school have 80% white student, and the other 20% includes other race, like the Mexican, black british, black Africans and so on. The fraction of the blacks is about 10% and they have their own group within the school, you either join this group or let me say gang or you will be bullied by both the black, Mexicans and the majority white. I was new there as you know, and I never knew what was going on, I was bullied constantly for up to 6months, sometimes I don’t even go to the class room, I just lock myself in the toilet from morning till the closing time” he explained “So why not report to your parent or the school authority “ I cut in “Be patient, let me continue. I reported to the school authority several times but there was no action taken, it was as if that is the norm in that school, and my parent were too busy struggling to get a job to put food on the table and keep us warm. So after 6 months, I had no choice but to join the black gangs, I thought it was just going to be a group of student hanging around and moving together, but it was far deeper than that.
This gang that I joined was affiliated to a street gangs that sells drugs, so they use us the student to distribute and sell drugs, because the police will be less suspicious of us. To cut the long story short, I was exposed to a lot of things like drugs, sex, rape and even murder” he said “What! You have raped someone before? And murder too? “I shouted “Keep your voice down, I didn’t rape or kill anybody but have been witness of rape and murder several times” he replied “Okay” I sighed “ I was addicted to drug, and was involved in sex as early as 14years, I was later caught by the police in one of their raid, and I was sent to a correctional facility for 1year and also spent 6month at the rehab. It was during this time that I met a preacher that led me to Christ, have been attending church every Sunday before, but it was in the rehab center that I gave my life to Christ and the journey as not be easy but it has been worth it” he added “Wow this is a wonderful transformation story, thank God for your life” I said, staring at him “So what about you, are you saved too or should I preach to you” he asked jokingly I narrated my own salvation experience too, though it wasn’t as intriguing as is. We finished our lunch and went back to our office. He saw me off after we closed that day as usual, and just before I could enter my room, he held my hand and pulled me to himself, gave me a hug and kiss on my forehead and he said ”am glad I found you”….
This is a work of fiction any resemblance to actual person living or dead is purely coincidental. Please share as much aspossible.
To be continued
Watch out for more episodes of this very interesting story.