THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 81 – 9
EPISODE 87
Kimberly thought about what Prisca said for a minute and shrugged, “I’m not sure that would surprise me. From his fine skin to the way he talks and carries himself, and even his taste in clothes sometimes makes me think he might not be exactly poor. He doesn’t seem worried about money like a poor or average person would be.” Kimberly said thoughtfully, even though she knew Eric had never directly said he was poor.
“Now that I think about it, even his mother sounded kind of elegant too.” Kimberly added.
“Hmm… Or maybe they were wealthy but lost their wealth?” Prisca suggested since she couldn’t imagine any reason he would be disowned and live with nothing while he remained in touch with his wealthy mother.
“Maybe. I’ll just wait fot him to tell me whatever it is though.”
“Well, I’m not as patient as you. If I were you I would rather do some digging into his background so I won’t be too surprised when he hits me with the truth. How about we go to his neighborhood and ask some questions? They should be able to tell us one or two things about him.” Prisca suggested, but Kimberly shuddered at the thought of running into Ali again.
Kimberly shook her head vehemently, “I’m not interested. I’m not going anywhere near that place.”
“Why not? Did something happen the last time you went there?” Prisca asked, since she noticed how Kimberly shuddered.
“I ran into someone unpleasant the last time I was there. Besides I don’t think there is any need asking any questions. If you thought that was very important then we should have done that before I married him, not now. I will just wait until he tells me the truth since I don’t think he will like me snooping around.” Kimberly said, but Prisca already had other ideas in her head.
If Kimberly couldn’t go there, then she would. She was very curious about Eric and Wumi, and maybe going there would give her the answer she needed to put her mind at ease. Kimberly could afford to trust them both, but she wouldn’t since she had to look out for Kimberly. Having made up her mind Prisca nodded and flashed Kimberly a smile, “So can I go with you to meet my potential future husband?”
“No. However I can take you with me next time if this meeting goes well and we decide to meet again.” Kimberly assured her.
“So does that mean you’re no longer interested in him and will let me have him?” Prisca asked with narrowed eyes.
“I never said I was interested in him. Besides his sister knows I’m married to Eric even though she doesn’t know it’s an arranged marriage. And he is close friends with Eric. So it’s clear that nothing can happen between us. However, I’m not sure his sister might want you as a potential sister in-law for her brother after the way you treated her yesterday.” Kimberly pointed out.
“I didn’t treat her anyhow. I was only looking out for my best friend, and she admitted that she had acted suspicious and apologized for her behaviour. If anything she should want a sister in-law like me since she knows first hand how loyal I can be.” Prisca retorted.
“What’s my own? Just pray this meeting goes well first. That is the most important thing to me.” Kimberly said as she stood up and picked up her handbag, “I should get going now so I don’t keep Kathleen waiting.”
“Thank her on my behalf too. And try not to take too long. I don’t want you keeping my Tunde waiting.” Prisca said with a wink making Kimberly giggle.
“Your Tunde ke? You don’t even know what he looks like yet you’re already claiming him.”
“Don’t worry. My instincts are always right. Seeing how beautiful Mimi looks, I’m sure if they’re really siblings he will look just as good or even better. Start saving money o, cause when we finally get together, my asoebi will be very expensive.” Prisca said jocularly making Kimberly laugh out loud.
“Josephine the dreamer! Be building castles in the air. You don’t even know if he has someone in his life already. Yeye (silly).” Kimberly said as she walked out of the office laughing lightly.
THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 81 – 90
Thirty minutes later she was seated at the fast-food restaurant waiting for Kathleen to join her. She smiled when Kathleen walked through the door, and raised her hand above her head to get Kathleen’s attention. Kathleen flashed her a smile as she made her way to the table which was at one end of the restaurant.
“I’m so sorry I kept you waiting.” Kathleen apologized as she slid into the seat opposite Kimberly.
“It’s fine. I’m glad you could meet me on such a short notice. Thank you.” Kimberly said with a faint smile, “What would you like to eat?”
“I’m actually not hungry.” Kathleen said politely.
“Oh! Okay, what will you drink then? Maybe we should go over there so you can see what they have.” Kimberly suggested, and they both stood up and approached the counter where the food and snacks were displayed in a show glass, and a transparent cooler containing the drinks positioned at the back.
They returned to their table a moment later, Kathleen carrying a big plastic bottle of pulpy orange juice, while Kimberly settled for a bottle of Eva water and a pack of takeaway food.
“I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry about…”
They both paused when they started to speak at once, and Kathleen smiled at Kimberly, “You can go first since you called.” She suggested.
Kimberly cleared her throat, “Okay. I really wanted to apologise about what happened at the club. I understand that you stood up that way for me because you really didn’t know about me. And I should have stopped you but I didn’t, and let you make a fool of yourself. I know if you had known the kind of person I was, you wouldn’t have gone ahead to step in for me that way. So I’m sorry for embarrassing you.” Kimberly babbled on without looking directly at Kathleen. She had rehearsed those words all through the drive to this place, and although she had forgotten some of the lines she wanted to say, she was glad she had been able to say how she honestly felt.
Kathleen shook her head as she listened to Kimberly, “That is not true.” Kathleen said with a shake of her head making Kimberly raise her eyes to meet Kathleen’s gaze.
“What is not true?” Kimberly asked in confusion.
“I don’t think I would have looked away even if you were a pro$titute… I don’t mean you are a pro$titute. I’m just trying to say, even if it’s something you do for a living, I wouldn’t have looked away seeing how uncomfortable his advances was making you feel. Your body is yours, and since you made it clear you didn’t want his attention, he should have just left instead of acting that way. I wasn’t comfortable with the way he was acting.” Kathleen explained.
“Oh!” Kimberly exclaimed, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. She hadn’t been expecting that.
“Yeah. And I think I owe you an apology because I seem to have ended up embarrassing you more than him and bringing so much attention to you.” Kathleen said making Kimberly laugh self-consciously.
“You don’t have to feel sorry. I’m used to such. I’m just thankful that the camera didn’t really focus much on you.” Kimberly said making Kathleen frown.
“What? You haven’t seen the video clip?” Kimberly asked when she noticed the confusion on Kathleen’s face.
“No.”
“Oh! Well, someone made a video and it’s all over social media. I don’t care about my reputation, but I hope it doesn’t affect you.” Kimberly said.
“I don’t think so. You might think you don’t care, but I think you do, else you wouldn’t have left my side and gone to the dancefloor when he kept harassing you. I saw how sad you looked when you were leaving.” Kathleen said without taking her eyes off Kimberly. Kimberly just looked down and played with her bottle of water without saying anything.
Kathleen cleared her throat, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” Kimberly asked as she looked up in confusion.
“About whatever is wrong with you. Anything at all. I will just listen to you.” Kathleen offered.
Kimberly wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to Kathleen about her private business like that, but then seeing how nice Kathleen was and how she had defended her, she felt she at least owed her an explanation, even though it wasn’t going to be a detailed one.
Kimberly sighed, “I…” She paused to gather her thoughts together, “I was abused a lot as a kid, so I somehow ended up this way. Always wanting to have sx with different people.” Kimberly said, looking very embarrassed.
THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 81 – 90
Kathleen said nothing for a while, and then she smiled at Kimberly who seemed embarrassed to have shared that, “I guess we have that in common. I was also abused as a kid.” Kathleen said, making Kimberly glance up at her in surprise.
“You were?” Kimberly asked curiously.
“Yeah. Why do you look so surprised? These things are more common than you think, you know? Children are very vulnerable to these things… both male and female children, but females have it even worse. And it’s sad that parents are so trusting of others around their kids. I don’t think it is something you should be ashamed of though. It wasn’t your fault that you were abused.” Kathleen said making Kimberly blink at her.
“How… How did you get over it?” Kimberly asked in a slightly cracked voice before clearing her throat.
“It actually made me feel disgusted by men. Thankfully none of them ever penetrated me. But they would make me touch them and they would slide their private part up and down my private part.” Kathleen explained in a modest way that made Kimberly want to laugh.
Who still calls it private part in this age and time? Despite being abused it was obvious Kathleen had managed to retain her innocence while she on the other hand had lost everything.
“You didn’t tell your mother about it?” Kimberly asked with a frown.
“I couldn’t. The first person who did it was my step father’s brother who was visiting. He said if I told my mother about it he would ask his brother to throw me and my mother out of the house, and after that he would find me and do worse things to me. I was scared. Before my mother married my step father she used to always cry at night when she thinks I’m asleep… But after she married him she was very happy. I didn’t want us to be chased out so my mother will not return to crying at night.” Kathleen explained and smiled sadly at the memory.
“So you kept it to yourself?” Kimberly asked feeling her eyes beginning to burn with tears.
Kathleen nodded, “Yeah. After that it was our neighbor’s son. His sister was my friend so whenever I go there to play he would send her on an errand and take me to the back of the house. He would make me lie down on the ground and do the same thing. Some times he would ask me to touch it.” Kathleen said with a sigh.
“And you kept going there? Why didn’t you report him to your mother?” Kimberly asked in confusion.
“I know it sounds stupid, but I was just six years old, and she had really nice dolls and a bicycle. I didn’t have any. I could only have fun with her at her place. And I didn’t tell my mom because I once tried reporting someone to her in the past but she didn’t do anything, so I felt there was no need.” Kathleen explained making Kimberly sigh this time.
“So how did you finally get over all of it?”
“I finished primary school and was sent to a boarding school. You have no idea how happy I was to leave the house. And then I joined scripture union in school, and became born again. After that an NGO came to my school to talk about rape, molestation and the likes. They offered free counseling for whoever has been abused, and I went for it.” Kathleen said with a smile.
“And you didn’t miss all those things?”
“No I didn’t. Why would I miss something that made me feel like I was worthless? It made me feel like that was the only thing I was good for. There were times I even cried and asked God why he made me pretty. I felt that was the reason I was being abused.” Kathleen said, and wiped a tear from her eyes.
Kimberly offered her handkerchief, “I know that feeling, but I had it worse trust me. I was barely eight years old then, and it was my female neighbor who molested me first. And then my aunty’s son got involved, and it became like a threesome. Can you imagine that? I tried telling my aunty about it several times but she never gave me any attention. By the time I was ten, my brea$t was already coming out. Maybe it was because of all the stuff I was exposed to, but my body started developing quite early. Then my aunty’s husband started making advances at me. He came into my room one night, and while he was doing his thing with me, my aunty caught us. She accused me of seducing her husband and involved my father. Nobody listened to my side of the story. They said I was possessed and then took me to a pastor for deliverance, and he asked them to leave me at his home. He too continued from where my uncle stopped. I just resigned myself to my fate and continued from there after that.” Kimberly concluded with a shrug.
“What about your mother?” Kathleen asked with a frown. That was too much for any young girl to go through.
“She is late. That was why I had to live with my aunty.” Kimberly explained.
“I’m sorry about that.” Kathleen said apologetically.
“It’s okay.” Kimberly said with a forced smile.
“Your husband is aware of all of this?” Kathleen asked curiously.
“Not the details. How can I tell him all this?” Kimberly asked with a shake of her head.
“You do realize none of this is your fault right? It wasn’t your fault that you were abused.” Kathleen said, repeating what that lady had told her years ago.
Kimberly sighed, “I guess so.”
“It really wasn’t your fault. It’s like blaming yourself instead of the armed robber who stole from you. And you don’t have to feel ashamed. What happened to you could have damaged anyone…”
“But it didn’t damage you.” Kimberly pointed out.
“We are not the same. I didn’t have it as bad as you. Maybe I would be worse than you if I suffered all you suffered.” Kathleen said, reaching for Kimberly’s hand across the table.
“Are you a Christian? I mean like a born again child of God?” Kathleen asked making Kimberly frown.
“I suppose not.” Kathleen said with a smile when she saw the frown on Kimberly’s face.
“Why are you asking?” Kimberly asked before taking a sip from her bottle of water.
“Well, because I believe there is nothing God can’t do. Therapy is important, I recommend therapy, but I also recommend God.” Kathleen said making Kimberly want to roll her eyes.
“And what would he do? Take away my desire for sex?” She asked sarcastically.
“Maybe not. But I know he would fill your heart with his love. And you would be so lost in his love that you wouldn’t want to defile your body which is his temple.” Kathleen said with a bright smile.
“You think so?” Kimberly asked skeptically.
“I know so. How do you think drug addicts, chain smokers, and all sorts of people give their life to Christ and are able to break free from all of those addictions?” Kathleen asked.
“All you have to do is give your life to Christ, and then you just have to dedicate your life to him. I’m sure… Hold on. Do you know Joyce Meyer?” Kathleen asked curiously.
“Who is she? A singer?”
“No. She’s a writer and a minister of the gospel. And guess what? She was abused too. But not just by anyone. She was abused by her own biological father.” Kathleen said making Kimberly blink in surprise.
“Now think about it. Don’t you think that would probably have been even more terrible? Being abused by your own father who is supposed to protect you? You live with him under the same roof so you can’t go anywhere.”
“What did she do? How did she cope?” Kimberly asked curiously.
“Why don’t I send you one of her books so you can know more about her? And then if you are curious enough, you can just check her out on google. I’m sure her story would minister to you.” Kathleen suggested.
“Okay. I will do that.” Kimberly said with a nod.
“You know something I’m going to do some day in the future? I’m going to establish an NGO for young ladies who have been raped, abused and molested. I think these issues are not handled properly in our society, and they don’t receive therapy after it. You see so many beautiful but damaged ladies moving around carrying loads of baggages.” Kathleen said with a sad smile.
“I’m glad we met.” Kimberly said with her first genuine smile since she got there.
“Yeah, me too.”
“You know because of my lifestyle I never really had friends. I have just one friend, Prisca… That reminds me, she said I should thank you on her behalf.” Kimberly said making Kathleen smile.
“I always used to feel so different and lonely. But now I feel like I just found another friend who understands me… You don’t mind us being friends, right?” Kimberly asked, realizing she was going ahead of herself.
“Of course not. I like you already.” Kathleen assured her.
“Hopefully I will heal from all this sometime soon. When the time comes for you to do that NGO, I will join you.” Kimberly promised.
“That will be nice. I’m looking forward to it.” Kathleen said with a giggle before glancing at her wristwatch. “I have to start returning to the office now. Let’s meet again after you’ve read the book I will share with you… Wait, the number you used in calling me is your WhatsApp line, right?” Kathleen asked.
“Yes, it is.” Kimberly assured her.
“Okay then. I will send you the PDF copy of the book on WhatsApp.” Kathleen said before picking up her handbag from the floor and standing up.
“Thank you… For everything.” Kimberly said with a wide smile as she stood up. She had to admit she felt very relieved after speaking with Kathleen. And now she somehow felt like there was really hope for her to change.
Kathleen moved over to Kimberly’s side of the table and embraced her, “You’ll be fine.” Kathleen told her confidently before pulling away.
By the time they both left the restaurant, both ladies knew without doubt in their heart that this was the beginning of a wonderful friendship for them.
.
.
I believe this episode will definitely save a soul tonight. This is a message to all parents to always take your time to monitor your infant. Trust nobody
Say no to rappe, abuse and molestation
THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 81 – 90
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