The cold wind of night strikes you, and you wrap your arms around your bare shoulders as you shiver. One, two, three… you mumble underneath your breath, and stare down the street. If he’s not here by the twentieth count, you’re going back into the house, and locking the gate. He would have to go back to his friend’s place. The consistent late night activities with his friends that brought him home at odd hours are beginning to frustrate you. Locking him out, would send a clear enough message, since your warning to him to stop getting home late falls on deaf ears.
Eighteen, nineteen… nineteen and half… twenty… that’s it. You have been patient enough. When he called your mobile phone to plead with you to come unlock the gate, he’d said he was five minutes away from home. He sounded drunk, you asked if he was driving, and he said his best friend Tolu was driving. That didn’t make you feel less worried about his safety, Tolu was just as much a drinker as he was. Infact your dear baby brother had been influenced by Tolu. That’s what you’ve always thought.
You sneak into the house like a thief, careful not to make sounds that would alert your parents in their bedroom upstairs. Your father, would be furious if he discovered Nonso wasn’t home. Everyone feared the patriarch of the family and his strict ways.
***
“Mom I said she’s lying! Believe me!” You hear Nonso in the sitting room from your bedroom. For two days, he has given you the silent treatment for locking him out, you don’t regret your action, but you feel sad about the strain it brings to your relationship. You are five years older than Nonso, but you share a close bond as siblings. You miss him joining you in the kitchen as you made dinner to gist about the day’s events.
In the sitting room, you find your mother, Nonso, your cousin Cheta, and two strangers seated. A man and a woman…. no, a teenage girl. She was looking down to the floor at first, but she raised her head and looked at you with a sombre expression. She looks young with her natural hair braided in cornrows, and welled up tears cloud her eyes as she stares. There is pain, so much pain.
“Oh thank God you’re still home. I thought you had left for classes. Can you please tell mom, that I don’t know this girl and her father and I couldn’t have done the things they’re accusing me of.” Nonso said.
“What are they accusing you of?” You asked, not looking at him, but your focus on the girl.
“Your brother has killed me. This man and his daughter are accusing him of rape.” The shocking revelation comes from your mother, still your focus is on the girl. You couldn’t look away, the pain in her eyes kept you glued.
“Are you all right? What is your name?” You ask, as tears spill down her face.
“How can she be all right? This boy and his friends ganged raped her!” The man said, he looks furious as his eyes gleam red, the veins on his neck popping.
“That’s a lie! I don’t know this girl. Nma they’re lying against me.”
“Why would I come here to lie? She came home late last night, drunk and confused. When her mother and I asked where she was, she confessed that she was at a hotel with her boyfriend, that he tricked her and brought his friends to rape her! That boyfriend is you Nonso. She has pictures on her phone, of the two of you together. Stop denying that you don’t know her.”
“I didn’t say I don’t know her. I said I didn’t rape her. Nma, these accusations are made up. You know me, you know I’m not capable of such evil. Tell him.”
You turn your eyes to Nonso and give him a long and agonizing look. He’d denied knowing the girl and now he knows her but didn’t rape her. You want to believe in his cry of innocence, but you have this nagging feeling of doubt lingering somewhere in your mind that you can’t ignore. But he is your brother, your blood. You know him. You love him. You will always support and defend him if you have to, until your dying breath. It’s an unspoken oath of family and blood ties.
“Nonso is not a rapist. Hey girl, what truly happened to you?” You sit beside her, clasped your hands to keep from drawing her to you and consoling her as she cried softly.
“My brother is not a rapist, he couldn’t have raped you. Tell me what really happened. I can help you.”
“I’m not lying. He raped me. I told him no, I told him I wanted to go home. I begged him to take me home. But he refused. He told me to relax, then he gave me a drink. I started feeling dizzy, then he was on top of me, forcing himself inside me. It was so painful, I was coming in and out of consciousness but I still felt the pain. Two of his friends came, and they also took turns on me.” She tells the story looking dead into your eyes. You feel as if she’s piercing your soul, and drawing out compassion for her and detest towards Nonso.
“Cindy, stop lying against me. She agreed to meet me at the hotel. She came up to the room by herself, we had drinks and consensual sex, then I left when mummy called me to come home, that daddy was looking for me.”
“Eh! God, so when I called you, you were on top of a girl? At seventeen, you’re already carrying girls, eh Nonso. How old is this girl? When did this relationship start?”
“My daughter is seventeen as well. She said they were secondary school classmates. She’s waiting for admission into the university. She said she decided on Unilag because of Nonso. She wants to be in the same school with him.”
“Can you see? She’s the one following me around, begging me to be her boyfriend. I broke up with her that’s why she made up these allegations.”
She looks away from you, and turns to her father.
“Please daddy let’s go home. I’m so sorry.”
“We are not going anywhere. This boy will admit what he did and he and his friends will pay for it.”
“I won’t pay for anything, because I’m innocent. I suggest you take your lying daughter and leave this house. Or did you bring her here to extort money from my family?” Nonso berates as he lets out a wicked laugh. You stare at him, observing a menacing look you haven’t noticed from him before.
“What is your purpose for coming here Mr Ferdinand?” Your mother’s question draws your attention to her.
“Why didn’t you go to the police? Is my son right? Did you come here to extort my family? What kind of a man puts his daughter up to this despicable lie—”
“Mommy stop it. Let’s not disrespect the poor man.”
“But he is lying Nma, he cooked up these allegations with his daughter because she must have told him we are rich, and they are dirt poor, so of course they decide to resort to extortion. He probably pimps his daughter off for prostitution. I have heard rumours about it.” Nonso says.
Silence lingers in the large, luxurious, and extravagantly furnished sitting room, with flower vases, paintings and ornaments. That’s all your mother, she loves the flamboyant lifestyle, flashy houses, cars and outfits. This morning, she’s adorned in a colourful bubu, and her silver jeweleries sparkle as it catches the light from the chandeliers.
“Mr Ferdinand… I’m sorry for the way my brother spoke to you.” You say, as you watch the man keep his head down. You wonder what is going through his mind.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly, I’m Ferdinand Uba.” The man says raising his head and staring at no-one in particular. “I’m a police officer stationed at the Festac branch.”
You see your mother’s countenance change to fear as she sits upright. And your brother, previously standing groped to a couch and sits down in shock.
Inspector Ferdinand, retrieves his ID from his shirt pocket and flashes it briefly, first to you, your mother, Cheta and then Nonso.
“I thought to come here and start up an investigation quietly, because my daughter was afraid of being judged by people if it became public and the stigma of being a rape victim. My wife didn’t agree with this. She wanted me to storm here with some of my colleagues and arrest you and your friends. I should’ve done as she wanted.”
“That’s not necessary inspector Ferdinand.” Your mother says forcing a smile, “They are young, and you know at this age they’re bound to make mistakes. We can resolve this issue amicably here, without going to the police station.”
“The only resolution is for Nonso to accept what he did. Admit that you and your friends ganged raped my daughter.”
“I won’t implicate myself in a crime. I didn’t rape your daughter, it was consensual sex. She has no evidence against me contrary to this. You can arrest me. My family will get me a good lawyer. I will come out in no time. Cindy, tell him the truth and save yourself the embarrassment. You know you enjoyed it.”
You watch Nonso in disbelief. Has he always been this vile? Cindy stands and runs to the front door, she makes her way out of the house and you follow her hurriedly.
“Cindy wait.”
“Leave me alone.”
“Wait…” You grab her hand before she makes it to the gate, and hold her still.
“Tell me the truth. Did Nonso rape you?”
“You’re his sister. You’re bound to take his side. But yes he did. I told him no. I was a virgin, I wasn’t ready. I have a right to say no, don’t I? Even if he is my boyfriend. Why did this have to happen? I didn’t want to come here with my daddy. I wanted to hide away in my room for the rest of my life. But my daddy insisted.”
“Cindy, where are you going? Why are you afraid of this boy? I’m your father, I’m here, I will protect you.” Inspector Ferdinand says as he and everyone else joins outside.
“Daddy, I’m not afraid I just want it to be over! Why can’t you get it? I don’t want to see Nonso or any of those boys ever again for the rest of my life. Please let’s just go home. Please.”
“Inspector Ferdinand, please she needs to heal, take her to the hospital, let her see a doctor. Her well-being should be the most important thing before seeking for justice. Please. She’s traumatized.”
“That’s fine. We will go to the hospital and do the necessary tests. But this isn’t over. Your brother and his friends will face the law for what they’ve done to my daughter.”
You stand aside as inspector Ferdinand takes Cindy by the hand and leads her out of the compound, away from you, and your family.
You turn to your family, by the door, where they stand staring at you like you’ve suddenly grown horns poking from your head. You can sense Nonso feels betrayed. He expected you to be on his side in all of this. And you should be, shouldn’t you? He is your brother. Will you take the word of a strange girl you’ve never met before today over his? You know the answer.
You believe Cindy and you’re not going to support Nonso’s wicked act against her. You believe her because you were once in her shoes. Young and naively in-love with the wrong man that took your innocence forcefully. The memories are tortuous, you live with them, and you’re still healing.
