CHRONICLES OF A YOUNG BLACK GIRL

He did it again today. Mummy had gone out and it was just two of us left in the house. I was in the kitchen cleaning the snails she asked me to clean before she came back. There were 65 pieces of them and I hadn't even gone halfway yet but I was tired already. I was on the 12th one when he shouted my name from his room,

 "Ronke! Ronke!!. Are you deaf?. Are you not in this house?"
 I dropped the snail I was holding at once and sprinted to his room. I could have won an Olympic race with that speed.

"sir?"

"You this cursed child.Didn't you hear me shouting your name? I've been calling you for the past one hour and you pretended not to hear me abi? let your mother come back first you insolent brat."

"Daddy I'm sorry sir, but I answered as soon as I heard my name"

"You bastardchild! Are you calling me a liar? Ko ni da fun e. I will show u pepper today. First of all have you taken your bath today?"

"Yes sir"

"Very good. Oya take off your clothes na, abi you want me to be telling you everything ni? silly idiot."

"Daddy please. Please sir. I'm not feeling very well today."

"I think there's something wrong in your medulla. Oh I see, your mother has started teaching you how to be rude abi? What does the bible say about obeying your parents?"

"Daddy please. I beg you in the name of God"

"Omo oshi ni e oh. Oya before i open my eyes I want to see those two things on your chest staring at me without respect."

He started walking to the back of his wardrobe. I knew what was coming next. I knew he was going to bring out his cane and flog the daylight out of me so I took off my clothes as fast as I could and closed my eyes to the horror that was coming next.

He came so close to me that I could smell his garlic breath as he spoke. "You are even better than your Mother."


He always started with those words.

Then I felt his cold hands on my bare skin. The terror had only just begun but this time I would not feel the pain. I would not feel the terror. I transported myself to the place I wanted to be. A place where the flowers were bright and colorful and the birds sang so sweetly and the breeze was fresh and calm. "Before you know it, it'll be over", I told myself.

But I still felt the pain. My Mother married a beast.