I KILLED MY FATHER
Mum enrolled me in the third school, after my expulsion from the second school, she would personally drop me off at school and pick me at close of school , dad had replaced the eight cars I had destroyed with the newest versions of each car .
He also bought mum a bigger and more expensive SUV for her runs, they was still bad blood between dad and I, I couldn’t forgive him for what he did to Nkoyo and Cassidy , Nkoyo’s memory was the ghost that chased me around , when I was awake or asleep, I missed that girl so much . Elvis and Kanayor would visit me sometimes at home , I would drive them in mum’s car and we would hangout at Mama Cass or Mr Bigs. Mum had really gotten to know who dad was , but couldn’t leave , a pastor revealed to her why he didn’t want us to go to church .
He stopped disturbing us from going to church, He had seen a demon in me that he could have only imagined, I believe that brought him back to his senses , that it was better he allowed me go near go, because the demons that possessed me were so malevolent that he had never seen a thing like it before .
Dad kept his promiscuous life away from the family, even his baby mamas , the whole issue started when dad was about to host his African Traditional worshipers end of the year party , it was the first time he was given the privilege to host ,he wanted mum to support him , and come around to greet his friends , caterers had been paid to cook and serve the people.
Mum bluntly refused, she had gotten some balls . “Agnes I am telling you what to do and you tell me to my face that you won’t ?” Dad asked perplexed. “Eric Femi Chidebiere , I’ll never involve myself in your fetish and occultic African Religion, I’ve been blind got many years , I lost so much, but you see this one? I won’t involve myself .” Mum said , I sat watching her with admiration, I wondered how different our lives would be if she had taken a stand .
“That’s you’ll leave my house with your children, so I can get me a woman who will be submissive in an African way!” Dad said threatening mum . ” Eric Chidiebere see let me tell you something. Listen attentively I won’t Leave this house! I met you when you had nothing! but dreams! I gave you transport to go job hunting, I submitted myself even though I had better qualifications than you! I married you when everyone else said no! I paid the house rent for our first two years as a couple, I moved you from a one room apartment in the dirty slum to a three bedroom flat! I did all this because of love!” Mum said finding it hard to breath.
“You stopped me from working! A master degree holder, for love I stopped! I got an offer to lecture you refused after my Phd, if you want to leave Eric you have to leave , but this house it belongs to me and my sons , all your other properties we would share it equally , if you want war I’ll give you war!” Mum said before walking out on dead and banged her door , dad went out of the house to a bar to cool off.
That confrontation brought about the end of peace we had briefly enjoyed. There was a silent war between mum and dad , mum would cook and serve his food sometimes he would eat other times he won’t.
The occasion came up on the twenty third of December, the men and women are all from eastern extraction,about five hundred assembled in our compound, cultural bands were invited they played local music, beating drums , and singing native songs.
I watched from the windows upstairs, different kinds of masquerades covered our compound , dancing to the rhythm of the drumbeats . Then it came to the time of the ritual , a Black he goat , so big like a ram was dragged before dad , he raised up an ancient sword and removed the head of the goat at once, as his people chanted and hailed him, then he was given a white native cock , he chopped off the head and the blood was sprinkled all over the compound.
Mum saw how occultic her husband was, she regretted the years ,dad became feisty he started causing trouble over every little thing at home .
“Agnes where are you? Come here! ”
My mum like a terrified cow would come to the slaughterer .
“Agnes taste this soup!”
Mum would taste the soup , same soup we ate and it was sumptuous and delicious , he would say .
“Agnes is the soup normal to you ?”
If mum said yes or no , slaps would follow her .
“Mum why don’t we move to a different country where dad can’t find us, we can start all over from the scratch .” I would suggest.Mum would smile .
“Solomon I love you and your brother, for your sake I would die . See this man is trying to give all this properties to a woman who didn’t work for it , if I leave he would Have an excuse you rob you and your brother.” Mum would say .
“Mum your life is more important than his occult money.” I would beg her, mum insisted on staying , she fought with him anytime he tried to assault her , when he saw that I wasn’t responding, it gave him the effrontery to assault her but mum stood up to him, she would try to fight him. she always ended up injured .
It never made sense to me , why would mum remain with a wife beater have an effect on us .
I couldn’t focus on studies remembering the violence I would watch when I got home, I was in GSS3 when dad beat mum up bloodied her eye, and broken broken nose , I hated my dad that day , I wept so much for mum , even in her pains she consoled me .
“Mum can you come and out of the grave to take care of us ? This man will kill you one of this days .”
Mum smiled , this angered me , maybe she had a death wish . I hated dad, I avoided him for weeks , we would live in the same house as if we travelled . I would leave for school early before he was up, I would go to bed early before he came back angry and drunk .
That beast had the boldness to bring his concubine to the house , when mum complained he descended on her and knocked out another teeth , when I got back from school,I saw her with a swollen face , mum begged me not to go back to drugs or fight with him, each evening when he came back from work he could see the hatred in my eyes.
He made love to the lady on the matrimonial bed , she moaned so much for mum to hear her . Mum cried all through that night , I blocked my ears with an ear piece
I blocked the lady the next morning as she was about leaving the house , I told Kanayor and Elvis, Kanayo came , Elvis advised that we shouldn’t get involved, who blocked the lady outside, and gave her a beating of her life , I had learnt something from dad, she was left with a black face like puff puff, she felt what mum had been feeling all the years , Dad brought police men who handcuffed me and took me away from the school, when the girl reported me to him.
Mum was at the police station to bail me , but dad refused he insisted I must stay there to learn a lesson .
“What lesson ? What lesson have I not learnt from you ? Did I beat het half the way you beat my mum ?”
He tried to slap me in the DPO’s office I held his hand .
“I am not my mother! She refused to leave even though you want to kill her! But am not her ! If you ever try to put your hands on me I’ll beat you to coma, you bastardd .”
I pulled his hands down .
relatives gathered and forced him to bail me , he asked me to move out of his house , I told him I was not going anywhere without my mum, he said he married her with his money and would treat her anyway he liked .
Family members had tried to prevail on him for the past seventeen years of their marriage , but he had it in him, he couldn’t stay a day without beating her . Mum accepted her fate , I couldn’t wait to leave the house for school, I couldn’t stand the beating.
On this faithful afternoon, my father was on his annual leave and I was writing my final exams , The West African Examination Council Exam , I had returned from school, at about two P.M the whole house was a mess, it was in shambles, the trail of broken household items littered the staircase, and extended to the passage connecting the dinning room and the leaving room, the floor was covered with mum’s blood , she was bleeding from an injury on her head , leg and another from her mouth, dad was hitting her bleeding head against the tiled floor , adrenaline surged through my body , I tried to pry him off her body , but he was glued to her , determined to end her and damn the consequences..
“Do you want to kill her ! Leave my mum alone!”
The beast was possessed with rage ,he wouldn’t listen to me , I grappled with him ,his hands was locked around her neck , she too was struggling to get his hands off her neck , when I pulled so hard , he pushed me to the wall, my head hit hard against wall and warm liquid began to trickle down my face , mum’s legs were stretched out on the floor, they were shaking, she was slowly dying , eyes were getting white, she was on the verge of dying , he tightened his choke he on her neck , she struggled weakly to free herself , but dad was a strong man .
I dashed into the kitchen and fetched a kitchen knife, I plung it into his neck, he was in shock , he tried to cover up the wound with one of his hand, he left go of mum’s neck, the rage I got from him overflowed my brain I knocked him down , I kept on s t a b b I n g
Him over and over with the knife mum was terrified, she couldn’t believe her eyes, that her son was a beast like his father . she screamed for me to stop , but I pushed her away .
I plugged the knife into him more than thirteen times , after the initial shock the bastardd was smiling, he died with a smile on his face , as if that was what he wanted .
“Solomon why did you do that! Now you’ve ruined your life!” Mum cried , I threw away the knife next to his body ,She wept as I got up from his body when I knew he was dead , and I was drenched in blood, I went to the sitting room and got his phone, I had to call the police to come take his body and turn myself in .
I saw the number of the DPO , where he had saved it ,I dialed and immediately he picked .
” Good day sir, my Name is Solomon Chidibiere I am calling to report that I …”
My mum grabbed my phone my hand .
“Hello Solomon? Hello ?” the DPO said over the phone, mum took her time to compose herself, before continuing with the call
“ DPO I think I may have killed my husband , I s t a b b e d
him , we had a serious, he was about choking me to death, I had to defend myself , he’s dead on the floor. My son walked just to see me kill his father, He’s very traumatized.” Mum lied I was astounded , I wondered why she would do such .
“Mum why did you do that ? I killed him not you! You think I don’t know the consequences of my action? I thought it through I’m ready for the consequences. I am ready to face it”
For the first time in my life I saw my mother’s angry face .
“Solomon nobody! I repeat nobody must know it was you ! Your dad was trying to strangle me ! I picked up the kitchen knife and S t a b b e d him multiple times , you walked in and saw me in action, Give me your shirt ”
She collected my suit, my white shirt and polo underwear shirt , my trousers they were all covered in blood , she put them in the washing machine , she got me a whole new set of fresh uniforms from my room upstairs.
“Go and clean yourself up before the police get here.” she said as she shoved me into the bathroom, I hurriedly washed off the blood from my face , and changed into a new set of uniform,
I wanted to pay for my crime and not her, but mum wouldn’t hear of that .
“But mum…”
She wouldn’t let me speak.
“Shhhhhhht Solomon but nothing! The police are on their way , go get changed.”
I obeyed and went away .
Shortly the police vans flooded our street, Abuja gossipers had gathered as the police took my dad’s corpse to the mortuary and mum was placed on handcuffs and led away, I wept so much for putting mum in trouble by trying to save her from trouble.
I was in court while the judgement was being passed, mum was given twenty years in prison, for first degree premeditated murder, I wept so much, I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself for sending mum to prison, where I’m supposed to be.
Before she was taken to prison she had a few words for me .
“Solomon thank you for saving my life, I would have been dead by now if not for you, he meant to kill, I got to know of his secrets… He could not let me live. He has ten million naira in his cabinet, use it to take care of your brothers.”
We embraced and sobbed forever until the prison wardens peeled her away from me
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