TRAPPED Episode 1 – Evelyn Ivie Ojo
“Onome can you give me one good reason why it took you so long to open the door” Papa yelled waking me up from sleep.
I waited for mama to reply but I heard nothing. I quickly shoved the duvet off my body and tiptoed to the sitting room. I settled for a corner where I could get a clear view of the scene without being seen. All this while, Papa was still yelling.
“I came out as soon as I heard the knock” Mama sobbed slowly.
“You are a bad woman Onome….to think you were able to sleep deep when your husband had not returned to the house” He tried to blackmail her with the good wife talk.
“I’m sorry Papa David….I swear I wasn’t even sleeping at all….I came out as soon as I heard……”
“Will you keep quite! You liar!” Papa cut her off giving her a loud slap on her face as he yelled.
I wasn’t surprised Mama took the slap calmly. She didn’t even make any noise. As usual she didn’t want the neighbours to know Papa was hitting her not minding the fact that everyone in the neighbourhood knew already. She stared at him like she was trying to look into his soul to see the devil that had possessed him so badly as tears dropped down from her eyes.
“Papa David please let us not give room to the devil this night…it’s past 2 already” Mama said amidst tears as she tried to steady her voice.
“Oh…. I’m calling the devil right” He shouted
“That’s not what I meant” She pleaded as Papa landed another slap on her face.
Mama moved away quickly running towards the guest room as he was removing his belt to flog her. I ran back to my room; I didn’t want to be caught watching. I trust Papa; he will give me the beating of my life if he sees me watching. Luck was on Mama’s side that night. She was able to run into the guest room before him. I could hear the sound of the bolts as she fastened them. Alas! she was away from him. I thanked God quietly for giving her an escape route.
Papa banged on the door ordering her to open the door. I looked at my 3 younger siblings. They were all fast asleep surprisingly peaceful in the middle of the fierce battle in our home.
I sat down on the floor and wept for Mama. I was only 13, but I was wise enough to understand that it wasn’t right for Papa to keep hitting Mama like a punching bag.
Papa finally stopped banging on the door when he realised Mama wasn’t going to open. There was this sudden calm in the house. Papa had stopped yelling. I wondered what he was up to. I opened the door quietly and tiptoed to the sitting room. There he was sleeping like a log of wood with his snore like the sound of an old train engine. I felt sorry for Mama because I knew Mama would be wide awake in the guest room crying.
“David…David…David…” Mama tapped me trying to wake me up.
I could remember I came back to our room but couldn’t sleep immediately. I just sat down on the floor feeling very disturbed and later fell asleep.
“What are you doing on the floor…eeee…bare tiles…do you want to catch cold?” Mama said using the back of her palm to feel my body temperature
“I was feeling itchy” I lied.
“It’s 6:00am already…your daddy is waiting for us in the living room for morning devotion”
“Mummy Migwo” I greeted her
“Vrendo my son” she responded with a faint smile while she tapped my younger ones
I could see the misery in her eyes; she failed completely at trying to hide it from me. Morning devotion was the usual routine in our home. Papa never joked with it. As I heard Papa’s voice singing choruses in the living room, I suddenly remembered what he did to Mama at night.
“Mummy I don’t want to go for morning devotion” I voiced out
“Why” Mama’s face widened with surprise.She urged my younger ones to go ahead, turned to me and asked again.
“David …why don’t you want to go for morning devotion?”
“Papa is a bad man; I don’t want to go close to him”
“No David…your father is a very good man…don’t say that again…I have always warned you never to speak ill of your father”
“But he slapped you yesterday” I blotted out
Mama’s face changed immediately.
“Were you watching again?” Mama asked quietly
I nodded my head.
“Were your younger ones awake too”?
“No Mummy”
“You see David…. Just because your father slapped me yesterday does not mean he’s a bad man. He was trying to correct me …okay” she drew me close to her as she tried to convince me.
“What about the other times even the last time he used wire to flog you and you had injuries all over your body”
“It’s still the same thing David…your father wants me to be a good mother….so he corrects me each time I don’t act well” She tried to convince me further in a subtle manner.
Mama already knew I was a wise kid. She was always careful in her dealings with me. She knew I wasn’t convinced. That was not the first time I had such discussion with her. She was always quick to defend Papa. I didn’t want to argue with Mama as she had brought me up never to argue with her.
“Okay Mummy”
“Please don’t wear that look to the sitting room…I don’t want your father to feel I told you anything”
I quickly rearranged my facial expression as we joined the rest of the family because I didn’t want Papa to hurt mama again. Papa made faces at us as we came in; he was obviously angry that we had taken so much time to come out. Since he was in the spirit, he didn’t say anything.
#OpraDre TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED TRAPPED
