BABA NI JIGI : TALES OF A COLOURED GIRL 3
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I wasn’t going to open the door.
I was a bad woman.
I had failed to protect Jinadu.
I cried, more red gushed out of me…
I was a bad woman.
I had failed to protect Jinadu.
I cried, more red gushed out of me…
It was getting dark already, I had spent more than six hours in the kitchen. I wasn’t going to open the door for baba mi. Never!!! I had failed to protect Jinadu…the thoughts piecered my heart deeply. I wallowed in self pity. “I was going to call Mrs seila and narrate all that happened to her, she is a good woman…
Sister Kofo, sister kofo… It was jinadu!!! I jumped up and reached for the door handle. I opened the door!!! I had forgoten all about baba mi, I was so happy to hear my little brother call my name. I carried him and inspected every part of his body for pankere bruises. There was none. I felt a stream of relief. He was all that mattered to me, I couldn’t bare to see him suffer for my cowardice.
” Sister Kofo, baba mi has gone out, he did not beat me. He only made me fake the cry so you will open the door” There was still a shred of humanity in baba mi… I hurried to the bathroom. I had to clean myself up. I was feeling so dirty and red. The events of the day played in my head as the water washed away the pain and red. Hot tear drops flowed freely across my cheeks. The feeling of hot tears mixed with cold water was different. I was going to visit Mrs Seila and narrate all that happened to her. The thoughts of leaving the house again without baba mi’s permission sent a shiver through my spine! The water flowed freely, the red struggled for dominance, the fragrance from the soap filled my nostrils…
****
Baba mi did not come back until very late in the night. I pulled my wrapper over my head as I heard him slam the door of the sitting room. He always does that. Mr Isqilu calls it arrival syndrome. My eyes were closed under the wrapper, with outrageous thoughts playing in my head. What if he comes, drags me out of bed and beat my skin till it peels off, or what if he does this or does that…My mind kept wandering deeper and deeper until it could wander no more.
*
Ku-ku-ru-koooooo
There was a cockcrow!
It was morning already, i must have fallen asleep yesterday night. Baba mi never came to drag me out of bed. That was strange. I got out of bed and tip-toed to the sitting room, making as little noise as possible. I was very close to the sitting room door when I banged my leg on a lifeless plastic bottle lying on the floor. I cursed silently as the bottle swirled carelessly across the room banging into yet another bucket! The noise was annoying! I wanted to race back to my room and jump on my bed. On a second thought, I decided not to. I went on and ahead to the sitting room. I opened the door very carefully peeping through the opening as it grew wider. The sitting room was empty!
****
Baba mi did not come back until very late in the night. I pulled my wrapper over my head as I heard him slam the door of the sitting room. He always does that. Mr Isqilu calls it arrival syndrome. My eyes were closed under the wrapper, with outrageous thoughts playing in my head. What if he comes, drags me out of bed and beat my skin till it peels off, or what if he does this or does that…My mind kept wandering deeper and deeper until it could wander no more.
*
Ku-ku-ru-koooooo
There was a cockcrow!
It was morning already, i must have fallen asleep yesterday night. Baba mi never came to drag me out of bed. That was strange. I got out of bed and tip-toed to the sitting room, making as little noise as possible. I was very close to the sitting room door when I banged my leg on a lifeless plastic bottle lying on the floor. I cursed silently as the bottle swirled carelessly across the room banging into yet another bucket! The noise was annoying! I wanted to race back to my room and jump on my bed. On a second thought, I decided not to. I went on and ahead to the sitting room. I opened the door very carefully peeping through the opening as it grew wider. The sitting room was empty!
Baba mi was not in the sitting room. The wall clock read 8:32am. Where could he have gone this early? I was lost in my thoughts when Jinadu’s voice filtered into my ears. “Sister Kofo, baba mi said he had to leave for work early.”
When did he tell you that ? I asked. “He came to tell me this morning when you were asleep, and he also said he left money on the table if we needed to buy anything.” “Sister Kofo, baba mi did not use the pankere on us today. He smiled and jumped on the three seater chair.” There will be no more pankere! I had made sure of that with the stunt I pulled the previous day. Baba mi has acknowledged me as a woman. I smiled. I was proud of myself.
When did he tell you that ? I asked. “He came to tell me this morning when you were asleep, and he also said he left money on the table if we needed to buy anything.” “Sister Kofo, baba mi did not use the pankere on us today. He smiled and jumped on the three seater chair.” There will be no more pankere! I had made sure of that with the stunt I pulled the previous day. Baba mi has acknowledged me as a woman. I smiled. I was proud of myself.
Jinadu was singing “Omode meta n sere”. I was happy to see my younger brother like this. A part of me was happy. The other part was scared. My emotions were confused. Baba mi must be up to something. All this sudden niceness, and to think that he has not apprehended me for what I did. Or has he really acknowledged me as a woman and decided to treat me with more respect ? I was not sure. I joined Jinadu in singing. “Omode meta n sere, ere o won sere ayo…
****
For the next days that followed, baba mi didn’t say a word to me. If he wanted to pass any message, it was through Jinadu. He made his lipton. He left the house early and came back late. He stopped using the pankere on us.
There was still no word from Mr Isqilu.
****
Two weeks had passed since my liberation struggle with baba mi. Things were going well. There wasn’t much of baba mi around the house. I liked this new change. I had decided to go and see Mrs Seila today. I was going to take Jinadu with me. It would be terrible to leave him all alone in the house. The short journey to Mrs Seilas was eventful. The first scenario had been that of a woman who bit off her husbands ear after she had caught him having his way with their house girl.
****
For the next days that followed, baba mi didn’t say a word to me. If he wanted to pass any message, it was through Jinadu. He made his lipton. He left the house early and came back late. He stopped using the pankere on us.
There was still no word from Mr Isqilu.
****
Two weeks had passed since my liberation struggle with baba mi. Things were going well. There wasn’t much of baba mi around the house. I liked this new change. I had decided to go and see Mrs Seila today. I was going to take Jinadu with me. It would be terrible to leave him all alone in the house. The short journey to Mrs Seilas was eventful. The first scenario had been that of a woman who bit off her husbands ear after she had caught him having his way with their house girl.
People were gathered around them, interestingly nobody separated them, they were all cheering and cursing, the husband landed a heavy blow on his wife’s face, she screamed! Blood oozed from the husbands ear. Jinadu pointed to the ear on the floor, with terror and irritation, I dragged him along and we left the scene. Terrible things on the streets of Mushin. We were already in Mrs Seilas street, we just needed to locate the building. I checked the paper for directions.
” Block 38, OLORUNSOGO STREET”
The handwriting was so straight and neat. We had gotten to block 32, just a few more blocks away. “Sister kofo , sister kofo!!..is that not Mr Isqilu inside that shop??” I looked in the direction of where Jinadu had pointed! It was Mr Isqilu. He was conversing with an aged woman. I screamed his name “Mr Isqilu !!!!! His attention was divided, he was shocked as hell to see who was calling out at him. He beckoned for us to come and meet him. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask, I started with why we hadn’t seen him for so long. “Your father told me to stop coming, that he didn’t have money to pay for my services. I told him I would keep coming for free, but he refused ” It was so good to see Mr Isqilu again, he said he was going to visit us soon.
The handwriting was so straight and neat. We had gotten to block 32, just a few more blocks away. “Sister kofo , sister kofo!!..is that not Mr Isqilu inside that shop??” I looked in the direction of where Jinadu had pointed! It was Mr Isqilu. He was conversing with an aged woman. I screamed his name “Mr Isqilu !!!!! His attention was divided, he was shocked as hell to see who was calling out at him. He beckoned for us to come and meet him. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask, I started with why we hadn’t seen him for so long. “Your father told me to stop coming, that he didn’t have money to pay for my services. I told him I would keep coming for free, but he refused ” It was so good to see Mr Isqilu again, he said he was going to visit us soon.
Mr Isqilu and Mrs Seila were friends. A coincindence. A good one. Mrs Seila talked about a lot of things, she liked Jinadu. I didn’t tell her about what happened with baba mi. His recent change of ways however strange, portrayed him in a decent way. I didn’t want to ruin that. Mrs Seila made pancakes for us and wrapped them in a disposable foil container. She also gave us some money. Mrs Seila treated us like her children. It feels good to be loved. Would maami have shown us this much love if she was around?
****
Baba mi was not around when we got back. I was tired. I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I could hear Jinadu snoring soflty… “That boy can sleep for Africa” The time was past seven, I could hear the call to prayer of the mosque behind our house. The noise was so much, it made it difficult for me to sleep. When I finally drifted, the sound of an arabic chant from the mosque lingered in my ears…
*
I felt a soft tickle and sluggish drag of what felt like cold hands running against the warmness of my skin. I sent a terrible slap on my thigh with high hopes of killing whatever was crawling on my body and disturbing my sleep.
I missed, and flinched from the rush of pain that I had brought upon myself. My eyes were still closed. I didn’t want to open them because that would mean disrupting my sleep and having to wait for several minutes before…
The hands came again, this time with a roughness! I opened my eyes, there was someone on my bed. He reeked of alchohol. I wanted to jump out of my bed, but he overpowered me, and stuffed my mouth with a piece of fabric. I couldn’t scream. He reached for my pants and yanked it off carelessly, sending a sharp pain through my body. The room was so dark!, I could not see. He licked my breast like a dog and fondled it roughly, he pulled his shorts, I felt something strong and soft touching my skin. I struggled, but my strength was nothing compared to this man.
****
Baba mi was not around when we got back. I was tired. I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I could hear Jinadu snoring soflty… “That boy can sleep for Africa” The time was past seven, I could hear the call to prayer of the mosque behind our house. The noise was so much, it made it difficult for me to sleep. When I finally drifted, the sound of an arabic chant from the mosque lingered in my ears…
*
I felt a soft tickle and sluggish drag of what felt like cold hands running against the warmness of my skin. I sent a terrible slap on my thigh with high hopes of killing whatever was crawling on my body and disturbing my sleep.
I missed, and flinched from the rush of pain that I had brought upon myself. My eyes were still closed. I didn’t want to open them because that would mean disrupting my sleep and having to wait for several minutes before…
The hands came again, this time with a roughness! I opened my eyes, there was someone on my bed. He reeked of alchohol. I wanted to jump out of my bed, but he overpowered me, and stuffed my mouth with a piece of fabric. I couldn’t scream. He reached for my pants and yanked it off carelessly, sending a sharp pain through my body. The room was so dark!, I could not see. He licked my breast like a dog and fondled it roughly, he pulled his shorts, I felt something strong and soft touching my skin. I struggled, but my strength was nothing compared to this man.
Where was baba mi? His only daughter was about to be raped, Where was he? I could still hear Jinadu snoring, it was loud now. Hot tears flowed freely from my eyes. I could not scream. Then I felt an excruciating pain between my legs!, my body trembled! I could not scream. The pain was out of this world. It was that type of pain the son of God felt when they nailed his hand. The man was going in and out of me. He breathed heavily, sweats from his body rained on me, the acrid smell of alchohol choked me.
Suddenly!, There was a new rush of energy to my body, the man was lost in what he was doing, i stretched my hands to the left side of the bed, there was a stool beside it. It was a few inches from the bed, but my hands could not reach it. I stretched more, with every inch of my arm feeling like its about to come off, the man kept going in and out of me. The pain inbetween my legs was unbearable. The pain became my motivation. My hand finally reached the stool. My hand roamed the stool,
I need something! I needed a weapon! There was none, I tried lifting the stool, it was heavy. The man was thrusting deeper into me! With an amazing rush of adrenaline, I lifted the stool and sent it crashing on the mans head. He flinched in pain and landed on the floor, I sent the stool flying on his head again! He cringed in pain and coiled into a knot the way an earthworm does when you pour salt on it. I ran out of the room, crashing into everything in my way.
The power supply was off. Who was this man that just ruined my life and brought me pain? I searched for the rechargeable lamp, it was lying lifeless on the floor. I raced back to the room. I shined the light on his face. It was covered in blood. I looked closely and shined brighter.
The power supply was off. Who was this man that just ruined my life and brought me pain? I searched for the rechargeable lamp, it was lying lifeless on the floor. I raced back to the room. I shined the light on his face. It was covered in blood. I looked closely and shined brighter.
It was baba mi.
To be continued.
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