Stolen innocence

10 year old Osinachi awoke from her siesta, she got out of her mint green double bed and lumbered towards the door pulling the white six panel door open and stepping into the hallway of the mansion. The house sounded quiet except for the faint music coming from the second living room downstairs. She climbed down the stairs and followed the sound of the music to the living room – she was sure her mother was in there watching her favorite TV program as was her custom. She could hear soft moans mixed with the sound of music emanating from the huge French door. Without thinking, she began to pull the door open and stopped at the sight of her mother sitting over Mr. Sony and rocking her waist back and forth. Her mother had her back to the door but Mr. Sony was facing the door and saw her standing there staring at them confusingly. He smirked at Osinachi and began to squeeze the buttocks of her mother with his gaze never leaving Osinachi’s face. He winked at the little girl, causing her to dart away from the door and run up the stairs to her room. Osinachi flung herself into her bed, hugged her knees to her chest and stared blankly at her lemon yellow walls. She didn’t understand what she had just witnessed yet felt awkward. 

She stayed in her room until she heard the sound of a car in their big compound. She got down from the bed and walked to the casement window and watched Mr Sony reverse out of the gate.

“Osinachi!” Her mum called, opening the door to her room.

Osinachi turned around and moved away from the window, into her mother’s embrace.

“Up already?” her mother smiled at her, giving her nose a little squeeze.

Osinachi grinned up at this woman she adored so much. “Yes mum”

“Okay, come let’s go to the kitchen, the chef is making your favorite this evening – Spaghetti and fried chicken”

“Yeah!!” Osinachi clapped her hands together excitedly and followed her mother’s lead to the kitchen downstairs.

***

The feeling of someone caressing her thigh woke Osinachi up. She slowly opened her eyes and bolted upwards at the sight of Mr Sony sitting besides her bed.

“Ssshhhhh” he placed a finger over his lips and smirked at her. “Did you like what you saw earlier today?” he asked as he traced his fingers up and down her leg.

Osinachi shook her head fervently, she pulled the duvet further upwards her chest, shifting away from him.

“It’s okay baby, you don’t have to be afraid, hmnn?” His half grey brows pulled together and he shone his teeth in a wry manner. He shifted further into the bed with every move Osinachi made backwards. She shot her eyes to the door, hoping her mother would just walk in at that instance.

“Ah don’t worry!” Mr. Sony said as if reading her mind. “The sleeping pill I put in her tea would not wear out till morning”

Her heart sank. she knew that whatever this lanky aged man was trying to do was bad and that there was no one to save her.

Mr Sony pulled the girl by both leg‘s, forcing her back to hit the bed. Osinachi tried to wriggle away but he pinned her to the small bed and pulled off her pyjamas from her small body frame. He pushed her legs apart and pressed a finger to her vagina.

“I’ll make you feel so good, and you will make me feel good too” He said, his eyes shining with lust and excitement.

Osinachi shook her head in disapproval, tears flowing down her cheek. Mr. Sony ignored her petrified gaze and lowered his head down into her small thigh‘s.

***

Osinachi slept in late and by the time she woke up it was almost 10a.m. She felt a pang of pain in her vagina area. She remembered Mr Sony trying to push his finger into her last night. She shook away the memory, scrabbled around for her slippers and trudged out of her room to the kitchen downstairs.

“Oh there she is!” her mother called out excitedly, hugging her head and placing a kiss on her hair. “Mr. Sony said you watched TV late into the night yesterday so he asked that I allow you sleep in, after all it’s Saturday today” she shrugged turning away and walking back to the cooker.

“Good morning princess” Mr. Sony smiled at her.

She shot him an angry look as she tried to climb into the kitchen chair. He responded with a wink and a smirk on his thin lips.

“The chef called in sick” her mother continued saying with her back turned to them. “Now, I have to do the cooking by myself” she complained as she stirred the pot that sat on the cooker. She looked over her shoulders at her daughter. “Honey you’re awfully quiet today, are you okay?”.

Osinachi looked at Mr. Sony who looked back at her with a warning stare.

“You’re okay honey?” her mother repeated, fully looking at her now.

“I’m_ fi_ne mum” she lied.

She was going to wait until Mr Sony left the house to tell her mother what he did to her last night. And so she waited. But after having her breakfast, her mother went into the bedroom she shared with Mr Sony and did not emerge. Osinachi tired of waiting went to their door and knocked.

“Baby I’m busy now” her mother called from within “Go away, I’ll see you later”

She walked away from their door and went into the compound. She sat on the swing in the yard and swung herself back and forth. She thought about her father and her twin sister. Memories of the family they used to be flooded back into her mind. Her father was not as rich as Mr Sony but he loved her very much. Her father would always help her with assignments. He would read bedtime stories to her and her twin sister every night before they went to bed. He taught her how to ride a bike, took her in the front seat of his car and always bought her and her sister a present as he returned back from work every day. They were a happy family. She loved seeing her mum and dad joke with each other and laugh out so loud. Now all that was gone. Ever since her father took her sister to the supermarket one evening and a lorry ran into them as he drove back home.

She wiped off the tears that sat on her cheek, looked sideways at the white mansion she now lived in. She didn’t really like it here but her mum did. The death of her father had devastated her mother that she would cry all the time. But ever since she met Mr Sony six months ago, she seemed happy again. She was herself again.  Just the way she had been when her husband was alive. Osinachi felt bad for what she was about to tell her mother, her mother was so happy she didn’t want to ruin her happiness. So as she sat on that swing, she made up her mind not to tell her mum anymore, she was going to allow her to be happy.

***

The soft strokes on her back awoke Osinachi. It was Mr Sony touching her again.

“So where were we?” Mr Sony smiled smugly at her.

“Please do_n_t” she pleaded.

“C’mon, I know you liked it the last time. hmn?” he said as he rubbed his finger over her dry vagina.

“It hurt” she blinked terrified, a tear ran down her cheek.

Mr Sony pulled off his night robe and made her pleasure him with her mouth. He shoved her head back unto him everytime she tried to pull backwards, groaning pleasurably to her disgust.

“Less teeth baby, less teeth” he cautioned.

A thought struck Osinachi’s mind. She firmly pressed her teeth into his erect flesh, he screamed and shoved her roughly away from him.

“What d‘fuck you little bitch!” he spat as he wrenched in pain.

His eyes glared angrily at Osinachi who curled up in a corner of the room, staring back at him afraid of his next move. With one hand covering his penis, he charged at her as if to slap her but stopped. “You little witch!” he cursed at her, then turned around and limped out of her room.

***

Mr Sony did not accompany Osinachi and her mother to church the next day, and she was glad. She was going to spend some time alone with her mother – something she rarely got the chance to do ever since Mr Sony became a part of their lives. Osinachi glanced over at her mum who was driving and nodding her head to the song playing on the stereo. Her mum was so happy and she liked that she could smile again.

“I love you mum” she said to her.

“Awwwh” her mother shot her a smile before returning her gaze to the road. “I love you too honey”.

They drove into the church arena and brought the car to a halt. Both stepped out, Osinachi held her mother’s hand as they strolled into the church building and kept her hand in hers all through the service. She was glad to be spending this time alone with her mother.

After the church service, as they drove out of the premises, her mother suggested that they go and have ice cream, to which Osinachi obliged gleefully. Her mother drove into Cold Stone Creamy at Gwarimpa, excited Osinachi jumped down from the car. Her mother took her hand and the little girl hopped beside her as they walked into the building. Osinachi chose the big cup to her mother’s amusement and directed the attendant to top her ice cream with crunchy waffles.

They got a table and sat down to begin enjoying their cups of ice cream.

“Baby, ” Her mother called her attention as she was half way through her ice cream. “Mr Sony asked me to marry him_”

Osinachi almost choked on the cream in her mouth.

Her mother was shocked and confused. “Are you okay?” she asked with a little frown creasing her eyebrows.

Osinachi wiped her mouth with the back of her hands, and nodded her head. Her mother regained her composure and replaced the frown with a smile. “I said yes! He makes me so happy” she blushed. “He is caring, understanding, gentle, rich, he is the complete package” she said dreamily rolling her eyes up at the ceiling. Then as if hit by an idea, she quickly placed her palm over Osinachi’s little hand, “You have to do everything he tells you to do. You must!”

Osinachi pulled her brows together. “Anything?”

Her mother appeared to ponder on the question for a while then said, “Well yes! baby he is my heaven sent, our heaven sent. If I lose him, I don’t know what I would do. You saw how daddy’s family threw us out after daddy went to heaven. Mr Sony is godsent! He has wiped off the tear’s from our eyes__”

“Your eye‘s___” Osinachi didn’t realize when those words muttered out of her mouth.

“What?!” 

“I’m so sorry mum, I didn’t mean that”

“Is there something I should know because Mr Sony is one of the few good men I know? He took us in and he loves you like his own daughter. He loves me, gives us everything we need and want. I am lucky to even have him want to marry me, so you better behave!” her mum scolded.

“Yes mum, I’m sorry”

Her mum heaved a sigh. “Baby I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go off on you like that. Just_, give him a chance okay?”

“Okay” Osinachi said, without understanding exactly what she was saying okay to.

***

The boutique Mr Sony set up for Ms Esther just a few months after they had met kept her busy and away from home on weekdays. Because he was a business man, he stayed home for most of the time, leaving him alone with Osinachi, except for the chefs and cooks who remained at their stations downstairs and had no business coming up the stairs.

The driver brought Osinachi back from school one afternoon and she went straight to the kitchen to have her lunch. When she was finished, she climbed up the stairs to her room. She undressed and stepped into her pink walled bathroom. Her mother taught her to have a bath everytime she got back from school. Each of the bathroom‘s had a shower stall, she climbed into hers and turned on the shower, she stood under the water and began scrubbing her little arms.

“You are so beautiful!”

She whirled around to face Mr Sony standing in the door way naked and rubbing himself. Osinachi’s heart dropped in fear as she froze. He slowly walked towards her, slid open the stall and withdrew her from it. He pointed a warning finger to her face.

“You’re not ever going to bite me again, you hear me??” 

Osinachi nodded fearfully

“And you are not going to tell your mother anything that happens here otherwise I would kill her and have you freely to myself” he finished off with a shrug and a wry smile.

Osinachi was not going to let that happen. She already lost her father, she was not going to loose her mother too. So when Mr Sony laid her on her bed, spat on his hand and rubbed it over himself, she looked away. As he pressed a hand over her mouth and wriggled into her, hot spouts of tears descended down her eyes, she had never felt a pain so wrenching. She thought about her daddy and her twin sister and she let her mind remember some of the beautiful memories they shared as a family. But every thrust of Mr Sony hurt more than the thrust before. She tried so hard to focus on the memories in her head but she felt herself drifting away, the pain was just too much.

Mr Sony finished and rolled off her body. She couldn’t move, she felt numb.

He got a bowl of warm water and cleaned her up, he gave her some painkiller’s which she took. He then prepared a cup of warm tea for her to drink, unknown to her, he had put some sleeping pills into it. Osinachi drank it and fell into a deep long sleep.

*****

“Baby, baby!” her mum shook Osinachi.

Osinachi stretched her arms and squinted her eyes open.

“You’ve been sleeping since yesterday evening. It’s almost time for school, go and have your bath”

“Good morning mummy” she said sitting up in the bed.

“Good morning honey. Come on, go have your bath, I will drop you off on my way to work”

“Mummy I need to tell you something”

“What is it?”

“Mum_ Mr_ Mr Sony_ ” she was afraid and didn’t know how to relate what happened yesterday to her mother.

“Yes?” the mother nudged her on impatiently.

“Mr Sony, __ he forced himself on me yesterday.“

“Jesus!” her mother exclaimed, cupping her mouth in shock.

“He__ he __ put his thing inside my peepee”

Her mum hit her across the face. “Will you shut up?! How dare you say such a lie against a man that has been there for us?”

“Mummy I’m not lying” 

Her mother sprung up from the bed. “I know you don’t like Mr Sony but this is the height of it! That man is a good man! Everybody can attest to that! He single handedly founded the motherless children’s home we visited the other day. He is a deacon in church and is highly respected in the community. I knew you didn’t want me to marry him but I didn’t think you would go this far“

Osinachi shook her head tearfully. 

“You know how miserable I was when your daddy died, now I have a chance at happiness and I can’t believe you are trying to ruin that_”

“Mum please believe me_” 

“No Osinachi! no! not this time. Now listen carefully,” She pointed a warning finger at her daughter “I don’t want you to ever repeat these words again, not to me, not to anyone. Do you understand?, do you?!”

Osinachi nodded tearfully.

Her mum walked out of the room, banging the door angrily behind her.

Osinachi broke down and wailed bitterly.

*******

Mr Sony married Osinachi’s mum in an elaborate ceremony a few months after. Osinachi couldn’t be more displeased. He continued to harass her whenever her mother was out of sight.

A year later, Osinachi was able to gain admission into a boarding house secondary school, much to the disapproval of Mr Sony.

The time came for her to leave for the school. As the plane took off to Port Harcourt that morning, Osinachi looked at her mother who was sitting beside her, she didn’t know if she could ever forgive her for refusing to stand up for her. Her heart was so bitter, she wished never to return to their house again. And she promised herself, that someday when she got married and had a daughter of her own, she would not fail her, the way her own mother had failed her.

WRITTEN BY OGBUGOH TERUNDU JOY.