Shattered Beyond Repair (Episode 3)

They both sat down and Romoke scrolled through the phone before telling Tomi to sit down beside her and watch. It was an X-rated video and Tomi cringed inwardly as she watched. She started to feel uneasy and Romoke was giggling. She told Tomi that what they were watching was what the seniors they passed on their way came to the class to do. Tomi’s mouth opened in amazement. All her life, she had never seen or witnessed anything like this though she had always heard about it. Back home before her mother died, they had always watched Mount Zion movies and she only had clean friends. Things were gradually changing for Tomi.

Uncle Lanre's children all had phones except for the last child who was barely eight. Tomi's mum had not seen any need for her to have a phone and she never complained. She was a good child who always adhered to whatever her mother felt was right for her. Everything seemed wrong in her uncle’s family. She had caught the oldest son several times at the backyard at night with Sobechi, their neighbour’s teenage daughter. At such times, they were either kissing, smooching or he’d be fondling her breasts.

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Life at uncle Lanre's house became a nightmare for Tomi. She was now in SSS2 and if it wasn’t for God and her intelligence, she would have failed woefully but she managed to pass and was promoted to the next class. Nobody ever bought anything for her, it was like she was invisible to her uncle. When her uniform became short due to the increase in her height and she had asked her uncle for money to get a new one, he told her he had no money. She had gone to the bank to withdraw five thousand naira from the money she kept there and she had gotten a new uniform for herself. Nobody asked her where she got the money from and it disturbed her. The other time, she had seen her period and had asked her uncle’s wife for money to get a sanitary pad but she had replied that money was hard to make and she had none to throw away.

She bought all her books herself and before long, she had withdrawn all the money she had in the bank. The last time she asked Romoke for money, she had given her grudgingly saying “fine girls don’t lack, use your head.” Tomi had no idea of what the statement meant. Many times, she wondered how Romoke got money but she never bothered to ask.

Her uncle had told them the previous night that they would all be travelling to the village during the weekend for one of her cousins' wedding. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be travelling with them because she had weekend classes to attend in school. Their Government teacher had instructed all the Arts students to come to school on Saturday, he was trying hard to cover the syllabus before their exams. Romoke was lucky she wasn’t an Arts student. Tayo, uncle Lanre's first son would not be travelling with them too because his JAMB exam was holding that same day. Tomi was happy because she was scared of being left alone all by herself in the house.

If Tomi had known what would happen to her, she wouldn’t have been happy that she was left alone with Tayo. That weekend, after everyone had travelled, Tomi went to school and Tayo went to write his exams; the family left for the village very early in the morning. Tomi cooked some rice when she got back from school. It was the concoction type of rice and that was what she and Tayo had for dinner.

Later, Tomi had her bath, changed into her nightie and laid down on the bed. She was ready to sleep but memories of her mother kept her awake. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she remembered that she would never see her again. The future was bleak for her because she did not know if her uncle would be interested in sending her to a higher institution. She was still thinking when she drifted off to sleep. It was the feeling that she had of someone tugging at her pants that woke her up. She was scared when she saw Tayo breathing heavily and trying so hard to pull off her pants.

“What do you think you are doing?” she asked him.

A hard slap landed on her cheek and she started shaking. She tried to get up but he pushed her down. 

To be continued...