Echos From Yesterday

Domestic violence.

Echos From Yesterday Part 1.

I will never forget the pains she went through, My mother- the strongest woman I have ever seen. She took the pains calmly without protest from the demon she was forever doomed to endure-my father.

The demon began the torment with night escapades, staying outdoor till the wee hours, not caring the jeopardy his absences caused my mother. Poor mother, she waits in the living room, thinking, hoping and praying that her husband arrives safely. Nothing i said ever mattered, she would rather wait in the middle of the night alone, empty-stomached and heartbroken to behold the face she loved so dearly.

On my fifth birthday the beating started. It started simply because mama had been stupid enough to forget his carton of beer from store the previous day when she went shopping for the family. With tears in her eyes, sobs in her throat, knees on the kitchen floor and my cake turning to charcoal in the oven, she begged and held onto his cloth to exercise patience a few minutes to get rush to the store but he wouldn't listen. He pounced on her, a blow to the head made her her waver on her knees. Another to her chest sent her reeling on the floor. Paralyzed with fear, I couldn't take a step to seek for help, so i stood shivering and peeing on my newly bought gown that have cost mother her two months salary. After he had been satisfied, he left mother and spurned on me at the corner where I hurdled shivering and pulled me up by my hair, his face few inches from mine. My scalp was on fire and felt I was about to die.

He bared his crooked teeth as if he wanted to sink his fangs into my neck "Listen little witch" he snarled into my face, his breath worse than that of a rotten fish "If you tell anyone this, especially your grandpa, I will kill you" then he dropped me. 

It felt like falling from the sky into hell. I hit the floor hard on my bums and I could feel some bones creaking because of the impact. After the fall, my legs felt rubbery so I crawled on all fours to where mother lay motionless and shook and cried hoarsely.

It was my howls that brought the neighbours and they helped put my mother in a car that took us to a hospital nearby. Mother was hospitalized for forty eight hours and discharged with a load of pills. The demon didn't show up to see her once.

Life began at home like it used to do before with the long silences and drawn faces. Grandma and Grandpa came several times, telling mother to leave the demon and stay with them but wouldn't hear anything about it. "He is my husband and leaving will not solve the problem" she would say. Eventually, grandma and grandpa left brokenhearted, mourning in advance, the soon-to-be death of their only child. I opted to to live with them but mother insisted I stayed. "He doesn't beat you, it is me he has issues with" She argued "Going away will bring too much changes that will affect you" 

Then I conceived a plan.

It would be good if I could poison the demon with mother's rat killer. Mama needn't know So I waited hopefully for my chance. For three weeks, he didn't eat at home so I couldn't do anything. Then one Sunday afternoon, he said he was hungry. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard him say. Mechanically, mother put the pot on fire and started the ritual of cooking. I hung around and waited with bated breath for the food to be done. I chatted incessantly but mother was robotic in her movements and responses, hardly giving more than one word answers to my series of questions.

Mother excused herself from the kitchen an I sprang into action. The poison that had been safely tucked inside my pocket was fished out and I sprinkled a generous quantity on the food, knowing that neither mother nor me I would eat from it. 

Mother came back and dished the food into a plate and took it to him in the dining room where he was making a call and waiting for the food. I filled the table jug with water and took it in to the dining room. The demon was ready but his phone clung tightly to his ears and he was shouting into it, cursing whoever he was talking to. Mother was nowhere to be found. With exaggerated carefulness, I put  the jug on the table and tiptoed out to my room, waiting for the noise that would soon come. 

After five minutes, I left my room and silently went to the dining room, I could hear the sound of a spoon against a china. I was happy that he was finally eating and I could feel my heart beating wildly for the sweet sensation of freedom.

But he was not in the dining room. 

It was mother that was eating the food.

"Sharon, come and take a seat" mother said with a mouthful of food. "He has gone out because there is an urgent business he needs to attend to"