“Why am I such a wuss? Why do I behave like an idiot around her? Why can’t I express myself whenever I am around her? I hate myself. My life is not worth living. I will never be worthy of her. I need to end this miserable life of mine.” These were the thoughts ringing in Ade’s head as he contemplated on ending his life.
He heard a knock at the door of his room. Ade with a bottle of sniper (a powerful insecticide) trying to consume the poisonous substance to end his life reacted in his thoughts. “Who the hell is this disturbing my moment of death?”
He heard the knock a second time,
Reluctantly and with lots of annoyance, Ade stood up to answer the person at the door.
To his surprise, it was a stranger with a beautiful and smiley face. “Who are you?”; he asked in a friendly tone.
The voice replied; “I am Subomi Jokosola. I am your new neighbour next door. I have come to introduce myself and see if you could help me in arranging my room.”
“Why not.” Ade replied, “give me a minute to get my shirt and I will join you soon.” They both departed.
Ade lived in a face-to-face apartment in Magodo, Lagos, where he rented two rooms to himself. He was single, a graduate of Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria with first-class honours and worked as a reconciliation officer at a reputable bank. Ade was a friendly, loving, easy-going and down to earth person who was loved by all, especially children in his community.
Ade picked up a shirt from the floor as his room was in a mess because of the emotional meltdown he had experienced for the past few days. He put on the cloth and sluggishly sauntered his new neighbour’s room. On arrival, he knocked at the door and waited for to be asked in.
“Please, come in”, Subomi replied.
Subomi showed Ade the kind of assistance she needed in the arrangement of her room. After two hours, the arrangement was complete and Subomi’s room began to look colourful like a flower that had benefited from early sunshine. Lost in the moment of peace and tranquillity, Ade forgot his depression and how he was about to commit suicide a few hours ago. Ade being an extrovert, asked Subomi why she was renting the apartment.
Subomi replied subtly, “I want to start a new life”.
To his surprise and amusement, Ade asked “why do you want to start a new life and what happened to your old life”. “I don’t want to talk about it, she replied.”
Subomi was a 22-year-old young lady. Her placidity and gentile beauty brought lots of attraction to her. She was 5’4 feet tall with a round smooth face and full pink lips. She had a small mould on the side of her round button nose which surprisingly added to her beauty alongside her curvy body of a medium-sized breast, slim waist and broad hips. Subomi lived with her uncle after the death of her parents and her siblings in a ghastly motor accident at the age of 10. She recently migrated to Nigeria after spending most of her teenage years outside the country.
Ade pressed on with the conversation with more intent and purpose, “your story can’t be that bad to share with others.” Ade said, while acting as if he had known Subomi his whole life.
Feeling like she could trust and open up to him, Subomi replied, “it is a long and sad story.” Subomi reluctantly sighed.
“I lost my parents and siblings twelve years ago, my uncle, Mr Aremu Shamisa, who resides in the United Kingdom, was given custody of me. After the painful funeral of my family, my uncle promised to relocate me out of the country. He was going to sponsor my education”.
She paused a bit, and contemplated whether to continue or not.
Tired of bottling everything inside with tears rolling down from her eyes, she continued, “Fortunately, my uncle kept his promise and relocated me. Upon my arrival in the United Kingdom, I met with my uncle’s wife and two sons. They all welcomed me with open hands and a lovely heart, unknowing to me that this warm gesture was deceit. As I settled and got accustomed to the new life and opportunity that fate had bestowed upon me, I was happy and gradually healing from the loss of my loved ones. As fate would have it, it happened that my uncle was lying and had other plans for me as he refused to send me to school as promised and left me in the hands of his wife who exploited and forced me into child labour at my teenage years”.
Ade cuts in saying, “This is pure wickedness, I can’t believe people can be so callous.”
Subomi sobbed and continued.
“One night, I was taking a break from the chores assigned to me by my uncle’s wife, when the eldest son of the family, Femi approached and was flirting with me. Before that day, Femi had been interested in me, always telling me that he wanted us to be dating. I kept on refusing him until that day when he forced himself on me and deflowered me. I screaming at the top of my voice but no help came. After that I felt sick for three days. Femi threatened to kill me if I informed anyone and continued with this wicked act on a consistent and regular basis exploiting my body against my will. I was fourteen years old, and this continued for two years.
Subomi looked up at Ade whose eyes was filled with sympathy, she then continued.
“I kept thinking this has to stop; I cannot take this anymore. Life should not be this difficult for me. I have been unfairly treated my whole life. These were the thoughts running in my mind as I vowed to report this matter to my uncle and his wife. I reported to my uncle and his wife and almost immediately, my uncle’s wife screamed and threw the TV remote at me, calling me a liar and a prostitute”.
Sighing in despair, Subomi continued shakily “Six months after my complaints; my dear uncle called me inside his room aiming to advise me and find a solution to my predicament. In the process of this supposed talk, my uncle overpowered and abused me sexually. When this was going, I was helpless and to worsen the case, my uncle’s wife witnessed this and didn’t complain. Three months later, with no protest from me, my uncle sold me out like a prized possession and I was initiated into prostitution on a full scale. This continued for another two years. However, luckily for me, there was an intervention by an international organisation who rescued me and other victims. They helped with my rehabilitation and recovery, migrating me to my home country, to start a new life. This is my story.” Subomi concluded.
Drenched in tears, Ade felt stupid as he pondered on what he had planned to do earlier before his encounter with Subomi.
Written by: Adeola Daniel
Man, Subomi’s life was sooo sad. I kinda saw her Uncle’s abuse coming. Smh, heart of man…