ABUSED. Chapter 18

I ignored his calls for a week but he was very persistent and kept sending me texts and wouldn’t stop calling. On Saturday, 8 days after I angrily left the hospital, I was still feeling very guilty for going behind Kayode’s back. Instead of seeing his gesture as a genuine concern, I started to get suspicious. Does he want to leave Kayode and get together with him or get us into trouble? But then again, he had never flirted with me before , as far as professional was, he was a hundred percent and thinking of it, he acted more like a protective older brother than anything else. That afternoon, he called again and I picked his call.

“Listen Jumoke, I’m not calling to apologise to you because I didn’t do anything bad to you. I just want to tell you that to avoid any more beatings; I suggest you delete all evidence of my calls and texts. Any evidence of me meddling in your life.” He said all in one rush and it was the beep which indicated the end of a call that jolted me awake.

Kayode came home around 2pm that afternoon, after hanging out with his padi-s. He was in a good mood and said he had something to tell me.

“My uncle that raised me wants to meet the girl that got me hooked. He told me last week but I forgot to tell you. I told him we would come together this evening. I hope you’re okay with that?” he looked at me with a pleading look and squeezed my hand. “He already heard so much about you and he’s very eager to have you around.”

It was a nice gesture considering the fact that I had been cooped up inside the house for a few hours and everything already looked boring. For a change, he lot me choose what to wear and I was at ease that the night would be a great one since it had been awhile that we had hung out together as a couple.

We left home around 4pm and went to his uncle’s place at Apapa.

“He’s like a second father to me,” he tried to make conversation on the way.

“Ehen,” I said distractedly. All I could picture was how the man who made Kayode turn out the way he did looked. I tried to rehearse what I would say to him but I came up blank. I was restless.

“Relax, okay? He’s welcoming, I swear” he tried to reassure me and I wondered if he was in fact telling himself that or me.

To my surprise, his uncle was pleasant enough. He didn’t even let me kneel to greet him before gushing about how much he had heard about me. With a pleasant smile on his face all along, I found his presence oddly relaxing. He asked me questions about my background, family and general information about myself. He took his time, declaring at the onset of the conversation that he wanted to take this as an opportunity to catch up on our life together. Kayode squeezed my hand and I squeezed his back, I could see the fear in his whole countenance.

Before the lapse of two hours, I wondered if the wonderful man I was talking to was the same man Kayode described as hell. The conversation was more like a friendly banter than anything else. His wife came home a little after six and she hugged me so tight you would think I was her long lost daughter. She told me to go to the kitchen and prepare whatever I liked and I complied. We ate dinner there and everything was so confusing. Were these the same people Kayode told me about? Something just wasn’t right and I couldn’t shake it off. It was a two ways thing: either Kayode lied to me about his abuse or these people were trying to hard to cover up whatever they did to him.

The night came to an end and we were about to leave when Kayode said he had to pee and that i should wait for him. But as soon as Kayode went out of sight, I realised that this was my chance to know the inconsistencies of the stories I heard and the actions that night. But surprisingly, his uncle beat me to it. His wife led me back to the sofa.

“Jumoke,” he called my name and I looked up sharply. “Are you happy with him?”

The question was so surprising that I almost choked on empty air. That was an elegant way of asking if I was being abused by his godson. I just muttered something random under my breath and unexpectedly, he appeared concerned about my well-being. He fixed his eyes on me and I could deduce that he knew that I understood where he was coming from.

“You know, Jumoke, it doesn’t matter how right you try to raise a child or how loving the environment was. Some children will grow up exactly the way they want to. I understand how much Kayode gets angry and his inability to get a grip on himself what he is,” I opened my mouth to talk but no words came out. They knew.

“He’ s a perfectionist and he doesn’t like to lose his cool and we appreciate that you’re with him irrespective of how many reasons he has given for you to leave him. Believe me, we know”

The conversation was getting very awkward and I wondered if this was a set-up to let them talk to me before he reappeared. But what he probably didn’t expect was that they would tell me that he turned out just the way he wanted to. No one influenced his actions; he was raised in a loving home. Kayode came back into the sitting room and he looked like he had seen a ghost. He knew that his lie had been busted. His uncle looked at him but continued.

“I hope you help him change because we tried our best and it still didn’t seem to be enough.” He looked both apologetic and appreciative at the same time and I realised at that moment that this was something I needed to accept if I wanted to continue being with him.

I remembered the girl that crossed over to the other side of the road over a year ago and how the fearful look I saw on her face was the exact one I had been seeing in the mirror for over 6 months. He was abused her and I had been too smitten to connect the dots.

I would have liked to hear more but the sharp look Kayode threw my way was enough to make me get up and make my way to the door without saying a word. I heard him saying ‘goodnight’ to them and we left.

I told him I wanted to get take-out at an eatery around before we got home but he didn’t even want to hear it. “Common, please.” I begged even thought I knew everything wasn’t alright between us anymore that night.

He yanked my arm back and I hissed painfully. “I want to go home now.”

His voice was low but there was so much threat in those five words that I thanked God we were in public or he would have slapped me again. On the whole way home, we didn’t speak to each other. As soon as we got home and he opened the door, he was his bossy self again. The darkness in his eyes commanded utmost obedience and I didn’t want to be the one that darkness would be demonstrated on. I hurried into the bedroom and slipped into bed. He didn’t come into the bedroom and as I laid in the darkness that night, I finally admitted to myself that I was unhappy. Kayode was nothing like the man I had fallen in love with and I needed to accept that he had changed for good.

That was when the fear started to settle in. I remembered what he did to our unborn child and tears flooded my eyes at the mere thought of what he could do to me. What hurt most was that he had lied to me and didn’t even have the decency to apologise; he had shifted the blame of how he turned out on two lovely people who did everything they could to raise him right.  I picked my phone and called the only person I knew would be willing to listen to me- Damola.

“I’m so sorry for acting like a bitch,” I said as soon as I heard his voice.

“Don’t worry,” his calm made me feel better. “Did he beat you again?”

“No, but he lied to me and I’m scared of how worse he’s becoming,” I hastily explained what happened to him and asked if he would be at work on Monday so I could come over and explain. He said he would and after I ended the call, I deleted his number from my call log.

As soon as I locked my phone and shoved it under my pillow, Kayode came into the room, got into bed and started to fondle me. We hadn’t been intimate since a day before he landed me in the hospital and I was anxious that he might hurt me but more afraid of what he would do to me if I refused him. Twenty minutes later, my body was throbbing but he was pleased and asleep.

My tears fell silently into the night like they had so many nights before but this time, it was different. I felt stronger and determined to get my life back with Damola’s help.