☆☆
A week after
26 – 09 – 2015
It was a sunny afternoon. Sheila and Tom were
together on the chase lounge beside the
swimming pool at Tom’s house. Sheila was on a
swim wear which covered her torso while Tom
was in his swimming shorts. She had her head
resting on his chest while his arms were
wrapped around her body, with their legs also
coiled around each others.
They seemed to be in a jolly romantic mood.
Two cups and a pack of juice were on a
footstool beside the lounge. From time to time
as they discussed, Tom made jokes and Sheila
giggled at his jokes. They discussed a wide
variety of subjects, ranging from movies, novels,
politics and business. After discussing about the
possibility of doing a business together, they
remained silent for some minutes until Tom
spoke again.
“Sheila, I think it’s time we pick a date to get
married.”
Sheila suddenly jerked up and separated herself
from him. Tom also sat up, wondering why she
responded that way.
“What’s the matter?” He asked, staring at her
face with grave concern. He wondered if he said
it wrong way or touched her wrongly.
“There’s no problem,” she forced on a smile and
placed her head on his chest again, pushing him
back gently until they got back to their previous
position.
Tom was silent for a while, waiting for her to
speak but two minutes passed and she said
nothing.
“You’re not saying anything Sheila about my
question Sheila,” He asked in a bothered voice,
as he tried to look at her face which she hid
from him by turning the top of her head to him.
She sighed. The look on her face had completely
changed from the relaxed and happy one she
carried before he talked about them getting
married. She seemed to be unusually bothered
about his request.
He had proposed to her two months ago and she
happily gave him a yes. But two months after
putting on his ring, she had never been able to
picture both of them getting married to each
other successfully.
“Tom, can we just talk about this another time?”
She requested, trying to dismiss the subject.
“No Sheila, we are going to talk about it now or
never!” Tom flared up. He moved her away
gently and got up from the lounge. He put on
his slippers and turned to her, she was now
sitting up. “You keep avoiding discussions about
us getting married, I don’t understand what you
want anymore. Just tell me if you are no longer
interested in getting married to me.”
“Tom… I…” Sheila tried to speak but she
couldn’t find words to use.
Tom shook his head tiredly, “What other excuse
do you have to tell me now?” He shook his head
again and released a breath.
She stared at him without being able to say
anything.
He reached for his phone and face towel placed
on a stool close to them and walked right into
the house.
Sheila watched him go, she was confused. It was
their fourth year in the relationship after being
friends since childhood. She truly loved him or
so she thought, but she couldn’t explain why
she was unable to imagine them being married
together. She had a strange kind of fear always
overcoming her anytime she tried to think
about it. Even though they had their differences,
he had been good to her and had tried all his
best to prove that he loved her. She just
couldn’t point to the exact reason why their
being together eternally was looking impossible
to her. She hadn’t dated anyone else apart from
him, so she couldn’t say if it was something that
he did differently. She just knew something was
wrong.
She heaved a sigh of frustration. She
remembered the look of disappointment on his
face before he walked into the house. She felt
some pity for him. She was causing him so hurt
and she couldn’t even explain why. She got up
from the lounge and picked a the after
swimming robe from the stool, she put it on
and then proceeded into the house.
Tom’s house was as big as Sheila’s and
structured almost in the same pattern. The
same architect had designed the houses. Apart
from that, she was familiar with the place and
already knew every corner in the house. She
knew where he would go to anytime he was
angry with someone or needed to cool off his
head.
The bedroom was one of the rarely used guest
rooms in the house, it was however always
neatly kept because Tom used it from time to
time. She took in a very deep breath as she held
the knob of the door and turned it open, she
pushed it gently in and took a step forward. He
was there like she expected, sitting on the chair
directly facing the window with his face buried
in his palms. She felt guilty again.
“What do you want?”
His voice startled her as she tried to take
another step. She stopped for a second, unsure
of what to do. She summoned courage and took
another step forward.
“Don’t come close,” he said in a warning tone.
She stopped again. His tone sounded dangerous
to her. She however believed that it was his
hurt and disappointment that made him sound
angry and he could not do anything to hurt her.
“I’m sorry for making you feel this way Tom,”
she finally found her voice.
The softness of her voice produced an annoying
feeling in Tom rather than a soothing feeling
which it was intended to produce.
“I only need you to give me more time and I
promise we would get through with the
marriage as soon as possible,” Sheila added.
He was silent and unmoved by her words.
However, he seemed calmer to her as she
couldn’t see his facial expression. She could see
him raise his hand to his face to scratch or clean
something. He still did not let out a word.
She hoped he was considering giving her more
time. She took more steps further but froze in
shock as he let out his voice again.
“I said do not come close,” he roared in a loud
voice. Turning his face partially to have a side
look of her.
He was still hurt by her refusal to answer his
question, Sheila thought. She stood there for
some seconds like a child being scolded by her
father. She knew he could be mad or crazy at
her, but was sure he always loved her. She let
off her fears and advanced towards him.
He got up suddenly and turned towards her. She
froze, she could see a rage on his face which she
had never seen before. It was obvious the man
in front of her was not the Tom she knew. But
it was too late, she was already so close to him.
She tried to step backwards but he only took
two quick steps to get a hold of her. He pulled
her by the arm and pushed her to the wall.
“Tom, you’re hurting me,” She yelled.
He was deaf to her voice, consumed by his fury,
all he wanted at that moment was to make her
feel hurt and pains. He opened her robe
forcefully. His fingers found their way to the
cloth material covering her cleavage and he
tried to tear it off but she resisted and pushed
him away.
She tried to cover up herself with the robe
quickly but he grabbed her by the waist and
dragged her back, he pushed her to the bed. She
tried to get up quickly but he landed her a
heavy slap and she fell back crying. He pulled
the rope at the helm and pulled it off her body
totally. He climbed on the bed and dragged her
close.
“Tom, are you crazy?” What are you trying to
do?” She yelled at him, punching him on the
chest.
He tore off the swimwear from her cleavage
down to her g---n forcefully. He stepped down
from the bed and pulled the remaining part of
the material from her legs. She screamed and
tried to escape through the other side but he
dragged her legs and held it. She held on with
her hands to the edge of the bed.
He climbed on the bed and held her leg with a
hand as he began to pull down his shorts with
the other.
“Tom, please stop this.” she pleaded but it fell
on deaf ears. He was determined to make her
feel pains.
She could see him still burning with rage as he
stripped off his shorts, she realized that this
was not the Tom she knew. This was different
and looked liked someone being controlled by
an evil spirit. She realized that no amount
pleading would make him stop, she also knew
she couldn’t overpower him with her strength.
His hands touched the piece of clothing on her
waist and she knew that once he dragged that
off, he would be unstoppable. She raised her leg
to hit him in the chest but he grabbed her feet
with his hand and put it down gently, he placed
a knee on it to pin her down.
She continued to struggle and yell but he wasn’t
listening. He succeeded in tearing off the
remaining part that covered her genitals. Her
hands touched something as she struggled and
she realized it was an almost empty bottle of
wine on the floor. She struggled with all her
strength and before he could go further, she
sent the bottle crashing on his head. He let out
a loud scream and rolled away, holding his head
and wincing in pain.
She got out of the bed quickly, she was stark
naked. She quickly located the robe and picked
it. She headed for the door immediately, she
found the keys at the door hole and removed it
before stepping out. She closed and quickly
inserted the key into it from behind. She could
hear the sounds of his footsteps as she turned
the key and locked it. He began to bang on the
door with his fists.
Luckily for her, none of the maids nor house
workers were there to see her naked. She
quickly put on the robe to cover part of her
nakedness and hurried to Tom’s main room to
put on the clothes she wore to the place.
She met one of the maids on her way out the
house, the maid was holding some bags with her
and it was obvious she had just returned from
the grocery store.
The maid said a word of greeting to Sheila which
she didn’t reply. She got into her car as fast as
she could and drove out of the compound.
Different thoughts filled her heart as she drove
home and tears rolled down her eyes. She
wondered what had come over Tom and why he
was trying to have his way forcefully, what he
displayed was more than the urge for sex. She
didn’t know what it was, she could only assume
that he was trying to punish her for hurting
him.
It was the first time she was seeing him so
aggressive and she was scared as she thought of
it. Was it her fault? she thought to herself. Had
she frustrated him to that point or was it that
Tom was just impatient with her? She didn’t
have answers to he several questions running
through her mind but she had a feeling inside
her that it could be the end of their four years
relationship.
It was a shame! She thought. Her father would
not like it. The man had in recent times,
introduced her to people as his daughter who
was soon going to get married to the son of his
best friend. Five minutes to her home, her
phone began to ring. She sniffed in as she
turned up the screen to check who the caller
was. It was Tom. She ignored the call and
continued driving. The calls continued but she
did not consider answering it.
SAY NO TO RAPE
Henry was coupling a device in the living room
when Sheila got in. He had just finished with his
personal lessons for the day and was doing
some practicals. After spending most of his time
in the study where he took his classes, he
decided to come to the living room when the
evening approached, hoping for Sheila to see
him working immediately she returned.
“Hey Sheila!” Henry hailed as she walked into
the living room.
She mumbled a reply and continued into the
hallway.
“Sheila, I…” Henry raised up his head to find
Sheila already gone into the hallway. He was so
busy with the device he was coupling that he
did not look at her face long enough to notice
something was wrong. He had expected she
would wait to talk to him and check his work as
usual. He however knew something was amiss
with the way she walked into the hallway. He
dropped the device and quickly followed.
“Sheila,” he called as he followed.
She gave no reply. He noticed she was walking
so fast. It was strange.
He couldn’t catch up with her and only got to
her door few seconds after she got into the
room and locked it.
“Sheila, is everything okay?” he beckoned on
her but got no response. “Sheila, please talk to
me.”
He heaved a sigh after waiting at the door for
five minutes without hearing anything from
her. He had tried to listen to see if he would
know what she was doing through her
movements in the room but he heard no sound
whatsoever, meaning she was sitting in a place.
He was still wondering what to do when he
heard footsteps from the main hallway. He
turned out of the passage leading to her room
into the main hallway, he saw Lesedi
approaching, she was going into one of the
rooms. He whispered her name and beckoned
on her to come closer.
“Lesedi, Sheila just walked in and went straight
into her room. Did you see her when she drove
in?” he asked in low tones.
The smile on Lesedi’s face disappeared on
hearing Henry’s report. “I did not see her but
Esther told me she wasn’t looking happy, like
she had a disagreement with someone.”
Henry’s eyebrows gathered together to form a
more worried look. “She’s gone in and locked
herself in. I hope she would not hurt herself.”
“Have you tried to get in?”
“Yes, I’ve knocked several times and she isn’t
answering.”
Lesedi looked worried now, she realized it was
more serious than she imagined when Esther
told her. “Let’s check again please,” she said and
proceeded to Sheila’s room with Henry
following behind. She stepped back for Henry to
knock when they got to the door.
“Sheila, please let me in,” Henry spoke after his
knuckles hit the door the third time without
getting any response. He turned to look at
Lesedi’s face, as if he was expecting her to
perform some magic.
Lesedi stepped forward. “Madam Sheila, you
have to open the door now.” She paused to
listen but got no response. “If you do not open
the door in a minute, I would have to call your
father and tell him.” she added.
Ten seconds later, they began to hear sounds of
movement from inside. Lesedi heaved a sigh of
relief. She knew Sheila would response at the
threat of involving her father, Sheila hated
getting her father involved in personal matters.
Henry was however still hopeless about it, until
they heard the sound of the key working in the
keyhole.
The door opened slightly and Sheila turned back
in to sit at the edge of the bed where she
previously sat with her face buried in her palms
as she thought of her four years relationship.
“What’s wrong Sheila?” Henry asked as he let
himself in. Lesedi followed slowly behind.
Sheila gave no response to them, she remained
in the same position without looking up.
Henry moved closer, while Lesedi remained at a
reasonable distance cose to the door.
Henry noticed that her phone was ringing by her
side and she paid no attention to it.
“Sheila, please talk to me. What’s wrong?” he
asked again, after the phone stopped ringing.
Sheila did not answer him. The phone began to
ring again.
Henry picked it up to check the caller. “It’s
Tom,” he said to her. She gave no response.
“Should I answer it for you?”
“No, ” she finally looked up. She tried to snatch
her phone away from Henry but he did not let
her.
“Tell me what’s wrong Sheila, ” Henry said and
sat beside her gently. She still attempted to take
the phone from him but he moved it away from
her. “Is something wrong between you and
Tom?”
Sheila looked at Henry’s face for a moment.
Henry could see the troubled look on her face,
he also noticed marks like finger trails on her
left cheek. He frowned as he thought of the
possibility of Henry hitting her and he found
himself clenching his fist unconsciously.
After a while, Sheila took a glance at Lesedi.
Lesedi responded with a sheepish smile, she
understood what the glance met.
“I’ll be on my way out, please take care of her
Sire Henry.” She said, courtesying before she
turned.
“Now, tell me what’s wrong.” Tom said after
Lesedi was gone. “Did he hit you?”
Sheila was reluctant to answer his question,
instead she wrapped her hand around him and
placed her head on his shoulder.
“Talk to me Sheila, did he hit you?” Henry
pressed further.
“No,” Sheila lied as she released him from her
grip. “Tom would never hit me.”
“But what is this I see on your face?” Henry
asked, squinting at her face. “It looks like you
were hit here.”
“Yes, we had an argument.” Sheila began. She
noticed the lines forming on Henry’s forehead.
“He didn’t hit me,” she quickly reiterated. “He
held me and I was struggling to leave, I hit my
face on the headboard.”
“He held you in the bed?” Henry questioned, he
hadn’t gotten a clear picture yet, he had no
reason to disbelieve her since she had never
being caught lying to him.
Sheila turned her face from him and stared
blankly at the ground in front. She had to come
up with a story to tell Henry, she didn’t want
Henry to see Tom in a worse light than he was
already seeing him. “We were discussing about
the marriage plan, he wanted it soon which I
didn’t want. He insisted that I give him a
particular time frame but I refused. He held me
on the bed and said he wasn’t going to leave me until I told him. I got so mad at him for
disturbing me so much about the marriage plans
and I struggled to get up, I slipped and hit my
face on the headboard. He tried to get up and
help me but I was still mad at him and I…”
Tears rolled down Sheila’s eyes as she
remembered how she struggled to stop him
from molesting her, but now she had to lie to
save his image.
“You did what?” Henry questioned.
“I hit his head with a bottle of wine,” she
answered.
“Ouch!” Henry exclaimed and shook his head.
“That’s really not good.”
Sheila sniffed in and wiped the tears off her
eyes.
“I left immediately without waiting to see if he
was fine or not.”
“What?” Henry widened his eyes at her. He was
shocked that she could do such a thing. He let
out a breath. He decided not to judge or be
disappointed in her, he wasn’t sure he had
gotten the picture of the circumstance at which
it happened clearly enough.
He inhaled and exhaled deeply as he closed his
eyes and buried his face in his palms for a
second. He raised his head to check the phone
in his hand, a message had entered. He gave it
to Sheila to read.
She collected the phone and unlocked it. The
message was from Tom. She opened it and
placed her phone to allow Henry also read.
I’m sorry Sheila, I”m sorry for not being patient
and for troubling you about marriage, I’m sorry
for forcing you and hurting you. Please forgive
me.
More tears rolled down Sheila’s eyes as she read
the message. She felt guilty again. She was the
cause for his anger and loss of control, if she
had given him a specific reply about the
marriage, it wouldn’t have degenerated into
something that worse.
Henry pulled close to himself with an arm. “You
have to stop crying now Sheila, we have to go
now and check if he’s alright.”
Sheila moved back a bit to stare at his face.
“Yes, we have to go there now.” Henry
repeated.
She could not protest. Since Henry was going
with her, she believed it would be a
reconciliation between she and Tom. She loved
him and was not willing to do without him. She
also was not willing to disappoint her father and
others who were expecting them to get
married.
Sheila asked for a few minutes to change her
clothes before driving back to Tom’s house with
Henry. They got there in twenty minutes time.
Sheila led Henry in after confirming that Tom
was still in the house from the gardener in the
compound. She knew Tom would not just leave
the house like that, he had good enough first aid
materials to take care of himself in the house
and the maid she met on her way out of his
house used to be a nurse could help him with it.
“He should be in his room,” She said to Henry
when they got to the living room.
Henry followed slowly behind her towards the
room. She went straight to his main room first
but met it still locked. She proceeded with
Henry to the guest room.
The door to the guestroom was not locked but
was slightly ajar, a sign that Tom was still there.
She stopped at the entrance and took a very
deep breath.
“He’s in here,” she whispered to Henry who was behind her.
“Good,” Henry whispered back and gave her a
reassuring smile, encouraging her to go in and
make amends. He patted her on the shoulder
and took some steps away from the entrance.
Sheila pushed the door gently and walked in.
She already losed the door behind her before
she looked up and met the shock of her life.
Tom was there, his eyes staring straight at her.
She stared back into his unshaking eyes,
shivering. She could see the wound he got from
the bottle crashing on his head, it wasn’t that
much and it was obvious he was already getting
first aid treatment on it, but there were blood
stains all over the bed. The place was messier
than she left it, something else had happened
while she was away.
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