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Yep, yet another

COINCIDENCE? I DON’T THINK SO!

I was too frightened to care about anything at that point and even the shouting of people failed to scare me I did not even bother to check all I wanted at that point was to get home and out of danger that was the ultimate goal for me and nothing could deter me from my course or so I thought. At that moment, I was not walking I was flying to safety. The tears in my eyes did not help any; they only proved to me how vulnerable I had become. The once bold girl who feared no one not even the monster of an aunt I had, had been reduced to a cry baby by one scary incident all I wanted at that time was to forget my circumstances and get my weary body to safety- if that word could describe the mansion I shared with my aunt Annie it always reminded me of the bible verse about how much better it is to have a small morsel of food to eat in a peaceful house than a banquette in a house that is war some, now liken that to a house full of noise. Someone always breathing down your neck, and there is only so much that one can take.
As I stumbled down the rugged terrain that was a short cut to our house I wished I were dead, then maybe all this suffering would come to an end. That would be the best day of all if I went to sleep and got up in the other world, the feeling was ecstatic but it was all I had, good feelings for me are a rare occurrence so I cherished them when they lasted and it was not long. I trudged on relentlessly ignoring the spikes that were tearing at my clothes I knew I would have some explaining to do but I couldn’t care less.
The sight of home had never held such joyous emotions I could have jumped for joy as I drew from the last vestiges of strength and broke into a sprint. I barged into the house I wanted to get into my room as soon as possible but it was not to be. My aunt decided to pick this of all situations to express the rare and of course not welcome concern. It did not help any that my dress was torn and face bruised and tears all over my face and she started drawing all kinds of assumptions as to why I was in my predicament. She went on and on suggesting despicable things that I had supposedly been doing in order to get my clothes all torn and my hair into the tangled mess it was. I had no option than to stand there until she either got over her screaming fit or worked herself up to a tight knot and pronounced a suitable punishment for my sins. The most interesting thing was that it never seemed to me that I could ever ignore her and not get hurt by her ranting I tried all I could not to cry but it was all in vain the worst part is that she seemed to get a kick from seeing people cry. When I was alone in the secrecy of my bedroom, I would dream up all kinds of monsters all huge and grotesque and make them come up behind her and eat her up slowly and painfully until there was nothing left of her not even her bones I reckoned they (her bones) would be just as evil.
When she was through making my life horrible for the moment she sent me up to my room to fix my self up before I fix dinner. That was my job and at only 10 years of age I could pride in myself for my cooking. There are a lot of things I couldn’t do-like all the things she kept suggesting that I had been up to all afternoon, (I did not even know the meaning of half the words she said to me) or get things from the upper shelves but I made up for all that by my cooking. I had quite an experience because unlike the other girls my age who stayed out playing the whole day,
It was required of me to prepare almost all the family meals and mend all torn pieces of clothing and sew like a seamstress and I had no choice to the other option was to be beaten senseless or yelled at for hours on end. What hurt most was that she had not even bothered to know from me the reason for my lateness. I was still sore from the struggle that had saved my life. A near death encounter I must say. My mouth felt like someone had rubbed it with sand paper and my throat was on fire. It seemed like an eternity when I had finished washing my sore body I was fatigued but in this house there was no chance of fatigue it was simply unheard of so I dragged myself to the door and tried to get myself to draw from the reservoirs of strength I hoped I had but my vitals let me down. My heart felt like it stopped and my knees buckled under me, my head seemed to spin then I saw the floor came up to hit me- and it Did- Square on my fore head.
I slipped into unconsciousness. And it all came back to me almost in slow motion.
I was screaming at the top of my voice and someone was slapping me repeatedly while trying to gag me.
I wanted to tell him that I was not a threat to him that I wouldn’t tell on him. But he would not listen to me he was thoroughly convinced that I was going to blow the whistle on him.
You see I had been the unwilling uncomprehending eyewitness to a rather unfortunate occurrence. The all-knowing Mr. Kamau had been thumping his wife mercilessly. They were on my way and I needed to get past them I could not help but wonder though why they had decided to hang their dirty linen in public then it hit me that spot could hardly be referred to as public, it was the short cut to the shopping center, actually, an alley between two tall buildings and he was throwing her against the wall. Her face was almost completely disfigured she was bleeding profusely. Her clothes right along with his were drenched in blood. It was not only the sight of blood that paralyzed me, I was in shock, not even in my worst nightmares had I seen such inhumane cruelty she had long since given up on shouting for help-or so I thought –she looked like a rug doll, almost lifeless, but when he finally got hold of a bunch of her hair and twisted her head almost totally backwards I could not contain myself I let out a deafening scream and held it for several minutes. I could not seem to stop screaming. Then he started towards me. It was happening like in the movies, my newest nightmare, it was too real to be a nightmare but I did not need any convincing because he grabbed me by my hair and started hitting me repeatedly but unlike his unfortunate wife I was full of life and screaming power. I kept at it and took it an octave higher every time he hit me. He removed his handkerchief from his pocket and finally stuffed it into my mouth. At that moment, all I wanted to do was throw up but that was out of my list of options because his had managed to gag me. On top of the list was death -instant- I tried to die but of course it was impossible, then out of nowhere came the thought of kicking. I was somewhat suspended in the air –by my hair- and so I started kicking wildly. I tell you my feet had a mind of their own! I never thought I had that much energy in me. I kicked like a mule! He dropped me unceremoniously and I fell on all fours so I could not kick him anymore and then the heavens opened up and angel Michael swooped down with his sword complete in his warfare regalia! Okay that’s what I would have wanted to happen but it did not, not exactly like that anyway. I looked up and realized that it was not my kicking that had saved me from that monster. An angel-police was towering over the slumped body of Mr. Kamau. Blood spurted from a deep gap on his head where the policeman had hit him with his club. The policeman helped me up and took the handkerchief out of my mouth. He started asking me a million questions. I immediately disqualified his angel status because he obviously had no idea. So I told him my tale of horror. By that time there was a crowd gathered to watch the goings on then someone from among the crowd started saying that he had been seen rushing his wife from the house. According to her, she had been slumped on his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. It was then unanimously decided that he had been trying to kill her away from nosy neighbors. At that moment I remembered how long I had been out of that hellhole I called home. I started thanking the policeman for saving my life and trying to edge my way through the crowd when the policeman’s hand closed in on my frail hand in an iron grip. He said something to the effect that I would have to go with him to the station. I became frantic how on earth would I explain that to my aunt? What I was doing in a police station? so I decided to get a way by all means possible of escape. So when the huge policeman turned he other way to pick up his walkie-talkie, I guess to ask for back up or something, I made a mad dash in the nearest clearing of people they must have tried to catch me but I was too fast for them not to mention nimble. Being small has its advantages you know. I dodged their hands and run non-stop to safety.
When I came to, my aunt Annie was towering over me trying to shake me awake. I was on my bed and completely drenched in my sweat. In that instant, I knew for sure that life would not be worth living anymore.
I tried to lift my head up but it weighed a ton so I just lay back awaiting the verdict and to my utter surprise none was forthcoming. She was looking at me with this weird expression on her face and trust me I was baffled. Then she went ahead to give the good news (that’s what she said exactly) that the police were at the door waiting for me to come back to earth and hopefully they will take me out of her hair for good. That was the sole reason why she had not pronounced her ‘sound judgment’.
The police were ushered into my tiny room and they explained that I would have to accompany them to the station, as they would need me for one thing or another. I couldn’t care less as far as I was concerned, nothing really mattered anymore so I picked myself up and shrugged into a coat and let them lead me as a sheep to slaughter. In retrospect, I wish to heaven I had ESP because I would have been jumping with joy all the way to the station because the policeman who had taken me had no intention of ever returning me to my aunts’ house. Apparently, they had had a little chat with my aunt about the possibility of never having to take me back to her house ever again as I was nothing but trouble. She was ready to sign all the necessary papers if the kind policeman would find a place for me to reside special preference to the juvenile jail. It must have been my lucky day because the wonderful policeman and is beautiful wife had been trying to adopt a child. He was an angel all right. Needless to say that that was the beginning of life for me and the last ten years have been the best years of my life thanks to one unfortunate incident. So believe me when I say there is nothing like coincidence. Everything is divinely orchestrated!

By Angela Kabii.