Perry leads the team to her father’s study to break the heartbreaking news to them but even though she has been doing this a lot, she still can’t find the best way to break the news to them yet everyone looks impatient “Tell us already who is responsible for that pregnancy” her mother asks, Perry wants wants to mention the phone call incidence but she knows better to keep quiet, she needs this information to do her investigation “Mum…” she faces Ofelia “How close are you to your daughter” “We are very close” “Does she tell you everything at all Yeah except anything to do with her body changes, that she had to learn from school and I blame myself for that, I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend till when I caught them” “But knowing your daughter so well, would you say she has been the daughter you wanted her to be” “Yes, even our poverty could not lead Mel astray, she was always satisfied with the little at home, Mel has never asked for more than her tuition fees from me, the reports about her that I got from all the schools she has been to have been nothing but praises” “Have you been able to see a change in her lately….I mean a change in her behavior” “Yes, few weeks back, Melanie went to school on a Wednesday, that was the last I saw of the ever cheerful Fina…. she never returned home that evening like she always did, I was less worried because I knew she was with Ron” “Well she was not with me” Ron protests “Keep quiet and let her talk” Ofelia looks at Ron “But I asked you the following day why she spent the night with you without my permission but you never denied it” Ron keeps quiet “Like I said, she never came home that evening and her phone didn’t go through, she arrived in the morning when I was busy in the garden but she went straight into her room, and even after asking her several times about what was happening, she could not tell me anything she only said she was not feeling well and was not going to school that day….Ron here paid her a visit later and they talked I don’t know about what …… yet still she could not leave her bed and neither did she want to be taken to the clinic, it took her five days to get out of the house finally and it was that day when she told me she had eaten something that never agreed with her stomach, and she had running stomach, she was already a shadow of her old self and it bothered me so much” “Was that all” “Yeah…but she started developing a new style of speaking, naturally Fina is a person who talks a lot but ever since that day, it has changed, she talks and stops in the middle of a sentence and just stares in space, most nights she has nightmares and I could swear I would hear her scream in the middle of the night from my room” Perry listens attentively and now she’s more convinced Mel is carrying more than she has let out”I talked to her and she told me exactly where she was that night” “What’s the name of the man she has been cheating on me with” “Listen careful Ron… Mel has never cheated on you and I would suggest you give her time and ask why she could not come home with you that evening” she says this while looking at her mother “Then if she never cheated on me how come she’s pregnant when I have never been intimate with her, did she tell you that we did because I can assure you we never did” “Mel was brutally raped that night after being kidnapped by some hooligans” the room goes silent on hearing the news “Did you say raped???” Mel’s mother stands up in shock “Yes mum…she was raped” “And you believed her” Mrs pope asks “Mother, which woman would lie about something as serious as this…..Mel was raped” “Hahahahaha……you’re a fool sis” patience finally makes her presence known “If indeed she was raped, why didn’t she report the incident or tell anyone especially her mother here” “The poor girl was psychologically Tortured and I know a very insensitive human like you would not understand since you have not gone through half of what that little girl is going through…. it’s a miracle she wasn’t able to take her own life after that ugly ordeal” “How do we even know that she didn’t accept to what happened to her willingly and she’s only coming up with this excuse because she has died in her own movie” “Shut up…shut the hell up” their father speaks “But Dad, she must have provoked the man somehow, maybe she wasn’t dressed in a decant African way” “Look who is talking about decency” Perry comes for her and gives her a slap, their mother steps in the middle, she can’t believe those guys actually defied her orders and did more than she asked them to, she only wanted pictures and made it clear that no one should touch her body but they went overboard, she might be a very ambitious woman but she’s not that heartless, she now understands why those guys could not get back to her after their deal, she continues to wonder but both Ron And Mel’s mother are still shocked to utter a word “Melanie needs our help this time, to heal completely from this if not she will never be able to come out of this….we should show her she’s not alone and we care” Perry adds “You’re right Daugherty, no woman deserves to be violated in that way no matter what the circumstance is……did she tell you who the culprit is” “No Dad…. unfortunately she has no idea who he is and she was afraid no one would believe her story because she couldn’t identify the man” “This is more serious, we can’t leave this at this….she needs help and as long that evil man is left free, she will never heal from this and no amount of counselling will help her” “I suppose you don’t expect my son to still continue with this godforsaken relationship and transform it into marriage” “Lilian, this is between the two children and you or any of us have nothing to do with it” he turns to a quiet but crying Ron “Son….I would rather you don’t make any decisions regarding this now….give yourself time to absorb all this so you won’t regret the decision later” “I need to see her” it’s all he can say “Be careful with whatever you say to her” Perry leads him to Mel’s room and they find cuddled up and all quiet “Hi….” Ron says and she doesn’t even respond, perry leaves them alone… he sits next to her “Why didn’t you tell me all this Mel” “Because you wouldn’t let me” she answers but not looking at him “You asked where I spent the night and I wanted to explain it to you yet you stopped me in the middle” “How could you carry something likely this all by yourself”Because I knew no one would believe me” “Do you really not remember anything about him…..maybe his voice, his smell” “He never spoke to me but his smell would do nothing, many people use the same perfume and…..” “I know…. but is there really nothing else at all” “Maybe the dress I wore that day which I hid in the house and my torn undergarments” “That’s good for a start” he gets up to walk away but she calls him “I’m sorry” “It’s OK Mel…. this won’t change what has happened has happened” he walks out to meet the others camped at the door Mel’s mom wants to go see her daughter but Perry says unless she’s so willing to hold in her tears………their mother is more interested in what her son is going to do “Now that you know the woman you’re set to wed in two weeks time is expecting another Man’s baby what are you going to do” “Mother…. how can you be thinking about something like this when brother is still not thinking well” “Perry, it’s good we know where he stands at this point, I have nothing against the poor girl but we also know how rape victims take long to recover, others don’t and your brother is too young to bound himself to a woman who might not get out of this nightmare” “That’s enough mother… since you’re only interested in knowing my stand well I intend to go forward with this, nothing changes and the wedding will hold in two days, Mel will be my wife and I’m so ready for the rainy days ahead but I swear to God, I will find that bastard, I will make him pay for all of this, he will beg me to take his own life, he shall see no peace all the days of his miserable life….. that I promise” he looks determined…… to be continuedPerry leads the team to her father’s study to break the heartbreaking news to them but even though she has been doing this a lot, she still can’t find the best way to break the news to them yet everyone looks impatient “Tell us already who is responsible for that pregnancy” her mother asks, Perry wants wants to mention the phone call incidence but she knows better to keep quiet, she needs this information to do her investigation “Mum…” she faces Ofelia “How close are you to your daughter” “We are very close” “Does she tell you everything at all Yeah except anything to do with her body changes, that she had to learn from school and I blame myself for that, I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend till when I caught them” “But knowing your daughter so well, would you say she has been the daughter you wanted her to be” “Yes, even our poverty could not lead Mel astray, she was always satisfied with the little at home, Mel has never asked for more than her tuition fees from me, the reports about her that I got from all the schools she has been to have been nothing but praises” “Have you been able to see a change in her lately….I mean a change in her behavior” “Yes, few weeks back, Melanie went to school on a Wednesday, that was the last I saw of the ever cheerful Fina…. she never returned home that evening like she always did, I was less worried because I knew she was with Ron” “Well she was not with me” Ron protests “Keep quiet and let her talk” Ofelia looks at Ron “But I asked you the following day why she spent the night with you without my permission but you never denied it” Ron keeps quiet “Like I said, she never came home that evening and her phone didn’t go through, she arrived in the morning when I was busy in the garden but she went straight into her room, and even after asking her several times about what was happening, she could not tell me anything she only said she was not feeling well and was not going to school that day….Ron here paid her a visit later and they talked I don’t know about what …… yet still she could not leave her bed and neither did she want to be taken to the clinic, it took her five days to get out of the house finally and it was that day when she told me she had eaten something that never agreed with her stomach, and she had running stomach, she was already a shadow of her old self and it bothered me so much” “Was that all” “Yeah…but she started developing a new style of speaking, naturally Fina is a person who talks a lot but ever since that day, it has changed, she talks and stops in the middle of a sentence and just stares in space, most nights she has nightmares and I could swear I would hear her scream in the middle of the night from my room” Perry listens attentively and now she’s more convinced Mel is carrying more than she has let out”I talked to her and she told me exactly where she was that night” “What’s the name of the man she has been cheating on me with” “Listen careful Ron… Mel has never cheated on you and I would suggest you give her time and ask why she could not come home with you that evening” she says this while looking at her mother “Then if she never cheated on me how come she’s pregnant when I have never been intimate with her, did she tell you that we did because I can assure you we never did” “Mel was brutally raped that night after being kidnapped by some hooligans” the room goes silent on hearing the news “Did you say raped???” Mel’s mother stands up in shock “Yes mum…she was raped” “And you believed her” Mrs pope asks “Mother, which woman would lie about something as serious as this…..Mel was raped” “Hahahahaha……you’re a fool sis” patience finally makes her presence known “If indeed she was raped, why didn’t she report the incident or tell anyone especially her mother here” “The poor girl was psychologically Tortured and I know a very insensitive human like you would not understand since you have not gone through half of what that little girl is going through…. it’s a miracle she wasn’t able to take her own life after that ugly ordeal” “How do we even know that she didn’t accept to what happened to her willingly and she’s only coming up with this excuse because she has died in her own movie” “Shut up…shut the hell up” their father speaks “But Dad, she must have provoked the man somehow, maybe she wasn’t dressed in a decant African way” “Look who is talking about decency” Perry comes for her and gives her a slap, their mother steps in the middle, she can’t believe those guys actually defied her orders and did more than she asked them to, she only wanted pictures and made it clear that no one should touch her body but they went overboard, she might be a very ambitious woman but she’s not that heartless, she now understands why those guys could not get back to her after their deal, she continues to wonder but both Ron And Mel’s mother are still shocked to utter a word “Melanie needs our help this time, to heal completely from this if not she will never be able to come out of this….we should show her she’s not alone and we care” Perry adds “You’re right Daugherty, no woman deserves to be violated in that way no matter what the circumstance is……did she tell you who the culprit is” “No Dad…. unfortunately she has no idea who he is and she was afraid no one would believe her story because she couldn’t identify the man” “This is more serious, we can’t leave this at this….she needs help and as long that evil man is left free, she will never heal from this and no amount of counselling will help her” “I suppose you don’t expect my son to still continue with this godforsaken relationship and transform it into marriage” “Lilian, this is between the two children and you or any of us have nothing to do with it” he turns to a quiet but crying Ron “Son….I would rather you don’t make any decisions regarding this now….give yourself time to absorb all this so you won’t regret the decision later” “I need to see her” it’s all he can say “Be careful with whatever you say to her” Perry leads him to Mel’s room and they find cuddled up and all quiet “Hi….” Ron says and she doesn’t even respond, perry leaves them alone… he sits next to her “Why didn’t you tell me all this Mel” “Because you wouldn’t let me” she answers but not looking at him “You asked where I spent the night and I wanted to explain it to you yet you stopped me in the middle” “How could you carry something likely this all by yourself”Because I knew no one would believe me” “Do you really not remember anything about him…..maybe his voice, his smell” “He never spoke to me but his smell would do nothing, many people use the same perfume and…..” “I know…. but is there really nothing else at all” “Maybe the dress I wore that day which I hid in the house and my torn undergarments” “That’s good for a start” he gets up to walk away but she calls him “I’m sorry” “It’s OK Mel…. this won’t change what has happened has happened” he walks out to meet the others camped at the door Mel’s mom wants to go see her daughter but Perry says unless she’s so willing to hold in her tears………their mother is more interested in what her son is going to do “Now that you know the woman you’re set to wed in two weeks time is expecting another Man’s baby what are you going to do” “Mother…. how can you be thinking about something like this when brother is still not thinking well” “Perry, it’s good we know where he stands at this point, I have nothing against the poor girl but we also know how rape victims take long to recover, others don’t and your brother is too young to bound himself to a woman who might not get out of this nightmare” “That’s enough mother… since you’re only interested in knowing my stand well I intend to go forward with this, nothing changes and the wedding will hold in two days, Mel will be my wife and I’m so ready for the rainy days ahead but I swear to God, I will find that bastard, I will make him pay for all of this, he will beg me to take his own life, he shall see no peace all the days of his miserable life….. that I promise” he looks determined……
To be continued
