“Answer me….!” One could hear the way Favour was breathing really hard. Mercy didn’t say anything, I turned from them because this was not how I wanted Favour to find out about her daughter’s addiction to pornography and masturbation. “I said, what did you just say about porn and masturbation?” Favour asked like she had been struck by lightning. Mercy realized she had said too much… “Chuks, what is she saying?” Favour was visibly shaking. “Chuks, is Mercy saying she is into masturbation..?” By this time Favour was crying and Mercy was in tears as well. I could feel Favour’s pain, she had tried to shield Mercy from all the evils of sexual immorality but apparently she went too far with it. I tried to console Favour but she was heartbroken. “I thought I was raising a daughter fit for the King’s palace, but I didn’t know she wasn’t even close to it, where did I miss it with you? I sacrificed a lot for you Mercy…” she said with a raised voice as she was crying out loud. This attracted the attention of neighbors including Baba Agba, Ajaara, Gloria and a few others. “Yes… that is it, you always feel I will repeat your mistake, but no, I am not you in anyway,” Mercy said. Both of them were heartbroken and released a lot of pent up emotions. I tried to calm things down but there was no headway with both of them. I decided to pull Mercy aside, while Baba Agba pulled Favour back. “Mercy stop this, the more you talk the more you hurt her, and despite all that you have been saying, you can’t deny the fact that she has been a good single mother to you… by talking this way, you are hurting her,” I said. “I have been hurting since I was a child,.” Mercy said. “All she did is out of love for you,” I said. “I don’t want that kind of love, I want a love that lets me express myself.” “Ok, do me a favor by going home with Ajaara while I speak to her.” “Fine, but make sure you speak to her very well, before she pushes me to do what I don’t want to do,” she said with all seriousness in her voice. She left me and was going to her place, but Favour spoke up instead… “I hope you are not going to my house, you this ingrate. Don’t let me find your two legs in my house.” “Fine! All the better!” Mercy retorted. “Favour!” I shouted at Favour. “Ajaara, go with her. Make sure she goes home.” Ajaara and Gloria ran after Mercy. “Favour, what is wrong with you? Was this how your mother treated you?” I asked her based on her explanation of how her mother had helped her through her teenage pregnancy. “My case was different, my mother was not available for me, but I have always been available for Mercy, even to the point that she was the one who made me lose Eugene. Having her has robbed me of a lot of good things, so is she supposed to pay me back with immorality? Now it is masturbation, very soon it will be full blown sex and before we know it, she will get pregnant…” “I am sorry to say this, but for the first time I will say you have not acted wisely. You are not to be prim and proper when training a teen. You should be her friend,” I said. Favour broke down in tears… “Is she condemning her for masturbating?” Baba Agba asked. I nodded in the affirmative. “You don’t do that, when a child is going through a form of sexual problem or challenge, you are meant to be sympathetic first and then together find the solution. You better go after your daughter before you lose her,” Baba Agba said. “I masturbated for 30 years and yet I got out of it…” Baba Agba added surprisingly. “Even as a married man and father of kids, I was deep in it and I didn’t like it one bit, but I was trapped and wrapped up in the terrible habit, until…” To be continued.
