Lucy: The Secret Battle.
I grew up in a Christian home where we were never allowed to use Android phones or take the JAMB exam to further our education until we turned 20 years old. My parents were very strict and prohibited us from watching TV unless they were present to choose the channel.
Because of my parents’ disciplinary approach, I was afraid to reveal certain secret struggles I faced as a teenager to my mom because she might misunderstand me and report me to my dad, who would then scold me.
“My name is Lucy. I turned 20 this year, which qualifies me to go to college and own an Android phone in my house. I’m the second-born in the house. Judith, our firstborn, should be 25 years old this year, but she d!ēd at the age of 20 when I was barely 15 years old.”
She had an affa!r with her secret boyfr!end in the same year she was allowed to own a phone and sit for Jamb, hoping to get admitted into college. After the affa!r, she began experiencing signs of pregnæncy. She dared not inform our parents, as they might skïn her al!ve or even d!sown her.
We were never allowed to go out unless they knew where we were going and hence knew when we should be at home. We never returned home a minute late; otherwise, we’d be deprived of food the following day.
The rest of my three siblings are still kïds, and hence they are always with mummy or daddy. Even at such a tender age, they were restr!cted from playing with other kids too often and were never allowed to enjoy the privilege of being kïds.
Judith was among the youth choir in our church, and her boyfr!end at the time, Andrew, was our drummer until this day.
The only time we were allowed to go out at night was whenever we had a youth vigil. Although, my dad would always beg our youth leader to watch over us, making sure we stayed within the confines of the church premises throughout the vigil.
On this fateful day, we had a vigil, and unbeknownst to me, Judith had planned with Andrew to sneak out before the vigil and have an affa!r at Andrew’s friend’s house.
We arrived at the church by 9pm, and the vigil, as usual, was scheduled for 11pm.
Judith told me she needed to use the bathroom because she had an upset stomach. She asked me to inform our youth leader if he noticed her absence and inquired about her whereabouts.
She sneaked through the back door and went straight to the address Andrew had given her, where they satisfied their sēgxūãl appetite.
A few weeks later, after that vigil, Judith informed me that she missed her period and suspected that she was prégñànt.
She said they had used protect!ve measures; however, she’s confused as to why it still resulted in prēgñāñçy.
A few days later, she discovered that she was indeed prēgñānt. Out of fear of our parents, she snuck out the following day, which was a Saturday, during a wedding at our church and came back after 15 minutes.
She passed away the following week. According to the doctor’s report, it was revealed that she had combined various kinds of morn!ng-after p!lls, consuming them excessively in the hope of swiftly term!nat!ng the prēgñāñçy before our parents would notice. Regrettably, she b|ēd to dēēãth.
The night she d!ēd, while searching through her room, I found a significant number of these p!lls and secretly discarded them.
We had just returned from the village after my grandfather’s bur!al. However, the day before the bur!al, something terr!ble happened to me in the village.
While I was on a nearby street playing around with my nephew, we encountered a group of r0wdy guys. They made advances towards me. My 22-year-old nephew attempted to fend them off, but since they were three, they outnumbered him and a++acked him.
They bound his hands and legs with ropes, forcing him to watch as they engæged with me inæppr0pria+ely to their satisfaction, then they fled.
I managed to untie him and begged him not to reveal this to anyone, especially my parents, as they would scold me for going out without informing them and likely blame me for what transpired.
The bur!al lasted only 3 days, and we returned to town. Today marks the fifth day since the incident occurred, and I’ve been b|ēēēding continuously. I’m afraid to tell my parents due to knowing what they are capable of doing.
It was never my intention, and I was f0rced to do it. I’m already feeling s!çk because I’ve lost so much b|00d. However, every time I try to tell my Mom, I become scared that she might inform my dad. He could blame me for what happened and might do something unthinkable to me.