Love And Burn (A Tale Of Abuse, Love And Death)

Mrs. Kemi looked at them and shook her head. They were young and naive. They didn’t know what they were getting into. Well, ignorance isn’t an excuse with the law.

Mrs. Kemi eyed the couple in front of her and sighed. He was young and handsome and shy. She was beautiful, strong-willed and ambitious. Mrs. Kemi looked at the girl again. This one will have to suffer first.

“Let me tell you guys a story,” Mrs. Kemi began as she walked to the edge of the desk and rested her frame on it.

“There’s this lady who was forced to marry a man she didn’t love. She never loved him and she never will. But she was growing old and her parents were worried. So they gave her off to this man and she couldn’t do nothing about it. There are things in life that even stubbornness wouldn't get you out of.” Mrs. Kemi turned to the girl as she uttered the last sentence.

“So this girl of ours tried to find happiness in her marriage. She did find happiness, but only when her husband wasn’t home. When he was, he would come home drunk and beat her like a punching bag. Each time a business plan went sour, she braced herself for the transferred aggression. She always took a hit for his failure, but never for his successes. After all, people hit the punching bag but never caress it.”

“Soon, she gave birth to a little girl. Oh, I forgot to add. On nights when her husband wasn’t attractive to the beautiful girls outside, there was always a slave that never judged. How could she, when he was stronger, and would always beat her like the slave she was.”

Mrs. kemi caressed the object in her hand. “There were times she wanted to kill him. To end his life, and maybe hers. But for some reason, she never did. She thought about it a lot though. And when she gave birth to her daughter, she wanted to kill the daughter too.”

Mrs. Kemi noticed the horror in the girl’s eyes and smiled. “Well, I am a counsellor. Trust me, I have seen worse. Anyway, the daughter looked so much like the animal who was her father. They also bonded along well. The woman was just like an ATM. The man inserted his card, got his money and then went away to have fun with the money. While the ATM shivered in the cold, burned in the heat of the sun and suffered from neglect.”

Mrs. Kemi then stood up and walked to the chair behind the desk. “Well, her miserable life continued until her husband finally allowed her to get a job in a university. By this time, she had become to used to the pain that it became part of her. She wore it like a cloak and tried to be proud about it. Her gowns were big and her sleeves were long. People wore clothes for comfort, she wore clothes to cover her scars. People wore shades to look cool or protect their eyes from the sun, she wore hers to protect her eyes from the shame.”

Mrs. Kemi dropped the object in her hand and then turned to look at the young man. “There, she met the wonderful man, a young lecturer, who made her feel loved and valued. She tried to draw away, to hide her self behind her work but he wouldn’t let her be. You see, this man could read eyes. He could see the dried up tears on her face covered by layers of make-up. He could hear the crying voices masquerading as loud laughter. He could sense the ache of her heart from a single touch.”

“He showed her so much concern that her eyes began to brighten up. She began to look forward to every day at work. Her meals suddenly had taste. She found joy in buying new dresses. Her life suddenly came alive. She felt young and happy for the first time in over twenty years. At night, when her miserable husband mounted her like a beast, she imagine he was the one slowly gliding into her, wishing words of love into her heart.

“This was a man every lady wanted but not every lady could have. She knew it would never last long. She knew he would soon leave her for a much younger girl. She was just a project for him; a broken tool to be fixed. In the end, he fixed her as one would fix a broken clay jar - softly, gently and patiently. And when he was through, he smashed her against the wall.”

“She soon noticed his new obsession, a beautiful young girl without scars of her own. You see, unlike the woman, this young girl had only known love and life. He could easily have fun with her. With the woman, he constantly had to soothe, to heal, to cheer up. But for this lady, there was no need. He didn’t have to be a saviour. He only had to be a man.”

“He did things he never did to this woman. He kissed the young girl, held her hands while walking across campus, even introduced her to his friends. All he ever did was check by the woman’s desk every morning. And after he met the new girl, he stopped coming around. I’m sure he even had sex with the girl - soft, long, sensual and passionate sex. I can almost imagine their bodies in sync, gyrating to the passionate beats of their hearts, hands exploring each other’s bodies, tongues lost in each other’s mouth.”

Mrs. Kemi sighed as she stood up from the desk. She looked at the couple and smiled weakly. “No one would have ever had to listen to this story if the young man had let that woman be. She didn’t beg for his help. She didn’t beg for attention. She didn’t even asked to be noticed. But he came along with his dashing smiles, soft touch, soothing words and breathtaking eyes. She tried her best to resist, to push him away but he never left. And when she opened the door, he simply walked away. She opened the door and instead, all of her demons she had been fighting rushed back in to haunt her.”

“Tell me, young couple, if you were to see the woman right before you, what would you say to her? What would you tell her to do. Are you crying? Awww. That’s so sweet of you.” Mrs. kemi asked as she noticed a lone tear roll of the young man’s cheek.

“Well, let’s end this here. As you can probably tell, I am the woman. I didn’t ask you to warm my lukewarm heart and then throw it into the freezer. Well, if I am not good enough for you, then no one is. And to my little daughter who stole the one man that made me feel loved, congrats. Now I know you hate me as much as you father does.”

The muffled sounds from the young man and the girl began to rise as Mrs. Kemi went back to the desk and picked up the gun.

“You must know that I’ve killed your father.” Mrs. Kemi saw the shock in the young man’s eyes and smiled. “Oh, not you sweetheart, I am talking to my miserable daughter. He’s currently lying on the bed with a knife buried in his back. I hope to meet him in hell. Thinking about this, there is going to be one great reunion in hell. All of us together burning together. I think we can call it the great reunion”

Three gunshots were heard. The police found two bodies tied up in chairs with gags in their mouth. They also found another body lying on the ground with a bullet wound in the head.

The end

This is my entry for the 15SBD REWARD POOL WRITING CONTEST. by @zizymena

Thanks for reading

Blessings

[Image source: Pixabay]