Blood Gulfs

Everybody wondered how she 
could be so callous and unmoved
by her older brother's plight
People gossipped about it
Some close family members were
even bold enough to hint at it to
her face
He was the "father" of the family
Their father died about ten
years before their mother also 
died
They both died at a good age
but their lives were not devoid
of troubles and sweat
Her father had married early
while he was still in the employ
of UTC
He was a supervisor in one
of the company's divisions and
was allowed to study while he
worked
He attended night school and
enrolled distance learning

programmes overseas to get
ahead in his career
He was a hard-working man
and fortune smiled on him
quite early
He married his first wife at the
age of twenty-five
They started raising a family
immediately after the wedding
She gave birth to three children
All boys
The marriage lasted for sixteen
years
A year after her father clocked
forty, his wife died suddenly of
a strange ailment
It was an unusual and unexpected
turn of event
Her father mourned for a year
but he had to remarry
The nature of his job demanded
it
His children were teenagers but
they were still unfit to live without
the guidance of a mother
Family and friends urged him to
remarry
It was the practical thing to do
After a year of mourning
He married her mother
Her mother was a very beautiful
thrity-five year old woman
who was experiencing marital
delay
Her mother took to her father
immediately
Within three years her mother
gave birth to two girls
She was the first daughter
Her elder brothers were already
in secondary school
The first child was already in

100 level in the university
The two others were in the 
boarding school
She grew up in a home full
of love and light
Her mother made sure the
house was always warm
especially during the holidays
when her brothers were around
She and her sister were the
babies of the house
They were doted upon by all
By the time she got into the
secondary school, her brothers
were working
Her mother completed her
house at the age of fifty
and insisted on moving there
They were living in the heart
of Lagos and the two girls were
getting harrassed by riff-raffs
Her mother had begged and 
pleaded with their father to build
a house somewhere in the 
outskirts
Her father had promised to do so
every year until he suddenly
got retired from his work
He retired into the same rented
apartment they had lived in for

years eight years after marrying
her mother
Her mother had always been very
entrepreneurially inclined
She was into fabrics and weaving
materials business before she
met her father
She steadily built the businesses
to the point where she started
branching out and owning more
outlets
When her father was retired,
her mother decided she was tired
of paying rent but her father
didn't have any bulk money with
which to build a house
Her mother went ahead and 
commissioned the project
Within a year, the house was
ready
It became a problem
Her father insisted he couldn't
live in a house built by his wife
He was a very traditional man
and he believed in the fetish

taboos that were attached 
to traditional patriarchial 
mindsets and cultures
It was a tug of war
He didn't mind her mother
paying the rent of their
apartment but he had issues
with living in a house 
her mother built
She was fifteen years old at
the time and it didn't make
any sense to her
Eventually, the landlord came 
one day and illegally broke 
the doors removed the burglar-proof,

disconnected the electricity and

even broke a part of 
the roof just to force them out 
of his house
That was the loophole her father

explored
Her father took the landlord to
court
The case became fiery
The landlord started intimidating
them with charms and threats
At a point, her mother said she
had had enough
She took her younger sister and
they went o her new house
She could have left with her
mother too
But her Father had nobody
with him and she was in Senior
Secondary School 1
She felt it would only be wise
to stay with her father until
she completed her secondary
school education
By this time her father's first
son had started working
with a renowned stationery
company
He heard what happened and
came to their house
He tried so hard to convince
their father to leave the house
He proposed that their father
come live with him in his three
bedroom flat
He was single and had more
than enough room
Their father refused
Their father said he had a 
case in court he was sure 
he would win and had been
advised by his lawyer neither
to leave the house nor fix it.
The house was his key 
evidence against the landlord!
After hours of deliberation,
her father agreed to let her
leave with her elder brother
The house was neither safe
nor conducive for her
Her elder brother's house was 
located approximately fifteen
minutes away from her school
It was far better than the
hell hole their house had 
become
Her father gave his blessings
She packed her bags and
jumped in her brother's car
Thank God for sensible people
She was out of the frying pan
Two days after she got to
her step brother's house
She found herself in the fire
He came to her room in the 
middle of the night and did
the unthinkable to her
He raped her three times
As the day broke the next
morning and she began to
pack her bags, he came to the
room
He apologized in tears and 
blamed what happened on
the fact that he came in drunk
the previous night
He fell on his knees and begged
for her forgiveness
He promised it will never happen
again
He gave her a lot of money
to take care of herself 
He also gave her some contraceptives
She relaxed
She really didn't know
where to go or what to
say when she gets there!
It would destroy the family
if she told anybody the truth
They had more than enough
troubles on many fronts as
things stood
She didn't want to add to the
drama
He gave her two weeks and
then he did it again
It got to a point that she 
accepted it and started counting
the days until she gained
admission into the university
and left the house
It wasn't as if he didn't have
a bevy of ladies that came to
check on him and with whom
he had carnal pleasure
She welcomed many of them
and even waited on such at his
command
And yet, he took her at will,
like a plaything
Once in a while, when her
conscience strikes her and
she decided to say No to him
He would react by withholding
her school fees, feeding allowance,
transport allowance and all
She would eventually give in
with tears and sorrow
It was rape!
Of course, she could have left
at any time she wanted but
truth be told, she was a slave
of circumstance
Eventually, she gained admission
into the university and left
It was a horrible past 
A past she didn't want to expose
to anybody but he forced her
hand when he told her mother
to send her younger sister over
It was by a stroke of luck that
she went to see her mother the
day her younger sister was
packing her bags to move
to her step brother's house
She didn't know when she
told her mother the whole
story.
She knew what fate was 
awaiting her sister.
Her mother was heartbroken by
the revelation
She invited her brother over
and accused him
Her brother denied it
Missiles of words were thrown
everywhere
Her brother called her a prostitute
She called him a rapist pig
Her mother cursed
Her father cried
It was a total mess
Her brother got married two
years later
He didn't invite her mother
and "the girls"
When she got married four
years after then, she didn't
invite him too
His thoughtlessness broke
the family
It was all his fault
She got married right after
graduation
She got a good job and 
started rising
Her husband was an oil tycoon
They met by chance at a
job interview she went for
and he pursued her until 
he married her
In the name of full discovery
she told her husband the
truth about her step-brother
He was the only "lover"
she had ever had
Her husband took the news
with maturity but didn't push
her when she said she didn't
want him to meet her family
members apart from her 
Father, mother and sister!
The three boys stuck together
behind the rapist
They defended the way red
blood cells and white blood
cells defend the body against
disease
She understood their stance
blood is always thicker than
water!
Years later, Her husband became
a big shot in government
She became an influencial politician
Her brother and siblings were
suffering in obscurity
And people kept asking questions
making insinuations and
calling her names.
How many people will she tell
her story?
Her brother was like Esau
He sold his birthright for sex
Instead of gratitude all she felt
for him was indifference and
a "keep away from me" feeling
She wished she could change it
but she couldn't
She had forgiven him and her
other brothers totally
She just didn't want anything
to do with them!

PS: I heard this story on one
of my travels
The pain was still raw and tears
flowed freely
I came across another story 
recently and it got me thinking
Why we forget tomorrow?
Why we forget that evil
has a longer memory than
 good?
Why do we err for no good 
reason?
I know why.
Because we do not have
the ability to do better without
the Holy Spirit
Because we are captives of
our selfish nature and
carnal desires
We cannot resist the devil,
he is our nature!!!!
But if we accept Jesus as
our Lord and saviour and
live by the Spirit
We will mortify the deeds
of the flesh!