Runaway Justice

They were living in her father's four flats 
apartment when she was assaulted 
She was 14 
The perpetrator was a 42 years old man 
The man rented the flat directly under 
their own 
He was a bachelor, a photo-journalist and 
well-traveled 
Rumour has it he went to Rome to become 
a priest but something happened and he 
changed his mind 
So he returned home and started working 
for a newspaper company 
He had a lot of gadgets at home 
A projector, all sorts of cameras and so on 
Her younger brothers took to him as soon 
as they moved into the apartment 
He taught them how to play chess and 
other fun stuff 
He looked like a very dignified man, one 
who couldn't hurt a fly 
One afternoon she went to his flat all by 
herself (She realized later that it was a very 
foolish thing to do) 
She had watched her brothers become 
very good at playing the chess game
She had watched them play hoping to learn 
by watching but she didn't get it 
She asked her immediate younger brother, 
aged 12 to teach her but he lacked the 
patience and was using the opportunity to 
beat her at the game and make fun of her 
She decided to go to the expert and learn
She didn't tell anyone where she was going 
Her mother would kill her if she knew she 
went off to the man's house by herself 
She was sure she would be fine 
He let her in and was all smile and warmth 
until she sat down on the couch 
Then he pounced on her 
She didn't see it coming
He pinned her knees apart with his knees 
and used his hands to pin both her hands 
He started biting her breasts through her 
clothes 
She screamed He slapped her! 
That was when she knew she was in deep 
trouble 
He removed one of his hands to undo his belt 
She clawed around with her
free hand until she felt a flower vase on the 
stool beside the couch 
She grabbed it and smashed it on his face 
His thick lens glasses flew off his face as 
he fell off the couch 
She struggled off the couch and ran 
Fortunately, he didn't lock his door with a key 
She let herself out 
Escape! 
It was a close call, her thigh was bruised 
and so was her nipples 
Her face was also reddish where he slapped 
her 
She was badly traumatized but she didn't 
dare tell anybody 
Her mother had especially warned her and 
her older sister never to go anywhere alone 
especially not with a man or to a man's place 
She had that talk with her mother almost 
every month but the words didn't really 
make sense until that incident! 
She didn't know she was capable of hate 
until she calmed down 
The following day when she saw him, it felt 
as if she should strangulate him 
She lost interest in chess, in fact, she hated 
the game 
Two months later, her mother's older sister's 
daughter got pregnant in Sagamu 
The girl was just a year older than her 
It became a huge scandal 
Her mother insisted she had to get an 
abortion and she got one but she kept
sleeping with the same guy that got her 
pregnant 
When her mother's older sister realized 
that her daughter was still fooling with 
the guy she was "in love" with 
He packed her clothes and tricked her 
that they were going to say hello to
 relatives in Ibadan 
When her mother's older sister arrived at 
their house with her cousin 
She told her parents the story and begged 
her parents to take her cousin in just for 
a year 
Her aunt was hoping that a change of 
environment would dissuade her daughter 
from throwing her future away 
Her parents took her cousin in that day 
Her cousin was enrolled in SSII 
Two months after her cousin arrived at 
their house, she started throwing up and all 
She was the first person to notice 
She asked her cousin what had happened 
Her cousin said she was pregnant for her 
boyfriend 
The boyfriend had also moved to Ibadan 
because of her and they met sometimes 
during school hours Her cousin's boyfriend 
denied the pregnancy 
Neither of them had any money nor knew 
how to go about getting an abortion 
Hell was going to be let loose 
Then she got an idea 
She told her cousin it was the only way
she could get out of the issue 
Her cousin listened to her elaborate scheme 
The next morning, her cousin went to her 
parents and told them word for word 
everything she coached her cousin to say 
Her father listened intently 
Some minutes later her father sent for her 
She was grilled
She told her father she saw everything 
through the window but was too paralyzed 
with fear to say anything 
She backed up her cousin's story that the 
man downstairs raped her and impregnated
 her 
She told her father that the man had tried to 
rape her too but luckily she escaped
Her father bought their story 
At the time her father was a major in the army 
The next morning, soldiers arrived at their 
house and arrested the "rapist" 
Her father also went to the newspaper 
outfit he was working for and ensured 
he was sacked and blacklisted 
The pregnancy was aborted 
Three weeks later, the "innocent rapist" 
was released 
He had been taught a lesson, just as she 
hoped 
Her father also kicked him out of his apartment 
His name and reputation was deservedly ruined 
Her cousin's future was equally salvaged 
It was a win-win for everybody
Ten years later, just as she was returning 
home after her masters 
She was told her cousin was getting married 
They had drifted apart after their secondary 
school education 
Her cousin went to the polytechnic while 
she was admitted into the University to 
study Political Science
she called her cousin to get the full story 
and to her shock, her cousin told her she 
was getting married to the innocent rapist 
Her cousin said she became a born again 
Christian on campus and realized she had 
to restitute 
They had plotted to ruin a man's life and 
reputation just for the fun of it 
Her cousin said she went searching for 
the man and found him working for a big 
church as an administrator 
He had become a born again, Christian, 
too and was still single 
Her cousin said she had decided to make 
it up to him by marrying him 
It was the only way to right the wrong 
She was miffed What sort of gullible mindset 
would make a 26-year-old lady marry a 
53-year-old "rapist" 
She tried to dissuade her cousin but her 
cousin was determined to make things right 
She stayed away from the wedding and 
never spoke with her cousin again until
her cousin called her in March 2020 
By then she had been married for six years 
and was waiting on the Lord for the fruit 
of the womb 
Her cousin already had three children 
for the man and the two of them were 
doing quite well contrary to her expectations 
Her cousin's call was a
warning! Her cousin said she had a dream. 
In that dream, she was waiting at the 
reception of the church to see somebody 
and the receptionist told her she had to go 
and make peace with XYZ first before she 
can be granted access to see the person 
she wanted to see. 
Her cousin said I believe you have to seek 
the forgiveness of my husband and his 
prayers before God will answer you 
She felt it was unfair for God to ask her 
to apologize to her "assaulter" 
She emailed the Brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt 
They prayed 
Four weeks later, she was confirmed 
pregnant!

PS: One had nothing to do with the other 
Many of us do this whenever we are 
waiting for answers to our prayers 
We consider the past as an impediment to 
accessing the blessings from above even 
after becoming a believer 
We need to repent 
Our salvation was a gift in Christ Jesus

GSW's notes: Be as wise as a serpent
and as gentle as a dove!
Don't put yourself at a disadvantage
in this life
Don't act like Danah, the daughter of Jacob
Mind the company you keep and how
you dress and conduct yourself
Predators will prey 
It is their nature
Every unbeliever and pretender in the
church is a potential predator
Be led by the Holy Spirit, be safe!