The Curse

It was not the water that attracted him

It was the lady fetching the water

He followed her from afar

Kept enough distance between them

So as not to alarm her

She entered a compound

He waited a little

Watched from a distance

He walked into a nearby shop

Bought biscuit and coke

An hour later, the lady emerged

He feigned disinterest

The lady walked right by the shop

He paid very keen attention to her face

He was sure

He waited for few minutes until she was out of sight

He paid for his drink

He was about to leave

A young man came to the shop

Jesus Christ!

The next morning, he left for the City

He saw his brother

He explained what he saw

He explained who he saw

His brother ran to the car

They drove to the area

They sat in the car

Until they saw her

Returning from the well

Bucket of water on her head

His brother confirmed

It was her

Fear gripped them

The last time an attempt was made by some of her offenders

To approach her

Three of them died within a month

They all panicked

Their parents got involved

From herbalists to spiritualists

They were delivered

From the spirit of vengeance

But yet in bondage

They were students, in High school

They were in their hostel

That afternoon of 1997

They just finished having their bath

When she walked into their room

IMAGINE!

She left the girls hostel, in broad daylight

She walked with her two feet

Into naked guys

What were they to do?

They were young and stupid

Mostly teenagers

Some of them in their early twenties

What possessed her to do that?

It was Mob judgement

They grabbed her

And raped her

All 17 of them

She claimed she came to see her boyfriend

But she should have waited in the visitors lounge

AUDACITY!

Her boyfriend had to join them

It was his only way out

The other boys almost tore him apart when he tried to defend her

He did it crying

His eyes were sorry

Many hands pinned her down

She stopped resisting after the first guy

There was no point

They had smelt blood‏

When they were done they pushed her out

She could barely walk

She was crying blood

As they laughed and jeered

She went straight to the police station

All of them were arrested

It became a scandal

The whole school trembled

Her father told her not to bathe

He took her as she was

With semen and blood in her thigh

To their village grove

She was told to curse them

Death! Barrenness! Afflictions

She cursed them from sunrise till sundown

Then the women of the compound bathe her

She was kept in the village for seven days

Wrath was unleashed!

He spared no one

She was still in the village when one of them died

The others panicked

The traced her to her village

They wanted to beg, to atone

Her Father cursed them the more

They had toyed with an adder's tail

Another two died within that week

Pandemonium!

She never went back to the school

She discovered she was pregnant two months later

Her father told her keep it

Who was she to disobey

She went on to learn sewing

Opened her own shop

Became a single mother

No man had said hello since then

She understood the principles of a curse

Her bitterness was a requirement

They came to her house the next morning

The one bedroom abode she was sharing with her son

They came very early

The Pastors led the way

She welcomed them

Wondering who they were

Why they had come

Then she saw them

The two brothers

Her boyfriend at the time

And his brother

The Pastors talked

The brothers begged

He been impotent since the incidence

Everywhere they had gone, they were told to seek her forgiveness

He was afraid to search for her

Divine providence brought his brother to that area

That was how they found her

Please have mercy

Forgive!

The more they begged

The more the pain rose within her

How could she forgive those animals

But then her son, who had been listening to the story

Suddenly Prostrated and begged her too

Mummy Please, mummy please

The little traitor

They were there for hours

It was very painful

She accepted their plea

She forgave him

She blessed him

He took her and her son out of the slums

Rented a flat for them

It took some time, almost 13 months

And a lot of work

He was restored

She got pregnant for him

He married her

He adopted her son

Mara became sweet again

PS: The rape happened in Oyo town in 1997

At a very popular High school

The son she had was a DNA match for one of the guys.

He now bears his adopted Father's name

Efforts were made to contact all the guys, only 9 of them were found till date

''Actions have consequences''