Enough of politics for now...lets talk about something that will help folks out there... To every young and old single ladies out there, please dont be blinded by some stupid love to the extent that you cant see the red flags...its better to be alive and be single than to be married with the tag Mrs but be living a miserable life or sometimes end up 6 feet under....a word is enough for the wise. Happy reading. THE SILENT KILLER by Ngozi Lilian Akobo Biola and Timi had met on the registration queue in the faculty of social sciences in the University of Benin. They were both University freshmen and Biola seemed to be overwhelmed with the rigorous registration process. Timi on the other hand, seemed very confident, moving about and chatting with people as though he had known them all his life. As Timi would later relate to his colleagues, immediately he sighted Biola on the queue, he knew (young as he was), that she would become his wife some day. Biola and Timi after the initial introductions became inseparable. By their final year they had won the award of ‘Couple of the year’ for 3 consecutive years. Everyone loved, admired and secretly envied the relationship Biola and Timi had. They went everywhere together; the Library, Bukka. Sports complex, Church…everywhere. They were inseparable. Although, Timi had several male friends, Biola, who was quiet and very reserved, had very few female friends. When she was not with Timi, she was alone. For Biola, it started sometime in their first year. She had gone to Timi’s off campus hostel at Ekosodin to visit him and had volunteered to fry some yam and eggs for him to have for breakfast. While waiting for the yam to get cooked, she went in to ‘gist’ with Timi. They talked and laughed so much that she forgot her yam was still on the fire. When she remembered, she screamed and ran to the kitchen. It was too late; the pieces of yam had turned black and totally burnt. Timi got into the kitchen shortly after, she turned to him and said, ‘Babe can you imagine? The yam is burnt’. What Timi said after got her frozen to the spot. With eyes dark with unsuccessfully controlled rage, her precious Timi had said in a cold chilling tone, “you are an incompetent fool, you are never able to do anything right. What type of woman lets her food get burnt? You are good for nothing” and he walked out of the flat. Biola could not believe her ears or eyes. She stood rooted at the spot with her mouth open and the pot still in her hands. Could her precious Timi who had never said a harsh word to her be this same monster she had seen this morning? Did she do something else that she was not aware of? Were they not just ‘gisting’ happily a few seconds ago? Biola was confused and upset. She cried and cried and waited for Timi. Timi didn’t come back until much later at night and after he did, he muttered an apology. Because she loved Timi so much, Biola rationalized to herself that she deserved the yelling. After all, why did she forget the yam on the fire? Incidents like this became regular occurrences. Timi would criticize Biola at every little error. He verbally and emotionally abused her until he successfully robbed Biola of all her confidence. Biola no longer believed that she could do anything right. She would hesitate and look at Timi before she did anything, silently begging for his approval. No matter what she did, Timi would always find a reason to talk down at her and criticize her. One day, Biola and Timi had gone to the bukka to eat as usual. When it got to their turn to order, Biola asked for pounded yam and egusi soup. Timi looked at her scornfully and said to the person serving, “No. Give her beans and fish; she needs to shed some of this irritating weight.” Biola laughed. She was obviously embarrassed, she said to Timi “Babe, that’s not nice now? Abeg let me eat my pounded yam.” She noticed that Timi went silent. He didn’t say a word to her all through the meal nor during their walk back to Timi’s room. Immediately they shut the door, Timi slapped Biola very hard across her face. The slap was so hard that Biola fell over. Timi approached her on the floor and started kicking her. All the while shouting at her “Never you reply me in public again.” Biola cried and begged him to stop until she could not cry anymore. The pains were like needles all over her body and she thought she would die. Timi stopped beating her all of a sudden and stormed out of the room. Biola lay there in pain crying until she fell asleep. Timi came back at night, crying and begging for forgiveness. Biola had never seen him cry. She believed he was remorseful and forgave him. Two weeks later, he beat her up again. The beating continued. At the slightest provocation, Biola would get the beating of her life. Biola would make up her mind to leave him but then he would come back crying and begging and sending gifts, and the whole cycle would start again. Biola was a broken woman but she could not tell anyone. The whole campus looked up to them as a perfect couple. In fact, people came to them for advice. Biola decided to take it in her stride and stick with the man she loved. After their final exams, Timi proposed to Biola. She went ahead to marry him especially as he had promised her that he would never lay a finger on her again (as a matter of fact, he had not hit her in 3 months). Biola and Timi had a lavish wedding. Three months after the wedding, Biola became pregnant. She had a severe case of morning sickness and could not stand the smell of food stuff generally. Timi came back from work one day and met Biola lying down in the living room. She was feeling ill and was not able to prepare anything for him to eat. When he asked for his food, she explained that she had been ill all day and wasn’t able to make anything for him to eat. Before she finished talking, he had hit her hard across the face. Biola had fallen and hit her head on their hard marble floor. He screamed at her to get up. She remained motionless on the floor. He kicked her. She didn’t yell out in pain. He bent over her. Her eyes were glazed over. Biola was dead at the age of 28. Another victim of Domestic Violence. Over 40% of women reading this are physically abused in their homes. So many women have lost their lives in the process! Get help today! Do not suffer in silence! If you are a victim, or you know of a victim whose life may be in danger, please send me an email on audiodevotional@yahoo. All emails will be treated with utmost confidentiality *Although the University of Benin is an actual and existing place, all references to individuals are wholly fictional. Any resemblance or similarities the story may have with real individuals, alive or dead are purely a matter of co-incidence and not in any way intended.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 17:29:29 +0000
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