by Kiru Taye
Then Lola and Judy were beside her, pulling back towards the car.
“Are you okay?”
“Do you want to go back home?”
“I’m fine. I’m not going to miss this party for anyone,” she said angrily.
“I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for you to go,” Judy said.
“Are you going to deny me this one thing? I’ve never asked to go to a party before. Exams are over. I’m supposed to be celebrating with my friends.”
Judy sighed. “Okay. But be careful.”
She nodded and they got back into the car as Judy drove her to Ada’s house.
She and Ada got dressed in their party clothes. Although she wore a skirt, it was still a decent length. Ada’s parents wouldn’t let the leave the house otherwise.
She usually didn’t wear make-up, but that day, they’d applied mascara and eye shadow and even painted their nails as they chatted excitedly about what would happen at the event.
Ada’s older brother, Eloka, drove them to the venue. He didn’t stay but he was supposed to come back to pick Ada up. Lara was going to be dropped off by Malcolm.
She texted Malcolm to let him know they’d arrived. As she walked into the venue, she saw Ike. He was with a girl she didn’t recognise and he had his arm around her shoulders. They walked up to the receptionist and he asked for a room.
The back of her throat hurt and the area behind her eyeballs burned as tears banked. She’d heard rumours about those rooms. Ike was going up there to have sex with the girl. Nothing else. She turned around, wanting to get out of there. She couldn’t stay when she knew Ike was upstairs with someone else. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.
“There you are.” Malcolm appeared before her. “You look beautiful.”
She swallowed her tears back and flashed him a smile. “Thank you. You look good, too.”
He was wearing a t-shirt with a designer logo, jeans, and even his belt had designer bling on it.
“Come on. Let’s get you something to drink.” He took her hand.
She and Ada followed him into an adjacent room where they had bar area.
He took two bottles of Breezers and passed it to them. “These are really nice.”
She took a taste and found it to be sweet and easy to drink.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said before walking off.
She stood with Ada watching the other party goers. She saw Gloria with Christy. The two of them were chatting and laughing. When they noticed Ada and Lara, Gloria glared at them before saying something to Christy and then laughing out loud.
“I want you to dance with me,” Malcolm said when he came back.
Jimoh was chatting with a giggling Ada as Lara walked off with Malcolm. He took her into the main hall. As soon as they entered, the DJ changed the music.
Malcolm pulled her into the middle of the dance floor. She thought they would dance facing each other but separated. Instead, he pulled her into his arms, making sure there was no space between them.
She felt a little uncomfortable. She’d never danced this closely with a man, never been this close to anyone who wasn’t Ike. Then she remembered that Ike was upstairs having sex with some girl. And she relaxed into Malcolm, letting him hold her.
A rough hand gripped her arm and yanked.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Ike was standing beside her, looking enraged. A part of her was glad that he was standing close to her. It was the closest they’d been for weeks.
“I should be asking you that,” Malcolm said, putting his arm around Lara’s waist to hold her in place.
“Stay out of this, Malcolm,” Ike said in a dangerously low voice. He looked ready to put his clenched fist through Malcolm’s face. He yanked Lara’s arm again. “Come on. I’m getting you out of here.”
Malcolm didn’t let her go. “No, you’re not. Lara is my girlfriend.”
Everything went quiet around them as the DJ cut the music. The sound of rushing blood whooshed in Lara’s ears.
Ike staggered back one step as if he’d been punched. “Is this true? Are you dating him?”
He was staring at Lara, his eyes accusing.
“Yes,” she said as she glared at him. How dare he? Hadn’t he been the one having sex with another girl just moments before?
“You promised me.” His voice was cold, and a shiver ran down her spine.
“You mean just like you promised me?” She glared at Gloria and the other girl standing beside Ike.
He turned around and looked at them. His gaze lowered as if he was ashamed and couldn’t meet her gaze. His shoulders hunched and he seemed deflated.
“You don’t belong here, Lara. Go home before it’s too late.” There was still anger in his voice.
How dare he talk to her like that? How dare he decide that she wasn’t good enough to be here among these people when he was here?
She tilted her chin up and glared at him, her anger at him filtering into her clenched fists.
“No. You’re the one who doesn’t belong here, sir.” She made the effort of stressing the last word so he would know that from now on, she only saw him as a teacher and he would never mean anything to her again. “Malcolm is my boyfriend and my place is right here with him. You should go home with your girls.”
She turned her back to him and Malcolm pulled her into his arms.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She heard his footsteps echoing in the hall as he walked away. His words echoed in her head for moments afterwards.
“I’d like to sit down,” she said to Malcolm.
She was suddenly hot and feeling woozy and had the need to lie down.
Malcolm held onto her as he took her out into the lobby. There was no sign of Ike. Malcolm led her up the stairs.
“Where are we going?” she asked, suddenly apprehensive about going into one of those rooms.
“I have a room where you can relax and rest.” He tugged her arm.
She was feeling tired and she needed to lie down. “Okay. But I don’t want to do anything.”
“Of course not.” He opened the door and turned on the light. “Just lie down and have a rest. I’ll come back and get you later.”
She looked around the room. She nodded and lay down on the bed. He closed the door and left her in there. She pulled her phone out of her bag and sent a message to Ada.
I’m just having a lie down.
She must have dozed off because she woke with a jerk.
Malcolm was back in the room but he wasn’t alone this time. There were three other of his friends with him. They were drinking and smoking weed.
Her mouth felt like sand paper when she tried to talk and her head still felt woozy. “Malcolm, what are they doing here?”
He beamed a smile. “They are here to party.”
She tried to sit up but her body felt heavy and she struggled to move her limbs. Something like a knock sounded and he went to the door. He opened it and she could hear a female voice but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
She tried to shout but it just came out as a croak. One of the men came to the bed, stripped off the cover of a pillow and stuffed it into her mouth, using his belt to hold it in place so she couldn’t spit it out. The others just laughed.
Malcolm shut the door and came over to her. “Now it’s time to party. Boys, take her clothes off.”
She struggled and kicked and scratched as the men pulled her clothes off. But four men against one girl wasn’t ever going to be fair. Her top ripped but they did get it off as well as her skirt and underwear.
Malcolm just stood there watching as he smoked, as if they were providing him with entertainment.
Although her mouth was stuffed, she pleaded with her eyes and tears but he didn’t seem moved at all.
This man had come to her house bearing gifts and sweet talking her. He’d promised her aunt that no harm would come to her.
T
hen he was climbing onto the bed. The others still held her down as she thrashed about.
“They say you never forget your first time, Lara. You will never forget me,” he said as he gripped her thighs. The other two held each leg while one held onto her hand.
“No!” She screamed as he tore into her body. In her pain, she didn’t realise she had broken out of the grip of the person holding her hands. She scratched Malcolm’s neck, digging her fingernails into his skin.
He shouted and hit her head, sending it back to the mattress. She fought him as much as he could until his sweaty body slumped over her. Then he was swapping places with the guy holding her left leg.
After the second man, all fight left her. What was there to fight for? They would take whatever they wanted, anyway. They took their turns and when they were done, they left her there and returned to their drinking and smoking.
She lay on the bed, their mixed semen dripping from her body as she curled into a ball, her mind blanked out.
Something cold nudged her temple. She opened her eyes to find Malcolm standing over her with a gun.
With his other hand, he stroked down her body. She felt slimy and dirty where he touched.
“You are now property of the Hillcrest Four. You are here to be used whenever I want you. You know I know where you live. I know where your aunty works and your sister is still at Hillcrest. I still have boys in the school. You tell anyone about what happened here and they are dead. You hear me, dead. Or better still, Lola can get a dose of the same.”
She swallowed the bile in her throat and nodded.
“Good. Now go into the bathroom and wash up. Get dressed because I’m taking you home.”
She didn’t know how she managed to move, but she stood up, removed the gag, grabbed her clothes, and went into the bathroom. In there, she was glad to use the shower to wash off the stench of their sweat and she scrubbed her sex, hoping to clean off any trace of her violation.
When she got dressed, Malcolm placed his arm around her shoulder as he walked her down to the lobby. There were still people around, although not as much as earlier. A car waited outside with a chauffeur. They both got into the back and she didn’t say anything on the ride home.
He walked her out of the car to her gates and said, “Remember what I said. Any mention and—" He pointed his fingers at her head in the shape of a gun, “—bang!”
She flinched and nodded. She walked through the side gate not looking back to see if he was still standing there. She eventually heard the car driving off as she entered the house.
“Lara, is that you?”
“Yes, Aunty,” she replied but made no attempt to go into the living room. Instead, she headed for the stairs. She didn’t want her aunty to notice her torn top.
“Good. Come and tell me how it went.”
“I’m coming. Let me just get a drink.” She struggled up the stairs as quickly as her achy muscles would let her, into her room, and changed her top quickly. Then she took a wrapper and covered her body like a blanket before heading back downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
“Are you okay?” her aunt asked when she saw her all wrapped up.
“I think I’m coming down with malaria. I was feeling feverish at the party.”
It wasn’t a total lie. Her body felt hot, achy, and feverish although she knew it wasn’t malaria.
“Oh, poor you. Go and lie down in bed. I’ll get you some painkiller.”
Thankful that her ruse had worked, she went back to her room. Her aunt brought her some painkillers and let her to sleep.
But sleep never came.
Chapter Twenty-One
As Ike listened to Lara telling her story, nausea rolled through him. His muscles cramped. The back of his throat hurt. He turned away from everyone and faced the wall as tears burned the back of his eyes.
He’d done this to her. He’d left her there for the savages to tear apart and violate. All because he’d been angry and afraid. Angry at himself for not being strong enough to face up to Mrs. Bello, and afraid of losing his recommendation and disappointing his parents.
He’d left the woman he loved behind when she’d needed him. He should’ve dragged her out of there screaming and shouting, if need be. She’d suffered pain because he wasn’t man enough.
He realised the room had gone quiet. Lara had stopped speaking.
He turned around. Everyone was looking at Lara. Their expressions varied. Jocelyn was sympathetic, with a hand on her shoulder. Ada's hands were clenched in a fist, as if she was angry. Gloria swallowed repeatedly and averted her gaze as if she was guilty of something. Henry’s eyes bulged in horror.
Yet, Lara wasn’t looking at any of them. She was staring at him, the skin around her eyes bunched in a pained stare.
He had difficulty swallowing as he stumbled forward and fell to his knees, his hands clutching the arms of her chair.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, his eyes misting over.
“You left me,” she said before falling into his arms and sobbing.
“I didn’t know... I’m sorry.”
His voice broke and he sobbed with her, his heart ripping again and again for everything she’d lost, and everything that could’ve been avoided. How could he ever make up for leaving her? How did anyone recover from something like this?
He lost awareness of anyone else in the room, only conscious of the woman in his arms. He would give the world to make things right for her.
She lifted her head, her hand swiping at her tears. “I forgive you.”
How could she forgive so easily when she had lost the most?
More tears rolled down his face and she wiped them away, her fingers soft on his damp cheek.
“I felt so alone that night, like no one cared about me. For a long time afterwards, I believed it because the nightmare didn’t end.”
Lost for words, his heart wrenched in pain. What could he say to that?
“You could’ve told me,” Ada said, her voice choked.
“No, I couldn’t. I couldn’t be sure that Malcolm wouldn’t use that gun of his. I’d seen him in action, and there was no way I was going to put anyone else at risk. After he left Enugu suddenly, I was so glad to move on with my life. I couldn’t wait to get out of this place.”
“I will kill Malcolm, if he ever gets out of jail,” Ike said through gritted teeth.
“He’s in prison?” Ada asked as Lara’s eyes widened.
“Yes, in the States. It turns out he tried something similar out there and he was caught.”
“There is a God,” Ada proclaimed.
Lara took his hand. “There’s more I need to tell you.”
She glanced at Gloria.
He turned to look at his fiancée who was staring down at her feet, her chin dipping into her chest.
“What is it?” he asked, the dread returning to curdle his stomach as he turned back to Lara.
“Gloria set me up with Malcolm. She manipulated the whole situation so she could have you to herself.”
The sour taste in his mouth returned as he shook his head.
“No. She wouldn’t do that.” He turned to look at the woman he was engaged to. “Gloria? Is this true?”
“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” she said and pursed her lips.
“She threatened me in my apartment that if I didn’t stop seeing you, what she would do to me would be worse than what Malcolm did,” Lara said in a surprisingly calm voice.
“Gloria, why would you say such a nasty thing?”
“Are you going to believe what she says over my words? I’m your fiancée!”
Henry marched across the room and dragged Gloria up. “Tell the fucking truth, for once in your life.”
“You’re hurting my arm,” Gloria whined.
“That’s going to be the least of your troubles if you don’t start telling the truth now,” Henry ordered.
“Are you going to stay there and watch him talk to me like thi
s? Do something, Ike!”
He didn’t move from the spot and nobody else went to Gloria’s rescue.
“Fine,” she said finally. “I set the whole thing up.”
Everyone stared at her as if she was a monster who’d just walked into the room.
“Look, I didn’t know how far Malcolm would go, eventually. He was originally meant to draw Lara’s attention away from Ike.”
How could she? He was engaged to someone this devious? His stomach rolled. “Tell me what you did, Gloria,” he said in a stern voice.
She huffed and sat back on the bed. “I wanted you for myself. But I saw the way Lara followed you around like a lost puppy. So I told Malcolm to ask her out on a date. Of course, Malcolm being Malcolm, he messed it up, which was how you found them outside the school and had to take Lara home.”
“You set that up?” He couldn’t hide his shock.
“Yes.” She scuffed her shoes against the carpet. “You always treated me like your sister while you chased every other woman that came along. I couldn’t watch you date some girl in my school, as well. You were always meant to be with me.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “You do realise that Lara wasn’t even on my radar until that day when I had to drive her home. Your actions drove us together, not apart.”
She shrugged. “I realised that, which was why I had to get more help. I convinced one of the teachers you were driving Lara home regularly. She spoke to Mrs. Bello about it. I knew she was your mentor and she would be writing your final recommendation. If she spoke to you, you’d have to listen.”
“It was you all along.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I broke up with her. Why didn’t you just leave it be?”
She bit her lip and looked away. “I wanted to be sure that the two of you wouldn’t get together after her exams or after she left Hillcrest. So I had to make you believe she was with Malcolm, which was why I taught Malcolm how to woo her with gifts and to talk nicely. We planned that you would be at his party and obviously see him with Lara. I also had to make sure she lost interest in you, too, which was why I paid Stella to seduce you that night.”