Life above all episode 6-7

LIFE, ABOVE ALL

Episode 6

TIYA

I angrily marched down the hallway and into the living room.
‘You whore, who gave you the right to beat my sister? I asked pointing a finger at her face.
Auntie Stella remained silent.
‘How dare you?’ my voice growled in an otherworldly rage

‘And how dare you insult my mother in such a manner?’ Celine asked in a deadly quiet voice
‘Your mother insulted herself the minute she got married to another woman’s husband,’ I said
‘You have no respect whatsoever.’
‘I wasn’t even talking to you Celine so shut up.’

‘And you?’ I pointed at Auntie Stella, ‘Make this the last time you lay your filthy hands on my sister.’
‘Or else what?’ she asked
I chuckled, ‘You wouldn’t want to see my bad side.’
She laughed, ‘You will end up joining your mother sooner than I expected.’
‘Don’t mention my mother’s name you shameless whore.’

‘And don’t call my mother names,’ Celine warned

‘Mwana wa hule ni hule naeve, you and your mother are both shameless whores.’
‘I said don’t call my mother names,’ she warned again.

‘I am not afraid of you,’ I quipped
‘You should be.’

‘Birds of the same feathers, prostitutes,’ I screamed

‘Leave my mother alone,’ Celine charged towards me and slapped me hard across my face.
I placed a hand on my cheek as the flames around me grew brighter. No one had ever struck me that hard. The pain was such a surprise for a minute or so I didn’t know how to react.
‘Did you just slap me?’ I asked
‘And I will do more than just slap you I will beat the shit out of you if you continue disrespecting my mother in her own house.’
‘This is not your mother’s house & this is not your house either. You and your mother are just a pair of shameless whores,’ I screamed.

Father chose that exact moment to walk into the house.
As soon as Auntie Stella saw him, she feigned tears and Celine carried on the deception so well that father fell for it.
‘Maybe we should pack and leave this house,’ Celine said in a soft voice
‘But what exactly happened?’ Father asked
‘Your daughter just walked into this house and started insulting my mother.’

‘Darling, I am tired of Tiya’s insults,’ Auntie Stella sniffed. ‘Maybe she is right, my daughter and I don’t belong here.’

‘Oh my darling, don’t talk like that, on behalf of my useless daughter, I am sorry,’ he said

I couldn’t hold myself I burst at length into a laugh and said merrily, ‘Try Standup Comedy.’

‘You have gone too far you idiot,’ father said
‘They have you wrapped around their fingers, when they say stand you stand and when they say sit you sit,’ I clicked my tongue
‘I am still your father and you must respect me.’
‘Whatever!’ I said rudely as I started walking back to my room.

‘Get back here,’ father yelled
I rolled my eyes and continued walking.

A moment later, I felt him grab my arm roughly before he turned me towards him.
‘What?’ I angrily asked
‘How dare you disrespect me and my wife in such a manner?’ he roared
I looked up at him, I saw the anger in his face his cheeks were grimace and his eyes were burning with rage.
‘Your whore has--,’
Before I could finish my statement he slapped me so hard sending me tumbling to the floor.
‘I will deal with you today,’ he growled
Then he grabbed me and started dragging me by my hair across the floor towards my room as I struggled to free myself.
‘Leave my sister alone,’ Thoko cried, ‘Please leave her,’ she pleaded
Her pleas fell on deaf ears he dragged me into the room, kicked Thoko out and slammed the door shut before he locked it.
‘I have tolerated you long enough.’

In a split second he unbuckled his belt and folded it in half.

I yelped as it whipped across my back,’ this will teach you not to talk back at me,’ he yelled.
I screamed

Afterwards, he put the belt on the floor, then he ripped the dress I was wearing off my body my underwear was all that remained.

He picked the belt again and whipped me.

As the belt touched my bare flesh, the pain echoed like an earthquake deep into my consciousness.
I screamed again.

My scream didn’t move him he whipped me mercilessly covering my body in lash after lash, one overlapping another, the force behind his strokes growing.

I could hear Thoko screaming on the other side of the door I felt sorry for my little sister she was too young to witness this kind of cruelty.

The leather cut through my wrists and ankles as I helplessly screamed on the floor, I looked at him with pleading eyes hoping he would stop but he didn’t.

‘Let her go,’ I heard Ganizani’s voice he was pounding hard on the door.
‘Leave her alone or I break this door,’ he yelled

‘Honey I think that’s enough let her go,’ you will kill her I heard, Auntie Stella screamed.

When the flush of furry faded from his eyes, he dropped the belt to the floor.
‘Don’t dare me like that Tiya, I will forget you are my child and murder you,’ he said
He walked towards the door unlocked it and marched out.
Ganizani and Thoko rushed in.
‘Oh lord,’ Ganizani said kneeling beside me, ‘I am sorry I wasn’t here to protect you.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ I said softly, my entire body was burning. I actually thought my butt was bleeding.
‘Sorry!’ Thoko said softly, she had tears sliding down her cheeks.
‘It’s okay baby.’
Ganizani lifted me up, cradling me like a child, I would have resisted but I was too weak, he took me into the bathroom.
He ran the bath before he put me in the tub.
I smiled at him, ‘I will take it from here.’
He nodded and left the bathroom.
****

GANIZANI

I was angry beyond words why would a man hit his daughter like that?
‘Baby have you eaten?’ I asked Thoko
She shook her head.
‘I will get you some food just now and please stop crying,’ I wiped the tears from her eyes.
I walked out of their room and into the living room, father and Auntie Stella were sitting on one couch, Celine was setting the table.
‘You shouldn’t have hit her like that,’ I said without looking up at him.
‘And who are you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do?’ he asked
‘Father this is not right, have you see what you have done to her?’
‘She deserves it, she insulted your mother and i.’
‘And by mother you mean her?’ I pointed at Auntie Stella
‘Yes,’ she responded quickly
‘You are not our mother and you will never be, the sooner you realise that the better for all of us.’
‘Ganizani!’ Father stood up
‘I am ashamed to call you my father you are a disgrace to fatherhood,’ the words rushed out of my mouth before I could stop them.
I saw the anger burn in his eyes before he grabbed me by the back of my shirt collar.
‘You too? Are you honestly going to stand here and talk to me like that? What sort of children do I have in this house?’
‘Hit me if you want to but the fact still remains, you don’t deserve to be called father.’
He pushed me and dropped to the floor.
In a rage he came forward and punched me as hard as he could in the face, once then again and again.
Auntie Stella pulled him away from me, ‘you will kill him,’ she warned.
I felt blood oozing down my lips into my mouth, ‘This was it, my father had just drawn the battle line.’

Episode 7

TIYA

I hate my father with a passion, the hatred I feel for him has become more intense ever since he beat me up.
I seriously can’t stand him if it were up to me I would have this man killed. Each time I look at him, i just want to punch him.

A father should strive to make decisions in the best interest of his children but this man is the total opposite of that.
He makes his decisions in the best interest of our step mother. It’s like we don’t matter to him at all.

I seriously cannot wait to grow up and leave this house, i can’t deal with such violence and cruelty from a man who is supposed to protect and defend us from people like Auntie Stella.

I haven’t been going to school for the past few days because I wanted the bruises he inflicted on me to heal before I could face the world.

Today I woke up feeling better so I decided I would go to school, I can’t afford to miss some more lessons.

I rubbed my face tiredly as I got out of my bed and walked to the bathroom.

I took a quick bath then I stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around myself and dried off. Afterwards I walked towards the bed to wake Thoko up.

‘Baby girl, it’s time to wake up,’ I said fondly patting her back. I felt bad for interrupting her sleep but I had no choice.
‘It’s morning already,’ she mumbled from under the covers.
‘Yes darling, wake up now or we are gonna be late for school.’
I lifted the blankets off her body and she snapped her eyes open.
‘Fine,’ she said
I smiled at her as she jumped off the bed and yawned loudly.

She ran towards the bathroom as I chased her, i undressed her and gave her a quick bath.

After the bath was finished, I wrapped her in a towel and took back to the bedroom placing her on the bed.
‘Arms up!’
She giggled and did as instructed I applied lotion to her entire body before dressing her.

Afterwards I tied her braids into two big buns.
‘We should undo this week over the weekend,’ I said.
‘But who will plait me now that mum is gone?’ she asked
Mum was very skilled in hair plaiting and styling, we never had to bother about going to the saloon when she was alive.
‘I will take you to the saloon,’ I said
‘You have money?’
‘Father will give us.’
The only good thing about father is that he always gives us enough money for our upkeep, I hope that doesn’t change.

When I finished dressing her, I got dressed too.
‘Shall we?’ I asked once I was done.
‘Yes.’

We grabbed our bags and left our room. Ganizani had already prepared our breakfast.
‘Morning G boy,’ I said
‘Morning Kiddo.’
‘I am not a kid,’ I rolled my eyes
‘No matter how much you grow, you will always be my kiddo.’
Thoko laughed.
‘Morning baby,’ Ganizani said to her
‘Morning big bro.’
‘Slept well?’
‘Yep.’
‘Ready for some mouth watering breakfast?’ he asked
She nodded her head, ‘Yes.’

I pulled a chair behind for her and she sat down.

She ate fairly well though I had to feed her. After we finished eating, we grabbed our bags and walked out of the house.
‘Ganizani!’ Celine called just as we were about to open the gate.
We all turned around to see her running after us.
‘What?’ he asked
‘Going to school already?’ she asked smilingly
‘What do you think?’ I rudely asked
‘I wasn’t talking to you.’
‘Yes,’ Ganizani responded, ‘why are you asking?’
‘Nothing, I just wanted to see you off.’
I gave her a quizzical look.
‘We are good,’ Ganizani responded
‘Okay, have a good day at school.’
‘Thank you,’ he responded
I shook my head and clicked my tongue, ‘What’s her deal?’ I asked Ganizani as we walked down the road to the bus station.
‘I don’t know, she is been acting all too friendly with me.’
‘Such a hypocrite I hope you don’t entertain her, she is just like her mother.’
‘Don’t worry I won’t.’
‘Okay.’
We arrived at school after a thirty minutes bus ride Ganizani speed towards his class while I took Thoko to hers before going to mine.

‘Girl! Where have you been?’ Ivy exclaimed the minute I walked into the classroom.
I sighed, ‘Long story.’
‘I missed you,’ she wrapped her arms around me.
‘And I missed you even more,’ I said truthfully.
The teacher walked in a few minutes later and we sat down.

The rest of the day went by so fast I didn’t know whether it was a good thing or a bad one, being at school was better than being home.

Finally the last period ended and we were dismissed.

Ivy and I packed our books in our bags and quickly walked out of the classroom.
‘I still can’t believe your father did that to you,’ she said as we stood by the entrance and waited for her driver.
I had narrated to her about what happened at home a few days ago during break.
‘My father is a beast babe.’
‘You should leave,’ she said
I laughed, ‘Leave.’
‘Yes,’ she said in a serious tone.
‘Wait! You are being serious?’
‘Ya.’
‘Leave and go where?’
‘I could take you in.’
‘Girl! Shut up.’
‘But I am serious my father would be okay with you moving in with us.’
‘Okay, I will think about it,’ I said just to shut her up.
‘So I want you to meet my boyfriend tomorrow,’ she said
‘Your boyfriend?’ my eyes widened
‘Yes.’
‘You have a boyfriend?’
‘Yes, why are you acting as if you have seen a ghost?’
‘Well, I am surprised, why do you have a boyfriend?’
She laughed, ‘For comfort, pleasure, companionship and so forth.’
‘Oh.’
‘You have never had a boyfriend?’ she asked
‘No,’ I shook my head.
‘Why?’
‘I am only thirteen and trying to focus on my education, besides my mother told me to stay away from boys till I was done with school.’
She burst out laughing, ‘That’s so old school, this is a modern world girls your age have boyfriends.’
‘I will pass,’ I said
‘You will pass on what?’ she asked
‘Having a boyfriend,’ I responded.
‘That’s okay but you will still get to meet my boyfriend tomorrow right?’
‘Yes,’ I nodded my head even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Shortly after, the driver arrived and we both got into the car.
‘Can we first go to my place before he drives you home?’ she asked
‘Why?’
‘I have something for you.’
‘What?’
‘A surprise.’
‘Okay.’
The drive to her home was a loud one, she kept singing to the songs that were playing on the radio.

When the driver finally pulled up in front of their driveway, Ivy and I stepped out of the car and rushed for the front door.

We walked into the living room and found two people making out on the couch I had only seen such in movies so I closed my eyes quickly.

Ivy cleared her throat and the two instantly pulled away from each other.
‘Can’t you two go upstairs?’ Ivy asked
‘Darling,’ the man stood up and walked towards us.
‘Daddy!’ Ivy said
‘How are you?’
‘I am fine, this is my friend Tiya, Tiya my dad,’ she said
‘Hi Tiya,’ he extended his hand towards mine and I shook it.
‘I will be in my room if you need me,’ she said, she pulled my hand and we ran to her room.
I sat on her bed.
‘Is that your dad’s girlfriend?’ I asked
She laughed, ‘That’s one of his many girlfriends.’
‘Isn’t she young?’
‘He likes them young,’ she laughed again, ‘you know these young ladies love money so ya most of his girlfriends are quiet young.’
‘And you don’t mind?’
‘No, if he is happy I am happy.’
‘Okay.’
‘What did you get me?’
‘Wait.’
She opened her closet and removed a plastic which she handed to me.
I got it from her and opened it there was a box of a new phone in it. I looked up at her and she laughed.
‘It’s yours.’
‘Mine?’
‘Yes.’
‘I figured you need a phone so it will be easy for us to communicate,’ she said
‘And where did you get the money to get this phone?’
‘My father has a lot of money Tiya but that’s not even the point, I want you to have this phone.’
‘Okay.’
I excitedly removed the phone from the box and glanced at it.
‘Should I accept it or not?’ I wondered
****

To be continued