This feels like a dream come true!!
Felicia looked resplendent in her bright white wedding gown as she walked down the aisle. She paused for a second as she stared at his clean shaven face, the smile on her face widening, as she struggled not to let the tears destroy her beautiful make-up.
I can’t believe this is happening. It feels like a wonderful dream!
•••••
Everyone had thought she was too young to understand what was going on, but at age 10 she knew exactly what was happening.
Jesus Christ. I’m just like that girl on super story. I’m an orphan now!
It had happened on her 10th birthday. Her mom had told her to be a little patient, that her father was on the way with her birthday cake. And ever since her mom’s belly had started getting bigger, Felicia had always tried to be an obedient girl, so that her mother would reward her with a little brother! At least that’s what daddy said would happen.
Then the doorbell rang. Felicia rushed to the door, ready to jump into her father’s arms, after she had collected her case of course.
But daddy wasn’t the one at the door.
*****
The whole burial was like a foggy memory. It had felt like a dream when her parents caskets were being lowered into the ground. It had felt like a dream when she was asked to pour a handful of sand in each of the graves. That dream had turned into a nightmare when she saw her older cousins pouring shovels of dirt into the graves. It suddenly dawned on her that she would never see her parents again. That was when the tears started flowing freely, like a dam finally unleashed.
*****
Daddy wasn’t the one that rang the doorbell. Instead Fate had decided to send her its very own special birthday cake, with different toppings.
Her father had been in a ghastly head-on collision with a truck, one that left no survivors in it’s wake. On hearing the news, her mothers’ heart suddenly developed a will of its own, beating irregularly, with no regard for the two lives at its mercy, before finally stopping a couple of hours later, surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses who couldn’t do anything to save Felicia’s mom. Or her unborn brother.
Fate had delivered her a well prepared cake indeed, with different toppings, and sugary icing.
*****
The whole burial period had felt like one long foggy night. But through the fog, there had been one sliver of light. Her mom’s sister, Aunt Gloria & her husband, Uncle Kemmon.
After the burial, it was agreed that she would stay with them, since they were the only family she had left.
It didn’t hurt that Aunty Gloria couldn’t have kids of her own, so she showered Felicia with all the pent-up love she had inside her. Felicia who reminded her so much of her late sister.
The years flew by…..
*****
She remembered the day she got her first period. How Aunty Gloria tenderly explained what was happening to her.
She didn’t see the look in Uncle Kemmon’s eyes.
She remembered that night. The first of many.
It had felt like a dream.
She remembered feeling hot air blowing from his mouth as he whispered in her ear “Don’t scream”
It was a feeling she would never get used to.
She remembered feeling two pudgy fingers snaking their way up her thighs.
“Uncle Kemmon what are you doing”
“Relax. You know your aunty has travelled again.Now you are the madam of the house. It’s time to do what madams do”
She couldn’t see the lecherous look on his face.
She could smell the alcohol on his breath.
“It’ll be our little secret”
•••••
She remembered the first time she’d laid eyes on him. There was something about him. Underneath the rough exterior, the firmly chiselled jaw, the clean shaven face, she could sense it. An innate gentility.
And she was right. He hadn’t been like all the others. Men who had taken advantage of her, had used her for only one thing, had laid hands on her, treated her like a punching bag.
When he’d finally slid in, he had been gentle with her, tender, loving.
And he had never left her abruptly after. He always kissed her on her forehead when he was done. Every single time.
And he always kept on coming back to her.
•••••
It’ll be our little secret.
Those words had stayed with her.
The times Aunty Gloria had come back from her different travels and asked her how she was.
The times Uncle Kemmon had come back into her room.
The times he had brought his friends over, when Aunty Gloria was away. Friends who were like him. Afterall, birds of a feather flock together, or so they say.
The times he took her to the hospital, different ones each time, because one of his friends liked to hit her when he came. The lies she had learned to expertly tell whenever the doctors got a bit too inquisitive.
It’ll be our little secret.
••••••
Finally. She would be his wife! All his! Her messiah with the baby smooth face.
A few tears finally escaped her eyes as the priest performed the ceremony. She almost missed the question. Almost.
“And do you, Felicia, take this man here to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, till death do you part?”
Finally!!! A dream come true!
Felicia opened her mouth to say those two little words that would seal the deal
“I….. ”
••••••••••••••
“Felicia, Felicia, wake up! Get ready, Mr Joseph is here to see you again.”
Felicia sat up on the bed, her eyes still groggy from her nap.
“Yes uncle, let me take a quick shower”
“Good, good. He seems to really like you, always coming back. I’m beginning to feel a bit jealous o. Maybe I should start charging him.”
Uncle Kemmon walked out of Felicia’s room, pausing at the door to look at her as she wrapped a towel around her teenage body, a lecherous look in his eyes.
“Oh, your aunty called, she won’t be back for another week.”
*****
Felicia had just stepped out the shower when she heard her door open.
“How are you Felicia?”
“I’m fine Mr Joseph”
“I’ve told you, stop calling me Mr. I don’t like it. Just call me Joe”
Felicia blushed as she starred at his clean shaven face, his gentle eyes looking straight into hers.
She turned over, just the way he liked it.
One day, soon, my dreams will come true. One day Mr Joseph will save me. My clean shaven hero. One day he’ll give me my happy ending.
——————————————————————
P.S: Abuse of all types is a terrible thing. But there is nothing worse than abusing a child. Please report any suspicions you have to the nearest authority.
And for the adults in abusive relationships, I pray you find the strength to leave such relationships, and the protection to remain alive after you’ve left.
