Trigger Warning

Romola heard the loud voices all the way from the passage, just before the open clearing where the house stood. She slid off the bike before hurrying towards the house. As usual, the withered bench, where the three old gossips sat, leaned against the wall of one of the houses but only two women sat on it.

"Good afternoon."

"Afternoon oh. Wetin you dey find here? What are you looking for here?" One of them asked.

Among the three gossips, Mrs Nelson was the only approachable one. Of course, she shared the secrets of those she helped but she was always willing to lend a helping hand.

"Where is Iya Nelson?

"She's not around."

"Can we help you?"

Their help was the equivalent of dropping a matchstick in a bucket of oil.

"No."

The wrinkler one, turned towards Romola's house. "Shey, you will tell them to keep quiet. They are not the only ones in the compound."

Romola nodded with no intention of doing as requested. It was pure foolishness for a child to attempt to end their parent's quarrels. She wasn't here for them. Besides, she was sure this woman didn't want the fight to end. She wanted to hear more and more so they would have more to gossip about.

The closer she got to the house, the crisper and louder the voices got.

"I said she must leave this house today."

"No. She's not going anywhere. She's my daughter. If anyone must leave. It's you."

"When God been dey share brain, where you been dey? When God was sharing brains, where were you?"

"This girl has found a way to earn money, you are complaining. The other one you sent away, what good did it do? Shebi, if you left her, we might be living in Ikoyi by now?"

Romola crept up the staircase, even though the sounds of their voices could have masked her footsteps. She stood beside the door post and peered in from the transparent net. Her step father stood there, tall as ever with his square face while their mother's hand wrapped around his collar. Sunbo stood at the end of the room, closer to the passage way that led to the kitchen. Some of her bags and boxes stood at her feet.

"What nonsense are you talking? Didn't you chase her away? When you are supposed to provide for your children, you want them to work for you. Jobless he-goat."

"Why should Sunbo go to school? Did Jide go to school?"

"I swear, I regret the day I married you."

"Did I beg you?" Her stepfather said. He clenched his hand around her mother's hand and tried to tug it free from his collar. "Leave me now. I say you should leave me."

"No. You are not leaving this house. She is." Her mother turned to Sunbo.

Romola watched Sunbo press her back against the wall. If the poor girl could enter the wall she would.

"If you don't leave me now, I will—"

"What will you do? What can you do?" Her mother, stretching on her toes and inching towards her stepfather.

The man raised the back of his hand and slapped her against the cheeks. She screamed. Romola clamped her hands across her mouth to stop herself from joining her mother's chorus of pain.

The man slapped her again. "You will not leave me, right? You want to see what I can do, ehn."

Despite the tears, her mother croaked without losing her hold on his shirt, "You will not go anywhere."

"Leave me. Leave me oh." The man yelled.

His hands went around her neck. She tried to use her free hand to pry his from her neck while her other hand held his collar tighter.

Romola stomped her feet while Sunbo knelt, clasping her hands together and begging. "Daddy, please no. Please."

"You better tell this woman to leave me alone."

Romola watched her mother's toe lift higher and higher until they were barely touching the ground, while her father's other hand joined the first and applied more pressure. She reached for the door handle while his face contorted. He bared his teeth, his skin stretched against his bones. His hairy brows, tightening together as his hands shook and compressed her mother's neck.

Her mother tried to pull his hands off her neck and failed. Her hands began to roam the length of his arm, hitting and slapping as she choked. Her hold on his collar lost, she tried to pull his hand off and failed.

Sunbo knelt closer to their father and hugged his leg to her chest. "Daddy, please."

"Useless woman." He tossed his wife away.

She fell to the floor, coughing, and clutched her neck.

Tears pooled in Romola's eyes but she brushed them off with the back of her arm. She wanted to open the door and walk to him, then give him the same treatment she'd given Sekemi, only harder. But for now, it seemed like the man had stopped. He turned away from their mother. Maybe it was over. Maybe this would give her mother the motivation she needed to walk away from such an evil man.

He went into the bedroom and her mother sat up, took off her slippers and grabbed Sunbo's braids, pulling the girl down to her eye level. She slapped Sunbo's skin with the slippers a couple of times, yelling. "It's your fault. It's your fault."

"Maami, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"By the time I'm done with you, you won't recognize yourself."

"Maami, please." Sunbo's scream mixed with tears as she tried to scramble away from their mother's hold but the older woman was quick, grabbing Sunbo by the ear and pulling her closer to continue the lashing.

Romola winced with each stoke that landed on Sunbo's fair creamy skin. The strokes left red welts all over her sister's body. Her mother's tactic was not much different from what it had been when the woman caught her at Olumide's housewarming party. The pain from the welts would fade but the memory would forever be embedded in her sister's mind. Unless she did something about it.

"Maami." She called, pressing her head against the fisherman net door. She didn't dare to raise her voice for fear that her step father would hear.

"You will leave my house today." Her mother pulled Sunbo towards the door.

The woman opened the door and Romola stepped back as Sunbo was pushed into her hands. Their mother tried to close the door but Romola placed her hand on the door post. The door jammed against her knuckles and her scream caught her mother's attention.

"Romola, what are you doing here?" Her mother whispered, looking back into the house. "Leave now."

Romola pulled back her hand and blew air on her knuckles, shaking her fingers between puffs of air. "I came to see Sunbo."

"See her. Take her with you. Shey, she wanted to stay with you before."

Romola turned to Sunbo, the girl cried behind her. The drama between her mother and stepfather had taken off most of her anger towards her sister. Most. Not all.

"Why did you do it?

"Do what?" Sunbo asked with a meek voice.

"Don't start that rubbish with me. You know why I am here? Why did you dance in the Suxy video?"

"I didn't know it was Suxy." Sunbo shook her head. "I swear to God who made me. I didn't know we were going to dance half-naked."

"Half naked? Or Naked." Their mother yelled. "That your breast was displayed to the whole world. Wetin I do to born this kain girls? What did I do to get these kinds of girls?"

Romola rubbed her temple. On the one hand, she agreed that punishing Sunbo was right but throwing her out of the house was extreme. It was a one-time mistake and although Sunbo could be reckless, she didn't have as much guts to face their parents and challenge their rules. That was Jide's forte. Mostly because Sunbo had been the last born for quite a while before Lolade came along. Their father had doted on her while Jide had practically raised himself.

"Maami, listen to me."

What she was about to ask was huge but it would make the difference. The turning point in the lives of the Ibikunle women. Her mother had been thrown out. She had been too but Sunbo would not suffer like they had. It didn't have to start with a new house, or a new school or a new job. It had to start with the way relations in their family worked. Today, she would secure Sunbo's future. At another day, she would work on tearing their parents apart.

"You should go." Their mother shut the door.

Romola ignored the pain in her knuckles as she reached for the door handle. She pulled it open and knelt down at her mother's feet. "Maami, I'm begging you. I know what I suffered. If you send this girl out, she'll do worse. You'll force her to go back to those people just so she can eat."

Their mother pursed bruised and swollen lips. "No."

"Remember," Romola crawled closer to her mother and held the woman's hand in hers. "How you said you wished I would come back. Sunbo isn't like me. If she leaves, she will never come back and God forbid, she falls into the hands of one Yahoo boy."

Their mother remained silent.

"Please. Find another way to punish her at least. But not this."

The older woman turned her back to them and walked into the house. She didn't say another word. She sat down in one of the brown chairs and settled there, staring at the blank television screen.

Romola rose, dusting the dirt off her black pants as she addressed Sunbo. "Oya, get inside."

"No. I don't want to stay here. I want to leave."

Her head spun fast in Sunbo's direction. "You, shut up and do as I say. You're always making stupid decisions."

"I said I didn't know what the video concept would've been like. By the time I found out, it was too late. I'd spent all the money."

"This is exactly why I didn't want to just jump on any offer that comes."

"I won't dance again. I'll act but I won't stay here."

"Maami and I have sacrificed a lot to get you into school and we're prepared to do much more. DO NOT throw your life away for 15 seconds of fame. You're more than skin and bones."

"Skin and bones oh; Flesh and blood oh, I'm not going to live here. She'll beat me when you go."

"Better that, than selling your body." Romola barked. "What's wrong with this place?"

"They." Sunbo pointed into the dark house. "They are always fighting. Always. I'm tired of it."

"Who told you life on the street is better? If you don't want me to give you backhand slap, you'll get into that house and offload your belongings. At least, you have parents."

"It's not fair."

Sunbo murmured as she stomped her feet, flaying her fingers left and right and marching into the house. Just as her step father came into the living room, dressed in a crisp clean blue checkers shirt on camel-coloured trousers and sneakers that bent sideways at the top. He never wore shirts as clean as that.

Her mother yelled. "And where do you think you are going?"

"Must I tell you?"

"You're not living this house." Her mother stepped in his way. "You will not leave me alone with these children."

"Which children?" Her step father wore a condescending look on his face. "You don't even know where Jide is."

"Where Jide is, is not my problem. You are not living this house." Her mother placed her hands akimbo.

The man faced Sunbo. "You better tell your mother to get out of my way before she pushes me to do something she will regret."

"Mummy please—"

"Don't!"

Sunbo shrunk away from their mother and looked at both parents before sidling to his side. "Daddy, please, don't leave. She won't send me away anymore."

"Will I be under arrest in my own house?"

Her father moved forward but their mother slide to the side till she stood before him.

"It's not a joke. I said you are not leaving this house."

"Arike. Arike. Arike. Don't push me to do something I don't want to do."

"What don't you want to do?"

He pushed her aside and she stumbled but she regained her balance and rushed to the door, placing herself as a starfish in front of it.

Romola could only catch a glimpse of the living room through the gap between her mother's head and shoulders. With her mother's back pressed firmly against the net and blocking the sunlight, the living room was darker than ever.

"You want to leave this house with my money, abi?"

"What money?" Her stepfather stuck his hand in his pocket and brough it out. It was empty. As always.

"I know you took it and you hid it somewhere."

"Maami, let him go." She could see the man's face contorting again. His fingers clenched hard at his sides and his veins rose in his arm like the roots of a tree that refused to remain buried underground.

"Let him go where? It's me and him in this house today."

"Arike!"

"Joshua."

"Okay now, Shey you want to be stubborn."

Her father's hand reached for the buckle around his waist. His peeling leather belt slid out of the belt hoops, following the tug of his hands until he flexed the belt in the air. Romola felt the wind follow the path of the belt before it struck her mother's cheek bones. The first lash was painful. It was the hard crack of something and the sound of metal hitting the metal spring of the net that caused Romola to scream without restraint.

He had hit her. Hit her with the belt buckle and not the strap.

Romola yanked the door open as her mother doubled over. The belt lashed again on her mother's shoulder, then her back. Anger married fear in Romola's stomach as she charged at the man, standing in the way of the belt.

"Stop it. Do you want to kill her?"

Her stepfather's hand fell and the belt dropped to the floor. His mouth clamped hard until the line of his jaw was very visible but he did nothing. Just stared at her. She tried to reach for her mother but the woman pushed her away, struggling to stand properly while cradling her face where blood trickled from.

"No, let him. Let him hit me."

"Arike, I will kill you." The man stepped forward.

Her mother did too, even with the blood rushing down her cheek. "You cannot do anything you've not done before."

"If you don't step away from the door, I promise, I will kill you."

She eyed him. "You will not leave this house. I'd rather die than let you leave."

"Arike."

"Shut up, useless man." Her mother ran to the door and pushed in the bolt so that the net was locked. She slammed the main door shut, cutting off the main source of light. The key turned in the lock before her mother stuck the key between her breasts. "I said you will not leave this house today. Do you think I don't know what you want to do?"

"Okay, Okay oh. I've said my own." The man attempted to walk to the door again. He pulled it hard and the shaking caused the other doors in the house to rattle as well but the door didn't budge. He turned to his wife. "Give me the key."

"Never."

"I will beat you and still collect the key. Stop this."

"You will not leave me."

The man tried to grab her but she jumped aside and he missed. He dove after her as she ran behind the chair. He pushed the whole sofa aside, forward and into the wooden Tv Stand. The sofa hit the chair and the Tv crashed, right at Romola's feet. She stepped back in time to miss her mother's out stretched hand. The woman ran past her into the kitchen. Her step father followed.

Someone grabbed Romola's elbow and tugged her towards the door. "Romola, let's go."

"Go where?"

"Anywhere." Sunbo pulled harder. " I don't want to see this."

Romola hissed. "You just want to run away again. Besides, the door is locked."

"We'll find another way. I swear I'll come back."

"No." Romola forced her elbow free from Sunbo's hold. "Let's help Maami."

Sunbo cried. "Help her how? He's going to beat her again and if I try to stop him, he'll beat me too."

"I don't know." Romola sighed. "But maybe we can—"

"See." Sunbo rolled up the sleeves of her shirt and twisted her arm so Romola had a better glimpse of a red spot under her forearm. "The last time they fought. He bit me. I know what I'm saying. This man is mad."

"Maybe we can—" Talk to Maami to give us the key.

That was what she wanted to say but the rest of her words were drowned by the sound of a woman's shriek. Their mother bolted from the kitchen with their father in two. His right hand raised above his head with the silhouette of a thin broad thing attached to his hand. In the barely better light of the living room, the machete took shape.

Romola remained rooted, unable to move even as her mother stood, back to door. She travelled to a different time, in the same situation, with just her and Sunbo in the living room and that blade. She would've remained stuck there, had her stepfather's words not pulled her to the present.

"Arike, if you don't open this door, I will kill you."

"You cannot do anything."

"Let him go, Maami." The authority in Romola's voice forced back the fear she felt. Or maybe it was the illusion of authority. For in this situation, she had no control or influence. All she could do was try to reason with each party. "Daddy—"

The man pointed the machete at her neck. The air from her breath moistened the blade that smelt like soil and a mixture of rancid blood. "I am not your father."

Her mother said. "At least, he was a better man than you."

Her stepfather closed his eyes. "I am going to count to 10. If you don't open that door, 1."

Her mother tapped her lips several times while saying. "Wooo wooo."

"2"

"Goat."

"3"

"Romola's father was a better man than you—"

"4."

"—and I would sleep with him over and over again than marry you."

The urgency in her step father's voice prompted her to think. How could she get the machete from him? She crept towards him and just merely standing beside him, the heat and sweat caused her breath to come in sharp short breaths but she couldn't fail.

"5"

"Oloriburuku." Her mother hissed. "You are not going anywhere."

"Maami, please stop. Please." Sunbo yelled.

The next number from her step father did not come. Romola's left hand grabbed the top of the machete. Her right hand tried to pry it from him. His eyes flew open and found hers. Her next breath stuck in her throat as he ripped the machete from her hold. He crooked his elbow then slammed it straight into her face. She fell backwards as her hands flew to cradle her mouth.

Her step father scrapped the machete edge on the cold concrete floor, close to her feet. The pain in her nose, shot up to her head and remained there, pulsing and growing as he moved closer and closer. The lower part of her skull vibrated and the taste of iron filled her mouth as blood poured into her tongue.

"Because I did not kill you the first time, abi?"

"Ah Joshua, if you touch that girl, I swear it's me that will kee you."

The determined look on her mother's face did little to calm her. If she could force her feelings out of her trembling lips, she would. She shook her head, hoping the woman would get the message.

Her stepfather turned to her mother, pointing the machete at her. "You brought your daughter to gang up against me?"

"Ehen, so what?"

"Maami, just let him go." Sunbo said.

"Let who go? Where? Why? If he wants to leave, he must pay me. All the money he is owing me. If he can't pay me, he can't leave."

The man groaned. "How am I supposed to get money, when I can't leave the house?"

"The way you usually get your money. You think I don't know. Call her here. Text her. You think I will just let you go to her like that."

"Arike, 6."

"Sixteen."

Romola closed her eyes while the ringing in her head continued. She tried to keep her moans lows even though, her jaw and her teeth burnt with pain.

"7."

"8."

"Arike, you're playing with fire."

"And you are playing with thunder. I've said it. You can't do anything to me. Today, I have your time."

"Ehen?"

That tone. Romola sat up. She'd heard that tone a couple of times when she still lived under this roof. Her heart beat faster and faster. That tone. He used it when he had found an underhanded way to get what he wanted.

"So, you won't give me the key?"

"I won't."

"And you won't open the door?"

"I won't let you go and disgrace us. Are you not ashamed? Following a woman for money."

Romola's eyes opened at her step father's hideous smile.

"At least, the woman has money. What do you have?"

"Everything you own."

The man charged forward, stomping his right foot in front. Her mother winched and jumped out of the way. He laughed as he grabbed her by the waist. She struggled and screamed while he tried to retrieve the key. Romola remained sitting, still stunned from the punch. Now she knew how Sekemi felt. She was pleased that she had hurt Sekemi but that pleasure held nothing now. It felt like diamonds in a cup to a stranger in a desert.

He got the key and walked to the door to shove it into the key hole.

Her mother began to wail and she walked to him, slapping him against the head with her arms. "I hate you. I hate you."

He turned the key in the lock and opened the door with one hand. He shoved her mother off with the other. The woman returned, while her own hands fell from her lips, stained with blood. She spat the blood out of her mouth and winced at the pain of swelling lips and a bloating mouth. She rose. She had to stop her mother. It was best to let him go and never let him return.

"Maami." She croaked.

Her mother returned to her stepfather and dragged his back pocket. She stuck her hand in his pocket and retrieved his phone- Romola's old smartphone. The same one he'd stolen when he kicked her out of the house.

Her mother ran to the displaced chair while she tapped the phone's screen seriously. "I'll call that woman. I'll let her know that you have a family and children and—"

Sunbo stood by her mother's side, dancing from one foot to the other as she looked from one parent to the other, before settling on her mother. She grabbed her mother's shoulder but the older woman shook it off.

She placed both hands on each side of her mother's shoulder. "Maani, please, give him his phone."

"Arike." Her step father's voice thundered in such a way that the old gossips beyond the clearing could pick up each timbre and note. He reached down and grabbed the machete from the floor.

Romola's eyes widened. She couldn't pry the matchete from his hands. She had tried that, But she could push him away. At least a little bit. To give her mother time to run. She hastened to his side, just as the machete began to swoop down the air. She powered her push with the same anger she'd used for Sekemi, plus the fear for her mother's safety.

His body shifted, twisted, and the angle of the machete changed.

So did the target. Romola saw the trajectory too late. The machete landed on the curve of Sunbo's shoulder, at the bottom of her neck, with a sharp slice.

"Sunbomi?" Their father spoke first.

Their mother screeched.

Romola remained rooted to the ground; her hands still up from the push. Even as her sister fell at her feet. Even as the machete clattered to the floor. Even as the phone fell out of their mother's hand and landed on the concrete floor and shattered to a million pieces in the pool of blood that had formed around Sunbo's head.

The pool grew as their shrieking mother flung herself to the floor, lifting Sunbo's head and cradling it her arms. Sunbo's eyes fixated on hers, filled with fear, and Romola struggled to find the words to apologize. Sunbo raised a hand, the one attached to the bleeding shoulder towards her. Her sister's hand shook before falling to the ground as the light faded from Sunbo's eyes.

"Sunbo. Sunbomi. Sunbo!" Their mother screamed.

But it was useless now. Life faded from Sunbo's eyes as their father ran out of the house.