A nurse walks into the reception to attend to them. She leads them to an inner office to meet with a doctor. The doctor is one of those facilitators they had met in the outreach. She recognised Chioma and is saddened when she found out the horror she had encountered.

“In 2013, the Lagos state government recorded 678 rape cases and the bad news is that statistics is inconclusive because more cases is never reported to protect the integrity and identity of the victims. Unfortunately, the Nigeria’s constitution is biased against women; it portrays a rape case as a misdemeanour”. She said

Do you know what a misdemeanour is? The doctor asked

Chioma and Kunle nodded “No”

“Well, a misdemeanour is a minor act. It is considered a less serious offence and Section 353 of the Criminal Code Act states that any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults any male person is guilty of a felony. The person is liable to prison for 3years, but Section 360 of the same Act regards indecent assault to women as a lesser offense and attracts a sentence of 2years imprisonment if found guilty. The worse is that the corporal punishment of a married woman by her husband to correct her is legally justified under section 55 (10) of the Penal Code”. She continued

She leans forward and smiles.

“I am not a lawyer, but I have educated myself on these things because they matter; just as knowing who the richest man in Africa is, this information is equally important. I can go on and on concerning the law and its defects, but it changes nothing until brave people like us stand up and speak up with the support of courageous men like this young gentleman with you. We can fight this.” She says

“Have you heard about the 51-clause bill?” The doctor asks

Chioma and Kunle nodded “No”

“Well, a section of the bill alludes: Any man convicted of rape is liable to life imprisonment. Persons convicted of gang-raping any victim shall be liable, jointly and severally to a minimum of 20years imprisonment without fine; where the offender is less than 14 years, he shall be liable to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment and a minimum of 12 years, without fine. Any person who compels another by force or threat to engage in any conduct or act of sexual or otherwise to the detriment of the victim’s physical or psychological well-being commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding N500,000 or both.” She continues

“The fight is a gradual process, but achievable. The state government just recently launched the 112 emergency number for the abused. Do you know about it?” The doctor asks

Chioma and Kunle nodded “No”

The doctor sighs.
“Hope you know that you are a brave girl Chioma and Kunle you are a perfect gentleman? The doctor asks

Chioma and Kunle nodded "Yes"

The doctor giggles

"I promise you will get the help you deserve.” The doctor said with a smile

“Thank you ma” Chioma replied. Kunle just smiled back

Chioma sitting down in front of the doctor had felt like 6hours of literature torture, but the clock on the wall beside the Doctor’s portrait said they had been in the office for just 30minutes.
Chioma was eager to leave. The lecture was informative but not when you are violated. What does this Doctor expect her to do with all that statistics now if not add herself to the numbers, what use is the information now?

The doctor leans backward, scribbles something on a card, picks up her phone and places a call. Afterwards, she looks straight into Chioma’s eyes and says. “I have just spoken to my driver and he will take you to Ikeja. He will drive you to the Mirable Center.

They offer holistic and quality services and support to survivors of sexual assault in a compassionate and caring manner, where each individual’s specific needs, and their rights to make choices on how to address those needs, are respected and met. It is managed by the Partnership for justice so if you want to report this case, you can. Here, take my complimentary card. It has the name and number of a colleague who will attend to you.” The doctor said

Chioma and Kunle both got up, and the doctor escorts them to her car. The driver had started the engine already and was waiting for them. They said their goodbyes with Chioma promising to give the Doctor feedback when she leaves the center.

CHAPTER 6

As they wait in the reception, Chioma looked scared and Kunle didn’t know how else to comfort her. Chioma has always been the strong one. In the 3years he had known her, he has never seen her this way, and it made him so sad this happened to her. He held on tight to her shaky hands and prayed out loud while Chioma said Amen. It is the least he could do.

Kunle first met Chioma in Sunday school when he was 15 years old but he looked 10. She was 12 years old but she looked and acted 15.

Girls grow faster than boys, he thought to himself when he found out her age.

The first impression he had of Chioma was bossy, rude and annoying. So he avoided her because she made fun of boys in the class and she never stayed till the end of any service.

One day, her mother drags her into their rehearsals and demands she joins the choir.

Kunle assumed the world ended. It was okay to be in Sunday school with her and sit in the same class and far away as possible but not choir practice.

The choir is his place of solace; he loved to sing and played several instruments. Those are his forte and now he will no longer know peace because Chioma’s mother thinks her daughter should join the choir and her friends had their daughters there. At least it was what her mother told the choir master.

He tried to stay focused on getting the notes of his instrument and not be distracted by Chioma but staying focused didn’t last too long. When Chioma’s mother left, the choir leader gave Chioma a verse to sing to place her voice and avoid misclassification in soprano, Mezzo-soprano or contralto.

Contralto is the lowest female voice between F3 to F5, it wasn’t Chioma’s voice. The Mezzo-soprano is the middle range voice, it lies between A3 to A5, between soprano and contralto but it wasn’t Chioma’s voice either. Chioma opened her mouth and everyone is marvelled at the voice, including Kunle. Hers is not just soprano but soprano tessitura.

She is gifted; no doubting it so Kunle became inquisitive and wondered why such a troublesome girl be so much gifted? He was so eager to find out if her knowledge of her talent was the reason for her behaviour.

The next rehearsals, he went up to her and said hi. She didn’t respond. He looked stupid but let go.

One day, they are grouped together by their Sunday school teacher for a Bible quiz. Kunle concluded his group had lost before the contest started because Chioma was in his group.
With four participants in each group, Kunle can vouch for two out of the four in his group; himself and Kola. Kola is a guru with the word and He; well, he is a master of the Bible but Chioma and her friend had never been attentive in class, especially Chioma. Too bad, answers to the questions need to be correct to win.
As the quiz came to end, an amazing thing happened. Chioma got her questions right, but he was right about her friend. No answer correct. She could not even recite John 3:16. It was terrible.

Kunle’s pessimism became a reality, and they didn’t win the contest but Kunle didn’t care. He is amazed at Chioma’s intelligence.

After the Sunday school that day, Kunle is surprised to see Chioma. She stayed till the end. He sees her walking towards him and his heart stops beating. She came over to shake him for a job well done and apologised for her past behaviour of not responding when he said hi.

Kunle told her she had rights to be rude to him because he didn’t like her at first either. They laughed, Kunle breathed again and Chioma requested they walk to the junction where they both take separate buses home. Kunle’s heart doubles its beat and his mouth says yes to the request.

Kunle and Chioma walked to the junction and spoke about everything. It felt as if they had known each other forever because they had so much in common. Since that day, they have been best friends and Chioma always stayed till the end of every service. Kunle was a great influence on her. He found out she wasn't rude, bossy or annoying. She was just Chioma and Chioma is bold, courageous and intelligent.

CHAPTER 5

Chioma usually uses warm water for her bath daily. She mixes the hot and cold water together, dipping her hand into the mixture until it is lukewarm but today the water was hot. It was very hot.

The steam from the hot water is now on the glass Bathroom door. As a proper African, she has a bucket filled with hot water and a bowl to help pour the water on her body. Wearing a shower cap on her head and a lathered sponge in hand, Chioma is ready to scrub her body after more than 24hours since the last ordeal.

She let her mind wander into that day’s activities as she poured the first bowl with water on her body. The girl did not feel it burn.

************************************************************************************************************

The clinic’s location is on the Island according to the pamphlet, so Kunle asked his mother for directions to find out what route was best for them from Ikorodu. His mother advised them to take Ikorodu Road after series of questioning. Chioma answered most of the questions instead because she knew Kunle won’t lie to his mother.
She said they were going to her family doctor because she was experiencing severe menstrual pain. She finished off by saying she called the doctor and he advised her to come over to his clinic to administer pain-killing injections.

Chioma told Kunle’s mum that she has never been to the clinic. She told his mother that she has no idea of where the clinic is located and she doesn’t want to go alone because the pain was just too much. Her kind-hearted son- Kunle- offered to be her chaperone. His mother believed every word. Kunle looked at Chioma in complete awe. He thought to himself that she will need to renew her life to Christ; he will make sure it happens to redeem her from her sins because Chioma’s sins were piling.

Minutes later, he leads Chioma to the BRT terminal and bought two tickets to CMS. Afterwards, Kunle joins Chioma on a queue and not long after, they are sitting side by side in a bus headed for the Island. They spend the journey quietly.

Chioma had thoughts in her head enough to blow up a whole continent. Her greatest fear was getting pregnant because Jude had not used a condom. What will she do with the baby? She can’t mother a child now because she still had school. Besides, why will she want to have Jude’s baby? She will opt for abortions if she is pregnant but where will she have the abortion and who will pay for the whole procedure?

Chioma knew dragging Kunle into this was a very selfish move and asking him to pay for an abortion will be completely irresponsible of her. The facilitators had advised the victim to confide in a friend but they had said tell a stranger; a pastor, Iman or lawyer. Those people are restricted from judgements because of their faith and profession but she told Kunle instead and he remembered the part of telling a stranger. Thank God she convinced him he was the best person to tell.

Pastors or lawyers won’t follow you to a clinic and they were no guarantee that your secret won’t come out. She trusted Kunle with her life. Over the years, he had proven himself worthy. She nicknamed him “Mr Goody-Goody-two-shoes”. Honest, humble and always never in trouble. Kunle feared God so much that in his defence he always says he wasn’t good, he is just fearful of God’s wrath.

She always rolled her eyes in return and wondered why God’s wrath had not gotten to her because she was always in trouble and lied so easily.

Is God now punishing her? If God punished her with this, then He is so mean. Rape isn’t the justified punishment for her sins! Why will God let such an awful thing happen to her? She will never sing in church again or volunteer in an outreach. If she had her way and her mother minds her business, she will never step into a church again.

The bus stops at CMS and Kunle signals her they should alight at the stop. Chioma snaps back to reality.
In less than 30 minutes, they arrive at the clinic. With the pamphlet in hand, Kunle leads Chioma to the reception. Chioma takes a sit while Kunle talks to the receptionist.

A moment later, he walks towards Chioma and tells her they will have to wait a while. He sits beside Chioma and holds on tight to her shaky hands.

CHAPTER 4

With no more tears left, Chioma is exhausted from crying all night and continuing at day break. She pulls off the little black gown she had bought with most of her savings. What a waste of investment, she said to herself as she removes her underwear.

Folding them in a neat pile, she puts them in nylon and dumps the nylon into her school bag. She wears a jeans trouser and a chiffon top, takes out facial wipes from her makeup purse and cleans out her face. Afterwards, she combs her hair and packs it into a nice bun and avoids looking at the mirror. Walking from her room straight into the bathroom, Chioma finds her toothbrush and a paste, brushes her teeth, goes back into her room, grabs her school bag and walks out of the house. As she steps out of the house, she takes a long breath in and breathes out.
Kunle was in his room when his mother told him he had a visitor, practising on his guitar for the presentation in Church the next day. Then his mother told him the visitor was Chioma. I will be with her soon, he responded although he wanted to tell her to say he wasn’t in but thought otherwise.

“Hi”. The only words he said when he saw her in his living room
“I need to talk to you”. Chioma said
“Can you come back later; I am practising for my presentation and the notes are not perfect yet”. Kunle responded
“No, it can’t wait. I need to talk to you now!” Chioma replied
“Remember last year in Church that those health workers came as facilitators because of the medical outreach. They taught us so many things.”Chioma said

“Yes, I remember”. Kunle said confused and wondering where the conversation was going
“The class we both took on first aid and emergencies which included rape. Can you remember what the facilitator said the victim should do after the rape?” Chioma asked
“Do not shower?” Kunle responded
“After that” Chioma replied

“Chioma, what point are you trying to make?”. Kunle said frustrated
“Kunle, the next thing they asked a rape victim to do?” Chioma asked looking at him and wondering why he was acting funny.

“Don’t get rid of the evidence. Do not throw your clothes or underwear away no matter how much you want to get rid of it.” Kunle said
“After that Kunle, think!” Chioma shouted

“Tell a friend or family. Someone you can trust”. Kunle remembered and understood what was happening. He said nothing else. They both stood there staring at each other for a minute or longer until Chioma takes a sit. She avoids looking at him because the shame had engulfed her entire being.

Kunle stayed silent. He felt sad trying to recall the class again and how they had advised a rape victim should be handled. Then he remembered they said it was never the fault of the victim. “No matter what, yes the victims were naive, but no reason is justified for the abuser”. The facilitator had said

“You need to go to a hospital”. Kunle said to break the silence
“Yes I know, we will go after I finish talking”. Chioma replied
“Okay”. Kunle said taking a sit beside her. “Are you sure you want to talk to me? You should talk to a counsellor instead. I don’t know what advice to give Chioma.” Kunle muttered

“It’s awkward talking to you, but I trust you right now with this information. I will talk to a counsellor, but I am not ready to tell anyone else. Those facilitators said the victim should talk to someone to ease the pain and help you heal, someone you trust”. Chioma said

“They said it could be a stranger, someone who won’t judge you”. Kunle replied
“Okay, I admit you were right, you told me and warned me but I didn’t listen. Your mind is saying I told you so right? I shouldn’t have come here Kunle, my explanation might end up unlikely and it will hurt me more“. Chioma said standing

“No, don’t go. It is no longer a secret so, just tell me everything. I won’t judge you Chioma although I am upset. I can’t say if it’s because you didn’t listen or the fact you got hurt not listening. I am happy you came and I will never betray your trust. If you don’t want to tell me I won’t judge you. No matter what happened it was not your fault, the abuser was wrong”. Kunle responded

“Thanks, Kunle”. She said and sat next to him, this time looking at him without shame. She told him everything.

“I will never forget his face when he finished. It glowed with peace, I looked back with disgust and I hated him. He told me he was sorry and then drove me home. I got home and believed it was consensual. I might have wanted him or prompted him to rape me. So I picked up my phone and dialled his number. He didn’t answer. I didn’t stop dialling. With every turn of a dial, the realisation hit in deep I was raped and he couldn’t care less. By the 35th time, I stopped and threw my phone hard on the wall. Two hours later he called back but my damaged phone didn’t allow me to pick the call”. Chioma explained

“I want to kill him”. Kunle said
“I want to kill him too”. Chioma replied
Then, they smiled at each other and laughed at each one admitting the thought to commit murder. It was such a relief she was laughing again.

“Have you had a bath?” Kunle asked
“No”. Chioma replied

“Good, let’s go to the clinic. The one those health workers came from. I collected a pamphlet and kept it. It has their clinic’s location on it, we should be able to locate the place“. Kunle said standing up and heading for his room.

Ten minutes after, he shows up with a pamphlet in hand and shoes on his feet.

“What if they ask for money?” Chioma asks
“I have money in my wallet and I took the identification card they gave us last year as volunteers. It should count for something”. Kunle replied
“Yes, it should. l am now ready to go to the clinic ”. Chioma said.

CHAPTER 3

Memories of what happened played in his head as he headed home. Jude had parked in a quiet street and pleaded with Chioma to forgive him. He unstrapped his seat belt and moved closer to her; to kiss her or maybe not. He can’t remember. The next thing he remembers is being on top of her and her struggling with him.

Why was she struggling with him? The boy was too drunk to understand the reactions he was getting from Chioma, so he assumed she was just playing hard to get. While pulling her black gown up, she said “No” or was it “Yes”? His brain couldn’t remember either. All he remembered was that he had sex with her and enjoyed it so much. Afterwards, he looked into her eyes, with all the love in his heart but she looked back at him with disgust and hatred.

He didn’t mistake the look. It was a signature he gets from people he loves the most but never loves him back. It hurt him so much that it came from her. So he told her sorry, got off her, wore his pants, settled into the driver’s seat again and drove her home.
“What have I done?” and “Why did I do it?” Jude asked himself silly questions as he parked into the driveway of his father’s house. He hit the steering wheel so hard, so many times that his palm became red and sore.

The lights to the main house came on and he saw his father storm out of the main building. The built man walked towards him with his mother tottering at the back trying to calm her husband. Jude got out of the car.

“Where did you go?” Jude’s father confronted him.
“I went for my graduation party, I told mum before I left the house.” Jude responded
“What graduation party? You this ungrateful boy! You will never amount to anything in this life do you hear me?” Jude’s father said spitting the words right in front of his son’s face. His mother pushes her husband away.
“Enough!” “That is enough” Jude’s mother yells at her husband.

Jude walks past his parents and heads for his room, leaving his vibrating phone in the car. The expression on his father’s face was what he recognized on Chioma. His heart hardens as he walks into his room. She deserved everything she got that night “such a girl can never get his love”. His little brain thought to himself and coming to this conclusion made him feel so good. He jumped on his bed and fell asleep within minutes.

********************************************************************


Jude woke up the next day with a headache, he checked the time and it was almost noon. “What?” Was he that drunk last night? As fast as he could, he took a quick shower, got dressed and headed out of his house with his car keys in his hands.
He walks out of his house and heads straight for the driveway, thankful that he did not bump into his mother or father or the both of them. Over time, his mother is now nothing but a weakling to him. He opens the driver’s door, gets in and sights his phone showing a low battery. He takes the phone from its slot at the center of the car and checks all his messages.

“Haba! 35 missed calls?” “What does Chioma want?” he said to himself as he dialed the number back. It rang and rang until it stopped ringing. Jude dialed the number back again but this time it did not connect. So, he takes out his car charger, plugs his phone into it. He slots in a mix CD on his mp3 player, and skips songs until he gets to Rihana’s “FourFiveSeconds”. The young man increases the volume to the loudest as he drives out of his house; the part of the song that made him very relaxed is the part that said “All of my kindness was taken for weakness”.

CHAPTER 2

Jude was a senior and hung out with a group of boys that were hugely admired by the girls in her set. While she had transferred from her previous school to this new school because her parents were completely convinced by friends that students who graduated from this new school came out with better grades for their final year exams in SS3 and had better chances of getting into any higher institution of their choice. Plus, it was cheaper for her to start in SS2 - 3rdterm -as they avoided the extra charge the school enforces on pupils who just joins in SS3 for the sole purpose of getting the final year grades.

She was new and very pretty. Those two combinations were just the right characteristics Jude found attractive as she came across as naive.

She first met Jude at the cafeteria. He was the life of the party, tall and somewhat handsome. Everyone around him laughed at his jokes and girls were always trying to get his attention one way or the other.
He came up to her and asked her to join their table. She didn’t refuse. Within a week of starting the new school, she had blended in quite well and earned a reputation for herself which she liked very much.
Jude was in his finals and the preparation for his graduation was in top notch. Therefore, a week to his set's graduation party, he asked her out and invited her to be his date. She didn’t refuse either.

He was extremely nice to her; a gentleman. Helping her to blend in easily, introducing her to all the cool people in school which rubbed off on her because it made her automatically cool too.
He never bought her anything in particular but he always offered and she always turned his offers down. She didn’t want him to think she was completely using him or his money. She also didn’t want to lose him quickly because she was getting to really like him a lot.

She had told her childhood friend Kunle about Jude and the graduation party she was invited to. Kunle had told her it was too soon to be going out on late nights with someone she barely knows. She had said it was just one night and Kunle had responded that it didn’t matter. She walked away rudely from the conversation, called him jealous and told him she regretted telling him about it in the first place. Kunle had watched her leave without uttering another word.

The night of the graduation party finally came and she was dressed in a very beautiful black gown "the little black dress" not too short, not too long but the perfect knee length which was also very tempting but chic. She told her mother she was going for choir practice and would probably get home late. Her mother didn't object because she had personally signed her daughter to that unit in Church. Most of her friends had their daughters there she thought.

She met Jude at the junction to the venue of the party; he didn’t want to go to her house and made excuses of how inappropriate it would look. She didn’t want to annoy him and make him cancel their date so she agreed to meet him at the junction of the event and from there; they would pretend they had come together.

The party was fun, organized by his clique and attended by the poplars’ in their school. There was so much to drink and Jude was drinking it all. Suddenly, he became loud and obnoxious to her. He was rude and annoying. Offering her alcohol and touching her inappropriately while they danced.
She had had enough and announced that she was going home. Jude had told her not to worry, time shouldn’t ruin their fun. Besides he brought a car along so he would drop her off at home with ease. She had looked at him with disgust and stormed out of the party.

“I can’t believe you drove here. Why did you not pick me up from the junction of my house?” She asked as she walked away while he was in the car trying to get her to enter because she was causing a scene and he hates public embarrassments.

“Can we talk about this in the car?” He asked
“No, I am taking public transport home.” She replied
“Come on Chioma, that’s stupid and you know it.

“It's 11 pm and you don’t even know where the next bus-stop is located.” He said

She stopped walking and thought about what he had just said. For once that day, he was absolutely right. So she walked over to the passenger’s seat in front of the car and strapped herself tight remembering that he was drunk. She was more than ready to end the date.

Unfortunately, he didn’t intend to drive her home. Instead, he took her to a deserted street and raped her.

"TILL IT HAPPENS TO YOU"
-FICTION-
-Chapter 1-
The phone kept ringing at the other end for the 30th time. She knew she had blown off his phone’s battery but what did he expect her to do. He didn’t pick up on the 7th, 17th and 27th try? Why wasn’t he picking up his phone? She dialled the number again and again, one last time she said to herself in case.
A lump of saliva climbed up from her chest into her mouth; it was so bitter and heavy. She threw her phone against the wall so hard that the fragile android screen cracked before it landed on the floor. The girl screamed out loud before letting the tears roll on her cheeks why had he done this to her? Less than 24 hours they were together and, he was avoiding her.
She had so much pain inside; Chioma drilled her nails into her body piercing inside her skin. Her eye shadow now smudged and her hair no longer in place but she didn’t care, as long as it took the pain away.
‘Why?’ she called out
“Why me?” she yelled
Silence! The response she got back. Nobody else in the room but her; the young lady cried so much that she had thick mucus over her mouth as she spoke.
Chioma went over to lock herself in her room; turned on her CD player and increased the volume. The last thing she needed was for her mother or sibling to listen to her cry out loud or see her in this present state. The music played on while she swept in her room.
Her phone rang. The music was so loud she didn’t notice the ringing phone. The interlude between the playing track and the next track gave her phone the big break it needed just to be heard.
She crawled off her bed and reached for the phone on the floor. The caller ID read he was calling back, 2hours after her 35th call!!! The damaged phone’s screen wasn’t sliding or responding to her finger demands to answer the call.
“Aaaarggggh!” She shouted and slammed the phone again. This time, the phone’s screen came off the phone, the battery cover went off next and the battery.