"911, What's your emergency?" Said the female 911 dispatcher, "I just murdered someone" I said shakily, "what is your name sir?" I hesitated for a while then replied "Bernard Akpan", "What's your location?", "17 Markson Ikenna street", I responded. I was still on the phone with her when the officers arrived and after asking a few questions, I was taken away.
Honestly, I don't regret being here right now, I only regret not doing it earlier. I am Bernard Akpan, I'm a 14 year old from Cross River State, I have caramel coloured skin and I am about 5,2fts tall. Growing up as my parent's only child, I got so much love and attention from both of them, my father, Chief Uwem Akpan was a politician/ oil tycoon, he was 34 years old, about 6'2 feets tall and had chocolate dark skin with a bald haircut, he had a clientele of the most influential people in the world, and even though his job demanded a lot of time and business trips, he made sure it didn't affect his relationship with his family. My mother, Mrs Sara Akpan
owned one of the biggest fabric stores in the state and had branches in markets and smaller retail shops scattered around the city. She was 29 years old, light skinned and had very beautiful facial features, she was about 5'9fts tall and had a beautiful figure 8, she was barely home due to her business, but she spent time at home on the weekends.
My dad and I were really close, we spent a lot of time together and bonded over time, we were inseparable. When I turned 14, he started sexually abusing me and this is where the story begins. "Ben" called out my dad, "I'm coming", I dropped my game pads and went upstairs into his room, my dad wasn't really a fan of bright colors, his room was painted khaki green which was complemented with peach drapes and a bunch of black furniture, weird combo, I know.
I walked into his room as he beckoned on me to come in. He was unwrapping a little box while I dashed in. "sit down" he said, "what is that?", "I got this for you, open it". I hurriedly got the box from him and ripped it apart eagerly, it was a ps5 console!!, I jumped up in excitement, "dad! This is huge!" I said, giving him a hug, "thank you so much", "it's okay, it's a little something for keeping up the good grades", "thank you so much!" I said hugging my gift, "I would like you to do something for me in return, and I wouldn't want you to tell mommy about it, this is just between us, '' he said smiling, "okay, I promise I won't", "good boy, go into the bathroom, go take a bath", "okay!", I responded as I jumped up excitedly and ran into the bathroom.
That was the first time he assaulted me! The pain was excruciating! I bled for a few days and had to skip school, my mom had no idea what was going on because she went to her shop every morning and came back home at night, my dad and our family doctor handled it whenever issues came up, this new turn in my life completely changed me, my performance academically deteriorated while I withdrew from people completely. My teachers began complaining to my parents and one day, my class teacher, Miss Ophelia decided to pay us a visit. The doorbell rang and our domestic aid answered, it was a Sunday evening, Miss Ophelia had
called my mom earlier to schedule a meeting. "Good evening ma, the domestic greeted, "Good evening, I'm here to see Mrs Sara Akpan", "come in, please sit while I call her", and a few minutes later, my mom came down to the sitting room.
"Good evening ma" Miss Ophelia said, standing up, "good evening my dear, sit down please", "thank you ma", Miss Ophelia said taking her seat. "How is Ben?", She asked. My mom looked around and answered, "he's fine, he's probably in his room or with his dad", but he's doing better now."
That is nice, I came by today because I want to discuss his academic performance with you, his grades are becoming too poor and if he continues this way, he might not pass his B.E.C.E. The examination is just around the corner, he is one of our brightest students and this sudden behavior is strange. All his subject teachers are complaining, so with the principal's permission, I decided to pay you a visit. Is there anything going on at home that may have contributed to this?", "No, nothing, I think he is just being a teenager, you know how it is, once they get to that age they tend to misbehave a little, but I can assure you it's nothing serious, he will come around, we just need to give him time to figure it out, I promise you he'll be back to his old self in no time" my mom concluded with a smile.
My class teacher thanked her and left. After Miss Ophelia left, my mom sat there for a while, then came upstairs to my room. I was
playing video games when she came in, "is this what you spend all your time on?" she yelled, "Your teacher just left, she complained about how bad your grades have become and you're here playing video games? Hand them over, now!", I handed the game pad over to her, "what is going on with you? Are you the first fourteen year old?", I just sat there mute and I could tell from the look on her face that she wanted me to say something, so I said, "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?, I need you to assure me you are going to stop this, start reading! Your B.E.C.E. is just a few weeks from today, do you want to fail? Answer me!", "No mom", "good". She threw the game
pad on my bed and walked out. My parents didn't have a rosey marriage, it was beautiful and all lovey-dovey when I was younger but things got worse. My dad was constantly cheating on her, hitting her at the slightest mistake and verbally abusing her. I wish she also knew that he was constantly sexually abusing her son too. Today, my dad brought back one of his mistresses, she was to stay for a week. My mom was so heartbroken, I could hear her wailing and praying in her room, I hated my dad so much for what he put her through, I dropped my game pad, walked into her room and patted her on the back. She raised up her head and quickly wiped off her tears when she saw me.
"It's OK mom, everything will be fine", she smiled and hugged me. "Sara! My dad yelled from the living room, my mom hurried into the bathroom, washed her face, dabbed it with a dry towel and ran
downstairs to the living room, I walked behind her and sat on the stairs to watch. My dad introduced his mistress as Susan, Susan was a 23 year old who studied Economics at the university and was in her third year. She was a fair skinned slim girl who was about 5'7 feets tall, she appeared with a transparent white crop top which revealed the black bra she had underneath and a skimpy black leather skirt which she complemented with a black pair of pumps , on her head was an expensive straight wig and on her face was this hot makeup on, you could tell she was one of the 'big girls' in campus.
My dad requested that my mom to be nice to her as she was his guest and was going to stay for a week, he also added that if my mom was not okay with Susan's stay, she was free to leave, my mom nodded, welcomed Susan and came back upstairs, I could see the tears building up in her eyes, she looked at me and smiled, I stood up and walked her back into her room.
Even while Susan was here, my dad still did not let me be, he kept having his way with me and once told me that if my mom ever knew, he would strangle her to death. Susan on the other hand didn't think she had done enough damage, she went ahead to treat my mom like a maid, made my mom do everything for her and would yell at my mom if she didn't do it on time or properly, sometimes my dad was present and would not say anything. That whole week was alot for my mom, thank God she had an office to go out to and return later.
Soon, Susan went back to her hostel. My B.E.C.E. exam week finally came. I studied really hard for the exam because I didn't want to disappoint my mom. This was the only thing I could do to make her happy. I didn't want to add to the pain she was already going through. She came into my room on Friday evening while I was on my bed reading my Agricultural science text book, "see how handsome you look when you're reading", she said teasingly, I looked up and smiled, "if you continue like this then we won't have
problems, you and I will be best of friends, let me help you read better, what should I prepare for you?"
"Beans and plantain!!" I said grinning, "alright, beans and plantain coming right up, if I come and you're not reading, no more beans and plantain for you tho" she said walking out of my room, "I smiled and continued reading. I had about two subjects to write on Monday so I had to read and understand them perfectly, after reading, I put away the books and decided to go play video games for a short time before eating. Soon, the domestic aid came to call me, "Ben, mummy is calling you, food is ready", I dropped my game pad and ran past her to the kitchen. Mmmmmm the yummy aroma of beans and plantain, while eating, I went through what I had read with my Mom and She was really impressed.
On Monday, I wrote my exams and it went really well. I equally nailed it in other subjects and was patiently awaiting the results. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and everyone was at home. Our domestic help had gone home for a short vacation so my mom and I were in the kitchen making lunch while my dad was in the living room watching the news. We were gisting and going through past events when my dad stormed in, "how long is this going to take?" he yelled, "don't worry honey, it will be ready soon", "why can't you ever do anything properly" my dad said knocking over the tray of leaves that was on the work tub, I hurriedly bent over to pick them.
He charged towards my mom and pushed the pot of soup from the fire down, causing the contents to spill over. He rained abuses at my mom and hit her severally with the mop stick he picked from the corner of the kitchen. I had had enough!, I had seen enough! I ran towards him, jumped on his back and kept screaming, "leave my mom alone!, leave my mom alone!" he threw me down and continued hitting my mom with the stick, after several void attempts to stop him, I began crying and yelling for help, my mom was wailing and begging, it all fell on deaf ears as he beats her mercilessly, I finally managed to snatch the mop stick from his hand when he lowered it and he picked up our industrial juicer which was just beside him and hit my mom really hard on the head, she fell to the ground lifeless.
At that point so many thoughts raced through my head, I was so infuriated, I picked up the kitchen knife that was on the table and stabbed him countless times from behind, he turned around and tried to push me away but I fought back and gave him more stabs on his chest, tried to hit me but it was already too late, I had caused a lot of damage, He fell face flat on the floor. I ran into my mom's room and dialed 911...
This is entirely a work of fiction, hope you enjoyed it
