I was a fresher in university and it was the first time I’d be living on my own. My mother had dropped me in school and helped me rent an apartment. It was a private owned block of studio apartments specifically open for rent to only students… On the day I moved in, most of the students watched, as I carried my carpet, fan and utensils up the stairs, the room assigned to me was on the last floor of a three storey building. It was a very long walk; going up and down the steep stairs. No sooner than four hours later before I could agree that I was now ready to move in.
I enjoyed my first few weeks in school, the students who stared like vultures weren’t actually vultures and everyone related with each other with respect and civility… they would hold this little music night in the parking lot of the hostel, those who could sing , sang. Those who could dance would dance. It was always fun and I use to come out to every single one like clockwork. It was my first time being with that much people and I didn’t want to miss my supposed “free life” .
I remember the first day; peter my neighbour invited me to a nightclub. I had gone to the tap downstairs to get some water since the one in my room wasn’t running. Students were everywhere as usual, a couple gambling to the side, some had to come to get water too and a small crowd was queuing in front of the tap. “she fine na, make we invite am” – I could hear peter telling mezie. “oya you go ask am” – mezie replied…. I didn’t turn around , because it wasn’t my business. A slight tap on my shoulder made me turn around, it was peter. “Ada, how far na… we dey go club today, we be 5 boys and 6 girls , I don’t know if you will like to join”- he said to me, fluently switching from the Nigerian pidgin English to proper British English. “haa, peter… I don’t like night movement o, I don’t want them to collect my phone” – I responded, my hands flailing the air in protest. “haba Ada, with five bodyguards, if thief see us sef, they go run, just ready by 10, we go come carry you for your room.” – he said.
I got my water and went straight to my room, I had never been to a nightclub before, my thought and process of how people dressed to the nightclub was from nollywood movies I had seen. Prior to this, I had believed that it was only whores and prostitutes that went to nightclubs. I searched my clothes, all I had was bootlegged jeans and palazzo trousers as it was popularly called back then. I searched some more and found a alter neck top, it was more or less a beachwear than it was a party wear… it was light brown and had silver studs, it had a rope that went the neck and an even bigger rope at the sides that you’d tie at your back to get it to stay. The drop neckline gave it some type of class , even though, looking back now, it was a trash wear, I found a foulard skirt with zigzag edges, I didn’t enjoy it wearing it because it goes up, even when there was no wind, every step I took while wearing the skirt made it seem like I was dancing. The flayed edges gave it a bounce that made me look like a salsa dancer.
I tried it on, shook my ass in front of the mirror, as usual, it made me seem like an exotic dancer, the skirt shook more than my ass did…. PERRRFECT!! I thought to myself. I wore my bralet top and tied the ropes into a bow behind me, look at the mirror again… yeaaa, this is perfect, now I look like those actresses I used to see in nollywood movies.
I brought out my only high heeled shoe, it was black and had a ceramic base, most off you would remember this shoe, it was very popular back then. The base had worn off and was pretty much pure white. I decided to go and buy a black nail polish so I could cover it up. I still had time, I needed to cook first before.
Time was 8:31pm, I had made fish stew and earlier on when I went out to buy the nail polish, I had had asked peter what time the club would close, he told me by 4am , we should be headed back. So I decided to cook some rice, so once I was back , I could shower, eat and sleep in that order.
While my rice cooked, I practiced my dancing steps.
I had been to regular bars where one Igbo guy serving his master would buy me cat fish peppersoup or isi-ewu… this was by far my most daring fun conquest yet. I danced for a while, my body and mind excited as to what’s to come. I didn’t know to expect.
Rice was cooked; I kept it aside and turned off my kerosene stove. I was too excited to eat any food but I was glad it was readily available once I was get back home…. 9:30…. I had showered, applied the olive oil my mum had given to me for prayers, it was to serve a dual purpose: protection and glow…. yaaass bih, I wasn’t about to look ashy and get kicked out of the club, peter had told me to wear heels and dress hot or they won’t let me in. So I was not about to take any chances.
I applied the oil luxuriously all over my legs and body, it seemed like I was about to do a video shoot. I grabbed my black makeup pencil and drew my brows to the trending view of perfection back then, if I wasn’t anonymous, I would have posted a picture of that day. I looked peng… but right now as I stare at this picture to garner the inspiration to write this story, I have to agree that I looked ridiculous. Who uses black pencil as a lip liner and then apply lip gloss that has glitters on top of it. I applied some compact brown powder, then no-one knew anything about foundation or concealers or any of the current makeup products we have now.
10:03pm…. I was fully dressed, hair let down, makeup caked on my face. I took my smaller phone with me and kept the one my dad had just recently sent to me. I was not mentally prepared for the beat down if I lost it, so better safe than sorry.
10:14pm…. peter was at my door “Ada lets go oo” – he had said through the door. I came out, holding just my phone and three thousand naira in cash just incase I got separated from my group. When we got downstairs, there was about eighteen people including peter and I, I was getting more excited. Someone got his camera and took pictures of us; I took a personal one separately, since everyone complimented my dress and how hot I looked.
We left the hostel and walked through the streets leading to the main road so we could get “okada” (pidgin slang for commercial motorcycles), laughing hysterically at every joke, the air was cool, we felt safe in our numbers … life couldn’t be better.
After about 35 minutes, we had gotten nine okadas, and we were paired on each one. I sat with a peter as the okada driver took us to the club.
11:10pm…. I had never seen this much people outside at night except at the vigil I attended with my mum at a local church in Lagos. It felt like a different universe altogether; so while I slept all those nights, there were people out at this “ungodly” hour having fun. My eyes widened, my body eager to experience whatever it was they were experiencing. We moved to the entrance “it’s one thousand naira per person, buy your ticket that way” – he said in a very hoarse voice and pointed at some lady wearing a suit. He looked scary, big and tall and I avoided his gaze so as not to piss him off. I thought he owned the club… lol. I stood to the corner as the guys sorted out the ticket, they were gentlemanly enough to pay for all the girls. After the payment was done; we went back to that bouncer again, and he counted each of us, checking our feet to make sure we wore heels.
I was in….
The moment the doors were opened, the cold air and loud music blaring from the speakers hit us, the club was packed full. I was super excited. I don’t think my colleagues knew that was my first time ever in a club, trust people to always misread a pretty face. We found a space in the corner to sit, it couldn’t contain all of us, some of the girls start dancing, the guys bring back some beers and gave to us and we started dancing… some wandered off to mingle with other people in the club but I sat down, thrilled, amazed at all that was going on. Soon I was getting tipsy, the club had an elevated platform where people could climb to dance and everyone would see you. “black and beautiful, pink and fruitful, G-string wid chains ta pull, show off cute girl….. gal you have the pretty pussy , hand inna the air, one man a get ya pretty pussy, gal swear. Never pop down a bare dare ton you a wear, yes a pretty pussy a run things this year……”- Lady saw’s – pretty pussy comes on… the crowd goes wild, screams filled the air, girls start whining, I get up to dance , my waist rolling, the skirt adding an extra flair to it, soon everyone was looking at me… DJ stops the music, asks if we were feeling good… a thunderous “YESSSSSSSS” filled the room, starts the music again…. that beat like a constant tap on a base drum comes on… the crowd goes wild, everyone is cheering, some of my hostel neighbours come to drag on top the stage, some of the girls dancing leave, I wasn’t bothered and frankly I was not here to pet anyone’s ego. All my friends were cheering.. I danced, hype-man asks for my name and now everyone was screaming my name, I was high, I love music, I love the sway it held over me… I loved that I couldn’t stop dancing, that I wouldn’t stop.
Music changes, I didn’t stop moving, it had been three hours but it felt like one. I was happy I wore this skirt, it added an extra pizzazz to every move my body made. There were new people on the dance floor now, we were all having fun and I was the queen of the night… I was elated, the sheer excitement of been here, the lights, the booze, the theatrical fog.
stared at the lights, my hands above my head, my waist moving side to side as the music changes.
There he was, standing behind me with his friend, they were staring at me, he walked up to me, held my waist and was dancing with me. I turned around quickly to catch a glimpse of who this was, his cold hands and the smell of his perfume turned me on. “Who are you” – I said, my voice trying to match the music so he can hear me.
He raised his hands up, signalling that he came in peace. “I like the way you dance, I just want to dance with you” – he said, his tall frame swaying gently, he was dark, tall and quite handsome. His eyes were the total turn on for me. He had spectacular brown cat eyes, even in the night; it was a struggle to look at him directly in the eyes.
I let my guard down and we danced for a while, his friend had moved away. He asked me what I wanted to drink and I told him “Gordon’s spark”, he left me and went to get one for me. He was back after a couple of minutes with a bottle of Gordon’s spark and a bottle of water. I didn’t realise how thirsty I was until I saw the bottled water. “Let’s sit outside for a while” – he said and I obliged… We went outside and we sat at the open bar of the club, it was quieter. We sipped on our drinks, unsure how to proceed.
my name is Nicholas, but everyone calls me Nick” – he said “I’m Ada” – I replied, looking away from his eyes . “Good god, you can dance, where did you learn to dance like that”- he asked , his eyes searching my face. “I don’t know… “– I responded… laughing … “So tell me about you, are you a student”- he asked, placing both hands on his chin, he seemed smitten by me. “yes I am a student, I’m reading Business Administration /management but my parents live in lagos” – I told him, I was so interested in impressing the god of a man with the cutest eyes I had ever seen. I was young, naive and I had named our 5th grandchild just by sitting across him. I had found my husband, the end.
Nick told me, he was based in Port-Harcourt and had only come to the state I was in for a friend’s wedding and decided to hang out a while before returning to where he’s based. I listened to him talk with rapt attention, his every word imprinted directly into my brain. He requested my number and I gave I to him, he dialled for confirmation sakes … “rock with me, walk with me, talk to me …come fill me in… yeaa yeaa” – my phone blared, god why didn’t I bring the Motorola pebble, I thought to myself. I saved his number quickly before I lost it.
We kept making small talk, he was the only child of his parents, he schooled abroad and was currently running his family business in Port-Harcourt. “Ada lets go, we’ve been looking for you” – my neighbour peter said. I bade my “new” husband goodbye as I joined my friends home.
At home, I couldn’t stop believing my luck, my first day out to a club and I already met a very handsome man, that has a job and a car… for me at that time, this is what I had been told was important.
Nick called very early the next morning, I woke up at about 10am and I saw that I had missed two calls from him. I immediately called him… “Hello fine girl”- he said, his voice a whirr. “hello” – I said back
There was a brief minute of silence before he told me he was going back to Port-Harcourt today and would want to invite me so i could visit where he lived. I was excited, I hadn’t travelled before now except for school and home and I was pumped to see him. We spoke for a while, he was funny, I was credulous.
Over the next couple of weeks, we talked over the phone a lot, Nicholas was supposed to be married, he had been with a girl for over 6 years and after their engagement, they found out that her genotype was AS, same as he was. It was devastating for both of them. Nicholas parents forbade the wedding, considering he was their only child. She was a Banker and he told me that he still communicates with her but only because it was hard for her to move on. He went on to tell me how his parents were pressuring him to get married quickly and he feels I would make a good wife, I was like a babe in the woods.
A couple of days before my trip to Port-Harcourt, Nicholas sent me some money to pay my fare for the trip. On the day of the trip, he called to ask where we had gotten to, almost every hour.
When I got to Port-Harcourt, he came to get me in his “car” and we drove to his house. I wasn’t a virgin so we made love like we were old time lovers… (I would write the details but I’d rather not). He had a huge dick and it hurt as he fucked me.
That evening, Nicholas said we should go to a local pub around his house. While i changed into a mini gown, he went to the main building to see his parents. The main house was a 2 storey building and the parents lived on the last floor, they had tenants on the remaining floors. There was also a small bungalow close to the main building that housed another tenant… Nicholas’s house was a small bungalow, it was on the far right of the house, just a few feet away from the other bungalow… It was a big piece of land and the parking space could contain 3 other houses.
I applied my makeup hurriedly and waited for him.
when he came back, he walked in with a friend. “Eno, meet my girl” “Ada this is my friend eno”
We shook hands, nick invited Eno to join us to the pub and we left his house together.
When we got to the bar, we ordered for drinks and food. The drinks and my food came first; while I ate, I noticed nick had finished the first bottle of beer they brought… “Ohh that was quick”- I thought to myself… I had never seen him drink, the day we met, he was drinking water.
He ordered another bottle, Eno looked at me, i paid no attention. The food arrived and Eno was eating too, Nicholas also started eating… Soon he was done with his food, i felt it was probably because of the weed he smoked before my arrival, that was why he was so hungry. He ordered for a pack of cigarettes, my eyes widened in surprise… He was not looking like the gentleman I met a month and a half ago. “Do you smoke” – He asked me
I shook my head “No”
A prostitute walks to our table, she’s holding a white bottle with a yellow sticker, it was gin. She asked Nicholas for the lighter, took it from the table, lit her cigarette and walked away, her big ass dragging behind her… Nicholas almost fell off the chair staring at her ass and then turned to his friend and they both laughed.
I joined the laughter, too naive to protest such blatant disrespect. I didn’t want to upset my “new husband”. As the night rolled away, I started to feel pressed, so I excuse myself to go use the ladies. When I came back, Nicholas was gone. “Eno where is nick” – I asked “he’s coming, he went to buy somethings”- he replied
I sat down, sipping on my drink, wondering why he would leave without telling me. After an hour; I called, no response. Two hours passed, it started to rain heavily, i was getting worried. “Eno, this one rain is falling, will nick be able to come back to get us” – I asked… “yes na, of course” – he replied reassuringly… Another 2 hours, it was almost midnight. I was afraid, unsure of what was going on. “Ada, I think we should be going, maybe traffic has barred nick from coming out”… I could sense the empathy in his voice.
We had to walk over two kilometres to get to nick’s house, there were no free taxi due to the rain. I was drenched because the rain was still drizzling when we left the bar.
Eno knocked on the gate and when the gateman opened, he bade me farewell and went to his house just adjacent to nick’s.
From the door, i could hear nick snoring in the room, “WTF?? Did this guy fall asleep comfortably knowing he left me at the bar? ”
I entered the house and i stumbled on a bottle, it was white and it had a yellow sticker. It was a Gin bottle. “Ohh dear God”… I sat in the living room crying my eyes out and I fell asleep on the couch, at about 5am, Nick woke me up to come to the bed, he knew I had seen the bottle. “sorry I was very tired so I came home to rest, I didn’t want to rush you, i wanted you to enjoy yourself since this was your first time to Port-Harcourt, that’s why I told my friend to bring you home whenever you want” – he rambled on… “did you bring that prostitute from the bar here nick?”- I asked, tears welling in my eyes… “what sorta rubbish talk is that, I don’t do prostitutes, if you believe I do prostitutes, it means you are also a prostitute, I got that drink from neighbour here” – he said, pointing at the small bungalow next to his. “I don’t like this talk o, how can you even ask me that”- he was fuming… I quickly apologised, afraid to offend my “new husband”, my knees on the floor, begging his forgiveness that i thought it was that girl, because I saw this particular size of bottle with her. “babe this is a popular gin, anyone can buy it” – he spoke, his tone less aggressive.
I was silent.
He takes me to the bed and tries to make love to me, i declined gently… He was upset and turned his back towards me. I could not wait to go back to school.
******************************** The next morning, he gave me some money to buy some items and make peppef stew. He wanted something very spicy and hot to cure the hangover. He directed me to the market and seemed his usual sweet self again.
When I got back from the market, the kitchen was outside his house so I put all the ingredients I bought there, he was asleep again.
His phone beeped, i picked it, someone named E sent two different airtime numbers. I take one of it, load it on my phone, it was four hundred naira recharge card. I laughed… I tap him, “baby, somebody send you credit o, I don take one inside but if you really need both, I will go and buy it back for you”- I told him.
He said “OK, OK, OK” and went back to sleep.
I went back to my cooking, coming into the house in intervals to arrange my things because I leave tomorrow Sunday.
I was outside when he walked up to me, “Did you touch my phone?” – he asked
I smiled, amused at his question, he gave me a deafening slap, i fell… Runs inside the house, I’m still dazed. Comes back out with a belt and starts to hit me with the belt buckle, i could hear the skin peeling from my body. He kneels down, tears the gown off my body, the belt going up and down my flesh… I screamed for help, noone came to help, it seemed like they were afraid of him. “my fiancee send me credit…. Whoop, whoop!…… with her last card….. Whoop whoop whoop, the sound of the buckle tearing away my skin…… Her last card ooo…. Another whoop….. to show me love and you stole it” – he kept saying as he beat me
Wait am I been beaten like a thief because of four hundred naira airtime…. I started screaming “I told you oo, I told you, okay wait, let me go and buy you four of it. I have money in my purse”
The more I spoke, the more it infuriated him… “I will teach you how not to be a thief again..”- he said, sweat dripping down his body from all the force he was exerting to hit me. By now, i only had my panties on, Nicholas bends down, tears off my pant. His knee firmly placed on my chest, i was suffocating… He carries the blended pepper and begins to shove it inside my pussy. He goes to the cage where his rottweiler was and opened the cage, he held the dog leash in his hand, laughing as the dog barked at me, the spit drooling down his mouth touching my legs. “Oh Goddddddddddd, my dear Goddddd, “ – I screamed, the pain shrilling, my screams increased with every wound the pepper touched. “I am not a thief ooo, I am not a thief”
I kept begging, I begged until I felt like my heart would give out… I don’t know, but I saw a man push him and drag me by the legs, it was the man in the small bungalow. He dragged me into his house and locked the door quickly. Even in my state, I could hear him banging the gate, requesting that the man bring me out and that this was none of his business… “Oga please, I beg you with God, don’t take me back, please” – I said, my voice faint, my breathing shallow.
A woman was near me, she was pregnant, she was touching my vagina… This was all I remembered, I prayed to God for help, asked him to forgive my sins. No-one knew where I was, I didn’t tell anyone at all where I was going to.
If I died, they wouldn’t even know where to begin to search for me… This is how I learnt to send my friends my potential date, full names phone numbers, ig account, Facebook name, snippets of our conversation and if possibly exact address for the date. Some of my friends still laugh when they receive this information from me, but it has now become a habit I can’t stop.
I was awake by Monday morning at 3am, my body hurt and there was a fan focused on my vagina, I had a drip running through my veins, i was in a house not a hospital. I couldn’t move, I was disoriented and thirsty.
A lady comes to me, she’s pregnant. “how are you feeling, I make hand movement signalling “water”. She brings some to me and stays by my bed until I fall asleep again.
By 10am, I was awake, distressed and hungry. I replayed what had happened and a wave of sadness and guilt washed over me.
I could hear some people conversing in the living room, i couldn’t call out to them, i was tired. Someone walks into the room. It was Eno “Haa Ada, sorry oo” – he said. “I’m hungry please” – I said.
He goes out and calls the pregnant lady, she was dressed in a nurse uniform, a man standing next to her… He looked familiar but my memory was disjointed… “I’m hungry please” – I repeated. The nurse goes out, comes back with a plate of rice. While I ate, I could see the room was tensed, my right eye was glued shot, it was swollen, the left was swollen too but not as much as the right.
i was struggling to see with the left eye. “What happened” – Eno asked.
I started crying, the tears escaping my right swollen eye hurt so I tried to control myself. “one E send Nicholas airtime, two different credit so I took one of it to load on my phone, the other one I left it there. I woke him up to tell him and he said OK no problem, I went back to continue my cooking, only for him to say I stole from him” “how much is the airtime” – the man asked. “four hundred naira sir” – I said, breaking down again. “OH MY GOD” – He exclaimed. “I told you people that this boy is possessed, I know all this while he has been saying she stole from him that it might not be true, you see it now? He would have killed her because of four hundred naira card, can you imagine how evil someone can be”
As he spoked, my heart broke, I touched my face, i was battered… I cursed at myself, I questioned God, wondering what I ever did to deserve this.
The wife told me how they were coming back from church and saw him shoving the pepper inside of me and how the husband rescued me from him. She was a registered nurse and told me how she had to beg a doctor to come to their house to treat me because Nicholas sat outside their house yesterday warning her husband to bring me out that I was a thief.
Eno told me E was the girl he was to marry but she was AS.
The nurse brought a bucket of water with some soap and she and her husband cleaned my body. ……….. A week passed and Eno had helped me gather my clothes and bag from Nick’s house. The nice couple helped with some money and I went back to school… I never spoke about that weekend to anyone, I lied my bus back to school had an accident. Today is the first time I am talking to anyone about this.
Two years after I graduated, Nicholas passed away, He was preparing for his wedding when he suddenly developed kidney issues. Eno told me, we were friends on social media and had kept in touch all these years. I wasn’t sorry. KARMA IS A FUCKING BITCH!
I know I’m not supposed to say this last statement, but reminiscing all that has happened even right now still hurts me to my core…. No I am Not Sorry!