I took a step back with a frown on my face as I defiantly shook my head. “Uncle Daniel, I’m sorry, I cannot.”

“Why not?!” He rasped.

“You are my sister’s husband!” I replied.

“As far as I’m concerned, your sister and I have ceased to be man and wife, not after stealing my money and running away!”

“I apologise on her behalf.” I mumbled. “My sister doesn’t steal. She must have been desperate.”

“I do not need your apology, just undress right now!” He ordered but I wouldn’t do as he had told me. I couldn’t bear the thought of another man who was also the husband of my sister, seeing me naked. Fine, I was not a virgin. In fact, I had lost my virginity eight months ago and my boyfriend had been the one to deflower me. I love him so much but I never cared to introduce him to my family because I knew that my parents wouldn’t approve of him. He owned a small shop off campus where he repaired phones and other mobile gadgets. I had met him the day I had gone to repair my Samsung phone which my sister had passed down to me. The phone had accidentally dropped into a bucket of water and had refused to come on. At the course of repairing my phone, my boyfriend and I had gotten closer and had fallen in love.

I couldn’t even tell my parents that I had a boyfriend because they would start quizzing me questions such as: “Who’s his father?” “What does he do for a living?” “Is he rich?” Since I was not ready for such questions, I had decided to keep him a secret.

“You are wasting time!” Daniel’s harsh voice disrupted my thoughts and I could see now that he was very hard and the very thought of it disgusted me. I wonder why I had agreed to come down here in the first place? Why had I allowed myself to be talked into this. All her life, my sister had lived for our family, especially our parents but now that she had broken free, they wanted a quick replacement at my own detriment. I knew that my sister was not lying anytime she came running home to report her husband to our parents, the bruises and scars were signs enough. I saw them and I believed her even though I never said anything. I knew that my parents were also aware but they would rather not intervene so as not to hinder the cash flow into their family. They enjoyed the privileges of having a rich son-in-law while my sister silently suffered on their behalf and now, it was my turn to go down the same road to please my parents who were never contented.

“Uncle, I’m sorry but I can’t have s£x with you.” I stated firmly.

“I see…” He said with his hands on his hips then spat, “Then get out of my house!”

“But uncle-” I started to say. I knew that my parents would be very mad at me if I returned home without accomplishing what I had been sent to do.

“Are you deaf? If you are not going to have s£x with me then get out of my house now!”

I hesitated. How would I get home? I had no money with me. “Uncle, I don’t have transport fare.” I mumbled.

“I don’t care!” He replied. “All I know is that none of your family members will ever touch a dime of my money again! If your parents do not return my money stolen from me, I’ll make sure that your father rots in jail!”

“Ha, uncle!” I exclaimed. “Please, try to forgive us. It’s my sister who took the money, not my father.”

He paused now then stared at me in a new look in his eyes. “On a second thought, I don’t think I should let you go, not after how your family have been leeching off me for years.” He started to walk slowly towards me with a look I didn’t like in his eyes which I saw swept down my body.

I began to take slow steps backward, away from hIm. “Uncle, what do you mean by th-?”

I had barely gotten the complete word out of my mouth when he suddenly reached me in two strides, seized me by my upper arm and flung me on the couch and I stared up at him, stunned. He loomed above me now, leering down at me.

“You are all pretenders. You like it rough, don’t you? You like to be forced, right? You are one of those girls whose no actually means yes. You could have left all along when I told you to but you chose to linger… Yes…because you actually want me… Don’t you?”

To all his questions and assumptions, I kept shaking my head, frightened so much. I was like a cornered mouse and I had no where to go. My heart was beating fast in my chest and I could almost hear it pounding in my chest. I tried to look for a way out of this terrible situation and ended up blurting the first thing that came to my head that every girl might say. “I’ll scream!” I threatened.

He chuckled wickedly. “And who would hear you? The gate man? He has been working for me for the past five years and has learnt to mind his business so I wouldn’t raise my hopes if I were you.” Then he pinched my chest through my dress and I regretted heeding to my mother’s advice about not wearing a bra. “You are younger than your sister is, fresh and naive but let’s hope that you are also not the frigid or dry one.” He suddenly reached for my thigh and when I kicked at him, he grew angry and for the first time in my life, I was slapped by someone else besides my mother. Slapped by a man I had looked up to for several years, always praying for him that God should replenish his pockets since he was our bread winner. I had not only be assaulted, I was about to be r@ped too. I thought of what people would say if they found out that I was r@ped. They would say that I took myself with my very legs to his house or why did I dress so provocatively in the first place if I wasn’t interested in getting laid.

The slap stunned me that I could hear a sharp tuning sound deep in my ear and the side of my face was burning. Anger that I didn’t know was welling inside of me suddenly consumed me and I swung my arm and slapped him too. I caught him so unawares that he fell from the couch to the floor with his hand placed against his cheek as he stared at me in disbelief and shock.

“You slapped me?” He asked coldly. If eyes could kill, I would have exploded under his malevolent glare but I tried to appear strong and undaunted as I slowly sat up on the couch, ready to flee. Unfortunately, before I could act, he slowly rose to his feet and asked again. “You dare slap me?!”

“Me I want to go home.” I grumbled without looking up at him. I carefully rose then tugged down my gown. As I started for my luggage, he suddenly yanked me back and I staggered but quickly regained my stamina.

“Where do you think you are going?!” He bawled, his eyes now red and I knew that I was dead.

“I’M GOING HOME!” I retorted.

Then he chuckled. “This is surprising, even your wh0re of a sister does not have the guts to talk back at me and not only did you do that, you also slapped me.”

“Eh…you slapped me first.” I stated without looking at his face.

“Well, I can see that you don’t have any respect and I shall deal severely with you today!” He stated then suddenly grabbed both my upper arms, trying to push me back on the couch but I struggled. Not only was he more than a decade older than I was, he was also stronger and instead of the couch, I accidentally fell on the floor and he followed me to the floor, wrestling with me and trying to rip my gown up or force his hands in between my thighs. I struggled with all my might but when he realized that I was willing to relent, he started raining slaps on my face. I squeezed my eyes shut and averted my face so that his fingers didn’t get into my eyes and I fought back blindly. I was crying, screaming and scratching like a deranged girl. I was determined not to let him have his way with me even though it cost me my life.

I succeeded in raking my fingernails across his face twice and so to avoid them, he lifted his chin up out of reach and I could only claw at his shoulders. When he noticed that going for my upper body was fruitless, he focused on my thigghs now and tried to separate them but I clamped them shut tighter. He dug his fingers in between my thigghs and tried to pry them apart but I locked my ankles and continued trying to resist. He grew frustrated and more angry and then suddenly punched me on the thiggh. It hurt so bad and weakened my muscle that my strength in that leg reduced. When he noticed it, he punched the other thiggh harder and that was even more painful and I felt like I was going to die. My legs fell helpless @part, the muscles were like I was experiencing a cramp. I cried the more. He parted my thigghs and immediately took off his boxers while leaning between my now open thigghs.

During our struggle, his manh0od had gone fl@ccid a bit, but now, he gave it quick strokes to reawaken it. I knew that this was my opportunity, I tried to hit his balls with my hand but he caught my hand as if he had read my thought, flung it to the side and then landed me the hottest slap yet that immediately caused a tear in my dry lower lip and caused it to start bleeding. He reached under my gown and began to roughly pull at my p@nties. My legs were still weak and there was little I could do with them. Weakly, I reached for my p@nties and a tug of war began, he pulled it downwards and I tried to hold it up. He got angrier and pulled it so hard that I heard it tearing.

When he finally had my p@nties out of the way, he l0wered his l0wer body on me, while he was using one of his hands to force himself on me, he was pinning me down with the other hand to restrain my struggles. I was in despair. I couldn’t believe that this was about to happen to me. Just then, I remembered the self-defense techniques my roommate in school who was practicing Taekwondo had taught me. Mustering enough courage in me even though I was skeptical if it would work on such a big man like Daniel, I broke lose from his hold and suddenly grabbed his head with both hands then pressed my thumbs hard against his eyes which he had closed in reflex when I had grabbed his head. He screamed and held my elbows, trying to pull my hands away from his eyes as I pressed harder with my might, trying to push his eyeballs back into his head.

When he finally succeeded in ripping my hands off his head, I didn’t let him recover from that, I suddenly jammed the side of my straightened hand against his throat and he suddenly gagged, his hands flying to hold his throat now. In pain, he rolled off me, coughing and gagging, seriously in pain as he rolled on the floor, trying to breathe. I jumped to my feet now and stared down at him. His face was swollen and I hoped that I hadn’t crushed his windpipe even though I knew that he deserved even worse.

“You b#stard!” I hissed down at him. “You are an animal and my sister never should have married such a beast as you! She deserves better!” I kicked his stomach now since he was lying on his side, still coughing seriously. I saw his manhood and before I could stop my self, I stepped on the upper part and almost crushed it against the hard floor and he howled out like a wounded animal, writhing around. Quickly, I hurried to my luggage, grabbed it, since it was too heavy to run with and I knew that it would slow me down, I left it upon my head and ran out. The gateman saw me and began to wonder what was chasing me but I said nothing to him. I dashed out into the street and quickly stopped the next bike I saw then hopped on it without giving him a place of destination.

I knew that when Daniel recovered from what I had done to him, he might probably come looking for me with the police so I decided that going home was definitely not the best idea, besides, my parents would reprimand me seriously if they found out that I has refused to sleep with Daniel, let alone that I even dealt seriously with him for trying to rape me. I stopped at the ATM machine in one of the banks, withdrew some cash which I had saved by selling airtime and female undies in school. I stopped next in an uncompleted building and changed into something different then I went to the park and paid for a bus that would take me to my school. I knew that my parents would attempt to find me there but I had luck on my side because neither of them even knew where I lived in school. When the passengers were complete and the door and boot was shut, I was partially relieved as the driver started to drive out of the park after settling some park touts who had helped arranged the luggage in the trunk.

CHRIS’ POV

I couldn’t get Victoria out of my head ever since I had missed her at the mall. She had just been there, there, within my reach and yet I hadn’t been able to get to her. Because of her, I had gone to the mall everyday, hoping that I would bump into her again but all my efforts had been futile. I couldn’t really concentrate at work nor eat like I used to. My world was now bleak and it was simply because of one careless mistake. I was sitting in my room trying to draft something up because I was planning to relocate to the U.S. where I had schooled but I had only been a bit reluctant because of Victoria. I had a feeling that I would run into her again but I had no idea how long I would have to wait. It had been six weeks now since I saw her last and I wondered if she was still with her husband or if she had finally left him like I hoped.

I heard footsteps on the stairs and when I looked up, I realized that it was Uju. Surprisingly, she had stopped pressurizing me for s£x. At first, I was surprised because that was unlike her but when I came home and saw something on my couch one evening, I knew that whenever I went out, she was bringing in someone to sleep with her but I didn’t really care. I knew she had grown weary of me and had given up all together at trying to seduce me but she still made my meals and cleaned the house. Back to reality, she drew closer, I realized that she was all dressed up in a s£xy way and that made me straightened up in my seat.

“Where are you going to?” I asked with a start.

“Club.” She simply said as her red lips moved to show that she was chewing a gum.

I frowned. “And what could you possibly know about clubs?”

“Is it not where people go to have fun and meet other people.” She said in a nasty way, averting her gaze and rolling her eyes as she made bursting sounds with the gum in her mouth.

“And you are just going to walk out of this house as if you know your way around Lagos.” I stated then stayed quiet for a moment as I contemplated, finally, I sighed, deciding that going along could help me relax too and also help clear my mind, because ever since I had met Victoria in a club, I had not patronized any till then. Since it was Friday night, watching other people have fun might just help ease my worries. “Fine…” I said as I rose and took my car keys from the coffee table. “Let’s go.”

She gave me a frown. “Go where?”

“To the club of course.” I said.

“You want to go and spoil market for me, abi?” She said tersely, a hand on her hip while the other held a flat purse against her lap.

“What do you mean by spoil market for you?” I was puzzled.

“Don’t you know that men will refuse to approach me if I’m seen with you?”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry, we are just going to go there together but I assure you that I’m going to stay clear of your path once we are in the club so that you can have all the fun you want.” I assured her.

She contemplated for a moment then hesitantly agreed. “Fine.” She walked out of the house while I followed her.

VICTORIA’S POV

“My friend, get up!” My friend Tanya threw a pillow at me as she walked around the bed to the wardrobe while the other, Kehinde quickly hurried into my bathroom and shut the door.

I glanced at the door in confusion then asked Tanya who was going through my wardrobe. “What’s wrong with Kehinde? Is she pressed?” I asked.

Tanya simply glanced over her shoulder at me but before she could answer, Kehinde opened the door and stuck her head out. “Babe, abeg you get pad? (Babe, please do you have sanitary pad?)

“Shiooo!” Tanya said. “You don start? (Have you started your menses?)”

Kehinde pouted. “This stupid thing just wanna ruin my night.”

“If e come, you go vex, if e no come, you go still vex. (If your menses start, you get angry, if it does not, you still get angry.” Tanya said then hissed and continued through my wardrobe.) They were both my colleagues and somehow, we had developed a fondness for one another and had become friends.

“Didn’t you calculate that it would come today?” I asked Kehinde.

“I did, it’s supposed to come on Sunday not Friday. It means it shifted backward.” Kehinde said unhappily.

“Okay o, sha don’t get any blood on my floor or toilet seat.” I said as I scooted off my bed and walked to my drawer to pick a sanitary pad which I handed to Kehinde. “Make sure you flush properly.” I told her.

“Thanks.” She mouthed and withdrew into the bathroom again.

I turned to look at Tanya now as I folded my arms under my chest. I realised that she had thrown several clothes on my bed. “Tanya, what exactly are you looking for?” I asked.

“Something for you to wear.” She answered without looking back and or stopping what she was doing.

“Why would I need to wear clothes like this at 9 in the night?”

“You are going to club with us tonight.” She stated.

“I’m tired and have a headache.”

“You said that two Fridays ago. You are not getting out of this easily, Vickie. You are going to the club with us whether you like it or not.”

Just then I heard the toilet flushing and soon, Kehinde emerged. “Xup, ready?” She beamed.

“I’m not going.” I said and sat down on a chair.

“Yes, you are. C’mon… Just a little fun won’t hurt. Just this once, go to the club with us.”

“I don’t feel like going out at all.” I maintained my stand.

“Pleaseeee….” Kehinde implored.

Tanya turned from the wardrobe, holding up a short dress by its hanger handle. “You don’t need to beg her Kehinde, whether she likes it or not, she’s going and even if I have to force these clothes on you and drag you across the hallway to the car, you can bet that I will! Get a boyfriend, no! Go out on a date with the countless men begging for your attention, no! Go to club, no! I’m tired of your no and you are going to get your ass up, get into this dress! Put some make up on, go to the club, have some drinks and mingle with an interesting fella! Case closed!” Tanya asserted.

To Be Continued….. The matter don choke! Anyway, watch out for Episode 17….