Fiction: BOUND BY SILENCE

I was one of the ambitious ones. I came to the university with all the big dreams I could think of, as much and as far as my imagination could take me. The university –like Zootopia – was where anyone could be anything. I was very greedy, I wanted to be everything. I think it’s the syndrome from high school where I was a local champion, then, I came to the university thinking that my title was very relevant in the university community as well, but I was totally wrong. No one cared about how many accolades I had to my name, no one cared if I was even the vice-president’s niece. All I was given was parking duty.

I came to the university with all the best thoughts without thinking of how to carry the baggage of woes. I thought myself brave – and other people thought that of me too – I was always the optimist, but I guess life is not always like that.Coming from a home where a lot is expected, it was only natural that I could not habour the worst thoughts in me. I was innocent in all the sense of the word; I did everything right, no partying, no late night out, no hooking up with guys, always reading, always praying, always in time for classes and always on point with assignments. With that kind of lifestyle, it was nearly impossible for evil to come near my dwelling. I thought of the University as a utopia, but I was just a bloody fresher.

Life was a fairy tale and I lived it as such. Reality was shocking when it revealed itself to me.Just like always I went about being a good girl when the ENG 666 lecturer gave the class an assignment that ultimately proved that the internet could not provide one with all the world’s answers. The class agreed to meet and have a group discussion on how to tackle the menace of an assignment.I went for the group discussion with my biggest jotting pad.It proved productive and all of us dispersed at 8:30 pm heading to our various hostels. As the good girl that I was, I decided to stay back, go through my jottings and compile all the ones that made sense.

I was deeply engrossed in my work that I did not know that it was almost 10:00 pm. I quickly grabbed my bags and left the faculty. I contemplated going through male hostel with a longer road to walk as well as suffer from their biting jibes or to take the long solitary road as the fastest route to get to my hostel. I opted for the latter. With my headset securing my ears,I walked as fast as my leg could carry me, looking only towards the far end of the road. I did not realize that someone was keeping me company. I saw him when I looked back to see how much ground I had covered. I lengthened my strides when I discovered that I was just close to the middle of the road.

I was still enjoying the blasting songs from my headset when a firm hand gripped my mouth.I struggled hard but the hand gripped tighter. I felt myself lifted off the ground and carried towards the bush. I was too scared to cry. The man whispered into my ears, “if you try to struggle or scream again, I swear, I will kill you and bury you and no one will ever know what happened. Do you understand?” I was dead still, having at the back of my mind that the worst fate awaited me at any slight resistance.

When the man had carried me to a well secured part of the bush, he set me down roughly. On impulse, I took to my heels. I was very fast, but I was only as fast as a sloth. With maybe two strides or so, he caught me, tied a big scarf firmly over my mouth and spanked me mercilessly.I whimpered as tears rolled down my eyes. He pushed me onto the ground and sharp pains came jolting around my elbow area. He stamped his big feet upon my stomach to hold me at bay as he quickly raised his jalamia(flowing robe) exposing his erect flesh.

He held both my hands with his one hand, pulled up my skirt and tore my panties with his other hand. I shivered and tried to wriggle free from his grasps as the piece of garment gave way. He laid his full length on me, spread my legs and pinned both my legs to the ground with his. His weight was overwhelming upon me and as he tried to force his way in, I felt searing pain from my stomach region down. I shut my eyes tightly as the numbing pain increased. He thrust in and out, panting over my face.He jerked and collapsed over me. For a moment I thought he was dead, then, he got up and left, leaving me there on the ground.

I can’t recall how I got to my hostel that night, but I remembered crying all through the night and for several other days without being able to tell anyone what had happened to me. After that incident, my life was changed. I am now in my finals and that day is still fresh in my memory like yesterday. When I go for classes or sit in the faculty, I look into the faces of my colleagues thinking one of them was a victim and will be a victim of such traumatic experience. I may never know how many of us have suffered such or will suffer such, but I know that we are sisters bound by silence.

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