Lydia's pain

Lydia's pain Episode 4

I thought I didn't hear her clearly until she repeated it.

"Son?" I then asked myself as I approached them slowly with mouth agape.

My Uncle was still beating him, asking him what he's come there to do. And that he has since disowned him and asked him never to come close to him and his family ever again.

It was one of our neighbors who returned home that finally begged my Uncle before he left the young boy alone, but asked him out of the compound, never to return.

To my surprise again, my Uncle turned to his wife asking her how manage the young boy was able to locate their new place but she quickly stood up, rushed and stood behind our neighbor.

The young boy staggered up with bl00d all over him, and then grabbed his chest gnashing his teeth.

When I looked at him, lo and behold, his fingers were incomplete, his little finger was missing.

"Jesus" I let out, popping my eyes in exclamation...
The young man staggered out of the compound, while I stood there watching him with mouth agape in awe and in shock.

My Uncle then gave a stern warning to his wife, telling her that he was leaving for work and would be back soon, but she must make sure that the young man was not seen anywhere around the compound by the time he returned. As soon as he said that, he marched out of the compound angr!ly ignoring the guy who sat by the gate bleed!ng from even his mouth and nose.

Our neighbor then left for his own flat but my own leg felt too heavy to lift. My Uncle's wife then dashed into the house and returned with some money which she counted past me. Immediately she noticed that I was still standing there, she looked back.

"What?" She queried with a scornful look, and my legs became so light on hearing her voice that I sprinted out of there into the house.

I sat on one of the couches in the living room, pondering on what I had witnessed and all that had been happening to me and I wept bitterly.

"How come? Or is he the one? But how?" I asked myself rhetorically still sitting there waiting for Aunty Pat's return.

I was there till 4pm when my Uncle's children returned from school cos they attended a private school while I attended a government school and we usually closed by 2 pm. They met me crying but just one of them who had been showing me love since I came to their place cared to ask me what was wrong, while the other two left for their room without a word.

I almost voiced out but I had to control myself, and I told him I would tell him at the right time.

A few minutes past 6 pm, Aunty Pat returned, but my Uncle's wife left with the young man since that time and hadn't returned.

I went to Aunty Pat and I narrated everything to her. She was shocked and then mentioned that she was going to discuss what I told her with my Uncle when he returned but I immediately fell on my knees begging her not to, that I was going to do so myself.

I was in Aunty Pat's place till around 8 pm, she asked me to stay for dinner cos I wasn't even sure if my uncle's wife had arrived. Even if she had, I wasn't sure of my own portion cos that only happens once in a while.

When she finished cooking, I told her I was going to take my own portion home, hide and eat it somewhere cos I didn't want my Uncle to return meeting my absence.

Stepping out of Aunty Pat's place, I started hearing my Uncle and his wife barking at each other from their room, and I wondered what had happened again.

I opened the living room door and I sneaked in, but one of my Uncle's sons, the one who didn't like me was sitted on a couch watching a TV program.

"Mommy, she's here" The boy screamed all of a sudden, and my heart skipped.

The Mom dashed out of their room and grabbed my hand, while my Uncle then walked out too.

"Who took 50,000 Naira from our room?" My Uncle's wife quizzed, holding my wrist in a very tight grip.

"Listen Lydia, I kept some money in my wardrobe and I don't know who took it" My Uncle said.

"But... I..." I attempted to say that I saw his wife counting some money but on hearing that, she landed a hot slap on my face.

"Shut up!" She yelled.
"Just tell us what you did with the money" She added, and I busted into tears.

"Stop slapping that girl like that. How sure are we that it isn't that your stup!d son Stephen that came in somehow to ste@l the money? Aren't you the one who showed him where we now live? You brought back a boy I dis0wned? A boy who was in pris0n for a whole year for selling hard dr√gs in the streets?"

"That is not the bone of contention here. Isn't he your son too? Your niece here took the money. Why don't you ask her what she did with it?" Said my Uncle's wife.
"What do you have there?" She queried again, raising my other hand.

She took the food, opened it and on seeing how Aunty Pat dished the food with four pieces of meat in it, she screamed and started showing my Uncle the food.

"Have you seen it?" She said repeatedly but I told them it was Aunty Pat who gave it to me and to my surprise, my Uncle shook his head, opened their door and returned in.

That night, my Uncle's wife nearly beat me to death for something I knew nothing about, warning me never to go close to Aunty Pat again.