The story of my life. My Past.

"Fine, let's meet up at..."

Mr Johnson suddenly pushed the door open and looked at me with anger and I instantly couldn't hear what Toyin was saying again. He marched forward and my heartbeat was unusual. He swung his fist in my face, making me fall on the bed as the cell phone fell off my hand. I felt my cheek burst and I felt the taste of blood. I pulshed myself up and held my face, looking up at his terrifying monstrous face. He was pissed off and I knew what caused it. Mr Johnson grabbed me by my collar shirt and punched me, again and again, and again. Punching out the wrath and hatred he had for me in my face. I felt the excruciating pain going deeply and I quickly found a way to grab the phone.

"I'm going to call you back..." I whispered weakly to shut Toyin up from calling out my name. I clicked the red button and my Mr Johnson snatched and smashed on the floor. I gasped, and couldn't believe what he did. I looked at my Mum who was screaming in shock and saw her eyes widen as she placed her hand on the mouth. How was she going to get another one when she barely... She was broke and trying her hardest for my siblings and me to have food in our stomachs.

Mr Johnson stepped on the phone and trod it against the floor. He looked over at me and pulled me up by my neck till I couldn't feel my feet on the floor. I looked into his black eyes and I knew they care less if I die now. My eyes began closing and I heard my Mum crying and begging Mr Johnson to stop. Her weeping and pleading voice on behalf of me was penetrating my soul, my heart ached for her that I didn't know when tears were streaming down my face. Was this how I was going to die? Should I have listened to Toyin when she had told me to report him to the cops? How was Mum going to live when I die? What was going to become of my siblings?

God, please, no! I still want to put a smile on their faces and make them happy. Fully comfortable. I want to take care of them, I thought, my eyes closing as I fought to keep them open. I wasn't going to die like that.

Different thoughts were going through my head, driving me mad and urging me not to close my eyes. Not to give up. Mr Johnson's eyes met my squinting ones. "You don't mess with my wife!" he bellowed and I nodded my head. I felt a terrible headache that made me feel my head was going to explode any time from now. He kicked my stomach with his knees and I brought forth blood.

"Dad?" I heard Busola call.

"Take your sister to her room now!" Mum yelled at Bayo. I saw her with the corner of my eyes as she pushed them away till they left. My Mum grabbed my wrist and tried pulling me down from Mr Johnson's grip on my neck, but it was only adding to the pain I was feeling. I gasped weakly and hurriedly my mum decided to pry his hand off my neck. Her crying was non-stop.

"Ola, let go of her," Loveline ordered and instantly he dropped me, not carefully to feel my feet but got me to stumble and bang my head on the edge of the drawer next to my bed. The agonizing pain shot through my head and I couldn't scream but whimper. I lay on my back and held my head, breathing with my mouth opened.

My Mum quickly braced me in her arms as she knelt beside me, weeping. "You are a monster! I..."

Mr Johnson gave my Mum a backhanded slap and she yelped. "Shut up!"

"Hey, it's okay. Now let's go," Loveline said and pulled him to her. She pecked him, turned his face from us and finally led him out of my room. Mr Johnson wasn't drunk tonight. He was sane. He knew what he had done to me. To us. To the girl he had once loved. And to the wife that begot him two children.

I stood up with the help of my mother, touched her shoulders and looked straight into her sad eyes. Her face was weak and traces of tears were on her face. I smiled at her and promised myself I was going to give her the best life she deserved. She was worth more. She was my true mother and heroine. I touched her face and hugged her. "Thank you," I said and started crying. Grateful for her efforts in my life and siblings'.

She pulled me back and bobbed her head. I glanced down at her white shirt and saw that it was stained with my blood. "Sorry."

"No problem. What now?"

I picked up the damaged phone and removed the sim card and handed it over to her and held her hands. "This. Keep it. You know it contains some important contacts. I'll make sure I get you one. I'll try, Mum."

"You don't have to, Tosin." She shook her head. "You have done enough. Don't kill yourself. You have given me the support, attention and happiness every child is supposed to give her mother."

"No, Mum, it's not enough. I will make you happy." I went to the restroom and looked at my messed up face that I didn't know was worse than I had thought. My left eye was swollen and it looked like it was about to close. My lips became big and burst. Something spicy wasn't going into my mouth for some days to come. I turned on the tap of the basin and washed my mouth. It hurt. I wobbled my mouth with the water in and poured out light red water.

When I got back into my room, I changed my clothes to the boyfriend jeans Bisola had bought me and a yellow top. I took my white sneakers from the corner and wore them too.

"Where are you off to?"

"To Bisola's."

"It's late already."

"I can't stay here tonight or else you will meet my corpse the next day. He could murder," I said, standing up and facing her. "Make sure you sleep with the kids. Lock the door."

"Okay, but you don't have to go anywhere. We can sleep together. All of us. It's eleven already."

"Don't worry, Mum." I gave her a quick kiss on her lips. I shifted my window, turned and took a look at my Mum. I blew her a kiss and whispered to her to stay safe and stay alive before I found a way to jump down. I needed to shed away from the pain and suffering. Staying home was just going to be a reminder of it all.

The dark street was silent except for a few running cars that made me jump in fright. Twenty minutes later, I saw Bisola's house and her room was lit. I climbed the tree close to her windows when the normal thing I was supposed to do was knock on the front door but I didn't want her Mum or Dad to see me in the condition I was in. I threw some pebbles I had picked up before climbing and silently called out her name.

Bisola came over to the window in a crop top and a wrapper. She opened the window and I jumped in freaking her out. She attacked me unexpectedly and was about to punch my face when she saw that it was me. How did she learn how to do that? It was a fighter's skill. She and Toyin puzzled me sometimes.

"Tosin?" Bisola called.

"Didn't you know I was the one?"

"Of course. You don't pass the windows. Toyin does that whenever we want to sneak out to a party, but she is here."

"What happened to your face?" Toyin frowned. "You said you would call back and then you hung up. And I couldn't call you again. It was going to voicemail when Bisola tried calling.

I exhaled, went to sit and narrated it all. Every detail.

"I'm sorry you went through this. I wish I was there to break his bones, no offence," Toyin said.

"What do we do now? Report him?"

I shook my head. I didn't want him jailed.

I looked at my best friends and thought of what they had told me. My life needed to change. I glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was one minute to twelve. A new year. I gotta start a new life too, not stuck with Loveline for months. I stood up, not thinking twice. "I want in. I want to join the scorpion Group."