CHAPTER 4 – “THIS FAMILY CALLED MINE: COLOUR US UP”

©️ Opeyemi Akintunde

Tobe was older than Setemi. He was my step-cousin; my stepmother’s twin sister’s first son, whom she brought into her marriage with my father.

If there was a word worse than Dominated… that would best describe what Tobe did to us, but in the absence of a worse word, I will say it as it is….He dominated us: Setemi, Pamilerin, and me, but never Morayo. He made himself the grown-up son our father never had but desperately wanted. That gave him power, so we dared not report him.

My father gave him the liberty to “discipline” us, even when my mother was alive. There was little she could do about it.

But things became dark for me when he took a particular interest in me.

It started with unnecessary errands, sharp rebukes at every little mistake…which turned out to be subtle tactics to instill his fear in me 

He succeeded.

Whenever we were alone in the house, he would molest me and threaten me never to say a word.

“If you like, tell your mummy. I promise I will end her. I’ll call my boys to do a clean one,” he’d say, boasting of being a cultist.

My father made sure each of us took turns working at the gallery on weekends. Tobe was the one who came up with the roster, so of course, he ensured we were always paired.

Whenever it was our turn at the gallery and my father stepped out, I was in deep trouble. He would molest me badly…till I was left crying in pain.

I couldn’t tell my mother. I feared he would follow through on his threat.

“Mololuwa, you can’t greet abi?”

His voice dragged me back to the present. He had walked into the kitchen and just like old times he started picking on me.

“Welcome, Bros,” I said firmly.

I was a married woman now. He didn’t expect me to grovel anymore.

“You’re greeting me from your chair?” he pressed on, trying to force me back into the box where he’d kept me all those years.

But I was no longer that girl.

“Bros Tobe, I’ve greeted you. What else do you want?” I replied, standing my ground.

“Oh, because you’re now married, you think you’re a big girl?” he scoffed.

“Bros… free Mo’. She dey bad mood. She dey mourn her Pale now…as per good child,” ( Brother , Let Mo’ be. She is in a bad mood. She is mourning her father, as a good child that she is) Adeori quickly stepped in, sensing the tension.

“Mourn? Who dey mourn Baba Clarke?” Tobe said, smirking. “Well, I can understand why. It’s a double loss for her. She never really felt the love of a father… and now he’s gone forever.”

That one landed. His intention to humiliate me was clear and effective. It served its purpose. Tears had formed in my eyes.

“Bros, please avoid me,” I said, trying to rein in my emotions.

“You say what?” he snapped, taking a step toward me.

Instinctively, I grabbed a knife.

“Bros… if you move any closer, I will cut off the one thing that makes you think you’re a man.”

The room went dead silent.

Adeori had never seen me in that light. And Tobe? Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined I’d stand up to him like that.

If only he knew what I’d been through in marriage, he wouldn’t dare challenge me now.

Tobe stepped back.

“Oh! It’s like that?” he said, trying to mask his shock.

Just then, two cars drove into the compound. I silently prayed they were my sisters.

I peeped outside…it was.

Setemi and Pamilerin had come in a taxi. And Morayo? She arrived in an exotic car that, if I was being honest, looked like it belonged to one of her sugar daddies.

I rushed out of the kitchen, still holding the knife. I needed air. I needed strength. I needed a hug.

I walked past Setemi and Pamilerin and went straight for Morayo. I needed her energy, her fire.

She hugged me tightly, instantly sensing something was wrong. She gently took the knife from my hand. She saw Tobe walk out of the house…

“I’m here now. Calm down,” she whispered.

I didn’t need to explain. Morayo was more than a sister…she was a father figure to us girls. Even though she was the second born, she had always tried to take on the firstborn responsibilities. Setemi never liked that and resisted it.

“Mololuwa, we’re statues, abi?” Setemi’s voice sliced through the moment. She was clearly offended.

“So because Morayo brought a car she probably borrowed, she deserves to be greeted before me?” Setemi said 

Tears welled up in my eyes. If only she knew.

If only she knew what I had just faced. If only she knew what Tobe had done to me in the past…and what he had just tried to do again.

If only she knew how my trauma had followed me into my marriage.

“That’s how she behaved to me too… very rude. I don’t know when she became like this,” Tobe said from the doorway, still trying to manipulate the situation.

Setemi turned to him with eyes full of disdain.

Despite her issues with me, she would never side with Tobe.

Tobe had long stolen her right as firstborn and replaced it with his dictatorship.

“And if I may ask,” she said coldly, “what are you doing here?”

“For the first time,” Morayo chimed in, facing him squarely, “Setemi and I are  actually thinking the same thing.”

She looked him dead in the eye.

“The last I checked, you are not family… by BLOOD.”

Tobe smirked.

“Let the will decide.”

To be continued…

PRAYER POINTS FOR READERS

*Lord, expose hidden oppressors in my life and my children’s life in Jesus name

*Powers making me a slave where I ought to be a king, release me and die in Jesus name.

*I break free from every emotional and physical captivity of my past in Jesus name.

*May every evil authority that has ruled unjustly over my life be dethroned in Jesus name.

*I declare: I will not be silent anymore. I will arise in strength, in Jesus’ name!

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