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Femi is still out on his trip to Ijebu-Ode. He will most likely be back in two days time. Uju on the other hand, has been at home since 2:00pm today planning how best to break the news to Amara, without seeming like an agent of satan sent to wreck her home. She knows Amara all too well. That would be the first thought that comes to her mind. Uju also knows full well that Amara has had her under scrutiny, ever since she stepped foot in this house. If she were to spring this news up on Amara now, it might make her explode. Nonetheless, she has no choice at this point, because she has already told other people about it. And whether she tells Amara or not, they will definitely call the police eventually, because it is the right thing to do. However, doing so might regress Uju's plight even more. It's not as though the police will take her in, feed her, clothe her or pay for her education. She is still all on her own. And her welfare as a child is nobody's concern really.

Despite Uju's horrible experience at the Balogun household; if we are being honest, the kind of hospitality she receives here is much more than many Nigerian families would ever give her; rich or not. Many people treat free household help like glorified slaves, meant only to be seen or heard whenever there is a menial task at hand; meant to sit on the floor and eat, while the other children dine at table; meant to scrub the floors and do dishes, while the other children play and make merry. And unlike some families who might even go the extra mile to hinder the development of any house help in their possession, Mr and Mrs. Balogun have done nothing but encourage both Uju's social and academic development. It is quite safe to say that such families are rare to find, and in certain ways should actually be appreciated.

Uju fears for her fate, should she be sent to live with yet another family; which is exactly what Obiageli will do, if she were sent back to her. It is all business to her really; after beating Uju mercilessly again, that is. She might then wait for about another week or so, before selling her to yet another family in need of domestic help, perhaps in Edo State this time. And in that case, the cycle of suffering would continue, until Uju finally became an adult; at which point, she would become a greater liability. She would eventually be chased away or might herself decide to abscond from her captors, after which she would have to venture into the capricious world all by herself; that is, if she did not already get pregnant earlier on, at which point she probably would have been chased her away. The only difference would be that this time, she would have yet another helpless child in her arms, whose life may already be marred by its mother's deplorable predicament.
Such a child would be left at the mercy of fate, and like many Nigerian youngsters, be raised by a biting system and made to imbibe the ways of the rugged streets, ultimately to turn out resilient, bloody-smart and hungry for a future. A child induced to thrive in any form of hardship and to look out for herself or himself, because no one else will; no system will, no system does; such as child, even though not naturally calculating, may need to learn to be exactly that, inorder to survive or to thrive. One could suppose that the advantage here would be that you would hardly ever find a dumb youngster in Nigeria or a dumb Nigerian. However valid that may be, such a breeding in many ways, is bound to perpetuate more harm than good.

While calmly contemplating on her bed, Uju hears aunty Amara's car drive in and she sighs in despair. 'How on earth, will I even begin?' she wonders. It's a good thing that Tobi is currently on a school camping trip. At least, he won't be here to witness it all.
Shortly after Amara arrives, Uju walks into the living room to greet her. "Good evening, ma." she says, while taking Amara's large handbag from her hand and keeping it on one of the stools beside the sofa.

"Good evening, Uju... How are you?" Amara replies, yawning slightly, as she forcefully drops herself on the soft cushion of the sofa. She is obviously very exhausted from work.

"I'm fine ma." Uju replies, a bit gloomily now. Her heart is pounding violently. She does not know whether to start telling her everything right now or to wait a while. Frankly, she doesn't even know whether she'll be able to tell her at all.

"Is there anything to eat in this house? I'm starving!" Amara exclaims, sighing heavily with her eyelids almost fully closed.

"Yes. I made some fried yam and vegetable sauce this afternoon." Uju responds.

Then Amara exclaims again, "Ohh, God bless you!... Please bring some for me."

"Okay." Uju smiles slightly as she responds, while heading towards the kitchen.

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About two hours later, after washing the dishes, Uju starts to weep profusely while she lies in her bed. At the moment, she is even in more anguish than before. She isn't sure that she can do it. She isn't sure that she can bring herself to tell Amara that her kind and loving husband is a rapist. Amara would be shattered. As a matter of fact, she might go ballistic. She might accuse Uju of trying to sabotage her marriage. Heaven knows what else she might do! Maybe it would be best to just keep quiet about it and act like it never happened. But would that be possible?
Uju believes that she is still a bit calm now because Femi is not around. But what happens when he returns from his trip? What happens when she has to look him in the eye everyday, knowing what he did to her? She simply would not be able to stand the sight of him. And with time, she knows that she will eventually go insane; go mad with bitter rage and probably end up doing something stupid; which might ruin her life even more. She simply cannot risk waiting any longer. If she ever hopes to make aunty Amara believe her, then she has to tell her the truth right now.
But how?
In anguish, Uju keeps just crying, sniffing and biting her blanket forcefully while coughing out every ounce of her sorrow. And as she gasps again, she hears a tender voice echo from the threshold of her room, "Uju... What is the problem?... Why are you crying?"
Then in utter shock, she gasps and jumps up from her bed, attempting to wipe her sorrowful face clean. "Nothing, ma. Sorry... Nothing. I... I..." Uju cannot help but stammer, as her heart almost jumps out of her mouth.

Right now, Mrs. Balogun has a concerned but stern look on her face. And if there is one thing Uju knows that she hates; it's lies. She detests lies. And the sorrowful but guilty look Uju has on right now is not helping issues at all. How on earth will Uju manage to convince her now?
Then Amara sighs and says very calmly, "Uju, please sit down." Deep down, Uju knows that this is no request. Hence, she humbly sits on the bed while Amara sits down beside her and begins, "Uju... I know that you've been through a lot in life. As a matter of fact, the things you have endured within the last few months would have... killed some people... Yes, honestly. But you are still standing... and still going strong. That is one of the things I admire most about you. And it pains me to see you crying so sorrowfully... What is the matter?"

Looking down, Uju tries to open her mouth, but nothing comes out. How does she even start?
Then Amara sighs again, "Uju... The only way I can help is if you talk to me. Please don't be ashamed of your feelings. No matter how they may sound... I will try to understand. If you want to feel better, you have to try to let it out."

More hot tears trickle down Uju's cheek bones, as she sniffs in again. Thereafter, she whispers painfully, "...Something happened."

Amara is slightly frightened by her words. She had thought that it was just an emotional after-effect of Uju's sorrowful life. But since she said something happened; then it means that the problem is much more severe than she had expected. "What happened?" she asks tenderly, holding onto Uju's shoulder.
Uju hesitates a bit, but then forces it out of her mouth, along with more tears and a bitter gasp, "...Uncle Femi!"
Upon hearing this, the sympathetic expression on Amara's face immediately morphs into sheer stupefaction.

Then it begins.

"... On Saturday night... when you and Tobi were at church... I was asleep in my room, because I wasn't feeling too well. And... #SNIFFS... Oh my God!... #SNIFFS..."

Amara slowly rises from the bed, as Uju continues her story,

"...Then #sniffs.. all of a sudden, I woke up. #GASPS... I woke up.. and I saw him sitting on my bed. I saw him masturbating... #SNIFFS... I saw..." Uju's speech is interrupted by a resounding slap from Amara, whose face is already cringed in utter fury. Then sighing deeply, in anguish, she lowers her voice to a deadly whisper and says to Uju, who is still holding her reddened face and crying in pain, "... You vile snake! So... You think I'm stupid, right?... You expect me to believe that Femi just came in and started masturbating in front of you?... Oh my God!...chai!... I knew it!!! I should have listened to Cynthia oo... I should have listened!!! Oh God!..." Then she breaks into tears, "...#SNIFFS... So you slept with my husband???... Uju!!! You slept with Tobi's father!!!"

"No!!!..." Uju screams in reply, with tears in her eyes and her voice breaking into fragmented waves, "...I did not... I did not sleep with your husband!... He raped me!!!..."

"You said what!!!..." Amara yells, as she slaps Uju again on the other cheek. Then she begins to pummel Uju mercilessly with her fists, slapping her sporadically and lamenting in untold emotional pain, "You evil girl!... So, after welcoming you into my home, ehn! ...#SNIFFS... and treating you like my own child. This is how... This is how you repay me?... Uju! By seducing my husband!!!... Huh!!!... Did they send you!!! Did... #slap!... they... #slap!... send you... #punch!...to come into my home... #kick!...and destroy my family!!!"

Uju on the other hand, just keeps yelling, as Amara beats her, "...Aaah! Ow!!!! Oh God!!!!... He raped me!... I swear!... Hhh...He raped me!... He raped me! I am innocent!"

After beating Uju thoroughly, Amara immediately pulls her out of the room by her hair, and drags her down the passage way saying, "In fact... You and Femi are the same! The both of you think you can make a fool out of me, right?... How long has this been going on?? #slap!... Huh!!!... How long have you been sleeping with my husband!!! God! I knew it!... I knew he must have found himself a whore already! #kick!... I just didn't know that...#punch! #punch! #punch!...she was in my house! You witch!!! #kick!"

Helpless Uju keeps crying and pleading with Amara while she drags her across the living room floor and pushes her outside the main door, yelling violently, "Oya!!!!... Get out of my house!!! Right now!... Go back to that your evil aunty, Obiageli!... That devil who sent you to come and wreck my home! Tell her you did not succeed, ehn!!! #clap!... Tell her you didn't succeed!!!"

"Please... Hhh... Aunty, please... I swear! #SNIFFS... I didn't do anything wrong... please... I swear! #SNIFFS... I'm telling you the truth ..." Uju cries out, while Amara storms back inside to get her things.
In the heat of the drama, Yusuf runs out from the backyard, "Ah ah!...Wetin dey happen??? "
Uju replies in bitter tears, "...Na aunty oh... I swear!... He raped me!... He raped me!... He raped meee!!!... #SNIFFS... Oh God...!"
A few minutes later, Amara storms out with Uju's rickety ghana-must-go bag, after making sure not to pack any of the new clothes or shoes she had bought for her. She only packed the few rags Uju brought from Imo State. And while breathing heavily, she flings it at Uju, "... I don't EVER...want to see your stupid face here again!... Yusuf!!!... See her out!" Then she storms back into the house.

"Aunty Pleease!!... I swear!!!... I am innocent. He raped me!!!... Oh God!..." Uju keeps screaming sorrowfully, but to no avail.

Doing as instructed, Yusuf walks up to her, picks up her ghana-must-go and goes to dump it outside the gate. Thereafter, he returns for Uju who is still sitting on the floor and crying profusely.
"Sisi!... Madam say make you comot o. " he says earnestly, while tapping her shoulder. But Uju just keeps crying on the floor, afterwhich he taps again; more violently this time, "Abeg... I no want wahala!... Just stand up now, make you dey comot!"
Upon hearing Yusuf's words and knowing that he would definitely become violent if she did not leave, Uju sniffs in again and then slowly gets up from the floor. Afterwards, she looks at him in sorrowful agony, before gradually heading outside the gate.

Back in the house, Amara keeps frantically searching for her brown purse. When she finds it, she opens the inner zip and brings out a bundle of cash, from which she selects seven one-thousand-naira notes. Then she flings the purse on her bed and rushes back out of the house. Upon getting outside the gate, she sees Uju sitting on the concrete pavement beside it while crying profusely. Then she yells at her, "Oya, take oo!!!... This is seven thousand naira! Use it as your bus fare to Imo State! Biko... Get away from my house! Get away from my family! Get away from my life!... I never want to set eyes on you again!"
Thereafter, she throws the small wad of cash at Uju's face and goes back inside the house, making sure to forcefully lock the iron bolt of the gate behind her.

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GLOSSARY
Oya!!! - Quickly!!!
Biko- Please
"Wetin dey happen???"- "What is going on?"
".....Madam say make you comot o! "- ".....The madam said you should leave!"
"Abeg... I no want wahala!... Just stand up now, make you dey comot!"- "Please... I don't want any trouble!... You'd better stand up and leave now!"