Maybe it was my fault
entirely from the very beginning, maybe I was selfish or maybe I just wanted
that adventure more than my willingness to sacrifice my desire for hers; I
can’t tell. I just hated myself for everything. They say; “the older you grow, the more
you understand that relationship is more than just holding of hands “; True!
But I leant that the hard way years ago.
Falling in love with my dream girl was
all I had ever wished for and Debbie was more than I could wish for when I blow
my birthday candles. One that very day, I went down on one knee and said:
“Life has been so beautiful for me
ever since you walked into it two years ago in that Christmas party. Prior to
that day, I always felt I was happy but I was wrong; loving you everyday has taken
me into a realm of unsearchable happiness and joy I had never thought about.
You complete me in every facet and I keep wondering what life would have been
like without you. Babe, I want to wake up every day and this face will be the
only expression of life I will see as the sun rises on it and exposes the
immeasurable beauty God has deposited in a mortal being. The only way I can
make this possible is by asking you from the depth of my soul to give up your
last name and pick mine up. Deborah Awujobi, will you marry me and be the only
mother of my children?”
She was motionless and in tears all
throughout my rehearsed proposal speech and she couldn’t help but say;
“Yes, a thousand times Yes, I will
marry you Dan”
My face lighted up as a thunderous applaud
rose in the hall where I just interrupted a dinner. I rose up and slip the
silver ring I was holding into her finger and she kissed me with so much elan
that I had never seen in her.
Deborah which I often called Debbie
was a sweet young lady, not has adventurous as I was but she always respected
my opinion about things and I sure wasn’t in any doubt about getting married to
a lady with so much humility and character and soon after that proposal, she
kept to her promise and married me in from of five hundred guest including
family and friends. All my family members and friends said I made a good pick;
of course that was evident because her beauty was one of a kind and her
character; Impeccable.
We seldom argue about issues but one
Issue was a bone of contention before we got married and that was the location
for our honey moon. She wanted the usual: a hotel with luxurious stuffs and a
well furnish room. I on the other hand was a bit too ambitious. I wanted my
grandpa’s Shack somewhere off civilization. I felt it was going to be romantic;
just me and her, no friends nor family around and no one in particular only if special
services were needed. The shack was quite a distance from the city and isolated
beside a lake, so I thought it was the perfect spot for our honeymoon, just
like the movies. So after much persuasion, she reluctantly agreed and I won! I
just wish I never won that argument. Oh! I wish...
I had the place renovated a bit, some
weeks before our wedding, and immediately after the reception; we drove 50miles
to our honeymoon location into a prepared home for two. My bestman, Lex, was
our driver for that day and on getting to the Shack, he left us and found his
way back to the city. That night we had passionate sex; something I waited for
all throughout our courtship for two years. It was all that I imagined, all
that I bargained for. She was finally my wife and I was too happy for words to
quantify. We slept in each other’s arms through the night and I woke up with so
much love vibes all over my being and quickly fixed a meal for her. She opened
her eyes to a bouquet and smiled with so much adoration for me. I could tell
that she felt on top of the world. I felt out of this world.
“Last night was sensational” I said. She
blushed and said;
“Naughty boy, you were a beast last
night” I leered at her and she said;
“Go away joor!” and we both laughed
about it. After breakfast we went for another round of vigorous sex and this
time, she was voracious. After a short rest, we headed out to the lake and both
sat by the water, we talked, joked about the wedding and all the dance steps we
saw. We laughed, kissed, and played a little bit and before we knew it, the day
was far spent. So we headed back to the Shack.
One our way down the path that led to
our temporary home, I noticed that something wasn’t right as we walked between
the trees just some meters to the Shack. I paused and looked back but saw nothing.
Debbie looked me in the face while holding my hand with a firm grip and said;
“Is anything the matter?” she said
inquisitively
“I have this strange feeling that we
are being followed” being a little bit apprehensive she responded;
“Followed? You know we haven’t seen
anyone out in this woods since we got here so I don’t think there is anyone out
there, I guess”
I could sense fear in her voice so I
decided to let my instinct pass and held her close while we proceeded back to
the Shack. Soon the sun was setting and we both watched sitting on a wooden
rocking chair with her head careful placed on my broad chest and my fingers running
through her hair like a plough in a fine soil as I whispered sweet nonsense into
her ears and she laughed uncontrollably to my words. Soon it was dark and we
had to go to bed after we had dinner. We said goodnight, joked a bit and soon
fell asleep.
At about 1am I suddenly woke up, my
eyes were heavy but still I had this weird feeling all over me that I couldn’t
explain. I didn’t want to wake Debbie up so I walked to the living room and
turned on the light. Everything was fine so I turned it off. I was about to
head back to the bedroom when I heard a noise outside like a Old radio set trying
to pick up a faint signal. I tried to turn on the light and it didn’t come up,
the whole power in the building was gone. That was strange because, the
generator powering the building was supposed to be up throughout the night, it
was well fueled. as I was still trying to phantom what was going on, I started
hearing Male voices outside the door and what appeared to be a couple of light
ray in front of the building, that was when it dawned on me that we were under
an attack. I ran back to the room and woke Debbie. She quickly regained
consciousness and we found somewhere to hide in the Conner of the room. The building
was surrounded so we couldn’t make our exit. We just remain fixed at the Conner
of the room holding each other so tight. Soon they began to call out for us;
“Come out! We know you are inside, we
saw you during the day”
I whispered to my wife;
“My instinct was right; I knew someone
was following us”
“They started hitting the wooding door
with so much force that after about 30seconds, the door betrayed us and they
were in.
“You better come out on your own
because if we fish you out, it won’t be funny”
So
after listening to the threats for some minutes I whispered to my wife,
“they probably just want money, let us just give them and I’m sure they will leave us”
with
a shaky voice she said;
“Are you sure?” I nodded in
affirmation. Just as we were about to come out from hiding, they opened the
door to the room and found us;
“There you are” and the rest of them
came into the room like a pack of hungry predators. Before I could say a word,
a tall guy among-st them stepped forward and hit me on the forehead; I remember
hitting the floor and I passed out for probably some minutes; when I was
becoming conscious again, I could hear screams in the dark, I couldn’t move my
hand or legs, I was being held back and as the screams became louder I knew
what was going on. My darling Debbie was being Raped by unknown faces. I began
to shout with the little strength I had left, my heart was pounding fast in
fury as I heard them take turns and ripped the love of my life apart bit by
bit; her scream reduced at a point and I knew she had exhausted all her
strength on the struggle with those men. I was powerless and I hated myself for
that. The one I sworn to protect was being ripped apart and I was helpless.
After some minute, I guess they were
all done; I could hear them say:
“That babe is sweet mehn! This chap
has been having all this fun to himself? He is selfish”
One of the walked up to me, held my
head with his hand and I went blank again”
************
My head was heavy as I felt the sun
ray reflect on my face signifying the dawn of the new day. I couldn’t move my body
at first because it was aching all over. Adjacent were I was lying was my wife
barely moving and trying to mutter some words. I soon started remembering what
had happened during the night and my soul was engulfed with pain and rage all
at the same time. I was angry at myself not the men that attacked us. She was right;
we should have stayed in the city. I wanted something that wasn’t cliche and I
got the Unusual.
I tried to call for help some minutes later
with her phone that I guess the attackers didn’t notice even though it was
laying obviously on the floor. I crawled to where she was and held her by the
hand and said;
“Help is on its Way” she was looking
pale and dishearten. She winked and passed out.
Soon the ambulance arrived and we were
taken to the hospital. I kept blaming myself that I messed it all up. My
honeymoon, it was supposed to be perfect; it wasn’t meant to be this way.
Police report later revealed the
attackers were people from the city. They must have being tipped by someone who
still remain unknown till today and amazingly, they didn’t take anything from
the shack that day; they only every from me; my wife’s bride. They ripped her
apart.
Debbie almost gave up on life after
the incident. She underwent several therapy seasons and medical examinations;
she became suicidal and I don’t blame her. It was my entire fault; my love was
the only healing she needed. For weeks after the attack, I couldn’t stand seeing
her. Her presence brought memories; hurtful memories that I was trying to
overcome. But amidst all, I had to forgive myself and ultimately began to
process of receiving her again as she was prior that attack. It was hard and that
was when I learnt to love indeed, not when roses were blue and all was well but
when her tears flowed from the present into an unpleasant past and then I fully
understood that love is more than just holding of hands. Love is sacrifice, and
I was willing to sacrifice all for her. And that was all that mattered.
(The
End)
