Silent Tears

  ***

  The sound of her roommate coming into the room woke her up. She jerked up and glanced at her bedside clock, it was some minutes to four. She'd slept all day and missed her lectures.

  “Ireti, are you alright? You look terrible,” her second roommate Dunni said as she dropped her school bag on her bed.

  “I am fine, just coming down with a little fever.” She quickly rose up and went to the balcony to pick up a bucket and her sponge case. She stepped out of the room to go take her bath.

  By the time she came back from the bathroom, her room was buzzing. Jibike was back from class, together with her two friends, Amaka and Yemisi, and they were talking animatedly. Dunni was also listening to their chat.

  Ireti was irritated. Why wouldn't they go to their own rooms after class? They were always here to gist and eat Jibike's food before going back to their hostels.

  Parasites! She muttered under her breath as she took her clothes from the wardrobe.

  “Girls, my eyes witnessed the unspeakable last night.” Yemisi clapped her hands in derision. “I was at the Faculty of Admin. basement with my friend IBK. You know that place is dimly lit you can hardly make out people’s faces?”

  The others nodded and waited in anticipation. Yemisi was always full of news.

  “Na so we hear wham!” She gesticulated with her hands. “A guy just slapped a girl who was obviously his girlfriend.”

  “Ehn ehn? Seriously?” Jibike hung her mouth open.

  “You don’t mean it?” Amaka shook her head.

  “Yes, for real o. We just began to hear the guy shout, 'Slut, idiot, what did you do with all the money I gave you?'” Yemisi said. “The girl just kept saying, ‘You slapped me? You slapped me?’ He just walked out on her and went towards the Faculty of Education.”

  “Sho!” exclaimed Amaka. “Over my dead body will a guy slap me and get away with it.”

  Ireti stiffened.

  “Ha, you haven't even heard the end of the story,” Yemisi replied. “I thought that would be the end. I was really vexed within me and lamenting to IBK but you know what, he took it with a pinch of salt and told me to just watch, that the girl would soon go and beg him. He he,” Yemisi clapped her hands again. “As if by magic, she stood up and went after the guy. In less than ten minutes, they walked back together, holding hands and laughing.”

  “Yepa! That girl is the most stupid person I have ever heard of in this life,” Jibike said.

  “Abi o,” Yemisi agreed.

  “Stupid ke? She isn't just stupid, she is dumb, blind and deaf. Go to beg a guy after abusing you? Tufiakwa, over my dead body.” Amaka snapped her fingers over her head.

  “You know, IBK told me that he was sure that wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last,” Yemisi said.

  “But come to think of it, girls, why do some ladies allow themselves to be abused continually by a guy, someone you are not married to for that matter? I have heard several stories like this and the number of deaths resulting from abuse is climbing up every day.” Dunni spoke up for the first time.

  Ireti felt exposed. It was as if they were talking about her, slashing her wounds open and laying it out on the table for discussion. She wanted to walk away yet she wanted to hear what they all had to say. She wondered how many of them were in a good relationship. Or maybe they were just pretenders like her who portrayed to the whole world that she was in a wonderful relationship.

  “If a guy should try that with me eh, I will just aim for his crotch and squeeze the life out of him.” She heard Amaka say in a high-pitched voice as if she was quarrelling with someone. Ireti cringed on the inside.

  “I think a girl stays in an abusive relationship because she thinks she has given her all and can't survive without the guy. Verbal and physical abuse destroys a girl’s self-esteem and she becomes easily intimidated especially if she had slept with the guy in question,” Yemisi said.

  “Don't mind them jo, some girls stay because of the sexual prowess of the guy. Nonsense!” Amaka waved her hands in dismissal.

  “If a guy slaps a girl while they are still dating, trust me, she is going to become a punching bag by the time they get married,” Jibike said.

  “Abi o,” the girls agreed.

  That was enough for Ireti. She felt like screaming at them to stop. Instead, she picked up her shoulder bag and walked out of the room.