Josephine and Karen have been best friends for years. They attended different schools, but they met years ago at a summer camp. They became quick friends and became very close. Their families became somewhat close too, and frequently visited each other.
Josephine started noticing Karen’s dad’s strange behavior towards her. She thought it was all in her head, however. One day, Jo went to Karen’s house after school, and only Karen’s dad was around. She wanted to go back home, but he told her to wait, and he started a conversation with her.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”, he asked.
“No sir”, she replied.
“Very good”, he said, “don’t have a boyfriend o. These boys are useless”.
She nodded.
“Have you kissed a boy before?”, he asked.
Jo was confused. “What sort of question is this?”, she thought to herself. She nodded in response to the question.
“How did it feel?, did you like it?”, he asked.
Jo started to get scared. “I have to go now, sir”, she said and stood up. “Tell Karen I came to look for her”, she said and she left.
That night, Jo was online Downloading songs and chatting with her friends when a WhatsApp text came into her phone, from Karen’s dad. She was bewildered, and wondered what he wanted. She opened it, and saw a ” hey fine girl ” text. She replied “good evening sir”. That was how the texting started. At first he would ask about school, her day and her family, but it graduated to something more. He started talking sexually, asking how many boys she’d kissed and if any boy had ver touched her breasts. Jo was scared, and even more scared when he started disturbing her to meet him at the local eatery. He also told her he masturbated to pictures of her, and she was a very sexy girl. Jo was too scared to tell anyone however, and thought it best to avoid Karen’s house and father.
One day, on Jo’s way back from school, she passed Karen’s house and Karen’s parents were outside. Jo breezed past them without greeting. Karen’s mother was amazed.
“Is that not Josephine?”, she asked her husband.
“She is the one”, he replied.
“Why didn’t she greet us?”, she asked again, confused
“I don’t know for her oh.”
“Nawa o”
“If you notice, she has not been coming here anymore. She is now growing wings.”, he said, pretending not to be the reason for Jo’s behavior.
“I’ll talk to Karen about it”, Karen’s mother concluded.
True to her word, Karen’s mother talked to Karen about Jo’s behavior, and Karen, in turn, confronted Jo.
“What’s your problem, Jojo?”, Karen asked when she got to Jo’s house.
“What do you mean?”, Jo asked, confused.
“You never come to my house anymore, you don’t greet my parents, and when they call you, you don’t answer. Why?”, Karen asked.
“Nothing”
“Nothing? So you are being rude for nothing”
“No”
“Then talk”
“I can’t”
“I see. You don’t want to be my friend anymore abi?”
“It’s not that”
“Then what?”
“I can’t tell you”
“Tell me”
“No”
“Tell me, or I’ll leave here and that will be the end of our friendship.”, Karen said with a tone of finality that scared Jo.
Jo knew she had to tell Karen the truth. “Karen , it’s your dad. He is telling me things, looking at me somehow. See”, Jo said as she gave Karen her phone to read her chat with Karen’s dad.
Karen sat down and read the chat, almost crying. “I am sorry”, she told Jo.
“Don’t be”, Jo said.
“You’re not the first person he’s tried this with”, Karen confessed, embarrassed.
Jo was shocked.
“My father is a monster”, Karen began, “he’s tried this with some of my other friends in the past. He even raped our former house help and we had to send her back.”
Jo’s eyes widened in horror and she covered her mouth with her hands to prevent herself from screaming.
“That’s not all” Karen continued, “he tried to rape me once before.”
“What?!” Jo screamed. “I locked myself in my room and he almost broke down the door”, Karen started crying. Jo went to her side to comfort her.
“It will all be okay.”, Jo said.
Jo and Karen’s friendship became even stronger after that, and Karen stood by Jo’s decision to stay away from her house. Karen’s father however did not deter from his pedophilic ways. Karen stopped taking friends home. He tried, once more, to rape Karen, but he did not succeed. Karen’s mother had to take Karen to live with a family friend. Karen’s father was very angry about this, and threatened to stop paying Karen’s fees and bills if she did not come back home. Karen stayed where she was, and he, in turn, kept his word. Karen became solely her mother’s responsibility.
Angered by this, the matter was taken to court by Karen and her mother. They hoped the judge would rule in their favor, and make Karen’s father accept his responsibilities. At first, the case was majorly he-said-she-said, as Karen’s father denied all the allegations. Karen then remembered Jo’s chats with her father, and decided to present it as evidence against him. Karen asked Jo for permission, and Jo obliged. With the new evidence that came to light, the judge had no option but to rule in Karen and her mother’s favour. Karen was allowed to stay in her cousin’s house, and her mother was also granted divorce from her father, and he was still to pay #50,000 to her every month for the upkeep of the children till the last child turned eighteen.
Two months later, Jo and Karen were walking home from a friends house and they were reliving memories.
“I’m just glad I’m as far away from that man as possible”, Karen said.
“Thank God”, Jo said, and they laughed.
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