WHIPS

The loud cries of Temi; one of my neighbor’s 8 years old son woke me from my deep sleep. “Mummy please! Mummy Please!! The boy cried on and begged his mother who kept on serving him more lashes of her strong koboko. She probably wasn’t listening to the pleas of her son even as it increased with every lash he received. I managed to pull myself up from my comfortable bed and moved towards the door. “You are not going to beg that woman to stop flogging her son, her you” I heard Tola; my wife say from the bed. I paused and turned “Well, we shouldn’t just lay and listen as she tries to kill her son” I said “It’s you that know o, go if you like, It’s her son anyway” she said and rolled over, turning her back towards me. I decided to ignore her and progressed to open the door and headed to the living room from where I exited to the compound. I took a minute to admire the beautiful sky and the sun that was just rising. 

The consistent heavy screams of the boy upstairs brought me back to reality and my purpose of standing outside so early in the morning. I walked to the door that granted access to the stairwell where is the stairs laid and climbed up in the dark to the first floor, knocked the door but received no response. “By the way, is Mr. James not at home that he would allow his wife beat their son so much?” I asked myself as I continued knocking and received no response then suddenly everything went quiet! 

“What could have happened?” I whispered and placed my ears on the door attentively but could hardly ear a sound. As I was about resuming knocking the door, I heard Mrs. James Voice but couldn’t understand what she was saying has she spoke in a low tone. I grew more curious and this time I knocked, a little bit more harder this time around “Oh God, I hope its not what I think just happened that happened” I thought as I kept knocking the door ignoring the pain I received with each punch I gave the door. 

“Mrs. James, please open this door, what happened? Open this door” I cried out but could only hear her wailing. “My God why?” she cried out in tears. I became restless and curiosity grew, then I heard the door to the stair well open and heard Tola’s voice from downstairs “Honey, is everything ok” she asked

“I don’t think so dear, I think the worst has happened” I said 

“My God” She panicked and rushed up the stairs and joined me in banging the door. After what seemed like hours, we eventually heard the turn of key, then the door opened.

“Tell my husband am sorry, I didn’t mean it” Mrs. James said as she stood at the door with are watery eyes, before we could say anything, she had slumped onto the floor and vomiting white foamy liquid. As her body became lifeless an empty little brown bottle rolled out of her palms. “Oh no!” Tola gasped. I quickly moved close to her, checked her pulse but got a negative response. 

“Honey, look” Tola spoke then turned my direction towards the lifeless body of the Temi that laid on the floor in a pool of blood. “Tola, get me my phone please, we need to call the police and Mr. James”

The investigation by the police and revelation by her husband made us know that she was flogging her son because he had bed wetted. A case which she had always despised and always flog him because he disobeyed her advices of learning to wake up in the middle of the night whenever he felt like peeing and always flog him occasionally as punishment but today seem to be her last and pitifully, Temi’s last. The accident was what made her commit suicide. “But is that the next thing?” I asked myself