She has always been a rude girl.
Even at just age 7, her mouth is sharper than a razor blade.
Many times when she was sent on errands and she passed in front of our house, she would throw insults at me and run away. For no reason at all.
One day I was just sitting quietly on the steps outside our house and she was passing, she looked at me, kept staring and when I asked her why she couldn’t greet her elders, she brought out her tongue and called me names. When I attempted to run after her, she fled. I told her that one day, I would catch her and give her the beating of her life.
Another time, I was eating biscuit and she begged me to give her some and I said no because you see, this girl is a nasty child. The next thing she did was to pack sand and throw at me and she then ran away!
What kind of human being is that?
So that is why I haboured a lot of hatred for that child.
I am just a 16-years old girl and I did not do much schooling. I dropped out of secondary school when I failed to pass my JSS3 exams. I did it twice but I am not one of those who have a head for school. All I wanted to do was trade, sell things with my aunty at the main market. I sometimes stayed in her shop while she goes to do other businesses.
My parents are dead. I never met my father, I was told he died before I was born and as for my mother, she died many years ago, which is why I have been living with my aunty, my mother’s senior sister.
I am also not a wayward girl; I stay where you put me, the only time I got into trouble was when some boys in our area, I think they are cult boys, were creating trouble and I pointed out one of them when police came. That is all, since then, I haven’t had any trouble with anyone.
What did I do to the girl?
Ok, so you see, like I said before, the girl is a very rude girl. After the many times she was rude to me, I decided I would catch her one day and deal with her, so that she would not be rude to me again.
So that day, I lured her with biscuit. I was going on an errand for my aunty when I saw her. I brought out the biscuit from my pocket and offered it to her. At first, I saw was suspicious but I told her that I bought the biscuit to give her since I didn’t give her biscuit the last time she begged me for it. She came towards me and then I grabbed her; that’s how I got her.
So I dragged her to one bush path, where few people often pass and I slapped her, I told her that if she cried out, I would kill her and dispose of her body and nobody would ever find her again.
Yes, she began to cry and was even threatening me some more, that her brother would come find me, that he would kill me, that her parents would find out where she was and I would be in trouble. She was not even begging for her life. So I beat her some more. Then I stripped her naked and did what I did.
What I did?
I pushed my fingers into her vagina until she cried out and begged me. I knew that would be painful because I have experienced it from one man in our area; he took me to the bush and did the same thing to me sometimes back. He pushed his fingers repeatedly and he used his manhood to push into me after that and it was very painful; so I know how painful it is that’s why I did it to the girl.
Ok, I stopped when I saw blood coming out, I removed my fingers and told her not to tell anyone or else I would waylay her another time and do it again.
I wanted her to feel pain and afterwards be scared of me like I was scared of the man; even though he has done it to me many times now, I am still afraid of him and I can’t even tell my aunty; anytime he comes around our shop or house, I run away.
I swear, I didn’t know the hole will be that deep inside of her. I just wanted to teach her a lesson because she has always been rude to me.
I heard she reported me to her brother and her brother came to our house, he slapped me and the pain was so much I told him what I did.He was so angry that he dragged me to the police station, that’s how I got here.
And now they say I am a lesbian
(Series written and edited by Peju Akande and based on true stories)