Skipping rope, Rufi cursed her rapist, Henry, and everyone who had ever hurt her. She was only one word away from cursing the world at large.
Henry had caused her nightmares to return, he brought back old memories, humiliated her and she was not prepared to forgive him.
.....
How Rufi found her way back into Hen's bar she had no explanation for, but here she was boiling meat in the kitchen she had sworn never to return to. If anybody had forced her or talked her into coming back she couldn't remember.
"So you realised you have to come back" Henry said joining her in the kitchen.
"Only because i have no other choice"
"Then you've got to stay on my terms"
"Don't come near me Henry!" She threatened "Not if you value your life"
Finding her threat amusing he laughed "What could you possibly do 'ma petite' "
Just two steps and it earned him hot water down his face.
Henry was not expecting it. He screamed in surprise and pain, someone new in the bar came to his aid, that person also called the police.
Rufi stood frozen as the fallout of her action became obvious.
"You are under arrest" the police said.
"What!" She gasped in horror "No! I was only trying to defend myself, he was going to hurt me "
Oh no! I'll go to jail, I'll die in the hands of some Monster!
"No!" She screamed.
"Rufi, wake up!" Maria shook her awake.
Opening her eyes to the dark room she realised she was having a nightmare. Again.
"They were going to put me in jail" she panted.
"It's ok" Maria soothed her.
Maria continued stroking her until she fell back asleep.
......
"I spoke with Henry and he's really sorry about what happened" Victor told Maria as they ate lunch during her break at work.
"What did you tell him exactly?"
"That he should stay away from Rufi, she has more than her share of misfortunes already he needn't add more"
"I don't think I want Rufi there anymore" Maria stroke his sleeve affectionately."You know she's been having nightmares since then"
"No worries! I told him if he wanted her back then he'll have to respect her and he agreed"
"I'll tell her when I get home, but its still her decision to make"
"Sure"
...........
"You've got to sign this" Maria told Henry extending the sheet to him.
"What for" he eyed it suspiciously.
"Here, go through it"
Reading through the sheet understanding downed on him. When he said he was sorry he meant it, but he understood them, no one just understood him, still if signing this will put their minds to rest so be it.
"Where do I sign?"
"Here" Victor showed him where to sign at the end of the page.
"so-o" Henry cleared his throat and faced Rufi awkwardly
"Rufiina, I'm very sorry about what happened, I promise it would not happen again."
Rufi noded in responds.
"She'll resume on Monday" Victor informed him "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Oh no! Not at all"
"Alright then, see you Monday morning"
**********
"Tell me, what did your Nanny do when she found out you were pregnant?"
Rufi had resumed that morning and her shift in the kitchen was over so she and Victor were having a chat.
"My Nana knew every thing from the start" Rufi smiled sadly remembering how she had made her Nanny promise to tell no one.
"She found out the moment I got home tattered, besides she was the only one I could open up to... You know one thing my father did? The bastard sent Nana to the store with my mother the day he banished me"
"You mean you did not get to say goodbye to your Nanny?"
Her tears dropped "Exactly, i am sure Nana would have cried her eyes out when she got back home to see i was gone"
Victor gave her his handkerchief.
"Thanks" she murmured.
"How did you get to Lagos?"
Rufi thought of how her father had told her that fateful day that he does not want to set his eyes on her, ever again. The hatred she'd seen in his eyes that day had scared her shitless.
"He asked his driver to take me anywhere I wanted to go, so i went to the bank, took enough money to get to Nigeria and booked the next flight to Lagos"
Victor had never heard of anything like that before. "He sent his own child on exile?"
"You see Victor my father was raised in a twisted family" she smiled sadly "he was brought up to not respect the female gender, to not even regard them, in the Browns' Family, their women are object, they believe women are worthless, as far as they are concerned their women are to do their bidding, give them pleasure, bear them male children and appear in public as the perfect wife" she wiped a lone tear
"l brought shame to him by getting pregnant and---"
"Shame my foot" he cut in "You were raped Rufi!" He stressed. The man was messed up alright! But victor hated this guilt-consciousness of Rufi's.
"Rufina listen, what your father was suppose to do was to take you to the right authorities and file a case of juvenile rape, not send you packing"
"He never believed I was raped"
"I swear Rufi, if I see that father of yours I'll ------" he slammed his fist on the table in rage.
"Victor, my father is an influential man, every one want to know about him, I was going tarnish that image, his perfect life"
"To hell with influence! What is he by the way? President of Ghana?"
Rufi smiled sadly "No, he is not the president of Ghana, my father is the owner of Browns' banking limited"
Shock was not close to victor's feelings at the moment " you-you mean you are Dr. Alexander Brown's daughter?"
Browns' banking limited was a 21st century bank that was spreading all over Africa, The CEO Alex Brown was known to be kind, loving and very considering. It never occurred to Victor that he'd be the exact opposite at home.
"Hmmm" he huffed "I don't even know what to say anymore, but rest assured you now have an older brother who is always ready for baby talk" he said remembering her comment about her brother.
"I know" she smiled "Plus an older sister who will kick asses for me"
"that's the spirit girl.
***************
It was a cool Sunday evening so Victor, Rufi, Maria and, Ana-Blaire went strolling. It had rained all day which meant the road was wet and slippery, one good thing though was that the rain washed away the hot weather they had suffered since Tuesday.
"A cool day for a cool chat" victor commented idly.
Knowing victor for who he was Maria knew that statement wasn't the least bit idle, Victor was bored and wanted to converse.
"Why don't you just keep quite and enjoy the stroll" she replied him.
Both hands raised in surrender "As your lordship pleases" he saluted "but hey! Whatever happened to the theory that girls love to talk?"
"You said it yourself 'girls' not ladies, we are ladies not girls" Rufi chipped in.
"A lady at fifteen?" Victor laughter
"Well, a potential lady" Maria snorted.
"Yeah, a potential lady" she giggled.
"Potential indeed" Victor muttered.
The silence settled back in but did not last as Rufi spotted a group of Latinos walking out of a compound.
"Hey look! What are they looking for?"
"I can't say for sure, but I think that man owns the land"
" He's been allowing it fallow all this years!" Maria wowed.
"How many hectares is this land?" Rufi asked.
"15, 20? I am not sure which, rumor has it, he bought it for his son"
They watched a little before heading back home.
************************
"I'll be travelling to Accra next week" Henry told Rufi and Victor "To spend sometime with my family, I'll be gone for two months"
"Hope all is well?" Rufi asked
"Sure I just want to spend time with them, be with my family."
"OK. Have a save journey"
"Thank you, i will. Hope you two know you'll be the boss around here while am gone"
"No problem with that" Victor replied.
Rufi was curious, since the near-rape case Henry had changed, like totally transformed, now he was going to see a family he had never mentioned before.
Henry McKenna was a whole deal.