The Irresponsible Room

By Ongwa Wakilongo

Lisa was a young, beautiful girl of 14 years old. She had gorgeous eyes, a pointed nose, a dark complexion, and a dimple on her cheek. She lived with her stepfather, mother, and two siblings. 

Her stepfather was a computer engineer and owned a car rental station. Her mother had nothing to do for her income generation.  However, Lisa’s stepfather didn’t love or care for Lisa. Lisa’s mother fell in love with this man because of her lower economic status, as she could not provide for her family’s needs.

Lisa was learning at a school near their village in Form 1 with a great passion to become a computer engineer, as inspired by her stepfather, but she didn’t know how. She always found it hard to continue with her education because of school fees.

One day, Lisa heard a knock on her door. “Lisa, open the door,” said the stepfather.

“What are you looking for this early morning?” Lisa asked.

The stepfather replied, “I have come to check up on you, my lovely daughter.” 

Lisa surprisingly opened the door for her stepfather. The stepfather put Lisa on his lap, pretending to show care and love, which Lisa had never felt from him before.

He escorted her to school and gave her some pocket money for her lunch and transportation for her return home. Lisa appreciated and started to view her stepfather as responsible and loving compared to how people talked about him: people said that he used to sleep with young girls for money and procure abortions when they became pregnant.

Lisa became very happy and hardworking at school to make her father proud.

Days later, on December 22, Lisa’s stepfather called and asked her to ask for anything she wanted for her 15th birthday party. And it should be as expensive as she likes. 

Lisa said she wanted a dress and a pink handbag . She ordered the things she preferred for that day.

“Thank you, my queen, for the request, but I think that is too small for you to make. I would give you a sea of diamonds and all the prosperity of this world if you wanted,” the stepfather replied with a nice smile on his face. 

Lisa became very happy. She told all her friends about the behavioral change in her stepfather and all the items he had purchased for her birthday.

The friends became excited for her because of her caring father.

 

 

Lisa’s mother, too, admired the good deeds of her husband toward her daughter. But she doubted how he could have changed so suddenly. 

On the day of the party, Lisa went with her stepfather to town for enjoyment and the celebration of the day. The stepfather told Lisa’s mother to remain home and take care of other children since he wanted to enjoy being with her own daughter alone. They enjoyed it, played different games, and the most interesting part is that they went to visit a zoo, where Lisa had a chance to see a lot of animals she had never dreamed of seeing. When it came time to return home, it was already 22 hours at night, so Lisa’s stepfather booked a hotel for them to rest and begin their journey back home the next morning. Lisa’s mother never worried about her daughter because she thought Lisa was with the right person.

Lisa was exhausted after she had finished having fun and asked her father to accompany her to rest. Unexpectedly, Lisa found out that her stepfather booked one room for them, yet he gave her the keys to her own room and said he had booked two rooms. Her father said it was because he was scared to let her sleep alone at that strange place for security reasons. Moreover, she trusted him. While preparing to go to bed, Lisa went to the bathroom to relieve herself, but all of a sudden she lost consciousness and fell in the bathroom. And her stepfather rushed in to take her out.

Lisa’s stepfather rejoiced that his plans would soon be accomplished. He had put Valium drugs into Lisa’s drink to make things easy. He brought Lisa from the bathroom and brought her directly to bed. With no pity, he undressed Lisa and had sex with her; he broke her virginity. Lisa got up screaming to the last note of her voice, but only blood was oozing between her legs. 

“Why have you done this to me? I thought you had changed. I called you father, I respected you, and now this is the return,” Lisa said angrily while tears were flowing down her cheeks.

She tried to jump down from the bed and start her journey home, but she did not manage because of pain and bleeding.

“Get back to bed, stupid; do you think I could do this to you?” the stepfather replied furiously while pretending to cry in order to prove to Lisa that what he was saying was true. 

 The stepfather explained that he was outside to pay the bill for the rooms and all the food they ate when he heard the screaming, that is when he rushed to the room to save her.  “I was on top of you trying to calm you down, and fortunately, I fought the people who tried to rape you to death and they all ran away. You have to thank me for that.” 

Lisa’s stepfather tried to blind her from knowing that he was the perpetrator. He warned and frightened Lisa to keep it a secret and never to tell anyone because the people who raped her were dangerous, and once they heard their news published, she could be killed. He also promised to pay her school fees and provide her with anything she needed only if the secret was kept closed, and whatever happened to her should be addressed to the stepfather and no one else. 

Lisa had no choice but to accept her stepfather’s decision because, in their culture, a child is to be protected at all costs and is not to argue with an older person.

Lisa’s father went to the pharmacy to buy medicines for her to gain strength. They stayed at the hotel for two days to allow Lisa to recover before departing on the third day for home.

Upon reaching home, Lisa’s mother noticed a change in her daughter’s walking.

“Let Lisa walk properly!” the mother shouted curiously.

Lisa explained everything to her mother and said that her father was the one responsible. However, her mother did not trust all she said and also warned her to keep it a secret and not to condemn her father.  Her mother was afraid to support her daughter because her husband would leave her for not trusting him. This made Lisa remain quiet and she became depressed as days went by.

Three months later, around midnight, Lisa’s stepfather got into her room and told her he would call those people who raped her at the hotel immediately if she refused to have sex with him. She accepted for fear of being killed, but she was very angry about this.

This did not stop there; Lisa’s stepfather took advantage of the situation and continued sleeping with his  daughter, and they had to obtain abortions in secret every time Lisa was discovered pregnant. Lisa became traumatized and developed a violent attitude toward every male creature she saw.

One night, Lisa had a certain feeling that her stepfather was coming over to her room. She prepared a sharp knife to end her lifelong problem. Possibly, the stepfather got in the room and wanted to start his usual affairs. Lisa was already prepared. She took out a knife and stabbed her father repeatedly until he died.

Lisa started crying after seeing that her father was dead. She screamed and asked for help from anyone around. Lisa’s mother moved from her room to Lisa’s to see what was wrong with her.

When she entered the room, she started crying as she could not believe what she saw. She asked Lisa why have you done this to your father? Lisa could not respond; she was shivering and full of fear while holding a knife full of blood in her hands. After some hours Lisa explained to her mother everything that had been happening between her and her stepfather. Lisa’s mother cried for pity and regretted why she did not listen or support her daughter at first.

She told her daughter again not to tell anyone about what happened. The next morning Lisa’s mother woke up early and prepared a suitable place behind their house. They buried her husband there.

21 December, 2022