Jessica’s Point of View.
“One day, Brad came back to me laying inside the bathtub, trying to slit my wrist, what saved me was my shaky hands and the fact that I couldn’t find the right artery, he took the knife from me and bound me, gagging me too so as not to alert you ”
I remembered that one time that my aunt went missing for a few days and when I saw her later, she had a bandage around her wrist and when I asked she said it was an injection she took, during that time, their room makes thudding noise but I never got too close because her husband was hovering around the door, if I had known but I was still small what would I have known to do or done, nothing…
“He went to market one day and came back with a baby powder and asked me to sniff, I did and all my body seemed to wake up again, from sniffing to me inhaling, I got better when the powder is there and not when it isn’t, perhaps he goes through slot of trouble getting it so it wasn’t always around, and I got irritated and it was on such occasions that I first hit you”
Benita’s POV (Jessica’s aunt)
Coming here was out of desperation for forgiveness, I just got of rehab and I still have the house my sister, Jessica’s mum left behind, the house was in my name but the day I was sent to rehab and Jessica was brought out from the hospital I didn’t claim the house, perhaps I had a little bit of sanity left then so I felt sorry for her.
Am proud of what she had become, I wasn’t expecting forgiveness when I came here, I was even expecting her to throw me out like she did and never see me again but she didn’t do so, she still gave me money and her car keys and that made me greedy to hope she forgives me.
Sitting here and telling her about what happened then was killing me inside but I had to, she deserve to know that I didn’t do it because I wanted to, I won’t totally blame the drugs because I thought she was the cause of my own child’s demise, Brad had drilled it into my unconscious state that she was the cause of it.
“When I hit you, Brad would give me the drugs, I wasn’t myself at all, I don’t even know my own name, if I don’t take the drugs, my whole body feels disoriented, painful, suffocating and unbearable, but when I do I feel relieved and my sanity returns, Brad developed a sadistic behaviour of making me beat you and sometimes would join me, when I don’t he wouldn’t give me the drugs, when my sanity is back I will be wanting to stop whatever I was doing but I never worked how I wanted it, when I tried reporting him to the authorities he used a new drugs on me, it was what killed my baby, which in turn set me lose, he tortured me into believing you are the cause of my baby’s death, i know it wasn’t true but i couldn’t control myself, i think it was God’s will that you had to be taken to the hospital that day by our neighbour because that was your saving grace, and mine too”
I took a sip of water and took the opportunity to look at herself, I have been at rehab and a therapist office throughout the years and I guess this was the closure I needed, to make things right by the one person I really committed evil against, I continued my story
“When the police investigated everything, Brad was arrested and the drugs he was using on me was seized and experimented on, it was actually a miracle I survived said the doctor, but quitting it will be an issue so in order to quit it without harming myself, I was given the drugs in smaller quantities till I was okay then because they tried quitting it by force and my heart and brain nearly stopped functioning so I was given smaller quantities till I could be without it and then I stayed with a therapist, they really helped me, I still have nightmares of my maltreatment of you dear, so I know you had it worse, if I hadn’t trusted that monster, my child and you wouldn’t had ended up the way you two did, and am very ashamed of myself for everything ”
I couldn’t bear the heartache anymore and I burst into tears, I wasn’t easy for me to tell this story, Jessica hugged me to my shock and astonishment and patted my back, (oh what a sweet child and I did this to her), I sobbed more.
After I have collected myself, I drank some water to clear my already damaged throat and that’s when Jessica spoke up,
“So where are you going to stay? What are you doing now?”
“I still have a house under my name, not your mother’s but my own and I plan on looking for a job at a company”
“Okay, you can stay in mum’s house, it’s yours anyway, she gave it to you, about the job, I heard Xavier’s company had an opening, you should go there and apply”
“Who? Me? No way, that company is hard to get employed into, I wouldn’t make it to the top hundred anyway so nope, thank you ”
“No way, whatever happened you are my aunt and even though we had bad blood between us, it wasn’t your fault it happened and I won’t let you suffer more, I will talk to Xavier, you can go there anytime within the week and you can stay here till you want to leave”
“Okay, thank you a lot for your forgiveness and consideration, I really appreciate but before I start a fresh, there is somewhere I must go”