“Sister Bimbo,” he called, before realizing that he didn’t know what appropriate prefix to add to her name.
“Sister Bimbo,” he called again. He placed his ear on the door to listen to whatever she had to say. All he heard was the loud song.
He continued knocking softly, calling her name at intervals for five minutes. Femi watched as the tenants, in their fine Sunday clothes left the house in ones and twos. Worried that he might be running late for church, he decided to knock one more time. He put his ear on the door again and was now able to hear the muffled crying. He decided that he couldn’t wait any longer and left for church.
Bimbo’s crying reduced to sniffs. Someone had been knocking for long. Even though her life wasn’t precious to her anymore, she still had an obligation to show up in life. She put off the music box and opened the door, hoping that whoever knocked was still there.
She opened the door into the arms of her newly made hairdresser friend. The “what do you want?” that was lodged in her throat disappeared.
“Were you expecting me? I thought you didn’t care if I would be visiting or not.” Sandra smiled widely, exposing her wide tooth gap.
Bimbo suddenly felt parched.
“You’ve been the one knocking all these while?” she asked.
“Me ke? Nah. I just came and you happened to open before I knocked.”
Bimbo wondered if she had relapsed into hallucination again.
“You don’t want me to come in, do you?” Sandra asked so Bimbo opened the door wider for her to enter the room.
A piece of paper dropped from a hole in the wooden door and onto the floor. She picked it up and read its content.
“Just a full stop.” She mouthed. She closed the door to examine the message. Her hand shook soon after she started reexamination. The message was written in red.
“Are you fine?” Sandra asked, fear written all over her face. Bimbo’s tired face grew pale as her shaking increased. Her face became covered in sweat in seconds.
“I’m, I’m fine,” Bimbo managed to say to Sandra who was now closely looking at her.
“Open the window,” Bimbo said with the little strength in her.
Sandra did her bidding quickly.
Sandra watched in surprise as Bimbo slowly came around and sat weakly on the bed.
“Have you eaten anything this morning?” Sandra asked, wanting to keep Bimbo’s spirit up. Bimbo grabbed her hand instead and squeezed it. “Don’t bother. I fear that I may die soon, so don’t waste your energy. Let me just tell you why so that my death won’t be a waste” Bimbo’s eyes were shut closed as she said this.
“What-what is that?” Sandra asked shakily, fear in her voice. The tension in the room heightened in seconds. She instantly regretted absconding from church.
Sandra decided to leave the room unnoticed. Just before she could act out her thought, she heard Bimbo say “Please sit”. Sandra looked at the sad-smiling Bimbo who still had her eyes closed.
Sandra sat with her hands intertwined and waited for the sad story.
“The man is coming to kill me.” Sandra’s shock-absorbing ability reached its limit and her heart started palpitating wildly when Bimbo said the first sentence.
“He said not to tell anyone about it. He threatened to kill me the moment I told someone and now, he’s coming soon.” She opened her eyes and stared at the asbestos ceiling. “I’m dead,” She concluded.
Sandra’s gaze followed Bimbo’s in raw fear.
“Who did you tell? How did he know you told someone? What exactly is the secret?” a series of questions rushed out of Sandra’s mouth.
“You’re the first person I’d be telling,” Sandra’s questions stopped immediately Bimbo replied.
Without prompt, Bimbo decided to spill everything to her newest friend. Sandra sat calmly with the resolve to listen.
“I happen to be the third child of my divorced parents. My mother was granted custody of the two of us. I remember that things went on smoothly till this man started coming to our house.” Tears spilt down Bimbo’s face as she recounted the memories.
“Even though I don’t know a lot about stepfathers, I know one common story about bad stepfathers,” Sandra cut in.
“If you’re thinking about rape, you’re wrong.” The tremor in Bimbo’s voice didn’t go unnoticed by Sandra.
“We were apprehensive when mum told us, two children, that he was to be our stepfather; however, that changed when he started bringing us gifts. Gradually, we all saw him as part of the family.”
Sandra sighed with relief. It wasn’t rape after all. “But your mental health isn’t good. For the first time, I understand what a panic attack is. What was the reason for that?”
“That wasn’t a panic attack. A panic attack is what happens to me every morning. At least, that’s what Google said. I remember that sad incidence every morning because that man keeps sending me horrifying pictures.” Bimbo’s voice was now laden with tears.
Sandra realized that it was a blessing that she was there with Bimbo. She did the only thing she could to comfort her. While her arms were wrapped around her, she asked gently. “What pictures are those?”
“Of me pounding newborn babies in a mortar,” She cried out as she sobbed.
Sandra’s body shook with the already shaking Bimbo. With the barrage of surprises she was getting, her eyes were going to pop out of their socket soon.
The silence that followed was impenetrable. Tears just poured down the two pairs of eyes. Without seeing the said pictures, she knew that the anguish on Bimbo’s face was real.
