6| Hero or Villain

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This story doesn't support violence against women, but this part was added purely for the advancement of the story. Please, don't be violent towards anyone!

The following day, Derin awoke to the beautiful sunlight rays that entered her room and reflected unto her face, waking her and, letting her know that the day had broken.

She sat up on her bed and was about standing, when her wandering eyes landed on a blue jacket note pad, with the words "Diary in poetry". She smiled as she picked it up, her eyes lingering over the notepad but her fingers, hesitant to flip it open.

"It's been ages since I last left a note in this." She thought out loud as she flipped open the book, landing on the last page with her handwriting, written boldly on it. 'Dreams and illusions' were the words written as the title. She remembered the last time she placed down her pen and wrote something, and this was three years ago.

"Hopeful, the hummingbird.

But the frogs creak and croak below the tree.

Oh, how she remembers the day, like it was only yesterday. She smiled, as she recollected three years ago. 

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She was in the family fields; they had all gone there to great their grandmother, whom was their dad's mother and, she owned the huge field where she reared cattle, planted crops and even had horses.

Grandmother had taken her and her sister Danielle, out into the fields to enjoy the wonders of nature when she had caught sight of the blue humming bird that sat proud on an orange oak tree, humming a sweet song.

"Grandma, why does that bird raise her head with so much pride?" She had asked the sixty-eight-year-old woman, who smiled revealing she had lost some tooth.

"Because she's Hopeful," the old woman replied in her old, faint and weary tone.

"Hopeful?" Her sister asked, showing that neither of them understood what that woman meant, and the woman laughed once.

"Her name is Hopeful," the woman clarified, answering their curious questions. "And about her standing so proud," she paused, throwing a glance at the bird, then the girls. "She's blind." she finally said, and the girls gasped in surprise.

The old woman proceeded in letting them know that Hopeful, was one of the oldest birds in the fields and she was born blind.

"She sings with so much joy, as if she's on the stage of Britain's got talent, and sure that she will drive Simon off his seat," Derin said and her sister laughed, but the woman stared at them lost.

"I don't know where Britain's got talent is, or who Simon is but, I can say, that she thinks she's the only one making the harmony of nature, in these fields," Grandma said.

"But, she ought to know that, the multiple voices of nature makes the harmonious coexistence of nature's melody," Derin spoke, her eyes fixed on the bird, trying to see why Hopeful was blind.

"That's what happens, Derin, when you look at a lie and then turn a deaf ear to the truth." The woman said.

"Isn't that called ignorance Grandma?" Danielle asked, her already big eyes, widen the more in curiosity.

"No Elle, this is called living in an illusion." she said as she took a few steps forward and the girls followed closely behind. "The bird, believed that she alone makes the voice of harmony of nature." she added as she made a stop beside the tree and whistled.

Hopeful turned to her and flew down to Grandma's shoulders while the girls gasped.

"But Grandma, you said she was blind," Derin asked surprised at the move of both grandma and the bird.

"Yes, she's blind and deaf to reality but, always open to the call for dinner," the old woman said, and they all laughed as Derin and he sister took turns in petting the bird.

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Derin smiled on recollection of this memory, Grandma had always given them wise words through her wise sayings. But, sadly, Grandma died a few months after that day and Hopeful, died just seconds later.

"Oh, how I miss you, Grandma! You, mum and dad," Derin thought aloud, and a tear trickled down her cheeks but, a blare of a car horn made her wipe off the tear with her palm and, jump right off the bed. She knew it must definitely be her husband; Mr. Shittass Daniel.

She laughed to herself. "You only wish to see his actual ass," her innersole spoke to her.

"Stop putting stupid ideas into my head!" Derin snapped at herself.

"I'm not. I say what you think," Her inner voice contradicted her; "We are the same person, Derin."

Derin sighed. "God, I never bargained for an annoying inner self."

Her innersole mentally rolled her eyes, "Really?"

"Yes."

With that, she shut her inner war.

To everyone else, Derin gets lost in her daydreams, and her thoughts, but they do not know of her imaginary inner-sole who happens to be her opposing twin, which lived in the heart of her mind. She had heard about this from a story book when she was six years old, and up until now, she still believes in such.

Yes, she ought to stop believing things.

She strode to the door and opened it just in time for Daniel to waddle in, walk past her, and slump on the couch. He was drunk again.

Frustrated, she shook her head, and closed the door with a slight bang.

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Derin continued on with his attitude, as she tried her possible best to avoid any conversation with him, which was more than simple, plain greetings.

"Good morning."

"Your food is ready."

"When are you returning?"

The last, he never answered, as he walked out on her.

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Ten days into the marriage, and on January 10th, 2017, Derin finally left the house for the first time in days. She went out, walked around, and decided to check out the market.

Ben offered to drive her but she nicely declined as she wanted no one trailing her, that anyone is Daniel. She took a tricycle outside the gates of the house which took her to the nearby market. On getting down, she went into the supermarket there and, shopped her butt off; money wasn't a problem in Hartley's home as Daniel and his parents always flooded her account with money. She had three different debit cards and today's the day she's going to try them out.

She was on the section of beverages, shopping out some when she heard her name called from behind, and she spun around to see who had called her. She gasped in surprise as she was met face to face with her old high school crush Bayo.

"Wow! It's you Bayo, it really is you," she beamed.

"I couldn't tell it was you Derin, you've changed a lot."

Derin blinked repeatedly, but it wasn't a dream and neither was it a daylight trance - Bayo was right in her presence, he was here with her in Port-Harcourt.

Her wandering eyes danced over his physic, and she gaped at how much he had grown, and how handsome he had become over the few years. Normally, she could look him up straight in the eyes, but now, she was having difficulty even on her toes.

He snapped his fingers in her face, and she snapped out of her trance.

"Sweetheart, you zooned out," He laughed.

"What are you doing here, Bayo?"

He pocketed his hands as he stared at her for a while - something he had grown to do whenever he suspects someone or just whenever he feels the need to be curious, and cocky.

Then he smiled lightly, "Oh. I'm just checking some stuff out."

She stared at him unbelieving that she had just heard him say he was shopping. Bayo was shopping? He never shops - he thinks shopping is lame. Who was he shopping for? Who changed him?

"Who are you shopping for, Bayo?"

He laughed, "I'm shopping for my babe."

Mentally, Derin heard a glass shatter in her face, as the last word hit her ears.

"You're married Derin, so stop hacking your hearts out," Her innersole reminded her, and for once she wished that she was wrong, but this was the fact.

She returned her attention to the man in her front, and he was smiling.

"What's funny?"

He laughed, "You are."

Derin frowned, but he only laughed harder.

"You haven't changed a bit, sweetheart." He stated, "It has always been you and those thoughts of yours."

Derin couldn't help to laugh at her own habit, "But, you haven't changed too."

He smiled, "Of course, I'm still the same old Adebayo Peterson."

Derin laughed.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked, "Or, to be precise, who are you shopping for?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but her tongue got caught up, and no words found their way out of her lips. She wanted to tell him everything; she wanted to share with him her truths, but somehow she couldn't help but think that he'll mock her, and he might beginning seeing her differently - as a married woman; a woman off his limits.

She could not have that. She needed him to love her like he always did. She wanted the attention she was deeply deprived off by her husband, and he's the closet she could have to that.

No, she could not be so selfish as to lie to him.

She parted her lips to change the subject, when a hand came over her shoulders, startling her.

"She's shopping for me."

Derin froze on hearing Daniel's voice behind her, and she instantly spun around to him.

What was he doing here?

She wasn't the only one who was shocked with the third uninvited guest in their midst, as Bayo kept his eyes on Daniel.

"Um, who are you?" Bayo asked.

A smirk crawled up Daniel's lips, as he crossed his arms, "I guess I should have rephrased my words." He spoke confidently, "I actually meant that she's shopping for the both of us."

The light drew from Derin and Bayo's forehead scrunched together. She knew that she had just heard the craziest sentence from her husband, and as funny as it sounded, she couldn't find the reason to laugh.

"Mister, I am certainly not aware of your relationship with Derin, but I was having a conversation with my friend and you had no right to barge in here with your heavy headed attitude."

Now, this was her friend speaking here, and Derin had to admit that she was very proud with his words, and actions. However, her heart dropped once she saw the look on Daniel's face.

She swallowed, and instantly cut in between the two men, in order to prevent something worst. She had no idea what Daniel was capable of doing, and considering the shit going on his head, and his expression, she would not want to find out.

So, she did the most logical thing - She pleaded with her husband.

"Please, let's go, Daniel."

His eyes flew to her at once, and she felt her heart go numb for a couple of seconds. He grabbed her by her elbow tightly, snapping her out of her shock, as the pain of his grip surged through her entire arm, and she groaned out involuntarily. She had only realized the after math of her cry of pain, as Bayo's eyes went red, and his clenched fist flew in the air, and met with Daniel's face.

Her eyes went wide as two saucepans and time seemed to have frozen as Daniel staggered back due to the force of Bayo's hit. He held his nose and it was definite that he had been injured by the hit.

He, however, shot his face right up, and in his eyes blared anger at Bayo.

"How dare you!" He gritted.

"You don't treat a lady like that, mister," Bayo glared at him.

Daniel scoffed under his breath, "Who are you to tell me how to treat my own wife?" He yelled at Bayo, and for a moment, Derin saw the surprise in Bayo's eyes as he threw a glance at her. She nodded slightly, and he sighed in defeat, before he returned his gaze on Daniel.

"I don't give an absolute fuck about who you may be," Bayo said, "You should be ashamed calling yourself her husband, when you are not even a man."

This ticked Daniel off, as he flew to Bayo, and clasped his neck. Derin's eyes widened the more, but Bayo was quick to react, and he punched Daniel in the abdomen twice, and the third was enough to push Daniel back.

Watching two men fight, and being the reason for their rage, wasn't something which she could easily collect the trophy from. It was horrific watching her best friend land punches on her husband, and she having to watch them helplessly.

Unlike her, she knew that many ladies were out there who would proudly cheer on if they were in her position, but she wasn't like any one of them. She was scared of what they would do to themselves, and also, of what the crowd might think of them.

"Daniel, Bayo, please stop!" She yelled out at the both of them; her voice echoing throughout the whole mall.

She clasped her hand over her mouth as she realized what she had said, and the fact that she had shouted out. But, her actions were perfect as both Daniel and Bayo were distracted by her voice.

Bayo met with her eyes and saw the desperate fear in them. He could not bear to see her scared, and so, he walked away from Daniel and to her, "Derin, please take care," He said to her in a reassuring tone, and tilted his head to her, and placed his warm lips on her forehead before walking out of the mall.

Some of the workers approached both Daniel and Derin, while the others scattered the crowds by assuring them that everything was alright.

Disappointedly, many of the other shoppers returned to their shopping while the manager of the mall walked to Daniel.

"Sir, are you okay?"

Daniel waved him shut with his palm, and walked to Derin, gripping her by her elbow, this time lightly. Derin followed quietly as they both walked out of the mall.

Some shoppers watched as they walked to Daniel's car, and muttered amongst themselves, and Derin could make out little of what they said.

"He had finally caught his cheating wife, how unfortunate."

"Serves the slut right. She shouldn't have tried menacing with two men."

"This should serve as a lesson to other unfaithful women."

"Exactly. Only God knows what she's looking for despite having everything."

Derin's eyes became moist as their words drilled holes into her heart. Those people were judging her without even knowing what the actual truth was, and it was even more painful to hear these hurtful words from women like her.

Even if she had cheated on a man, they had no right to speak ill of her, and they definitely had no right to cast stones at her.

On getting to Daniel's car, she got into the passengers' seat hurriedly, while her husband started the car. With a reverse, he pulled out of the parking lot, and soon, they were on the highway.

The silence between her and Daniel was eerie, and it felt as though mourning was taking place in the car. Daniel kept his eyes straight on the road, and his hands were hard on the wheel, while Derin interlocked her fingers nervously as several thoughts of what might come out of his anger.

"He's going to set me on fire."

"I am so dead."

"Why did I even go out in the first place?"

"In a few hours, I'm going to be mincemeat."

All through the ride, neither of them said a word, and on getting to their house, Derin alighted from the car after Daniel had parked the car under the shed. She walked to the main door, unlocked it, and went in.

Daniel also got down from the car, and followed her in, ignoring the gateman's greeting.

She walked as fast as she could to the stair. She did not want to be in his sight, as she did not want to witness what his wrath looked or felt like.

However, she was not so lucky in evading him, as he rushed to her, and yanked her from the stairs causing her to lose her balance and she fell back to the floor. Her hips hit the cold marbled floor, and she shirked out in pain.

"You've just proven to be a whore, bitch!" He cursed at her, as rolled his sleeves up.

Her eyes widened in fear as he did this, and she gulped, "What have I done?" She asked as she placed her hand on the floor and hoisted herself up, and back to her feet.

"Are you asking what you did, bitch?" The cords in his stood rigid as he questioned her.

His eyes were bloodshot, and it was valiant that he was furious at her, and his clenched fist showed her that he was more than ready to show her what his muscles could do on her body.

She pulled herself together, and stared at him, "You know what Daniel Hartley? I actually have a name."

He laughed. "Did I tell you I cared?"

Her chest burned up at his mock, and she glared at him, "You're a motherfucking jerk, Daniel, and you have no damn heart. You are just a mindless zombie!" She yelled at him, making sure that she got all her anger out on him.

"I did nothing wrong back there, and I'm very sure I've never done anything wrong to you." She added.

He plainly stared at her without replying, and she turned to go, but his grip on her elbow stopped her as he yanked her back to him.

She was met with his hard front, and before she could react to this, his hand cut across her face, and she was shoved to the adjacent wall. She hit the wall with her side, and she cried out as her whole body erupted in pains.

She looked up, and Daniel's towering figure came over her. He grabbed her hair, and pulled her up. She screamed as her scalp went up in flames. His hand cut across her face a second time, and she fell back to the ground.

"You have wronged me in all ways, Aderinsola!" He gritted out, as he reached to his belt line, and pulled his belt off. She went pale, and her hands trembled as she watched him approach her with the belt in his hand.

"Daniel, what are you going to do with that?" She stuttered as she pulled her body back.

He laughed. "I'm teaching you a lesson, dear wife." He said, as he raised the belt in the air, and it landed on her left arm. The whip lashed through her side, slashing her flesh in the process, and she cried out.

Daniel threw the belt up again, and this time, it landed on her surviving side. Her nose wrinkled us and the tear streak accompanied this, as she cried in agony.

"Please, Daniel," She begged through her blurred vision. She could not take anymore, and so, she held her hand up as she wept, "I'm sorry, but please stop."

Daniel watched her for a while, before he huffed and walked up the stairs leaving her there on the floor. She rolled herself into a ball, as she felt the pain pop out in every part of her body. Her body was in shock, and she was trembling.

She heard the door to his room close shut, and she pulled herself up, and using her hands and the wall as assistance, she managed to get back to her feet.

Dragging herself up the stairs, she staggered on until she got to her room. She clicked the lock of her room, and dragged the only chair in the room, and placed it behind the door, before she mopped herself to the bathroom.

She walked to the mirror, and her battered reflection stared back at her. Her face was bruised, her lips had been cut by the side, and crimson blood oozed out. She had a similar cut at the side of her right eye; her eye was purple and was barely open. Her eyes trailed to her arms where various red striped had already formed on her skin.

There were no words she could use to describe the pain she was in, and so, she clasped both her hand over her mouth as she screamed out and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Flashes of how his whips landed on her sides flashed in her eyes, and she removed her hands, and clutched the edge of the sink tightly.

She took another look at herself, and she screamed out with all the breath she could mutter up, "Fuck you, Daniel!"

At that time, her mother's voice came to her reminding of God's love and how he was always there to protect and save her from evil.

These words only turned sour in her mind as she stared up at the ceiling, "Are you even up there, God?" She questioned, and waited for a reply, but nothing came.

"You don't exist!" She yelled out, as she crashed to her knees, and broke down in tears.

"Stop watching me, God. Please, stop!" She writhed out.

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