CHAPTER TWELVE

“Oh so now you can’t talk again, eh? You have suddenly gone dumb.” His words brought her back from her thoughts. 

“I’m sorry, I am so sorry that you are infected, but I’m not lying when I said I didn’t know because that’s the truth, I didn’t know.” Tears were beginning to drop from her eyes but Dennis wasn’t moved.

“How can you say did not know? I knew after just four days and you still claim to know nothing about it.”

“Dennis, I now know you are stupid and foolish and insensitive...” Dennis was surprised, even she was surprised, she didn’t know where the words were coming out from.

“What?” Dennis barked.

“Just shut up and let me finish,” she spoke gently and she wasn’t shouting but Dennis obeyed, he hadn’t seen this side of her before.

“Not only are you insensitive but also selfish, you call me here to tell me I infected you. Common sense did not tell you to use tact and wisdom, no, your brain just tells you to give it to her like it is, like I am some robot and I wouldn’t feel a thing if you tell me I’m infected. It didn’t occur to you I could harm myself because of shock, it didn’t occur to you to cajole me to come with you for a test where I will be counseled. Do you have any idea what I am going through right now? Just knowing I could be infected with only God knows what. All you are worried about is you, you, you. Not a thought for me, not a thought for the one person you profess to love; she can go ahead and die for all you care. The only reason, the only reason I am standing here is because you have insisted it is gonorrhea and I want to leave it at that, to console myself and make me feel better until I get tested. But nevertheless, I am sorry I infected you but now I must look out for myself, seems you’ve looked out for yourself already.”

“Don’t you dare put it on me. Typical for women to turn things around when it’s clearly their misdoing. You can’t tell me you didn’t know.”

“You say it’s gonorrhea, yes? I thought you knew almost everything, clearly you don’t. Gonorrhea in women is asymptomatic, a woman could have it for years and not know she does, with men, it’s not the same, the symptoms appear almost immediately. So once again I was not lying when I said I didn’t know.”

“Still…,” he had begun shouting but Chu didn’t let him finish.

“Stop shouting at me, stop,” she thundered.

“I’m not shouting at you.” He retorted.

“What are you doing then? What is this you are doing?”

“I’m not, I’m not, I’m, I’…” he didn’t know what to say again, he simply scratched his chin. 

“What do you want? What do you want from me?' she asked gently.” 

“I don’t know, I honestly don’t know.”

“You want me to tell you I’m sorry? I’ve said that a thousand times already and heaven knows I mean it.”

“Will sorry make it better, will sorry just make it disappear like it wasn’t there? like, like…”

“Like what? Eh! Like what? Say it.”

“Don’t push me, Chu, I swear don’t.”

“You think I asked for this? You think I wanted any of these to happen. You think I would deliberately do this? Clearly I’ve been wasting my time talking to you.” Chu picked her bag and turned to go but Dennis dragged her, what followed was a sound, a slap had landed on her face, then another and then a kick.

  Chu's brother and guardian had been shocked and angry when he saw the mark the slap had left behind on her face, it had been a dirty slap. He had pushed her and pushed her to tell him who did it to her but Chu wouldn’t tell him, she had simply told him not to worry about it. It was his wife who cajoled her and softened her before she eventually spoke out woman to woman. But no woman would learn a man had done that to her and just kept it a secret, she told her husband and even embellished it. Her brother was shocked, he knew they had just gone out to the zoo together a few days ago and had had a nice time, he knew because she told him things and now this? He called his other brothers and asked them to come over. They had all been angry and threatened to go to the guy’s house and teach the idiot a lesson but he calmed them down. They dragged on about it but his will prevailed, he was their eldest brother and they treated him with respect. He had assured them they would use the appropriate means to teach the idiot a lesson. While Chu kept begging for reprieve for Dennis, one threatened to beat her up if she didn’t keep quiet.

  Dennis who had just returned from school had gone to the bathroom to check his boxers, he had sighed when he realised it wasn’t stained, when he tried to pee it was painless, he had been so happy as he went out to take his antibiotics, he had been told not to miss a dose and with what was happening, he knew he wouldn’t miss any. He sat on the only chair he had in his room, brought out his phone and dialed Chu’s number, he had been so sorry about what had happened and desperately needed to apologise to her. He realised she had been right when she said he was insensitive and selfish, what foolish boyfriend would do that? Had he not told himself he would jump into a river or take insecticide if he tested positive to HIV? Was he not supposed to use tact and wisdom to approach Chu? Clearly it was stupid of him and he knew but he blamed it on the shock that had gripped him. The knock on the door made him realise he had not even changed his clothes, he stood up and walked to the door, when he opened it there were two police men at the door. 

“Are you Dennis?” one asked. Dennis simply nodded. “kindly come with us to the police station”

“Station? May i know reason for that?” Dennis asked. What followed next was a sound ringing in Dennis’s ear, he didn’t see the man raise his hand but he felt it when it landed on his face. The police man who had not said anything had actually been brought along for this job, to match stubbornness with stubbornness. He dragged Dennis into the waiting vehicle and the driver sped off.

When they got to the station, the police man who had slapped him dragged him by his trouser. 

“this is one of the useless men that usually find pleasure in gender violence. You think you can just be beating any woman that comes your way? We will teach you a hard lesson, the police man at the station asked.

“Bring him here let him receive my blessings too now.” The police man dragging him took him to the counter where he received his blessings, the blessings he received were slaps and kicks. “Good, welcome to our station,” the police man said.

“Stupid boy, by the time we are done with you here you will never have the guts to raise your filthy hands on a woman again. 

“Officer please forgive me, it was indeed a mistake, just a mistake sir, i promise it will never happen again,” Dennis was crying and begging.

“Of course, by the time we are through with you here in our custody all the spirit of gender abuse, violence and women beating will leave you for good.” you will become an advocate against gender violence, said the police man. Now, come over here, you woman beater, Dennis was handcuffed on both his hands and legs, dragged again and thrown in to cell, the cell where Disaster was, and so that was how Dennis ended up being in the same cell with the so called, Disaster.