It was in the late 90s. I was still a little girl living with my mum and sister in Lagos. My dad relocated to Port Harcourt to take up a new appointment. My mum usually shuttled between Lagos and Port Harcourt to be with her husband. Each time she embarked on such trips,she would leave us in the hands of our Headmistress,Madam Pepertual, since we(my sister and I) were underaged to look after each other, talk less of living alone.
It was in the late 90s. I was still a little girl living with my mum and sister in Lagos. My dad relocated to Port Harcourt to take up a new appointment. My mum usually shuttled between Lagos and Port Harcourt to be with her husband. Each time she embarked on such trips,she would leave us in the hands of our Headmistress,Madam Pepertual, since we(my sister and I) were underaged to look after each other, talk less of living alone.
It was time for one of those trips,and my Mum had no choice but to dump us in Madam Pepertual's house.
Madam Pepertual was married to a Pastor, and they had a newly born son,Praise. Madam Pepertual,a down to earth woman was in her late thirties then. She was a disciplinarian to the marrow. Even as her pupils,we feared her. She had this huge build like a sumo wrestler, large eyeballs that could pierce even the walls of Jericho with her stern gaze. Her palms? Tower of Babel. So large and swollen that if it landed on the face of a child or a grown man,there would be an automatic shift in the course of his destiny. Seeing her was fades on sight.
Madam Pepertual was infact a no-nonsense woman. The word of God instructed that parents shouldn't spare the rod. Madam pepertual even at gunpoint couldn't disobey that scripture. And each time she exercised it, it was never with love. Now this is the woman my mother apparently left us with for weeks while she enjoyed her husband's company.
On a certain day,I was babysitting her little son while she was in the kitchen preparing lunch. She called me from where I was to help get some seasoning cubes from down the road. Unknown to her,the ones she had were finished. So she gave me some money and off I went. I was expected to be back in at most five minutes because the kiosk where it was sold was a short distance from her house.
Madam P lived in this really big house with a large compound,and they had a dog that could chase anyone at the slightest provocation. I disliked dogs(and still do). Leaving and entering that compound posed a threat because of her DOG.I had told her countlessly to always walk me to the gate each time she sent me on those errands but she wouldn't oblige.
I was blessed enough to leave safely because the DOG wasn't 'on sit'.Relieved, I ran down the road, got the cubes and ran back to the gate.
Usually, when I got to the gate,I would wait for few seconds to hear any movement, peep through the little opening on the gate to ascertain if the dog was roaming endlessly looking for whom to devour. If it were in the affirmative,I would wait patiently for a long time for the dog to return to her cage or wait for the gateman to return from wherever he prefers to his duty post.
On that fateful day, I did my routine check and the compound was just quiet. So I slowly opened the gate and stepped my first foot in. I did a rough, sharp survey with my eyes, still no dog nearby. I slid the second foot in feeling elated. Tip-toe on my mind. I had not given up to 15 steps to earth when a heard the DOG bark at me. My heart skipped. My knees went numb as I saw the dog groaning aggressively at me. I made to move but couldn't. The Dog was gazing waiting for me to make the first move but my numb knees wouldn't let me.I was feeble. I don't know what came over me, and I regained my strength. I started running. I ran as fast as my short legs could carry me to my aunts house which was at the end of the compound. All I could hear from my mouth was,'Jesus! Mummy! God!'. I was just recycling the names while the dog chased till I entered and bolted the living room door.
I was panting heavily. I ran to the kitchen with a nylon bag containing the seasoning cubes. As I entered the kitchen,I lifted up the nylon bag to hand to Madam pepertual when I heard a thunderous smack across my face. The way my knees went numb,my face felt same. I just couldn't feel it. It felt like it was floating. Immediately, rain started falling in the kitchen alone. Seven stars with the seven rainbow colours surrounded the rain. My vision was blurred. Madam perpetual used those german machine gun hands on my face. No wonder I felt my face floating in the rain.
When I regained consciousness,I heard her asking why I exceeded the five minutes limit given, how she was supposed to add seasoning cubes to an already 'over-boiled' soup,and so on. She just kept ranting while hot tears burnt my eyes down to my cheek that was hurting. My sister was in the living room when all these happened. She dare not come sympathising with me in Madam Pepertual's presence else she would receive her own dosage.
I left the kitchen to the living room when I was sure the invisible rain had subsided and cried my face out.
When my mum returned,madam pepertual was all smiles like nothing happened. I quickly got my bag ready and left. When we got home,i couldn't open my mouth to narrate my ordeal with Madam P to my mum.I felt if I did, Madam P would come to me at night,in my dream and give me a second part to that encounter.
But the next time my mum wanted to embark on another trip,she was shocked I packed my bags even before she did, ready to leave with her not minding if I missed going to school.