Do Good still

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Nora narrated her story of escape. She knew a certain young man in her younger years, he was a family friend, funny and very unpredictable, he would sometimes come to their house in the morning and on such days he spent the whole day with them. He would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner; Law was family while it lasted.

Nora and her family all knew that he was a bit off, he was from a very good home but life had not exactly been friendly to him, he made some bad choices and had paid for them too. He needed new companions and when he found Nora’s family, their doors were wide open.

Everyone including Nora’s family tolerated Law’s excesses; his rudeness and superior behaviour to others were all neglected. He was a good friend to Obi, Nora’s twenty-eight year old brother. Every member of Nora’s family tried as much as possible to make Law feel at home; they laughed at his jokes and made him see the true meaning of living. The friendship graduated and Law was allowed to drive the family car that was used for errands. On the days that everyone was busy, Law would sleep on the couch in Nora’s home in peace.

During the festive seasons, he would travel with his new family to their home town and his own parents had no issues with their son’s new found home. In fact they were glad that their wayward son looked like he had found a purpose for life.

Nora’s father made him come to his office every other day to carry out some duties and paid him salary accordingly.

Law had become a brother to Nora and her siblings and a son to her parents. He often drove her to the market or to visit friends and they talked a lot about several issues. She started to confide in him about boys; she was seventeen years old and was excited that boys found her attractive. Law was easy to talk to and he had answers to all her questions.

It was Nora’s friend’s birthday party and as usual Law was available to drive her to the venue of the party, her friend’s family had moved to another part of town and luckily “uncle” Law knew the area quite well.

Law needed to make a quick dash at his parent’s house to pick a document that he needed urgently, he took a while and when Nora got uncomfortable sitting alone in the car parked on a lonely street with the glasses wound down, she decided to go into the house to find out why he delayed. It wasn’t her first time there but she had never been inside.

Law was shocked to see her in his bedroom the little boy who lived with his parents directed Nora to where Law was; he had turned everywhere upside down as he searched for the document. 

He apologised as soon as he saw her and asked that they left immediately. As they were about to leave the room, Law went ahead of Nora and shut the door. He held on to the door for about a minute while backing Nora who wasn’t sure of what he was doing.

When he turned and faced her, his eyes were red like he had been crying and he started to beg Nora who was then very confused. She did not understand why he begged her till he said it out. “Nora, please I want you”. As he said it he burst into tears which really scared Nora and she asked him to let her leave the room.

The more she spoke, the more he begged her and then in a quick turn of events, he started screaming at her, he held her two hands together and pushed her to the bed. Law was quite huge and was too strong for Nora to attempt to fight.

As he lay on her, Nora started to cry and like a miracle Law left her immediately. He pulled her up from the bed, knelt down and started begging her again. He said something came over him, the same thing that came over him when he raped a young girl in the country where he lived for some years. That got him a jail term which he did not complete before he was deported.

He pleaded with Nora not to tell her parents; their brother Obi knew of Law’s past but was eager to help him change.

Law promised to stay away from Nora and her family and also to get the much needed help for the abnormality that he suffered from.

Nora made no mention of the incident to any member of her family and till date, she is the only person who knows the true reason why Law relocated to another town.

Now, I feel really bad for Law, he is sick and needs help fast before he gets into very serious trouble. I applaud Nora’s maturity but she should have confided in someone who may have helped Law find cure for the condition that he suffered from.

One more thing to take away from this story is the need to protect our families more, sometimes we welcome strangers out of the goodness of our hearts but we should bear in mind that not all good deeds bring good returns however, do good still! It's still better to do good than to do bad.

PS: All the names used are fictitious for privacy sake