My Last Victim

Sometimes love is like a balloon filled with helium gas, once you let go, it goes very far away from your reach. - my quote

Sonmma knew that he loved Achike the first time she saw him in class. They were both in the same class in senior secondary school. Achike was the Labour prefect while Sonmma assisted him; they got quite close in discharging their duties that they became inseparable. They read together at prep times and held tutorials for other students because they were both outstanding students.

They graduated from secondary school in flying colours and got admitted into the  same University that they both applied to. While in the University their fondness for each other blossomed into love and they had eyes for no one else but for themselves. 

Achike was the first to betray their love. He started to avoid Sonmma, initially she believed that it was due to his tight study schedule as an Architecture student; her own schedule did not also help matters, she was a medical student and hardly had time for other pleasures.

They kept every third Sunday of the month special, they would make out time regardless of their tight schedules to have lunch together. After Achike missed their special day three times consecutively, Sonmma became worried moreso, his reasons were flimsy.

She decided to pay him a surprise visit off campus where he lived and that was when she made the discovery; staying with her boyfriend was Olivia, another student of Architecture who was two years ahead of Achike.

She confronted him right in front of her but he had no explanations and while they were talking, the lady in the middle of the whole drama casually walked past the two of them. Sonmma watched Olivia till she was out of sight; she tried hard to understand why she would knowingly spoil such a good relationship.

This was the same girl Achike told her about. When they first got into school Olivia told Achike that she had a crush on him.  They always talked and laughed about this particular girl and even named her the crusher. It was painful to her that the crusher indeed crushed Achike.

She left when it became clear to her  that Achike was obviously enjoying whatever it was that he was having with Olivia. She missed the rest of her classes on that day and was a hundred percent sure that Achike would come begging her that evening. He never showed up and she never bothered to contact him.

They stayed that way for eight months till Achike came visiting her at home while school was on strike. He said he was so sure that Olivia charmed him because he found himself doing everything that she wanted him to do and so many of them were unthinkable.

Sonmma was more than happy to have him back and they continued from where they stopped with both of them paying more attention to each other. Their special day was increased to once a week; they wouldn’t leave any room for any more temptations.

A few months later, the unpredictable  happened, on her way back from class one night, Sonmma was raped by a notorious cult boy Echefula. She was badly bruised because it was her first time, she spent a few days in the hospital after which she made a formal report with the support of her parents and Achike to the school authorites.

Echefula was rusticated from the school after facing a disciplinary panel set up to handle the matter, the whole process took about two months.  The night before he left, he walked up to Sonmma and begged her to accept a letter that he had written to her.

It read,

“The monster in me made me do it. I am sorry. You do not have to forgive me but I promise you, you are my last victim. There was no joy when I did it like I had with the others. For the first time I knew that it was wrong and I had to stop. I pray that one day I will be a better man and make it up to another good girl”

Sonmma felt insulted by the letter and shredded it right in front of him. Echefula left looking very remorseful yet as rough as ever.

It was Sonmma’s friend that drew her attention to the fact that Achike was avoiding her, she began to notice it herself and then she confirmed it. He couldn’t deny it and to make matters worse, Sonmma discovered that she was pregnant.

Her parents who were staunch Catholics instructed her to keep the baby. She attempted to take her life once which made her parents defer her study. She took a year from school and in that period, she got all the care that she needed from her family. 

She also went for some counselling sessions when she became depressed. However, her depression quickly vanished with the birth of her beautiful baby girl; she was the cutest baby ever.

In all of the time that she was away, Achike never kept in touch with her and when she called him once he confessed that he couldn’t deal with the fact that another de-flowered her and not him. He couldn’t handle the situation and asked her to forgive him. Of course, that made her condition worse but for the support from her family.

Fast forward to four years later, Echefula paid Sonmma a visit in school. She was in her final year then, and preparing for an examination; it was her second attempt. He fell on his knees and pleaded with her to please speak to him but she wouldn’t. She rushed off to class to study.

He visited her every day till she finally said a word to him after one week. As he apologized to her he cried which brought back the sad memories of that fateful night.

Sonmma's parents had taught her to forgive and when she finally told him that she had forgiven him, she mentioned to him that a beautiful being was the result of that horrible night.

Echefula could hardly contain himself as he cried like a baby. He promised her that he had turned a new leaf.

He was actually a rich kid who had everything on a platter of gold and just raped any girl who played hard to get. That particular act was the only one his mother heard of and it sent her to the hospital, she suffered a mild stroke as a result when she learnt that her only son was rusticated from school for rape. That was truly his  turning point.

His father sent him to the UK to live with an uncle and he was able to get into a University outside London and majored in Information Technology. He stayed off girls as much as possible while he was in school to avoid more trouble and it paid off. He made his parents proud especially his mother but most of all he redeemed himself.

A date was fixed and he came face to face with the people whose daughter he hurt; it was easier than he expected as Sonmma’s parents counseled him more than they scolded him. All the while, Sonmma’s baby Chimasi was asleep and when he beheld her face the first time, he burst into 

uncontrollable tears.

He knelt down and apologized to her for what he did to her mother, Chimasi smiled as he cried and she had his exact smile. He got everyone in the living room crying (drama king); he had made the visit with his parents because he had something planned out.

Later on, Echefula got on one knee and asked Sonmma to marry him. There was no emotion in her voice as she said to him, “before nko?” even Echefula laughed hysterically as he pulled her into a warm embrace and kissed her innocently.

Echefula was both shocked and pleased to discover that after that incident years back, Sonmma had never known any other man even her boyfriend Achike.

The two families agreed to let Sonmma get done with all her major examinations before the marriage proper.

Out of the blues, Achike called Sonmma and demanded to see her urgently; he heard that Sonmma was engaged to be married to Echefula and was deeply angered by it. He accused her of all sorts and even said that she slept with him willfully. He ordered her not to marry him to prove that she was innocent of his accusation.

He says he'd rather have Sonmma back than watch her marry their enemy. Haha!

The union will go on anyway, Achike is like a barking dog; he let go of love and he can’t get it back.

Me: Achike should just gerrarahia, the ship has sailed. He is selfish and thoughtless, he does not deserve a good girl like Sonmma