It was 7pm in the night and the neighborhood
was noisy as usual. Loud music was coming from a club not very far away. The voices
of parents were heard giving orders to their children and ward. Oblivious of
the noise in her neighborhood, she sat on the seat of the water cistern in her
bathroom with her head bowed. She was deep in thought. A lot had gone wrong in
her life and she was fed up. Then she came back to reality, raised her head and
observed all options laid out in front of her. The bottle of overdose drugs was
open with a cup of water beside it; the knife was handy incase she decided to
slit somewhere; the rope was close by in case she made up her mind where to tie
it. Her life was a mess and she had made up her mind to end it.
“I can’t
bear this anymore,” she said to herself.
She
got up and went to the suicide materials. She surveyed them and thought of
which one to use first and which would end the pain in her heart silently. She
made up her mind and took the drugs, poured them into her hand and lifted the
cup with the other hand but she couldn’t get herself to drink it. Thoughts of
her loving mother and sisters flashed through her mind.
‘What will
they think of me?’ she thought. ‘What will they do?’
She
dropped the drugs and cup of water and leaned on the wall, sobbing profusely. Then
thoughts of her miserable life flowed into her mind again. She stood straight,
wiped her eyes and took the drugs again. This time her mind was made up. As she
was about taking the drugs, she heard a knock on her door. She ignored the
knock till she heard her name.
“Mabel...Mabel,”
someone called and knocked on her door.
It
was her younger sister, Cynthia. Every desire to kill herself disappeared but
she hesitated. Her sister kept banging on the door. She washed her face, hid
the suicide materials and went to the door. She stood for a while wondering
whether to open it as she was sure her sister would find out what she had tried
to do. She opened the door.
“Mabel,
what’s wrong with you?” Cynthia said. “I have been trying your line all day but
you did not pick till it became ‘switched off’”
Mabel
just stood there and stared into space. This time, she couldn’t pretend that
all was well.
“Oh big
sis, what’s wrong again?” Cynthia asked.
Mabel
broke down and wept. Cynthia held her close and they stood for a while.
“It will be fine ok,” she told Mabel.
After
a while, Cynthia held her hand and pulled her to the chair and they sat down.
“Tell me
sister. What is wrong this time?”
Mabel
couldn’t say anything. She just stared into space.
Chinedu Isaac
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