Bed Of Lies (Domestic Violence)

Defiance

“Mom! You slept off in the car again!”

Mrs Olusanya raised her head from the steering wheel and stared at the light skinned figure standing by the other side of the car and peeping at her through the window.  It took her some seconds to recognize the masculine voice of her 13 years old son which was now sounding thicker as an early sign of maturity.
“Why Rhansum? Is that how to greet the mother you haven’t seen in months? Get in here and give momma a hug silly.” Mrs Olusanya replied her son sheepishly

Remilekun groaned and entered the car. He took the front seat and gave his mother a brief hug before turning to put his seat belt on

Mrs Olusanya was more surprised than disappointed at the brief hug; it was not the usual clinging hugs he gave her whenever she came to drop him off or pick him up from school during midterm breaks

She smacked her lips together and said ‘‘someone’s not happy today uhn? Well, don’t blame me for sleeping off Rhan, your headmistress kept going on and on addressing you all with her almighty holiday speech, and I thought she would never finish

Remilekun let out a deep laugh when his mother mentioned the headmistress who had a habit of talking tirelessly at any given occasion.
The greatest fear of all the students of Greenfield Boys Boarding School was being asked to go to the Headmistress office due to any misconduct. Students preferred to be punished by their class teachers instead, because she would spend hours lecturing such student about good morale and go as far as quoting a bible verse to back up her lectures.
Once, Remilekun was asked to report to the headmistress due to a fight he got into with his classmate, David. Remilekun thought he would get away with it was David that ingratiated the fight but that was not the case when he got to her office

“I heard reports from your class teacher that you are always in a blazing row with your classmates. The headmistress said immediately remilekun entered her office
“Do you know that Luke chapter 6 verse 35 says that…” she said as she opened the big brown Bible which was on her table and read from it ‘‘But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high; for he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.’’ 

Remilekun was asked to repeat the bible verse after her simultaneously till she was satisfied that the message had sunk in him. Then she punished him further by asking him to write out the bible verse, fifty times in a notebook and submit it within an hour. Remilekun ended up missing recess for that day

So it didn’t come as a surprise when the Boys of Greenfield Academy nicknamed their Headmistress to Mrs. Ranterson which was culled from her last name Peterson.

Mrs Olusanya was glad to have made him laugh and she let out a pained smile when she saw the resemblance between him and his father. She looked at her son more intently and noticed some changes in his physical appearance. His shoulder looked broader and firmer and she could see the outline of his muscular arms beneath the black school jacket. His eyebrow appeared thicker and his eyelash longer. He was taller than most boys of his age, making him look older

Remilekun took a deep breath and said grimly. It’s not really that Mom, it’s actually something else and it has been bothering me for months now. I don’t want to school here anymore Mom

“Did you get into a fight with that boy again?”

“His name is David and No, I did not”
Remilekun turned to face his mother and said more seriously. “I want to school at home where my family lives so I can see them every morning before I go to school and hug them every night before I go to bed. Mom, I just want to grow up like a normal kid with you, dad and Ololade.”

Mrs Olusanya paused and half turned to face her son so she was staring at him more closely. She held his hands in hers and spoke “Rhan, you can’t come home now, but trust me when I say it’s just for a little while’

‘That’s what you’ve been saying ever since you dropped me off at the preschool here years ago. Even when I’m on midterm break, I still never get to visit home except grandmother's place. I want to see dad, I want to see my sister, Mom. Do they even know I exist somewhere Mom? Do they?

Mrs Olusanya sighed deeply and tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear. The motion exposed the swollen part of her jaw

“What happened to your cheeks Mom?”  Remilekun asked with concern when he noticed the swollen cheek which was red and round

“I tripped and fell in the bathroom.” She said quickly and started the car. “This conversation is over Rhan.”

Remilekun wanted to say more but he paused, clearly, this wasn’t the right moment and place to let his heart known, but his mind was made up and he was certain he would not be back to the boarding school that has been his home for the past ten years

He nodded and turned towards the window, focusing his attention on admiring the sunflowers and hibiscus which decorated the walls of the school

The car drove slowly out of the school driveway, heading towards his maternal grandmother’s home.