Arts
Morrine leaves School gets married
LITERARY SERIES BY DR. ASHRAF SSEMWOGERERE
EPISODE 1. The Acid Girl
My fans! Greetings to you all.
I’m back with our true stories which I collected from prison after interviewing women prison inmates. I was researching my next commissioned drama on domestic violence.
I promised to bring you the story of “The Acidic Girl”. I will be calling her, as she is referred to in prison.
I have to remind you that this is a true life story; even the rest after this, are.
This is her story:
“I was born 30years ago last week; in fact I celebrated my birthday with my friends.
“My dad died when I was six; Mom passed on two years later. They died of AIDS.
People suspected that I was HIV, too, because I was the last born before they fell sick, but luckily enough, I was negative.
“I was taken under the care of my uncle, Dr. Walu. Dr.Walu loved me so much that you would have mistaken me to be his real daughter. He was not married and I was under the care of a housemaid, Meega. He made sure that I never missed my parents.
“Things changed when he got married to Morin, a teacher. At first, Morin loved me and I never missed Mom. But after sometime she begun to change.She would beat me for nothing. Things got worse when she terminated Meega’s services. She brought in another maid, Namu. Namu would torture me during day before reporting me to her mistress in the evening for disobedience; and I would receive another beating. All this was done to me without the knowledge of my uncle.
“Morin and Namu were very good pretenders. When he was around, they acted well towards me; he used to come back late, because he was working in a Government hospital during day and at his clinic in the evening. I usually had little time to talk to him.
“I remember there was a day when I asked him to take me to a boarding school. He called his wife and informed her of my proposal.The woman acted so well that uncle dropped my idea. The following day I went without lunch.
“After three years, Morin had a baby girl. Things just got worse for me. I like babies, but Morin never allowed me to hold her baby.
“When I finished P.7, I went to Jjaja’s home for my holidays hoping never to go back to that home. Jjaja loved me, too. But after just a month with her, Jjaja passed on.I remember Morin telling me that, ‘Nayegwe,buliwobeera baffa buffi ye nafe totutte. Hajji Abaasi nkubuulire ekintu ekyo kyanuma.’ (In prison they call me, HajjiAbaasi because they watch,Ssuubi, on Bukedde TV. I also remind you that this is a true story).
“I passed PLE with Aggregate 7.Uncle wanted me to go in a boarding school but Morin refused, giving a very good reasons to uncle that as she was a Secondary School teacher, I needed help for my studies at home which I would not get in a boarding school.
“The torture continued.At school I was steadily declining in my studies. I tried to tell uncle my problem but he never gave me time. I decided one day to go to the clinic to tell him about it all, but Morin found me there, listened to what I was telling my uncle from another room, stormed the room and she gave me a beating of my life. She never even minded uncle’s patients.
“Uncle didn’t take it lightly; he cautioned her seriously. Morin swore to see me out of that home.
“I could not take it anymore, so I decided to disappear from this home. Around this time there was a man, Sum, who used to take me to school most of the mornings. He would sometimes come for me after school and take me back home. He was young in his late 20s selling spare parts at Kisekka Market. His car was a Toyota Corsa, well decorated inside. His intentions were very clear; and I never gave him hard time given what I was undergoing at home.
“I made up my mind and started staying with him. But I continued to go to school. I heard that uncle took long to know that I was not at home. When he learnt about it, he got furious with Morin. He decided to check at school. When I saw him in the school compound, I ran away and hid and decided to quit school. Sum tried to convince me back but in vain.
“I decided to settle as a house wife. As young as Sum was, he was he was already constructing a house. He finished and we entered it. My In-laws were giving me the motherly and fatherly love I had missed. I really loved Sum and he loved me, too. We enjoyed life.
“I got pregnant and Sum was very happy. He wanted me to join him in the shop which I declined until I had delivered. One day as I was going to Sum’s shop I saw Morin entering the very shop. I hide somewhere. Later I saw Morin coming out with Sum, stand him in a corner, and started talking to him with serious hand gestures….”
The Acid Girl story continues next issue. Don’t miss it. I thank you again friends and please keep posting your comments. God bless you all.
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