Mr. Okeke was one of the few who could brag that he knew everything about his son, Jason; It was as though Mr. Okeke’s 45-year-old spirit was directly linked to his 21-year-old son; He knew that even though the basketball-baller loved nuts, he had to stay away from cashew; But Obstinate-Jason would intentionally take the honey-coated cashews and then administer first aid quickly, to not die from an adverse reaction.

Mr. Okeke was fully aware of his son’s stupidity and the habit of playing with life.

Mr. Okeke also knew that Jason loved women. He loved anything that came with breasts and a big behind, even if it was a doll. Mr. Okeke didn’t shame him for his subtle male prostitution; he also loved women at his age but to an extent.

Even though Mr. Okeke was against Jason dating at age 17, there was not much he could do. Jason was a teenager and could do whatever he wanted without permission. Mr. Okeke could try to fight it, but Jason administered the tactics of a teenager. Jason hid the relationship for a year, using school projects as an excuse to go to her house and do whatever horny teenagers did.

Because Mr. Okeke knew of these crafty works and had done them himself when he was 17; When Jason clocked 18, his father decided to have the “talk” with him. 

Mrs. Okeke was in full agreement because she didn’t want a situation of being a grandmother too early and also Jason missing out on the best years of his life if he became a father as a teenager. She knew that her husband would know the right words to say to their sexually-active and liberative son. 

The two men spent two hours in the room, discussing all Jason had ever thought about and had questions about.

Although most Nigerian parents would shy away from conversations about sex and the opposite sex, Mr. Okeke and his wife decided to change that. He knew that Jason's body would require some lovin’ soon; the wise thing was to inform him of smart decisions so as to protect himself and his partner. 

It was a fun conversation, filled with laughter, “Oohs, Awww, and wows’”  

When all the juicy details had been spilled, Mr. Okeke put on his serious hat and said the most important thing,” No means no, Jason.”

Although Jason tried to say that he knew that rape was terrible and wanted to escape the topic, Mr. Okeke repeated,” No means no.”

He told his son that if a female verbally expresses she is not interested, he should not chase her,”Do not try to prove anything to your male friends.”

“If a woman says she is not in the mood, do not pressure her or try to force her.” He said,” Don’t try to say, “okay, maybe we should try this?” No. Don’t try to change her mind.”

And finally, he told his son to take every form of non-verbal body language that showed “disinterest” seriously,” If she is pulling away from a kiss more times than usual or trying to pull away from your hold, never continue with the sexual act.”

Jason had never seen his father act so seriously,” Did something happen?”

Mr. Okeke wanted to tell the story of his brother who raped a female colleague in the states, but chose not to. It would lead to more questions from Jason. 

“I just don’t want you to make a mistake and ruin someone’s life.”

Mr. Okeke frankly had nothing to worry about; Jason’s new girlfriend. Mariam was a Christian girl who didn’t want to engage in premarital sex. Even though Jason was not a fan of her belief system, he stayed. However, Weeks passed and he couldn’t help but be seduced by Farida, the 21-year-old temptress. Farida came from a rich background and was bent on perfecting her body and facial features.

Jason knew that Mariam’s heart was pure, but her body was not a match to the firecracker, Farida. He soon broke up his relationship, chasing after his amorous desires. If anyone would have told him that dating Farida would ruin his life, he wouldn’t have believed.

It all started when she tried to get him to sleep with her in the parents’ room. Jason loved sex but had respect for others’ homes. He politely refused and insisted on going home because it was late. She pleaded, stating that it would be a kinky story to tell their friends. Jason knew where to draw the line. When she continued to pressure him, he angrily told her, “Stop acting so desperate!” 

He didn’t know Farida had a terrible habit of getting everything she wanted and throwing a tantrum when she didn’t.

Being refused was not a big flex, so she decided to tell the world that Jason had forced her into bed.

Jason wasn’t aware of the rumor until he got back to school and saw the evil glares from females and judgmental males. When he found out, he was livid. He let his anger get the best of him; he grabbed Farida from her class and confronted her angrily.

“Stop lying, you know what you did!” Farida played coy. Jason pleaded to her better nature,” Let’s talk about this; Tell everyone it’s a lie. Do you have any idea how this makes me look?”

Farida loved seeing him at her mercy and wanted to hold on for a while. For a week, she promised to tell everyone it was a lie but never did.

The news soon got to his parents. Mr. Okeke refused to believe that his son would do the very thing he warned him not to. Jason, in tears, pleaded that everyone should believe him. His mother didn’t know what to believe based on his former promiscuous activities. Mr. Okeke weirdly knew his son wouldn’t and didn’t do it.

“The only way to deal with this is to ask Farida to tell the truth,” his mother had suggested. Jason soon had an outburst, telling his parents that he had been begging the daughter of the devil for days to tell the truth.

Soon Jason’s social media post comments had a lot of discriminatory comments, as well as death threats. Again, Jason let his anger get the best of him. He drove to Farida’s house and tried to force her to do an audio recording of the confession. She refused; The devil decided to play with his ego, stating that sex with him was ‘mid’. Jason was going to ignore her until she started to hit him and scream like a banshee. Fed up with her witchcraft behavior, he slammed his fist into her face. Not once, not twice. He gave her a scar that she would never forget. 

He later realized that this incident will not help his case of convincing the world that he was not an abuser. This kind of incidents will outlive him and would affect his future relationships- whether platonic, professional or romantic. 

Seeing his deep state of dilemma, he decided to end his life that night by hanging himself.

Mr. Okeke wasn’t the first to discover his son’s body; it was his wife who wondered how she would break the news to her husband’s best friend.

When the patriarch of the home returned from work, he saw the unusual look on his wife’s face. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were tear-stained- he knew something unusual had happened; His wife didn’t always cry. 

Mr. Okeke didn’t need to ask; he fled to his son’s room and saw his son’s corpse. The face entertained no devious smile like it usually did. 

His world was shattered; the words “men don’t cry” didn’t apply to Mr. Okeke. He had cried like a baby; his wife had to give him sedatives to sleep for days.

Not only did Mr. Okeke deal with the death of his son, but everyone thought he had killed himself because he was a coward. He probably couldn’t deal with everyone knowing what he had done” others said.

Mr. Okeke’s numbness soon turned to anger. He would fight anyone who tried to insult his son’s memory. After getting into multiple fights with family members, colleagues and judgmental passers-by, he realized that society wasn’t to be blamed; they were only told of the lie by a selfish brat called Farida. 

Farida had plans to leave the country, only because her parents didn’t want her to be part of the media circus that had started because of the accusation. 

Mr. Okeke knew what to do; Jason had confronted Farida to tell the truth before he died, but the girl refused to. Mr. Okeke decided to use a different approach; the humble and calm approach. He pleaded that she tell the truth so that Jason’s soul will rest in peace. Farida fabricated a story to her parents that Mr. Okeke was harassing her. Mr. Okeke was later threatened by Farida’s influential parents with jail time if he was found around her.

“Please, let it be.” Mrs. Okeke begged her husband; there was nothing that they could do. Jason was already dead and the lies would live on. 

“But he didn’t do it!” Mr. Okeke wished he could let it be but day and night, it was like Jason was tossing around in his grave, worried. 

He owed it to his son. So, he chose to listen to the red pitch-forked-tailed creature on the left side of his shoulder.

He followed Farida to one of her friends’ birthday parties. He waited till she was alone before he pulled out his knife and stabbed her twenty-one times- the age that Jason had lived. He left her bleeding on the bathroom floor and fled.

No one knew what Mr. Okeke had done, but his wife came home to see her husband covered up in blood. She immediately knew; He cried out,” It had to be done.”

Normally, she would have cried and wondered why her husband would avenge, but they were on the same page that this was a form of justice.

Farida’s parents had paid the police investigators a lot of money to bring the culprit of the crime; however, they had a lot of suspects based on the wicked nature of Farida. Anyone would have loved to kill her. Whether it was the classmate who had her nudes leaked due to Farida’s mischief or the former family driver who was dismissed because he was wrongly accused of sexually assaulting her.  

However, Mr. Okeke was pleased with what he did. It didn’t change what happened. His son was ten feet down and was still considered a rapist. It was a title that would never escape their family and they will have to live with it.