It was now one week after the horrendous incident; the boys had not seen Halimah in their class. Tade had grown thin, looked unkempt, and seemed lost most of the time. He avoided any conversation with the other boys because he was too scared to talk about what happened, secretly wishing it was one of those things all parties involved would take to the grave. He was, however, worried about Halimah and wanted to know if she was okay. He didn’t have her house address but had waited for long hours on the streets where he had seen her previously; she never showed up. He was too scared to drop her messages or even call. He didn’t know what to say to her; heck, he didn’t even know himself.

Every morning, Tade stood in front of the mirror horrified at the beast he had become. He constantly had nightmares that reenacted the scene with Halimah but with other faceless people, and he found himself frequently pinching his skin till it got sore sometimes. With time, his mother began to observe his change in countenance and looks, and, in her curiosity, she reached out to the mothers of his friends. She thought they had started doing drugs, so she wanted to confirm her suspicion first and then seek ways to help the boys. The other mothers confirmed that their boys were more reserved and quieter in the last week but didn’t attribute it as anything negative.

“My sister, shouldn’t we be happy that they are not constituting a nuisance but focusing on their academics? We shouldn’t look for a problem where there is none,” one of the others said.

Tade’s mum was not convinced. She told her husband, and they both decided to keep a close eye on their son. They noticed that interaction with the other boys had reduced. They were no longer coming to their house, and Tade was no longer seeking permission to go hang out with his friends. Since they were closer to Omijie’s parents, they decided to find out from the boy what the matter was.

“My son, I haven’t seen you in our house lately. Did you have a fight with Tade?"

“No, ma. Um... We decided to focus on our studies.”

“Are you sure, Omijie.? Don’t forget that I have known you boys since you were kids, and I can tell when there is a problem. Don’t be scared to tell me. Is it about a girl?”

Omijie looked up. He was shaking, sweating, and stammering, so Tade’s mum took him to a nearby store and offered him a bottle of cold soft drink. She watched him consume the bottle’s contents in one gulp, and when he had taken some deep breaths, she continued her interrogation.

“So, Omijie, who is the girl?”

“H-h-ali-mah ma.”

“You boys know you shouldn’t be fighting over a girl. I mean, you have built such a bond of friendship, and you shouldn’t let anyone—male or female—break that bond. Thanks for letting me know. I will talk to Tade and get this resolved."

Omijie turned to the old woman with the aim of dissuading her from speaking to Tade, but then he realized he was getting away from this discussion by the whiskers and wasn’t going to stir the water any further. He tried convincing himself that he didn’t spill any details as Tade’s mum was already looking in another direction. He hoped she believed what she was thinking and dropped the case after a while.

Tade’s mum entered her son’s room and found him on one of his mirror moments. She wore a broad smile, and working to Tade, she said, “Tell me about Halimah.”

Tade turned around in shock. His eyes were like those of a drug addict—somewhat bloodshot. He held his mother’s gaze for a few seconds, and then, covering his ears with his hands, he started to scream. His mom was confused; she knew young people had a hard time dealing with infatuation and early heartbreaks, but certainly not on this level. Before she could say another word, Tade bolted out of his room and out of the house.

Tade’s mum quickly retrieved her phone and put a call through to his dad. She explained all she had found out and what happened in his room. The dad said he was going to return immediately to search for Tade but needed his wife to go find out about the girl Omijie mentioned from their school. He thought if they were able to involve the girl in the process, Tade might come back to his senses.

Mrs. Awosika walked into the school with the hope of getting some insight into what was happening with her son and the other kids. Her drive from the house to the school saw her mind wandering to many hidden places—could it be that he was being bullied, was he molested, was it just heartbreak? And why didn’t the other boys say anything? She was freaking out. She needed answers.

The students were done with their classes and had gone home, but Tade’s mum was fortunate to find their tutor still around. She tried to provide some background information as best as she could and then went ahead to ask about Halimah.

“Madam, Halimah hasn’t come for classes for over a week now. We are not sure why."

“Oh, really? This is serious… And you people did not check on her to find out if she is okay?’

“That is not my department, ma.”

“What do you even mean? You interact more with the kids than any other person. How can you not be bothered about the welfare of your students? Did you even notice that my son Tade has not been himself in the past few weeks?”

“Madam, if there is something wrong with the students, the parents will inform us.”

Tade’s mum was losing her cool. It seemed like every interaction opened up layers of a new discovery.

“Damn it! What if it started right here in school? Phew, okay, I would like to have the girl’s parents phone number."

“I am sorry, ma'am, but it's against our school policy to divulge such information.”

“Have you all gone crazy here? My son is out in the street; we don’t know what has happened with the girl, and you still have the effrontery to withhold information. If you people are not going to show some concern, allow others to do what needs to be done. Gosh!”

The school’s administrator and public relations personnel heard the shouting and rushed out of their offices.

“Madam, we are very sorry. Can you please follow me to my office?” the PR person said.

“I am not moving an inch. Get me the number of Halimah’s parents; let me leave this place.”

The admin person scampered into her office and was back in a few minutes with a sheet of paper that had the phone numbers on it. Mrs. Awosika let out a long hiss before storming out of the school.

She did not leave the school premises before calling Halimah’s parents. It was a short call that led her to visit Anderson’s Memorial Hospital that evening.

It was a rollercoaster kind of day for Mrs. Awosika. Never did she imagine that she would end up visiting a hospital just because she wanted to find out what was wrong with her son. When Halimah’s mother called out the hospital address in a soft voice earlier, Tade’s mother didn’t know in what direction to think. Did the girl hurt herself because she was heartbroken? Did Tade hear of her condition and blame himself for it? What in the world was going on? She, however, braced herself for the worst as she walked into the private ward where Halimah was kept.

The sight of Halimah made Tade’s mum shed a tear. She wanted to know what happened to the girl her son liked. Halimah’s parents explained how for about three days they thought she was down with the regular malaria or fever until the fourth day when she started vomiting uncontrollably. They tried to ask her questions, but she wasn’t forthcoming with answers. She eventually fainted and was rushed to the hospital, where they were told she had been raped. The worst part was that she now had a serious infection because there were cuts around her private area caused by vigorous penetration and other objects in the surrounding. A lot of dirt found its way into her body via these openings, which led to a number of large swellings with pus. Halimah was experiencing a lot of discomfort and had to be put on a lot of strong antibiotics.

“No one even called from her school. You are the only one who has cared to ask. God bless you,” Halimah’s mum said in between tears.

The parents were not sure when, where, or by whom their daughter was raped, but the father hoped Halimah would finally be able to tell them what happened so that the culprit can be brought to book.

Tade’s mum felt pity for Halimah and shared with her parents the toll their daughter’s condition was taking on her son. She asked if Tade could come see Halimah at the hospital, and her parents obliged.

Mrs. Awosika’s phone rang. Seeing it was her husband, she quickly said her goodbyes and excused herself.

“Hi honey, we found him, but I am taking him to the hospital to get him properly checked. Maybe the doctor can tell us how best to manage him.”

“Oh, okay. I think that is a great idea. Dr. Toba knows our medical history and will definitely tell us the best course of action.”

“I forgot to mention. We are not going to St. Nicholas Hospital. I called Dr. Toba, and he referred us to Anderson Memorial after hearing the entire story. He said his friend and colleague is one of the best psychiatrists, and his expertise may be needed on this.”

“Ah! Why are you taking my son to see a psychiatrist? He doesn’t have a mental problem. Anyways, thankfully, I am at that same hospital, so I will just wait for you.”

“Why are you at a hospital? Did anything happen to you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I am fine, babe. I came to see the girl. Everything happened so fast, and I had to rush to meet up with the visiting hours. I am sorry I didn’t let you know. When you get here, we will talk.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

They soon got to the hospital. Mrs. Awosika refused to follow them into the doctor’s office because, as far as she was concerned, that was an unnecessary formality; however, she paced the length of the hallway thinking thoughts that scared the hell out of her.

“Oh, you are still around? I thought you had left,” Halimah’s mother said in her usual calm voice.

“I was going to leave, but then my husband called to say he was coming this way. My son was referred to a psychiatrist here.”

Halimah’s mum put her hand over her mouth in shock

“Oh dear! I am so sorry to hear that. I didn’t know it was that bad. Since we are in the same hospital, I guess it will be easier for them to see now. We are just taking Halimah on her routine walk to strengthen her legs.”

Tade’s mother saw Halimah clutching on her father’s shoulder as they walked out of her ward. She felt sorry for the girl.

“There you are, honey. It seems…”

“T-tt-ttt-ttttt…tttt…,” Halimah struggled to muster while pointing in the direction of Tade’s mum. She began to shiver.

Upon sighting Halimah, Tade shut his eyes tight and started to scream.

“No, no, I didn’t do that. I didn’t do that, no, no.” before he passed out.

The four adults were shocked at the episode they had just witnessed. Nurses came around to revive Tade, and he was admitted into a ward. There were many unanswered questions. Tade’s mum was exhausted.

“I hope for all our sakes that my thoughts are not true,” Halimah’s father said, breaking the silence.

“And what exactly are you thinking? My son has feelings for your daughter. You can’t possibly think he did that to her. Sir, we raise our son right.”

“Mr. & Mrs. Awosika, please, your attention is needed here,” the doctor called out from his office.

The couple rushed in to find their son muttering in his semi-unconscious state.

“Leave me alone. Tariq, Leave me alone. I am not doing it. She is my friend, and I can’t hurt her. I am sorry, Halimah; I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t want them to hurt you, so I had to do it. No, no, it wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. I am not a monster.”

There was pin-drop silence for a moment.

Tade’s parents didn’t realize that Halimah’s parents came to Tade’s ward after ensuring their daughter was back in bed and calm. They were right behind them and heard everything.

“You bastard!! Look what you did to my daughter.”

Halimah’s dad charged towards the bed but was restrained by the doctor and nurse. Her turned around and slammed two quick punches into Tade’s dad’s jaw, sending him to the floor.

“I thought you said you raised a responsible boy. You heard with your ears what your stupid son said. I should kill him with my bare hands for putting my angel through this pain. Anyways, we shall meet in court. I have a recording of his confession.”

Engr. Bello stormed out of the ward, dragging his wife along with him.

Since hearing her son’s confession, Mrs. Awosika had been on the floor weeping. She wondered how things got this bad and blamed herself for not paying much attention.

Two weeks passed in a flash. True to his words, Engr. Bello got the justice system involved in the case. With hard evidence, it was easy to rule that Tade be sent to a juvenile detention center. However, since the duration prescribed by the psychiatrists for his treatment coincided with the detention time, he was allowed to be locked away at a psychiatric hospital with sparse visits only once a month. Much as they tried to reach out to Tariq’s family, all efforts proved abortive. They heard Tariq had been flown to Australia to be with his mom.

Tade got sober after some months. He penned down a long heartfelt apology to Halimah, which never got to her because Mr. Bello moved his wife and kids back to the north while he stayed back to work.