By Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
I told mummy
That daddy was hurting me
She said, ‘Shhhhhhhhhhh
Hush girl
Don’t let anyone hear you
How dare you?’
She called me a liar
She called me a prostitute
She called me an evil spirit
I was sick for a long time
Then all of a sudden, I did not hurt anymore
I told Teacher Maggie about Teacher Joe
She said ‘Shhhhhhhh’ too
She said I was wrong
She said Teacher Joe plays with girls all the time
She asked, ‘Why are you the only one telling lies’?
Me too. I told Grandma about Felix
She said, ‘Shhhhhhh’
When I started to vomit,
She took me to see the Doctor
When they asked Grandma, who was responsible
She said I was a bad little girl
When I tried to open my mouth
She said ‘Hushhhhhhhhh’
I did not know babies could hurt that much
I heard Grandma screaming my name
She was asking me to push
Push! Push! Pushhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Then everything went dark
My daddy and mummy did not say ‘Hush’
But they said ‘Yes’, when they came to beg them
Three boys
Three families came
Pastor, Chief, Honourable
Big men and women
They begged and paid
No one spoke to me
So, I went to the back of the house and stared at the water in the well
Then I closed my eyes…………….
Where are we going, I can’t see anything?
See, over there, where the light is coming from
Oh, I see it now
Where is it? Where are we?
Right there, over there
Take my hand
All of us will be safe here
Why will we be safe here?
It is the special heaven for little girls
The ones who were told, ‘Hushhhhhhhhh’.
In memory of Ochanya Ogbanje and the thousands of little girls like her.
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com