I no longer have time for things that will harm me

I placed it on repeat that week and topped the "Recently listened" chat on my phone. The entire song describes the decision I made when I turned 21. The events of 2020 replayed in my mind causing tears to sting the back of my eyes.

I was at home preparing for my UTME examination when my mother's younger brother called and requested my assistance in his household because his wife just had a baby. I was skeptical at first, but my mother pleaded with me to help them out especially because it was the first time his wife was having a baby.

The day she arrived from the hospital, I packed my bags and headed over to their house, leaving the tutoring job I had picked up to save money for my exams.

My uncle was a huge man, making it easy for me to be scared of him. His wife, well, was just a woman ready to take advantage of the fact that someone else's child was asked to work for her. I don't want to spend time blaming her for all that transpired, since I had taken the experience and turned it into an intentional quest for self-discovery and development.

When Aqyila said "I speak my words but with a pen" I could totally relate. Every time I was shouted at, insulted, or mistreated by my uncle or his wife, I went over to my diary and poured out my heart into it.

I was scared of telling my mom because I didn't want to cause a rift between her brother and herself so I endured all of it but like Aqyila said, Some things really happen for the better.

On the fateful day that broke the camel's back, I had just returned from the market so I plopped myself on a cushion, watching TV, while waiting for my uncle's wife to prepare dinner. After a while, I heard the blaring of a car horn. None of us expected my uncle to return so early from work that evening so we didn't go to open the gate. The horn blared consistently until we heard the gate open and a car drive in. We were still not bothered.

When I heard the knock on our front door, I walked sluggishly to pull it open thinking it was one of the neighbors, my mouth dropped in shock when I saw my uncle's stern face staring back at me.

"Didn't you hear my horn at the gate for almost 10 minutes?" He pushed past me into the house, his wife scrambled out immediately she heard his voice and immediately defended herself, saying that she heard the horn but was taking care of the baby. My uncle turned back to me.

I didn't know what to say in self-defense so I kept mute, but I didn't expect the slap to the left side of my cheek. As if that was not enough, when he heard dinner was not ready, he unleashed his full-blown anger on my body.

I woke up the next day, packed my things silently, and left the house without their knowledge. My mother was both shocked and upset, she didn't believe her brother would condescend to mistreat her child especially because she said she had taken care of him when they were younger.

The issues they had afterward was inevitable but it was not as severe as the issue my mom had with her immediate younger sister when she asked for me to assist her after having her own baby.

I was a year older and had made the decision never to allow anyone to downplay my self-worth, ever again. When my mother brought the request to me, I gave a blatant no. I told her I had important things to do with my time and was not born to go into servitude to her siblings. Thankfully, she saw reasons with me but when she told her sister, the woman didn't take it well.

The issue escalated to the point where my mom's siblings had to call a family meeting in order to settle the discord between them. My mom maintained her stand during the meeting and said she would not allow her children to be subject to slavery or maltreatment in the name of assistance.

If that incident had not occurred with my uncle, I would have been comfortable going from house to house serving my relatives who were not kind enough to take good care of me or return the gesture if I ever needed their help.

I discovered that I too was special with or without the affluence they had. I learned not to condone any form of maltreatment while trying to gain someone's favor. I learned, just as Aqyila said, that people sell dreams to you so you can fix a part of their lives but I decided then that my uncle was the last.

As Aqyila said, I no longer have time for anything that is going to harm me even though it would be difficult for others to understand.

Inspired by Hello - Aqyila