The Beautiful Woman

Our paths crossed on occasion and every time I would be blown away by her beauty. It wasn’t the ordinary kind of beauty that withered as the years went by. No, it was a once in a millennial kind of beauty. She had dark eyes that glimmered in the light, her nose was perfectly placed on her face, not too small not too large, and her lips would curve into a bewitching smile that would leave you begging for more. Her crown was a head full of black hair that cascaded down her shoulders like a river flowing down a mountain. God took his time moulding her for her chocolate complexion, well rounded bossom, snatched waist and slightly wide hips would leave a picture of perfection in the beholder’s eyes. She wasn’t just a beauty in appearance, she also had a heart of gold, ready to flash her smile at a passer by, ready to help out a stranger in need and most importantly use her gentle voice to calm the worst of tempers. I was only a child when I knew her but more than fifteen years later I still remember her and her graceful nature.

On that dreadful night, the night that would see us say goodbye to this beauty forever, began with an insistent knock on her door. She wasn’t expecting anyone so when the knock became a thud on her door she felt a shiver through her body almost as if alerting her that the countdown of her last minutes on earth had began. She finally gathered up the courage to go open the door. Standing on her front porch were two faces she was familiar with so she let out a breath of relief. The two men that stood at the door of the her house wasted no time in letting her know the agenda of their nightly visit. “We have been sent by your enstranged husband to collect the money you owe him from the sale of the land you sold,” one of them said. “That money is for our daughters’ education. I can’t give him all the money. I need it for our children’s school fees.” She replied. “we don’t care what your intentions are with the money. All we want is the money. Stop wasting our time,” the larger man retorted.

“Mum, is there a problem? Who is shouting?” her seven year old daughter asked as she appeared at the living room door. She turned around to look at her daughter who was now walking toward the door not knowing it would be one of the last times she would see her precious child ever again. Her daughter, Kui, finally arrived at the door and saw the two men, “Oh, uncle Titus and uncle Fidel, you have come to visit us. How are you?” the little girl said to the two men. “Go back to your room Kui. Allow me and your uncles to have a conversation and when we are done, I will call you.” Kui then turned around and went back into her room.

She turned to face Fidel and Titus who were clenching their fists and whose faces were now fuming with anger and she tried to plead with them, “We have known each other for quite some time, can’t you guys try and reason with my husband so he can understand that the money is an investment into our children’s future.” “Give us the money now or else we will have to resort to other ways of getting the money.” Fidel roared back. “Are you threatening me now? What will you do if I refuse to give you the money?” she asked not knowing that the angel of death had accompanied these men to her home. Titus reached into his coat and pulled out a machete and brandished it at her. Intense fear filled her from the top of her head to the soles of her feet and she panicked, “Okay, alright, I don’t have the money here I need to withdraw it from the bank.” “Give us your ATM card and pin and we can go withdraw it for ourselves.” Feeling defeated, she turned back into her house, reached for her purse and withdrew the ATM card from it and handed it to them together with her pin. Fidel and Titus then walked away and she was left to weep in silence.

She sat unmoving on her couch for one hour wondering why the rain was beating her so hard. She could not reconcile the man she married fifteen years ago with the one that is sending goons to harass her for money. He had been a loving man and doting father for the first ten years but now he had become a beast who would often unleash his anger on her. She sat there and thought about her two daughters, Cecilia and Kui. They had been the greatest blessing and joy of her life. Once again, there was a knock on her door and she rose to go answer it. No sooner had she unlocked the padlock than the door came flying and Titus and Fidel entered forcefully inside. Fidel grabbed her by the throat and shouted, “Do you think we are idiots? Why would you give us a fake pin of your ATM? Do you think we have time to waste? “No, I gave you the correct pin. I wouldn’t play games with you.” Fidel let her go then he smacked her face so hard that she fell to the ground. Kui who heard the commotion came out of her room to check on her mother in the living room. She found her beloved mother lying on the floor with fear in her eyes and the two men glaring at her. Titus grabbed Kui and then spoke, “Do you know what we will do to your daughter because of your lies? “Please leave my daughter out of this. I can go with you to the ATM machine to retrieve the money. There is no need to hurt my daughter.” “So you want to waste more of our time with useless trips.” Titus then pushed Kui to the couch and began undressing her. “Wait! Stop! What are you doing to my daughter?” she shouted as she lunged towards Titus successfully knocking him over to the ground. Fidel then grabbed her by her hair and smashed her head against the table. Titus rose from the floor, his face fuming with anger and he struck the beautiful woman on her back. He then turned to seven year old Kui who was now screaming and he put his hand on her mouth. He proceeded undressing the little girl until he took off her underwear. The beautiful woman who was now on bleeding on the floor tried to plead with them, “Please, don’t hurt my daughter. I will give you guys the money, I promise. Please let my daughter and I go then we can go to the ATM machine.” Fidel then looked at her and said, “We already gave you a chance to hand the money over to us  and you failed. Now you will get what’s coming to you. Titus then unbuckled his belt, lowered his trousers and began defiling seven year old Kui as her mother watched in horror. The beautiful woman tried to push Titus off her daughter but Fidel  held her back and began kicking her in the stomach, ribs and head until she lost consciousness. Fidel then took his turn to defile the little girl who was crying in pain. When the two men were done beating and defiling them, they went into the kitchen. They disconnected the gas cylinder from its pipe so that the whole house would be filled with gas. They then lit a match stick and the house caught on fire. They left and locked the house from the outside.

Kui woke up from the couch and began trying to wake her mother who was still unconscious on the floor. The house was filled with smoke and Kui tried to unlock the door but it was locked from the outside. The fire spread from the kitchen to the living room and the beautiful woman was still unconscious. Kui was now coughing and sshe went into the bedroom unlocked her window and began crying out, “dear neighbors please come help us. We are dying in our house. Please come.” The little girl wailed and screamed for what felt like an eternity until finally she finally heard someone at their door. She rushed to the living room which was mostly on fire. A neighbor was trying to unlock the door and atlast the door gave way and Kui rushed outside into the arms of a concerned neighbor. The neighbors then looked at the beautiful woman lying on the floor and they carried her out to take her and her daughter to the hospital. On reaching the hospital, the doctors pronounced the beautiful woman dead on arrival. The neighbors cried and wailed for the loss of life. Kui was admitted to the hospital and underwent surgery which saw the doctors removing her uterus so as to save her life.

The following morning, friends and neighbors were informed of her death and the police went to her house to try and determine what events took place. An investigation commenced to find out what tragedy had befallen the beautiful woman and her seven year old daughter. Her other daughter, Cecilia, who was in a boarding secondary school came home after she was informed of her mother’s passing. When Kui felt better, she gave a statement to the police clearly identifying Titus and Fidel as the perpetrators but nothing was done to them. The beautiful woman’s family went to court to find justice for their fallen kin but alas no justice was given to them. The beautiful woman’s body stayed in the morgue for one year until the case was concluded in court. Her husband was a wealthy man who bribed the police and the judicial system so he was never implicated in the matter. They finally laid the beautiful woman to rest but to this day no justice was ever found for her.