I was 8 When He Abused Me.

My name is Marie Therese. I am 40 years old and happily married now with children.

I lived with my parents, grandparents and other members of our extended family: uncles, far relatives and others I really can’t define correctly. We stayed together, the African tribal way, in the same compound.

One of my uncles was feared by all the kids and young ones. Almost everyone, including our seniors and parents, avoided confronting him for his harsh language, quick temper, and violent tantrums.

These attitudes, he used as an advantage to have his way on us the younger girls. He started by asking me to go and clean up his room for him. It is an abomination in our culture to turn down such command. While cleaning his room, he came in, commanded me to undress my clothes with a threat

He raped me.  

I was just 8 years old.

After he had molested me despite my cries, he threatened me not to tell anyone or else he will deny it and I will still surfer for it later. He also said it will be a shame for other families to make our big family a laughing stock. I believed him because he had done things no one questioned him about. He always had his way.

Most times when he asked me to clean his room again, I will cry but my father and some of my aunties will accuse me of laziness. Commanding me to obey my elders. None bothered to ask me why I wailed loudly.  

Sometimes because of human congestion and visitors staying overnight, the young girls spend the night together in the main family house where there were two beds big enough for us to manage for the night.

He had come on occasions late at night to do his wicked acts on any of us he chose. It was later I knew that I was not the only one he had been rapping. Other girls were going through the same. He however seem to prefer me.

These went on for two years.

I became frustrated and was ready to go through any beating the elders may want to inflict on me for disobeying. So, I finally told him that I will not clean his room again and if he insist, I will tell my parents especially my mother everything he had been doing to me. He knew my mother was a nurse and will check if it was true. From then on, he stopped touching nor sending me forcefully to clean his room. That was my freedom from him and the long abuse. 

But he continued doing it to the others.

How did I live after this abuse?