Chapter 4: Recovery

“Are you awake?”

I tried to open my eyes, not sure where I was but I recognized Tina's voice. My mind was still hazy as I searched my memory. It was daybreak already. I had no idea how I got home from the night before. How did I get clean? I remembered absolutely nothing.

As usual I would already be in the kitchen at this time but this morning was different. I needed to get up to start cooking. I struggled to move my body into a sitting position. I felt heavy as if I were laying under a ton of bricks. “Ayy” I couldn't help letting out my cry when I was reminded how badly my body had been abused. My face was still stinging with pain and the last I remembered was a man pounding on top of me.

“Aunty I can explain” I could hardly speak and I wanted to apologize. My face was swollen. This man did a number on me. I managed to open my eyes and saw her expression.

“Explain what? Do you know what you have done?”

I was dumbfounded. Her question was somewhat confusing to me. Her tone indicated that I was to blame for whatever happened to me. I did not understand how this was any of my fault but I was not about to make Tina more upset than she already was so I remained silent.

I couldn't remember how I got home or even got into bed. My body was cleaned, and I was wearing a different set of clothes. I wanted to ask Tina all the details, but it's evident that She was in a foul mood. I already knew my aunt’s temper so it's best to wait until she calmed down.

Tina had no doubt that her niece was brutally rape she was angry and hurt for her. This would not have happened if Jonas was still alive. Everyone knew how he doted on his daughter. Indeed her niece was a beautiful child Jonas never intended for his daughter to stay in Boudins. He had plans to send her to his brother Francois who lived in the Capital but they had to reconcile first.

Anger flared through Tina like a burning fire she could not resist swatting at her niece. She was mostly angry with Jonas for dying and leaving her with such responsibility. She wasn't ready for her brother to leave her, and not to mention taking charge of someone else.

She promised Jonas that she would look after his daughter until marriage. Tina recalled the tears running down his cheeks while pouring his heart out to his sister. She knew he did not want Saintilia to remain here. She was too pretty and she needed to have a higher education. But Tina was in no position to do anything for her at this time.

Tina glanced at her beautiful niece, she had to fight her tears when she noticed that Saintilia was still struggling to get up.

“Do you know how difficult it will be to get you a husband?”

“I will not talk about this to anybody.” I said inaudibly while trying to divorce the pain from my mind.

“Do you think not talking about it will keep it a secret? Do you know who found you?”

I then understood that my life was really ruined and if I guessed correctly. It turned out that my neighbor Adeline found me unconscious just a few feet away from the outdoor kitchen.

Adeline was a good woman. I always tried to set her up with Jonas but he gave up on living after Paulette. She had many flaws but one thing that Adeline was known for was that she talked too much. Gossiping was her nature. She was not malicious, she just couldn't keep any secrets.

Adeline wanted to borrow some salt, thinking that I was home and most likely preparing dinner. When she called for me, Tina was forced to step out to tell Adeline that I was not back from the river.

Tina could not have noticed the man who carried her niece and laid her down near the kitchen earlier because she rarely went outside, especially when it was starting to get dark.

Adeline frowned. "That's unusual." Why is she so late? That's not like Saintilia to stay at the river for this long. Adeline felt that something was off.

"What do you want?" Tina asked.

"Can I borrow some salt?"

Tina rolled her eyes. She felt annoyed. This woman always wanted to borrow something. Tina could never turn her down because Adeline was very giving. Whenever she went to the street market she always brought Tina something and very often when she cooked, she would make extra and share with both Tina and her niece. Especially after Jonas died.

At that moment Adeline noticed something unusual on the ground but not sure what it was. Her inquisitive nature wanted to know so she had to investigate. As she slowly approached, careful not to make too much noise just in case it's an animal, avoiding it jumping on her. Instantly she knew when she noticed the pile of hair covering the ground. "Saintilia" she screamed and rushed over. Tina's heart skipped and she froze.

"Tina, it's Saintilia, bring me the lamp." Tina knew she heard Adeline but she could not move for fear had taken over her senses.

Adeline at that moment realized that Tina was just standing there unable to move. She rushed into the house, and grabbed the small galvanized metal lamp that was burning on the table. As she ran back out, she grabbed Tina's arm with a little force bringing her back to her senses.

"Tina, help me bring her up."

Tina did not know what happened to her niece until after they carried her in and inspected her. They both looked at each other and knew that someone evil did this to her.

Tina couldn't fight back her tears when she saw the injury to her niece's beautiful face. Her dress was ripped, her bra was all the way up to her neck exposing her breasts. They continued inspecting the rest of her body, and discovered that she was bruised and bloody.

"Where's her underwear?"

They both questioned almost in unison. They did not know what to make of the missing underwear but the deed was done and there was nothing they could do about it.

They knew I was not dead because they checked my breathing. "How did she get so close to home and you noticed nothing." Blurted Adeline.

Tina was not happy with Adeline's tone. She felt somehow Adeline was implying that she did not care about her niece. "We need to clean her." Tina said ignoring her comment. "I am going to boil some water."

Adeline reminded Tina that she did not have a fire ready so she would go home and fetch hot water since she had started cooking. Tina agreed and told her that she would have clean clothes ready for her.

Meanwhile, Tina prepared her niece's bed and everything else that was needed. In just a short while Adeline appeared with 2 buckets full of leaves and hot water. Tina did not question what the leaves were for she already knew. Adeline dumped the water in the basin that already had cold water.

She then checked the water temperature and it was perfect. Adeline went to the kitchen, she was no stranger, she knew where things were kept. She grabbed a few sour oranges that were in the bucket, and cut each in half. Tina took some of the oranges, she understood Adeline's intentions. After all, she was well aware of the significance of those ingredients. They squeezed the juice in the water first and then dumped the skin in the basin. Once everything was mixed they were ready to give treatment. Tina took her niece's arms, wrapped them around her neck, then with her arms enveloped her niece's waist lifted her and placed her on the small bench.

According to both Tina and Adeline I moaned through the entire process. Tina held me upward while Adeline gently tapped the leaves on my wounds. Then she washed my entire body, careful not to cause me more pain.

"Ok I think this is good enough" decided Tina. They took care of me the best they could. And once I was comfortable, I could not do anything else but sleep.

The only thing I remembered about this process was when I tried drinking some bitter tea that Adeline had concocted for Me. It stung my mouth because of the cut on my lips so I made a loud noise. I rejected the tea but Adeline insisted that it was good for me. so Tina spoon fed me the tea.

Tina kept very close eyes on me. She never left my side because I had a high fever during the night. Adeline returned home briefly to finish cooking. She came back with food for Tina and some soup for me which I never got to taste. She decided to stay the night to look after Me because Tina could not control her emotions.

"It's late you should get some rest." Encouraged Adeline. It was a long night. Tina took her advice and went to bed. Little did I know, the day that I woke up was not the next day. Two days had already gone by. I wanted to know how I got home and how I got clean.

I felt embarrassed realizing that Tina must have suffered waiting for me to wake up. “I am truly sorry auntie.” I mumbled. I rummaged through my mind trying to recall what I did wrong and how I could have avoided what happened to me. I could not see his face so I could not accuse anybody. I remembered he had a strong scent and he perspired a lot but nothing else that stood out to me. I knew I was careless and I should not have stayed at the river so late. Perhaps that was the reason that Tina was so infuriated with me. How many times have I been warned to not come back so late.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. I couldn't respond. I was overwhelmed with anger and I wanted to scream. I shook my head instead. At that moment I couldn't control the tears from coming down. I needed to calm down so that I could talk to my aunt.

My body was still sore but I managed to get out of bed. The house was small and consisted of two very narrow bedrooms one of which was my late father’s room now occupied by my aunt. A dining room with a small wooden table and a couple of chairs built by Jonas himself, in the right corner where we ate our meals. She placed a plate of food in front of me. I recognized Adeline's cooking and I smiled. "She's been here everyday and once you fully recover, you need to do something for her to show your gratitude." I shook my head in agreement while taking a spoonful into my mouth.

It was weeks before I felt strong enough to return to the river for my daily chores. Tina was becoming paranoid when I stayed out for too long. She was very concerned that I might be pregnant but to her relief that was not the case.

I was no longer allowed to go to the river by myself no matter the time. I could only go in the morning with a couple of kids from the neighborhood.

It became a routine check on me during the night while I slept. Tina did not know when it began but in the nights that followed the incident, she clearly remembered how restless I was. It seemed to her that I was reliving the moment because of the moaning and the grimace on my face, with tears in my eyes. This went on for a while but we never discussed what happened.

Tina walked toward my sleeping body and covered me. "What am I supposed to do with you?" She whispered to herself. She then blew off the flame illuminating from the GRIDAP lamp, and then surrendered back to her own room.

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