He knocked on my door and walked into my room at 12:00 a.m., and what he did next left me in shock.

There’s a scar just above the right brow of my friend’s father. I gave him that scar. My friend didn’t know until I told her recently. She screamed, “So my mom was right after all. She suspected something wasn’t right about that accident my dad talked about.”

This is what happened. My friend is Julianna. We went to SHS together. That’s where we met and became friends. During midterms, she would either follow me to Takoradi or I would follow her to her house in Accra. Her family became my family and mine became hers.Family games

After SHS, my results were that bad, so I decided to go and live with her and rewrite the papers I failed. She also failed some papers, so we found a remedial class close by and attended together. It got to a time her dad was paying special attention to me. He would ask about my day and even offer to give me a lift if I was going to town alone.

I thought he was only being a father until I saw his eyes tracking me anytime I was around the house. I thought it was about the way I dressed, so I changed my clothing. I wore long things and even covered myself in a thick blanket at night when we were watching TV and this man was around. Even in a thick blanket, his eyes still found me.

He was the one who started complaining about the way I dressed. “Why are you covered in a blanket, are you pregnant?” he would ask. He would pick unnecessary conversations with me just to be close to me. My alarm bells were ringing, but I was not too sure if I was thinking right. He was in his late fifties, so what could he be looking for in a twenty-year-old girl? I asked myself.

One day Julianna traveled to attend a church convention. She wanted to go with me, but I didn’t think a church event would be fun, so I told her I was going to stay behind and study. She left on a Friday afternoon. When her father came home and his daughter was gone, he asked me, “Are you not scared sleeping alone tonight? I can come and visit if you don’t mind.”

I only laughed and said I could sleep alone because nothing was scary about that room. Around 12 a.m., I was still awake looking at my phone when a shadow fell over me. I got scared. I didn’t know who it was. Our room was in the outhouse, a little bit detached from the main quarters. I put my phone down and looked around.

Later, I could hear some footsteps. I turned the light of my phone off and observed. I didn’t see anyone. And then there was a knock. I didn’t respond. And then a voice that spoke almost in whispers, “Open the door. It’s me. Julie’s father.” I pretended I was sleeping. The knock was feeble but loud, followed by whispers of my name. It became so disturbing, so I asked what he wanted. He said, “Just open. I have something to tell you.”

Immediately after I opened the door, this man grabbed me in his embrace, hugging me tightly. He was whispering, “That’s all I want from you.” I was pushing him away, but he was stronger. I fell on the bed and he followed, trying to be aggressive. I said, ‘Don’t let me shout. What are you trying to do? Would you do this to Julianna?”

He didn’t stop. He kept going until I had no option but to fight back. The only thing my hand could reach was my phone. I picked it up and threw my hand. I didn’t even watch where I was hitting. He screamed, “Egyei! You’ve blinded me.” He loosened his grip so he could touch his face. That was when I saw blood coming. I thought I’d blinded him. I was shaking. He was hurt and was still speaking in whispers, “Ekum. Egyei, you’ve blinded my eyes.”

He slowly found his way out and then into his room. I was still scared, especially when I saw the blood on his face. In the morning, I was the first to wake up. The house was very quiet. I was in the hall when I heard them coming in. He and his wife. I didn’t know they had gone to the hospital later in the morning. Julianna’s mom said, “Sorry we didn’t tell you. Your dad accidentally hit his face at the door and got a cut. I had to take him to the hospital.”

I responded, “Sorry, Dad. That must be terrible.” This man quickly rushed inside without looking at my face, and from that day, he frowned anytime he saw me around the house. Because of him, I stayed out of sight, especially in the evening. I would tell them exams were approaching, so I was studying hard. A month later, I wrote the exam and left. I kept this secret with me until after our national service when Julianna wanted me to visit.

I let the cat out of the bag. She screamed, “So Mom was right. She suspected something wasn’t right about the accident. She said it was so sudden it couldn’t have come from a door.” I answered, “It came from me. It’s the reason I haven’t come back again since then.”

She apologized to me but was disappointed it took me so long to tell her. She said, “You’re not the first one. He did it to a maid years ago, and my mom caught him. We thought he’d turned over a new leaf. It’s not your fault. Now I’m scared he might even do it to me.” I screamed, “Never!” She responded, “I can’t trust him that much.”

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I begged her not to tell her mom, and I want to believe she didn’t. We are still friends. Now that we’ve left home and are working, we are able to visit each other and stay as long as we can without any fear.