Chapter 36

"Ah!" Tapiwa cried out in fright. The sound of the ceramic vase crashing against the wall right by her head was enough to send her heart rate skyrocketing. Instinct made her duck her head even as she kept moving. She had to keep moving and get out of there. Her life quite literally depended on it.

"Allen, stop!" Tapiwa heard her mother cry out behind her from somewhere down the hallway. The raw desperation in Miranda's voice echoed the one that twisted Tapiwa's guts. But she didn't stop to see if her father would listen to his wife's pleas or if the man would continue in his rage-infused chase after her.

The latter was more likely to happen. The man had just thrown a vase at her for heaven's sake. And it had been a nice vase too. One of the few her mother had ever spent a good amount of money on. Tapiwa thought it was a shame it now lay shuttered all over the floor, just like her life. Hell, she had to get out or she would really be nothing but broken bones on the floor if her father got his hands on her again.

Thankfully, she was already at the front door. Without hesitation, and as fast as her trembling fingers could grab the knob, Tapiwa threw it open and made a run for it. In her haste, her bare feet slipped on the small welcome mat right outside the door. The sudden shift in her equilibrium almost sent her crashing to the floor. But with a quick grab of the door frame, Tapiwa avoided the crash and kept her footing.

This was just as well because Tapiwa heard her father's heavy footsteps racing towards her seconds before the sound of a leather belt cracked through the air. Already familiar with what pain awaited her if she didn't move, Tapiwa threw herself forward, off the front porch.

Landing hard on the lawn barefoot and only wearing her pajamas was far much better than taking another strike from that belt. The skin on her back and the back of her thighs were already on fire from the five strikes she hadn't been able to escape while her father held her in place with one firm hand and delivered his punishment with the other. Tapiwa couldn't take any more.

Frantic to get away anyway she could, she scrambled on her hands and knees across the small lawn in front of the house, uncaring of any scrapes and bruises she got. When she was on the edge of the driveway with the tarred road in front of her, Tapiwa stumbled to her shaky feet and limped her way across the tarmac. Lucky for her, there were no cars driving by and she made it across in no time.

Only then did Tapiwa stop running. Still shaking, she bent over, bracing her hands on her knees, and coughed. Tapiwa was breathless. Her chest hurt, and her vision swam and blurred from the tears as she sobbed. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay like that for long. She was still in deep trouble.

Desperate for help from anyone, Tapiwa straightened, wiped the tears from her eyes, and searched the road. It was empty. A cry of anguish almost fell out of her mouth. Of course, it was empty. It was still morning but it was just late enough that all the people who rushed off for work and school were already gone and those who stayed home all day were still in bed, doing morning chores, or leisurely sipping their coffee in the confines of their homes unaware of her predicament. Whichever the case, the sad reality was that no one was there to rescue her from her father's rage.

Not even her siblings. Lute was still at the police station after he was handcuffed and taken away along with Jadon. Jadon. God, Tapiwa couldn't believe that had really happened. It had been a roller coaster of emotions, from desire to bliss. Then they were discovered and introduced to shamed beyond her wildest imaginations. Only it hadn't ended there. Jadon had rejected her and Tapiwa thought her heart had nearly shuttered.

Still, sifting through emotions wasn't her current priority. Her father was and it seemed she was alone to do it. Amy was home but her sister knew better than to leave her bedroom and interfere. That would have been the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull. Allen Mvula wasn't above making sure his youngest daughter got the message never to repeat Tapiwa's mistakes.

Speaking of her father, Tapiwa shot a glance back toward her parents' house and saw that both her parents had ventured out of the house but stopped halfway across the lawn. Allen still held the belt in his right hand. It was no longer folded, she quickly realized. Instead, her father gripped it from the tail end, leaving the heavy buckle swinging by his leg. The scowl on his face told Tapiwa not to dare approach him. Unless she wanted to know what that buckle would feel like when it met her flesh.

Miranda stood a step behind her husband, her cheeks wet with tears that continued to run freely from her eyes. In a feeble attempt to calm the situation, she grabbed her husband's left arm, urging him back into the house. But Allen wouldn't budge. Not when he still had something to get off his chest.

The glare he sent Tapiwa made her shudder and take a step back, creating more distance between them. Tapiwa would have loved to say she knew her father wouldn't kill her. She couldn't. He was pissed and rightly so, all things considered. But how that rage had manifested left her reeling and doubting the value of her own life in her father's eyes.

In Tapiwa's part of the world, it wasn't unheard of to hear that a parent or guardian had taken a punishment a step too far. Those were the stories that gave everyone goosebumps when they aired on the evening news. But they were also the unspoken norm.

Some of those stories had even struck close to home. Tapiwa could still remember the horror of finding out that her aunt, who just happened to be her father's cousin, had beaten her daughter, Suzzie,  into a coma for getting pregnant at the young age of fifteen.

Tapiwa's cousin had survived the ordeal and woken from the coma two weeks later but the pregnancy hadn't. The last time Tapiwa had inquired about her cousin's wellbeing she learned that Suzzie would never be able to have kids again due to extensive damage to her womb from the beatings.

Suzzie no longer lived with her parents, of course. No, strangely enough, Tapiwa's now eighteen-year-old cousin was living in her own house, in another country, married to the same guy that had impregnated her.

And as for her father's cousin, the woman had done less than a year in a minimum security prison for assaulting her daughter and causing the death of her unborn grandchild.

When the story hit social media, there were so many mixed feelings on the subject. Some believed her cousin should have been disciplined for bringing shame to her family while others, with more sense in their heads in Tapiwa's opinion, had thought the mother should have had more time behind bars and preferably with hard labor in a maximum security facility.

Unfortunately, whatever was done to the mother would never turn the clock back and fix what was already damaged in Suzzie's body. Just like Tapiwa couldn't turn the clock back and fix her error last night.

But she could stay far away from her father and prevent him from doing something that they would both regret once the tempers were cooled. At least, Tapiwa knew she would regret whatever happened since she would be on the receiving end of it.

As though to confirm Tapiwa's fears, her father spoke and his words held the venom she saw in his eyes. "No one under my roof will bring shame to my name. No one!"

Her father took a step forward, his fingers still wrapped around the belt. Self-preservation made Tapiwa take two steps back. Her eyes immediately darted left and right, planning her route of escape. Because the choices were clear. It was either she ran or she died at her father's hand. But her father didn't advance further. Only his words grew colder.

"I don't want to see your face, Tapiwa. You are no daughter of mine."

Tapiwa's heart sunk to her feet. She shook her head, denying the words. Her mouth opened, but she couldn't get any words out. Soon her vision blurred and she realized she was crying again. Looking at her mother through the haze of tears, Tapiwa saw that Miranda, too was crying. But the woman didn't contradict her husband or stand up for Tapiwa. Damn. That hurt.

Her chest squeezed and she couldn't stop more tears from running down her face. Especially not when her father abruptly turned around, grabbed his wife's arm, and marched them back toward the house. The sound of the front door being slammed shut echoed with finality on the quiet street. It seemed to take the last of her strength.

Without thought, Tapiwa dropped to her knees on the sidewalk and let out a shout burdened by all the pain and hurt she felt. It was all she could do.