BIRTHDAY HORROR
Birthdays are meant to be the best days of our lives, the days for celebrating our existence on planet earth, but what happens when these days become the total opposite of their meaning.
Growing up Honey was just one of those girls in the neighborhood whom nobody ever really noticed. She lived with her mother, stepfather and sister all her life and only got to really know her real father after her stepfather passed away. He was a stepfather like no other; he cared for Honey and her sister like they were his biological children. Honey’s heart sank when he passed away, she couldn’t imagine her family without him. Her mother was jobless at the time; her sister was only three years old. Honey had to drop out school and get a job to help her mother in meeting their family’s needs. She did all she could but things just didn’t work out. Honey couldn’t take it no more she had to do something about her family’s situation. She opted for better options, she first thought of working in a strip club but she was way under age. There was only one “no age restriction job” in the ghetto left for her, she had to enter the “sugar daddy business”. Out of all the things she would do for money, this was not a perfect idea. Honey erased the idea out of her head and looked for other ways to make ends meet.
Days, weeks and months went by, her family kept on getting poorer and poorer. Life was hard, her mother was depressed. They woke up and slept hungry. Her sister cried every night out of hunger. Peter had to be the solution to this misery. Honey thought to herself, “What have I got to lose? I have to take care of my family. ” She was 15, he was 40, what choice did she have, she had to do something before it’s too late. Peter was even older than her mother but this didn’t bother neither of them, at least not at first. He provided her with everything she wanted. The depression on her mother’s face was gone; her sister’s beautiful was back. Honey could now go back to school with no worries. Honey’s mother was happy that her daughter had such a wonderful job. What else could she think of her daughter? What she doesn’t know won’t hurt right? Honey’s life was transformed and back to normal. She was happy in love with Peter, or maybe his money. She had everything she needed and her family was happy. This was all she ever hoped for in her life. She predicted a bright future ahead of her.
Easy come, easy go. Six months later, things got sour. Honey will never forget this day. It was the 19th of July 2009, it was her 15th Birthday. Birthdays are meant to be fun, joyful and exciting. It is every girl’s dream to have a birthday like no other, the birthday of a lifetime, the birthday you will still remember even on your 21st birthday. For Honey, this wasn’t the case. Peter wanted something for everything he did for her. He couldn’t just provide without benefits. Honey did not want to agree to what Peter wanted. He wanted her pride, her joy; he wanted her only weapon in her teen years, her everything. He wanted to have sex with her; she refused, told him she was a virgin. All he could say was “I don’t believe you Honey, even if I did, that doesn’t matter now.” Honey was shocked, she didn’t know what to say or do. He started taking her clothes off. She kept on saying no, she kept on pushing him away, “GET OFF ME”, Honey cried. He didn’t listen; he was too strong for her. She kept on trying to fight him off, she never succeeded. The next morning, Honey woke up with blood all over her body, she bleeding for no more. She was helpless. The monster was gone and nowhere to be seen. Somebody had called an ambulance for her. It was Nathan, Peter’s son eldest son.
The next day Honey woke up in hospital with her mother weeping oceans of tears beside her. “Who told you I was here?”, Honey asked her mother. “Nathan”, her mother replied. Honey couldn’t dare to look at her mother in the eye. She didn’t even know how to start telling her mother what happened. “What went wrong Honey”, her mother asked. “Nothing”, Honey replied. “There is no such thing as nothing that makes you end up in a hospital bed”, please talk to me Honey. Honey couldn’t talk; she just cried and looked away. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you lately Honey, but please talk to me”, her mother cried. “He gave me everything, he provided for you and my sister, we were all happy. Our family was now coping in his presence. I was back in school, I saw a bright future ahead of me, I now had friends at school, and everything was good. Six months later, I lie in a hospital bed because of that. The day I will never forget, he said I had to give him something for everything he has done for me. He wanted to have sex with me, I refused, told him I was a virgin, he said “I don’t believe you Honey, even if I did, that doesn’t matter now”, he started taking off my clothes, I said no…” Honey couldn’t talk anymore; she just kept on crying in pain. Her mother could do nothing but cuddle her daughter and promise her all was going to be okay. At least she wasn’t pregnant or HIV positive.
Months and years went by. Honey and her sister got curious about their biological father. Their mother was never willing to talk about him. They never understood why. All they knew was that he abandoned them when honey’s little sister was born, honey was still in boarding school at that time. That was when her mother met William, their stepfather, the only father they ever knew. William passed away when Honey’s sister was three years old. Even though their lives were back on track, Honey still wanted to know about her biological father, she was going to turn eighteen now, she felt the need to know her real father. As the days kept on getting closer to her birthday, Honey wasn’t happy at all, she wanted to know her father, to celebrate this day with him. Her mother felt very uncomfortable talking about the father of her children. This made her children miserable day by day; Honey and her sister felt tears running through their cheeks when they saw other children playing with their dads. They wondered if their father is still alive. Maybe things would be different if he was around. They would’ve have gone through the toughest challenges alone. A real father was all they ever hoped for. Only if they knew where to start searching. Honey kept on asking herself, “What if he has another happy family?, what I he does not want anything to do with us”... all questions kept on ringing in Honey’s head.
Another day, another 19th of July, Honey was now turning eighteen. Early in the morning, her mother and sister came with a cake singing, “Happy Birthday Honey…” Honey was so happy; this was her first birthday cake in four years. “Thank you so much”, Honey said. “You know what, you stay here and enjoy the rest of your day, I will be back with a big surprise for both of you”, their mother kissed them on the cheeks and left. The day passed and Honey’s mother was back. She came into Honey’s room and revealed the big surprise. “Today your curiosity will end, you two will meet your father today”, their mother said. Honey and her sister were excited and nervous at the same time. Her sister couldn’t wait; she rushed downstairs to meet him. Honey’s mother followed her excited daughter downstairs. Honey waited a couple of minutes to calm her nerves and went downstairs. This was her best birthday ever; she was going to meet her father. Honey took one step at a time till she finally saw her father.
Honey couldn’t believe her eyes. The man she hated more than anything or anyone, the man she would kill if she had the chance was her father. Peter, the man who raped her on this very day three years ago and left her to die was her biological father. Yet again, Honey’s birthday turned into a “nightmare”.