Rest in peace

There once lived a promising young lady who had absolutely no idea what she was about. Her name was Tinu. As a little girl, Tinu’s parents relentlessly compared her with  her little brother Jide who was always at the top of his own class.

Her little brother didn’t help matters also. Rather than show his big sister study patterns to help her, he made fun of her both in school and at home. Because of this, Tinu withdrew both physically and emotionally from everyone around her. She had no friends both in school and at home; all she had left was her over-active imagination.

Tinu began to feel like a failure and a disappointment to her parents, and rued the day she was born. She hated herself and there was nobody around to bring her out of the rotten state of mind she was in. When she got into secondary school, she became a recluse and this didn’t help her school work. She only got worse academically. She barely scaled through junior secondary school.

In senior secondary school, Tinu only deteriorated. She dwelt inside her thoughts and this wasn’t good because they were terrible thoughts. She felt great shame because her parents weren’t proud of her and then she began to wish that she was never born. She didn’t pay attention in class and no attention was paid to her unless it was time to make jest; hence she stayed back in the shadows.

Due to her non-participation in class, she failed her examinations and had to repeat that class. The school invited her parents and told them about it. Rather than see Tinu’s poor performance as a cry for help, all they could think about was the school fees they had paid and the fact that they had to pay for another full session. That they were angry about.

They bashed Tinu in the car on their way home and Jide was right beside her in the back seat snickering away. At that point, Tinu had made up her mind. She was tired of being a disgrace to the entire family. Tired of bringing shame and soiling the family name.

Considering the fact that her parents were scholars as well as her brother, she concluded that God must have made a mistake when he  brought her into this world and placed her in that family. All that was said in the car to bash her character was the straw that broke the camel’s back because at that point, she made up her mind. She was going to remedy God’s mistake. She was going to take her own life.

When her father drove inside the compound, Tinu went straight to her room and locked the door. There she began to plot how she could end her life. She then got off her bed and stepped out of her room. She snuck into her father’s medicine cabinet and took as many pill bottles as she could find. She ran back into her room and began to stuff as many pills as she could down her throat. When she was done, she lay down in her bed waiting for death to come.

Life at every stage comes with trials, but what we must not forget is that it’s merely a phase and it would eventually pass. We may not be in control of the behaviour of others towards us, but we are in control of how we let such behaviour affect us. Do not give in to the negativity around you; remember always that you are your number one cheerleader and begin to see the light in yourself. Once you do that, others would have no choice but to see the light in you.

R.I.P Tinu, the young girl with a glorious future both she and the world never got to see.

Oluwaseyi Lawal