"Akin, you must kill me today!" Ava's mom screamed, holding her husband by his shirt.
"You're daring me, woman!"
"What wrong did I do by marrying you? I never wanted this marriage, but you begged so much that I considered you. Why are you behaving like I forced you into this hell we call marriage?"
"I've been freed from your charms, my eyes are clear now."
"Charms? Oh, so you support your sister. She had the guts to insult my mom by saying that she took me to a native doctor to prepare charms for you and you kept quiet and looked at her."
"Was she lying?"
"I always knew you had no sense. It's been twenty years since we've been together and you have showed me no love, so what charm are you talking about? What sort of charm makes a man hate his wife the way you hate me?"
"I don't have your time, woman. You had better leave my shirt or I'll do something that we'll both regret."
"Do your worst! What have you not done to me? Have you forgotten how you beat me up when I was pregnant with Ava up to the point of death? If not for Mrs Williams, I'd be dead and long gone by now."
"Spare me these stories. Leave my shirt now!"
"I'm not going to leave you. Shameless man! All you do is go about sleeping with numerous girls in this town. Does that thing under your legs not have control? You have really disgraced me."
"You're crossing the line!"
"I fell for your lies. You said you were going to change and only got worse. Had I known!"
He got fed up of her constant nagging and held her by the neck. He knew that was where her weakness lied, so he went ahead to hit her head on the wall. She began to bleed profusely.
He did not care. Rather, he put on his shirt and went away.
Adam, a boy about fourteen years of age who was around when this happened, called an ambulance. Adam often came to visit because Ava's mom was his godmother. It was weekend already and he had come to spend sometime there.
He tried to reach Ava, but she was unavailable. She had gone to church for choir practice and in order not to get disturbed, put her phone on flight mode.
Thirty minutes later, they had arrived. Ava's mom had already lost a lot of blood and gone into an unconscious state. She wasn't to be treated until someone much bigger showed up and signed some certain documents. This made Adam call her immediate younger brother who came, and in no time, she was treated. He had to donate his blood, and luckily it matched.
Now, it was nightfall and Ava had come home. On getting there, she called out to Adam, but there was no response. The doors weren't locked either. She moved around the house and yet, there was no sign of anyone.
She decided to check her parents room. On her arrival, the door was wide open and blood stained everywhere on the floor.
She screamed at the top of her voice and ran outside helplessly. She knew that this was her father's doing -- he was the only violent person at home. She quickly phoned her uncle and fortunately, he picked up almost immediately.
"Hello, Uncle, my mom! I can't find her anywhere. I came home and found blood everywhere."
"Calm down! We are at the City hospital."
"I'm coming there now!" She exclaimed and hung up.
At the hospital, Ava was directed to her mom's ward.
"Mom!" She called out, as she ran in to meet her.
Easy, your mom is still unconscious." Her uncle urged.
Ava sat on the bed and held her mom's hands and began to cry. Her mom who was now on oxygen laid lifeless, with a 50 50 chance of living.
"How did this happen? Ava questioned with so much anger.
"Your mom and dad were fighting." Adam replied.
"He did this to her, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did."
"He will surely pay for all these, one day."
Ava had managed to calm down, but refused to eat until she was sure that her mom would wake up.
She sat on a plastic chair at a corner of the room when Adam walked up to her.
"Why do your parents fight a lot, sister Ava?"
"Well, it's as a result of misunderstandings. My dad expects my mom not to question his actions, knowing fully well that they are bad. My mom on the other hand, questions them and that causes their fights."
"That's bad. So how do you cope with all these?"
"It has not been easy, dear. Sometimes I breakdown a lot as a result of this."
"All my life, I've never seen my parents fight."
"That's a good thing. You should thank God, no one wants to see their parents fight."
"I just hope mummy will be fine. I really couldn't do anything."
"It's fine, muffin. You did your best and I'm proud of you. Thank you for saving mom's life!" She told him and he hugged her tightly, almost squeezing the life out of her.
Back at home, Ava's father had gotten back late and drunk as usual. He moved to his room and felt disgusted by the blood on the floor, so he moved to the guest room and laid there. He acted like nothing had happened--- nothing he should worry about. While his wife was at the hospital struggling for her life, all he wanted to do was sleep and prepare for the next day to carry out his normal routine--Eating, sleeping, and going out to drink. Beating his wife would be included, if only she wasn't at the hospital.