Taste of freedom…at what cost?

Every teenager wants a taste of freedom. Every­one in different stages of their lives wants to experience that taste and feeling of freedom. It could be freedom from your parents house to getting married or renting your own apart­ment, it could be freedom from leaving that employed job to being self employed or from a shackle of marriage to being divorced and single again.

I re­member I was enthusiastic to get into school because I was tired of the “suffering” or rather “bondage” I felt back home. I wanted freedom. I didn’t want my movement to be restricted by curfews. I wanted to be comfortable talking to a guy without having to look left or right, looking out for my dad’s unexpected slap or my mum’s yelling.

I wanted to party and dance. Finally, I got into school. “Free at last” I said! Funny enough, I joined the church people. I became a sister of God. Now this wasn’t something I bargained for. It just happened. But along the line, my friends kept questioning me. They said, “why leave the bond­age at home, only to come here and put yourself in another bondage? Leave this ‘sister, sister thing and have fun, you only have one life”.

One night, I decided to join them to a party, I’m sure that I will never forget that experience. Funny enough at the party, I met one very religious brother of mine from the same fellowship. He was engrossed in his fun. He was ‘rocking’. When our eyes met, we but echoed “brother and sister” at the same time.

I was really taken by surprise. There was drinking and dancing, but we never knew what awaited us. At the wee hours of the morning, I and two of my friends, left the party for our hostels, as we progressed home, from nowhere, we saw men dressed in fetish attires with calabash and pigeons, chanting and making incantations. Immediately we saw them we hid behind a tree.

It was like they could sense our presence because they stopped chatting and sniffed into the air. My heart was beating so fast and loud. I was afraid they could hear it. One of them who seemed like the leader turned towards our direction, where we hid. Right there, I made a silent prayer to God confessing all my sins and telling him I would never party ever again.

Thankfully they all turned and continued their incantation. Immediately they left and were out of sight, we ran as fast as our legs could carry us. I ran like my life depended on it. When we got to our hostel, we hurriedly opened the door and locked ourselves in and began giving thanks.

The next morn­ing, it was reported that some girls were killed on their way from a party and their private part were cut out. I already knew what happened to them. I never went to a party after that. I longed for freedom. I wanted freedom. Freedom almost cost me my life. So many of us may want freedom, from whatever situation we are in but let’s recheck our motives for that freedom. That same freedom we long for may be what may cost us so much in the end.