The Silent Sanctuary

The Quiet Brokenness

Deep inside Deola's soul, the ember of her old dream still burned.

One evening, after putting the children to bed, Deola gathered every ounce of her remaining courage, she approached Jide while he sat in the living room, holding a folded newspaper clipping about entrance forms for a local nursing school.

Deola: ("Jide" she began, her voice trembling despite her best efforts.) The children are older now. SIMI is at school all day. I... I saw that a nursing school is admitting new students. You promised me before we got married that when things settle, you would let me finish my education. I want to be productive, I want to contribute to our home and help people.

Jide didn't even look up from the screen, he let out a dry, cruel laugh that sliced through the room. When he finally turned to her, his face was cold and contemptuous.

JIDE: ("A nurse?" he mocked, snatching the clipping from her hand and tossing it onto the floor. ) Your duty in this house is to stay here, clean, cook and take care of my children, that is all you are capable of. If you wanted to be a nurse, Deola, you should have gone to nursing school from your father's house.

The words hit Deola like a physical blow.

Deola stood frozen as Jide picked up his car keys, brushed pass her and walked out into the night to meet another woman.

She dropped to her knees on the cold tiled floor, picking up the crumbled paper clip. Tears streamed silently down her cheeks as she clutched it to her chest. In that quiet room, under the dim light, she thought of the mother who had loved her unconditionally.

Deola: " if my mother hadn't fallen ill and died when she did".

Deola whispered to the empty room, her heart breaking all over again.

Deola: " i wouldn't be here, I would have finished nursing school, I would have achieved my dream".

That night, as she lay away listening to the clock ticking on the wall, a sharp pounding pressure began behind her eyes _ the silent physical mark of a broken heart that refused to go away.

Deola did not to give up her dream. She promised herself that even if she did not acquire a nursing certificate, she will use the little knowledge she had acquired while she was in nursing school before dropping out to help the people around her whenever she had the opportunity to help, so she began studying and making research on her own.

Late one evening inside the living room. The room is dimly lit. DEOLA sits at the dining table with a small notebook hidden under a stack of household receipts. She is studying by the soft light of a table lamp.)

DEOLA: (Whispering to herself as she writes) Hypertensive emergency... early warning signs: severe headache, blurred vision, dizziness. Treatment: immediate rest, blood pressure monitoring...

(The heavy metallic clunk of the front door unlocking startles her. JIDE walks in, smelling faintly of alcohol, his tie loosened and his posture aggressive.)

JIDE: (Throwing his car keys onto the glass coffee table with a loud clatter) Why are the parlor lights turned down? Are you trying to save electricity in a house I pay for?

DEOLA: (Quickly sliding her notebook underneath the stack of receipts, standing up) Welcome home, Jide. I turned them down so the glare wouldn't wake Lanre. He had a slight fever earlier tonight.

JIDE: (Walking over to the dining table, his eyes narrowing as he spots the edge of the notebook sticking out) What is that?

DEOLA: (Trying to sound calm) Just... household expenses, Jide. Balancing the monthly grocery allowance you gave me.

JIDE: (Snatches the notebook from under the receipts, flipping through the pages. His face darkens as he sees handwritten medical notes and diagrams) Household expenses? Since when does garri and vegetable oil require diagrams of the human nervous system?

DEOLA: (Taking a small step back, her hands trembling) Jide, please. It’s just my personal study notes. It keeps my mind sharp—

JIDE: (Rips the pages directly out of the binding, tearing them in half) I knew it! You are still clinging to this foolish delusion! You think because you live in a big house you can play doctor in your head?

DEOLA: (Tears springing to her eyes, reaching out helplessly) Jide, don't! Those took me months to write!

JIDE: (Tossing the torn paper into her face, stepping right into her personal space) Look at you! Look at what you've become without me! nobody! Your father couldn't even keep his own family together and here you are, acting ungrateful under my roof!

DEOLA: (Her voice shaking, but a spark of quiet defiance burning in her eyes) I am grateful for the roof, Jide. But this roof feels more like a grave every single day.

JIDE: (Chuckles coldly, shaking his head) Then lie in it! Because as long as you carry my name, you will do as I say. No clinics, no books, no ambitions. You are a housewife, Deola. Act like one.

(JIDE turns and walks upstairs toward the master bedroom, slamming the door heavily behind him.)

(DEOLA sinks slowly onto her knees on the cold floor. She begins gathering the torn pieces of paper, pressing them against her chest as silent tears stream down her face.)

SIMI: (Stepping quietly out from the hallway shadow, wearing her nightgown, her eyes wide with sorrow) Mummy...?

DEOLA: (Quickly wiping her face, forcing a gentle smile despite her heartbreak) Simi... my love, why are you up? Go back to bed.

SIMI: (Kneeling beside her mother on the floor, helping her collect the ripped papers) I heard Daddy shouting. Why is he always so angry with you?

DEOLA: (Holding Simi's small hands, her voice soft but resolute) Because he doesn't understand, Simi. But listen to me... physical paper can be torn, but what is written in your mind and your heart can never be destroyed. Always remember that.

SIMI: (Nodding solemnly, hugging her mother tightly) I won't forget, Mummy. I promise.