NBR Press
Bleeding Scar is a classic tale based on the 2002 Ikeja Cantonment Armoury explosions in Lagos, Nigeria, which claimed the lives of about one thousand one hundred people, displaced over twelve thousand, and left thousands more stung and devastated.
Linda Lucks, the protagonist of the story, narrated her ordeal during the explosions and how she lost her home and herself.
One weekend, during one of the extra classes her teacher, Master Dapo, held to prepare Linda and her classmates for their upcoming exams; a chain sound of explosions ended the class abruptly. Master Dapo was hit in the head; however, he successfully led the students out of the school premises. Linda wandered away from her classmates and teacher, only to see them get killed in the streets.
During the deadly explosions, she tried in vain to locate her family members. However, she found her mother’s and brother’s corpses by a canal.
Overwhelmed with her loss, Linda tried to commit suicide. Her mission to kill herself was aborted by a couple – Hon. Usifo and Mrs Usifo. They welcomed her to their home and helped her recover from her grief. Auntie Victoria, as she would later come to address Mrs Usifo, schooled her in the way a ‘lady’ should always comport herself. Linda looked forward to the day she would practice all Auntie Victoria had taught her.
The relationship between Auntie Victoria and Linda soon turn sour when Hon. Usifo began to make blatant advances towards her. She was always ahead of Hon. Usifo’s unwanted advances, and so, she was able to stop it before it progressed further. Linda, a pessimist, lived precariously, waiting for the day her new life would take the same turn as the old. Linda’s negative thoughts became a reality one day while she was helping Hon. Usifo look for his missing flash drive. On that fateful day, he finally succeeded at raping her after he had removed all her defence.
Unfortunately, Linda was kidnapped by unknown individuals as she was receiving treatment after the rape. Before long, she found herself on the streets, incoherent, and with child.
Bleeding Scar is a brutally honest revelation about environmental disaster, rape, abuse, betrayal, family, and life on the brink of adolescence.