Adversity, that one visitor that shows up unannounced and changes everything. Everyone gets this visitor in their life-time. It is inevitable. It comes in form of difficulty in life, misfortune or hardship.

A major one came in the year 2016, and like a storm, it hit me so hard.  I had relocated from London to Leeds and in no time landed a dream job with the National Health Services (NHS). I was excited because I used to work for this organization in London but this particular  job was a higher level furnished with a University Scholarship. I was expected to attend classes for two days and work in the hospital for three days. Some weeks after getting this job, something bad happened.  I got a video message that changed my life. Someone sent me a video of a little girl being molested by two adults. The video was captioned "PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHO YOU LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN WITH". As I saw the video, I cried and dropped my phone on my bed. I could not unsee it. I looked at my baby girl who was playing right beside me , she was about the age of the little girl in the sickening video. I felt terrible and cried even more.  Some time passed.

"Grrrrrrring, grrrrring", I was jolted back by the sound of notifications pouring into my phone like rain. I looked up and saw my little girl with my phone, I quickly snatched it away from her. When I saw she was watching a cartoon on Youtube kids.  "Thank God", I sighed and went ahead to check the notifications. I opened them and almost passed out. The video had been forwarded to one of the groups on my phone, the one with all my work colleagues. I could not believe my eyes. "What just happened?", "How and when did this happen? I asked. How do I explain this? I apologised and explained how I came about the video. Everyone was fuming. "How could you?, How dare you?". "I did not", I tried to explain. 

"Mommy", my daughter shouted, I looked at her and tried to smile but I couldn't. She wrapped her hands around my neck. It felt like a warm blanket. "I would be needing that a lot", I thought. My life was about to change and it was not for good. I checked my watch, it was time for me to go or I would be late for my lectures at the University.  "I will explain everything to them when I see them", I thought. 

As I walked towards the lecture theatre, my mind was flooded with questions. "How did the video get forwarded?", "Why did it have to be my work group?",  "Why did this happen to me?", "Who sent this dirty video to my phone in the first place?", "How do I explain this to my work colleagues, who also happen to be my coursemates?" I did not know what to expect, so I held on to my fear and took me to the darkest place. I felt naked and ashamed. The battle had not started, yet I felt defeated. 

I opened the door to the lecture theatre, and I could feel all the eyes piercing through my soul. Like a sword cutting through the body a wounded Titan. I could feel my body inviting pain in. My eyes flooded with tears. I looked at the ones I called "friends", they looked at me in disappointment. My lecturer stepped forward, I could tell they had all been waiting for me. She looked disappointed too. A week ago, we talked about my nursing career and where it could take me. "Looks like it's taking me no where now" I thought to myself. She shook her head, nudging me to step out of the class. " I am sorry, but I have been instructed not to let you into the class. Please go to your ward and see your manager, she will tell you what to do", she said. My tears welled up like a flood but I could not raise any standard against it. My voice cracked as I replied, " I understand, thank you ". I turned and left.

I got to the hospital premises. My legs shook. I became a stranger to my own body. I could hear many voices of condemnation tugging at my heart. The fear of the unknown, hugging me so tight and saying, "I am never letting you go". I looked at my fear, I wanted to fight it. I could not.

I saw my boss, she led me to a room and we had a meeting with other managers. I was interviewed. I told my story. They stared at me in unbelief. "Who sent it to you?", one of them asked. "We want the name", said another , trying to hide her anger. "Aunty Mo'pe, I do not know her last name" I replied. " Oh, she's your Aunt?" Then I realised that this was worse than I thought. I knew I had to choose my words from this point.  I took my time to explain that in  Nigeria, we refer to men or women  who are older than us  as "Sister and Aunty" or "Brother and Uncle", depending on their age.

They asked me to excuse them for a few minutes, so I stepped out. "What is this mess Lord?" "Please help me", I prayed. The door opened, the woman smiled, "Please come in". I entered the room, one of them was talking but I couldn't hear her. There was a deafening noise from withing me, screaming "It is over!". I decided to calm down, then I heard her faintly. "You are now under suspension until this matter is fully investigated. You can go home now ". 

There was nothing I wanted more than my bed. To just lay there and never get up. When I got home, my friend was waiting. I told her what had happened and went to bed. I wanted to be alone. It had been a long and a really bad one. When my children came back from school, I had to get things done. Some hours passed, I went back to bed. Nothing else mattered.

I was woken by the heavy knock on the door. I could hear my friend opening the door, "Can I help you?", she asked the person at the door. At this time I got up from my bed, trying to figure out what was going on. Then I heard the man at the door "Hi, I am from the Police Department, Is Peace George home?". I almost passed out. "Oh God, I woke up and prayed this morning but now you have forsaken me". I summoned some courage and went down the stairs to the door. 

My friend looked worried and scarred. "I am  okay", I lied to her. I was falling apart within. I faced the Policeman, "Hi. I am Peace George ". "I am afraid you have to come with us, Peace. He read my rights. I smiled and waved at my children, "I will be back soon". When  I stepped out,  realised that there were four other Policemen lurking around my garden. They led me into their van. "God, If indeed you are real, get me out of this mess, please".

On getting to the Police station,  I was booked in for an interview with a Superintendent of Police, but I had to wait for a solicitor who would represent me. They put me in a jail, with a toilet in a corner. They were nice enough to offer me some food and a blanket. I refused the food but collected the blanket. The bed was hard and the room was Antarctica-cold. I wept. I couldn't understand this. I thought of Paul and Silas in the Bible, I started to worship and sing. Time passed.

Metals cringing, it was the jail door. "Hi Peace, I am Barrister Abdul,  I will be representing you on this case". The door opened, I was led into another room where I had a brief meeting with my Solicitor. I cried, he let me. Offering me some dry wipes he asked me to calm down, I did. I told him the story. He prepped me for  the meeting we were about to have. I wiped my tears. "I got you, Peace", I could hear my fears talking loudly. I broke down again and cried. 

The Police Superintendent came, read my rights and interviewed me in the presence of my lawyer. "Do you know the men in the video?", "Do you know the child being molested?",  "Were you the one recording?", " Are you related to the men?", "Do you help them to target young girls?". " No", I said repeatedly. Begging God to bring this nightmare to an end. "Who sent you the video?" I almost said  "Aunty"  but I remembered what had happened earlier. I have learnt to leave my Naija lingua out of this, to avoid any more problems. "Mo'pe, my Nigerian friend". They ask If I have any more of those videos and I said "No". The Superintendent advised that if i knew anyone who sent such, I should let them know that it is illegal in the UK to share or be in possession of such. She informed that they had searched my home and taken my Ipad and Laptop. They also  took my phone. They needed to investigate. Forty-Five minutes later, I was home and thankful. I headed straight to bed. It was the longest night  of my life, a sleepless one. 

In the morning I quickly got myself a phone and a new sim.  I put a call through to the  woman who sent me the terrible video. I told her how the video had brought so much trouble into my life within  twenty-four hours. I begged her to stop sending such. It is not a crime in her own country, but it is here in the UK. The possession of a pornographic video of a minor is a severe crime. She couldn't believe it. I cried again, wanting nothing more than for the nightmare to end. 

The third day came, I wondered how I would cope without pay. How this would affect my career. I tried to pray, but words failed me. I remember all my new friends and how we bonded the first day. None of them reached out. "Life", I thought. Not one text from any of them. The reality dawned on me. Life goes on with or without you, no matter what. I wondered where goodness and mercy were when mysery became my companion. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a stranger. "Where is the Peace George that exuded so much joy, peace, brightness and confidence? I soliloquized.  I stared straight into my eyes, just to hold a board meeting with me, myself and I, to assure them that all will be well. The light in my eyes was out, and so was the light in my world.  I became withdrawn. I started to throw myself a pity party. I cried for many days, yet nothing changed. I looked out my window, "where is the beauty of nature?", I wondered.  The grass, once green and alive, is now so dead.