I was distraught. I was totally disoriented. I was not expecting this situation. All I was looking forward to was going to the doctor with Bobby to get rid of this pregnancy that has shattered my life into a thousand pieces. But now, there is no Bobby. How am I supposed to solve this problem alone? Why has Bobby done this to me? The tears started to course down my face even more.
“Stop crying young lady, what did you say your name was again?” Bobby’s Uncle asked me, his eyes filled with some pity for me.
“Rosemary, sir,” I answered, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.
“Yes, Rosemary,” he said, “now, please, I need you to calm down a bit so we can talk about how we can sort out this problem.” He hesitated for a few seconds and then went on. “What do you think is the solution now? What do you have in mind?”
I shook my head. “Sir, there is no other solution other than for me to find Bobby and get rid of this thing in my womb.”
“But I just told you he’s in Lagos as we speak,” the man reminded me.
“I know, sir, but you must take me to him. I must see him before my parents find out what has happened to me,” I cried.
“That won’t be possible, young lady. Where would you tell your parents you’re going to? Or, do you think Lagos is just down the road? You will even get yourself into more trouble by disappearing from home.”
I agreed with him. “So, what do I do now, sir, I am confused.”
“This is what I have in mind,” he’d begun. “I plan to go to Lagos this weekend. I didn’t have any plans to see Bobby in Lagos before, but now, I must go to my brother’s house where he lives and tell him his girlfriend his pregnant.”
“Sir, I am not his girlfriend, I already told you that. Bobby only took advantage of my naivety and raped me. I am not his girlfriend!” I repeated angrily.
“Okay, I have heard you,” he returned. “So, I will tell him that the lady he raped back in the village is pregnant and his attention is needed. And I will make sure I return back here with him. In the meantime, you try and keep this away from your parents, when Bobby and I return, we will find a solution to the problem.
It sounded like a glimmer of hope, but still, I was not sure. “But, sir, when do you plan to return back to the village?”
“I should be back in three days at the most, and with Bobby, too. And to be honest, I think this is the only way out for now. He created this mess, he has to clear it all by himself. So, do you think you can hold on for the next couple of days and keep this away from your parents till we return?”
I didn’t have any choice, did i? What else could I have done? What else could I have said? I had to settle for whatever he decides to do.
“Sir, I have heard you. But the problem now is how I have to keep the pregnancy away from my mother, she is already suspecting that I have been behaving strangely,” I said to him.
“Then, stop behaving strangely around her,” he advised, But it’s not as simple as that. My mother is an old experienced woman, and a doting mother at that, she will always know when something is not right with her daughter.
“I will try, sir, but it’s not going to be easy, my mother knows me inside out and she can tell when something is not right about me.”
And, dejectedly, with fear written all over me, I left for home. The following three days were the longest ever for me. I was scared to be in my mother’s company for too long. She needed to spend just a few minutes with me to know something was terribly wrong with me. Despite that I tried hard to avoid being under her scrutiny, I could still feel her eyes all over me in the house, following me wherever I go.
Already, I could feel some changes taking place in my body. Whenever I go to sleep, I slept like a baby. I was always feeling heavy and in need of some sleep. And oftentimes when I woke up, I got up feeling a little tired and in need of more sleep, even when I had been asleep for several hours. Already, I had started feeling nauseous, wanting to throw up a few times. But I always held myself back.
Eventually, the three days were over. I prayed hard the night before the morning I was to see Bobby’s uncle. I prayed he would be able to bring Bobby with him as he had promised so I can look him in the eye and call him a bastard. How could he even have thought of just leaving the village and running to Lagos, leaving me alone to face the consequences of the mess he put me in. But, more than anything else, beyond letting out my anger on him, I hoped we would finally be able to find a solution to this problem. I was still able to go back and forth Bobby’s place, hoping for a solution because my father had not gotten wind of what was happening. I knew that if he found out, he would totally skin me alive.
I knocked on the door and few seconds after, it was Bobby’s uncle who opened the door.
“Good morning, sir,” I greeted him as he stepped aside for me to go inside the house.
“How are you doing, dear?” he asked.
“Fine, thank you, sir.” I took a quick look around, there was no Bobby. I couldn’t find a sign that he was in that house.
And as though he was reading my thoughts, the uncle said, “Bobby didn’t return with me.”
“But…but, why, sir? He should be here. He can’t possibly leave me to clean up a mess he created…” I was almost crying. Then, the man dropped the shocker. It was the last thing I expected to hear from him.
“Bobby said he would not come with me because all that you said happened between both of you didn’t happen! He said he never raped you or any girl for that matter, and that all you have said are nothing but lies!”
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