She paused, fuming seriously and then continued, “Did I even promise you I was going to help you abort the pregnancy? What your mother wants is for me to make sure nothing happens to that baby in your womb, so how have I done wrong if I say you must keep the pregnancy at all cost? Please, don’t get me mad this evening!”
Her voice had gone up a little. It must’ve caught the ears of Uncle Fred because he came and stood by the kitchen door moments after.
“Is everything alright? I was hearing your voice like something was wrong….” Uncle Fred asked, looking straight at his wife, searching for the answer to his question. But Aunty Florence said not a word. She just smiled back at him. And when he found he was not getting any answer, he turned to me.
“Rosie, any problems?” he asked. I beamed him a big smile. “No, Uncle, Aunty and I are just talking,” I said to him.
“Did it sound to you like there was a problem or what?” his wife asked him. He looked at both of us and shrugged. “Okay o, if you say there’s no problem, then there’s no problem,” and he left the kitchen.
Aunty Florence turned to me, her eyes filled with “Don’t you dare mess things up for me, Rosemary, I am warning you. That baby you’re carrying means everything to me, don’t let anything happen to it, or else you and I will have a big fight!” And without a word more, she left the kitchen…..
Tears filled my eyes. The coldness with which Aunty Florence spoke to me shocked me. Her threat was like a sharp object piercing through my fragile heart. If I didn’t know this before, or if I knew but didn’t believe it, this was the moment that everything became crystal clear to me – I mean absolutely nothing to this woman! All she wants to do is used me to achieve her own selfish end, and then dump me immediately after. And she was so cruel and callous about her intentions, not giving a hoot about what happens to me thereafter. I realized I meant nothing to this woman. For all she cared, I was nothing but a means to an end for her. And at that very minute, I decided I was going to do whatever I needed to do to get myself out of this problem and become a woman of my own even if it means sleeping with Uncle Fred a million times. No more guilty conscience, no more sympathy for anyone, from now on, I was going to achieve my goals without giving a hoot whose ox is gored!
Throughout the rest of the evening, I kept to myself and stayed out of Aunty Florence’s way. As far as I was concerned, she had shown me clearly that I was nothing but an insignificant person to her and her threat meant she could do anything to make life unbearable for me. Uncle Fred was eyeing me when he caught me going inside the bathroom to take my shower before going to bed. Minutes later, I don’t know how he sneaked away from his wife. I had heard a knock on my door. At first, I wasn’t sure if someone was actually at the door because the knock was faint.
“Who is that?” I asked, suspecting he could be the one at the door.
“It’s me, Rosie,” he answered, almost in a whisper.
Wondering what the problem was, I stood up and opened the door slightly, not wanting to let him come in. “Yes?” I said to him.
Instead of speaking, he was just smiling at me. “I didn’t know you look this beautiful in your night gown,” he whispered.
I shook my head in disbelief. ‘Uncle Fred, is that what you came to tell me at this time of the day? You better don’t let your wife catch you here o! What do you want?”
“I will come home early from the office tomorrow to check up on you to see how you’re doing after the D&C, I need to be sure my baby is okay. Here, take this, just in case you need to get something else after you’re done tomorrow,” he held my hand and pressed some naira notes inside it.
“Thanks, I am very grateful for your help,” I said to him.
“You’re welcome, dear,” he smiled, looking straight into my ears. “Do I get a goodnight kiss for that?” he requested, trying to reach for my mouth for a kiss.
“No, not tonight, please, I will see you tomorrow,” I returned with a faint smile on my face and quietly closed the door before he gets both of us into trouble!
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