©️Opeyemi Akintunde
AS INSPIRED BY THE LIVING WORD
Mrs. Teju had to leave town for a month for a course, and that was when I gave the devil enough space in my heart…
I started wearing skimpy dresses in the house. I flirted with my words, constantly calling him my “Handsome Daddy”. He started gravitating towards me as well and started calling me “My beautiful daughter”
Two weeks was too much a time for Mr. Teju to handle my flirting. By the end of the second week, he deflowered me in the living room while watching a romantic comedy.
Over the next two weeks, it became almost like a daily routine. By the time his wife came back, we were deep in the act and there was no going back…
Six months into my relationship with Mr. Teju, I had gone to see Mummy J, so she would help me send some money to my mother. Mrs. Teju also told me to get some seasoning cubes from her.
The moment Mummy J saw me from a distance, she started at me inquisitively
“Yemi, are you pregnant?” Mummy J asked frankly… I laughed at the ridiculosity
“Me pregnant? I don’t have a boyfriend” I said in defense
“Then who got you pregnant?” Mummy J was not falling for my defense.
“Mumny J, I am not pregnant?”
“Yemi, are you crazy? Am I blind? If those you are living with are too literate to see that you are pregnant, I am not blind to know you are.”
“Mummy…J… I am not preg….” I was saying but I was cut short by Mummy J’s hot slap….
“So this is how you want to pay me back and destroy my good name. I can imagine, it is one of these stupid boys in this area…. Stupid girl…” Mummy J said
“I am calling the village right away”
Our village had one landline, where people made and received calls… Likewise, Mummy J was always using her neighbor’s landline
She dragged me to her neighbor and made the call. The owner of the village landline, told us to call back in Fifteen minutes time….
Those fifteen minutes were the worst fifteen minutes of my life, Mummy J called me all sorts of names. I didn’t know if I was pregnant yet, but I was silently praying it was not so….
“Hello… Mama Adeyemi… Your child has disgraced me in Lagos, she is pregnant… come to Lagos tomorrow and pick your untrained child.”
She angrily dropped the call without letting my mother speak….
“So who is the useless boy that has destroyed your life? What is the name of the boy you have been sleeping with?
“Ma, I haven’t been sleeping with any boy”
“Are you mad?”
“Maybe she has not been sleeping with a boy maybe, it is with a man” Her nosy neighbor said.
She looked at me in fear at the possibility of that… I nodded in response…
“Who is the man? the driver?” she asked
“No ma… It’s… It’s Mr….” I didn’t conclude the statement. I didn’t have to, guilt was written all over my face….
“Mr. Teju?” Mummy J asked and my eyes answered. Mummy J collapsed on the chair. The shock was too much for her. I believed Mummy J’s reaction should have hinted me on what was to come, but I was so clouded by the fear of not making my mother proud…
Mummy J was revived with a lot of water, and on setting her eyes on me, she screamed that she didn’t want to see me…
I left her home and on getting home, Mrs. Teju was concerned about the time I took at Mummy J’s place.
“Yemi, I sent you to get me seasoning cube and it took you over thirty minutes. What happened? I know you got caught up in your village gist? Right? Where is the seasoning cubes?” she asked laughing….
I had forgotten about the seasoning cubes.
“Yemi don’t tell me you forgot the errand I sent you… Yemi…. Yemi” She shook her head, and playfully chased me out to get the seasoning cubes from a nearby trader.
Mrs. Teju didn’t deserve what I had done. I could imagine the look of betrayal she would give me if she heard about the pregnancy…
“How did Mummy J conclude I was pregnant? No test was done to confirm” I realized
After giving Mrs. Teju the seasoning cube, I told a lie that I wanted to get some cardboards for a school project.
I had seen in movies that people go to the hospital for pregnancy test, so I went to a nearby hospital for the test. I was confirmed pregnant. I was told to do a scan, so I could know how long I was gone.
I was four months gone!
To be continued.
