Mama was disappointed. She wept over and over again and all she kept asking me in the car after receiving the test result was… “ Favour, Where did I miss it with you?, I have been a good mother…” My mother was weeping like a baby. I had never seen my mother weeping before. My parents have always had a good home, my father is a good man who always made my mother smile, so seeing her in tears was really foreign to me. I had been having stomach ache for days and I thought it was just malaria symptoms. Ignorantly I had approached my mum that I was feeling ill and needed Malaria drugs. “ Doctor Favour!” Mum had joked “So how are you so sure it is not Typhoid, Self medication is not right, I prefer we go for a test instead.” We had gone for the test and the Malaria and Typhoid test results came out with little significance. From the look of things, I was fine. Then, out of the blues, a busybody lady had joked about me being pregnant. The shock on my face gave me away, as I quickly tried to reason if my one time Sex with Jeremy could get me pregnant. My blood sample had been taken and the next thirty minutes that followed appeared to be the longest 30 minutes of my life as I kept praying silently not to be pregnant. Finally, the result came out and it was boldly written “ POSITIVE”. My mum’s knees gave way as she dropped into the reception chair. Fast Forward to us in the car, she looked at me and asked again… “Favour, Where did I miss it with you?, I have been a good mother…” “ Mama, I am sorry, it wasn’t your fault, it is my fault, I let the romance novels do this to me!” I confessed “ Romance Novels? Who gave you?” I narrated all to my mother and the part that broke her most was when she heard it was Jeremy that was responsible for my pregnancy. We drove back home in silence as she kept weeping uncontrollably. On getting home, my father was waiting for us. Mum had called him to come home on time as there was a serious issue. “ What’s wrong?” My Dad had asked “ Favour is pregnant for Jeremy” My mother had blurted out in tears My father remained silent for close to 10 minutes and the first word that came out of his mouth broke my heart… “ This is the first time I regret having a girl as the only child I have…” My father said.. I wept and Wept and Wept….. Five Days later, my parents and I went to see Jeremy’s parents and What we met there was a big shocker… “ Your daughter seduced our son, we saw the video” they said pointing at a hidden cctv in their living room. “ It was the day it happened that our son told us about it, how your daughter came here spreading her legs open for him, and on watching the video ourselves we realized he was right” “ Excuse me, Your son raped our daughter and you are here saying she seduced your son” My mother said with a raised voice “ I don’t need to argue with you anymore, I think you should watch the video yourself. We had installed this hidden cctv at home without Jeremy’s knowledge to keep tabs on him, and thankfully, this will clear the air” Jeremy’s mother said as she connected her laptop to the T.V I watched in horror at the person who I saw on screen. I could bet with anyone that wasn’t me. I was behaving like an experienced prostitute seducing Jeremy. “ My God!My God!” My mother was screaming… “This is not my daughter” she said crying… My father walked out of the living room with shame written all over him. My father didn’t speak to me after that , but my mother was strong for me…She came to my room that night with a dry smile on her face… “ I know who I saw on that screen was not my daughter and I know that my daughter was controlled by a force stronger than her, but that is the unfortunate thing about the devil, when he uses a man, he doesn’t add to the man, rather he reduces that man. You allowed the devil to use you to seduce Jeremy, but who is the loser?, Who is pregnant?, Whose education is going to suffer?, Who is going to face the shame and ridicule? Who is going to be a single mother at 15 years old?… You… Favour… You, but I am ready to stand by you and help you through this phase.” My mother lived up to her promise. Together with me, we burnt all the novels and video CDs. We started daily prayers. She gave me daily Bible study assignments and Bible verses to speak into my pregnancy. The nine months that ought to be the most depressing time became the time for my spiritual growth. All these flashed through my mind as I sat in the taxi on my way from the Annual party. Now I understood what Mum meant when she told me the reality , that when the devil uses people or lures them into sin, it is always to the detriment of the person being used… “ My past had just tampered with a great future I ought to have had”. I said silently to myself I didn’t hear from Eugene after the party and since we had a week break before resumption, seeing him was not an option. On the day I resumed office, he was the first person I saw at the parking lot. We both stared at each other, but after a brief moment he looked away and walked towards his office…. Two weeks after that, I was at home helping Mercy with her homework, when I saw his call. I picked up cautiously… “ Hello, Favourite” That was his pet name for me. “ Hi..” I said not having an idea on what to say next “ Will you marry me and make me the father of your daughter?” He said and I became……. To be continued
