Echoes Episode 4

The salt and water solution Shola gave her after his devilish act to prevent pregnancy obviously didn’t work because 9 months later she was in the hospital giving birth to Ire. She had spoken to him for the first time since the ‘evil day’ 3 months later when she discovered she was pregnant. Although she had missed her period for 3 months, Toju had never been the type who was particularly meticulous with her cycle. Also, her cycle had never been the regular type and Shola had told her the salt and water solution had ‘cleaned her up’ so she didn’t have reasons to raise eyebrows when she missed her period for 2 months. Her worry came the 3^rd month when she started experiencing the many symptoms she heard pregnant women had. She slept more, was almost always tired and her favourite meals suddenly started nauseating her. She couldn’t go to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test strip neither could she go to the school clinic for fear that someone who knows her would see her and know why she was there. She had completely stopped going for choir rehearsals, missed fellowship programs and classes had become a night mare also. She always lied to her friends who tried visiting her in her hostel; she was either too busy for them or she simply told them not to come visit at all. They were worried about her. She wasn’t the bubbly girl they always knew. They had noticed the strain in her relationship with Shola and so came to the conclusion that that was most likely the reason she wasn’t so friendly; couple’s fight.

Her dad had been too busy with work and his ‘ever changing’ girl friends to even notice what was going on with her. Ever since his divorce from her mum, he seemed to have decided to sample all pretty ladies until he found one who was fit enough to be his wife. And although she had tried to talk him into settling down again which he was never ready for, as long as he still showered her with love and gifts, she had no problem with his lifestyle. One year after the divorce, her mum had been involved in a car accident on her way from Abeokuta to Lagos where she went to order the supply of the ofada rice she sold in bags. She had remained in coma for 4 days but died on the 5^th day. It had been tragic for Toju but her dad had stood up for her. He served as her rock and filled her with so much love that she never lacked a thing.

She had eventually dragged herself to a pharmacy far away from school. There she bought about 10 pregnancy strips, tested herself and knew beyond reasonable doubt that she was pregnant. She didn’t cry; she couldn’t. She didn’t even know what to do. She had been a good girl for so long that she never thought about what she would do if one day she found herself in this situation; she wasn’t prepared at all. She decided to face the beast that put her in this mess, it was his mess too after all, and he had to bear the brunt.

            “I am pregnant”

No preambles, no hellos, nothing. She just saw him coming out from one of his classes and dragged him to a corner of the building. She had his timetable so she knew where he would be at that time.

            “What?”

            “I am pregnant you idiot, what do we do now?”

            “Errm, hold on, we?”

            “Yes, ‘we’ you fool. What do we do with this baby?”

            “We only made love once; you couldn’t have gotten pregnant then”

            “Made love?” the laughter that engulfed her almost sent her to the floor, “we made love?”

Her voice was getting louder and if they remained there Shola knew she was going to make a scene.

            “Let’s leave here Toju. Can we go to my room please?”

            “Your room? Her laughter grew louder, she sounded like someone just starting to show signs of going mad.

            “Okay, let’s go to your room Toju please, we can’t talk here. Let’s just go to your hostel.

She agreed they needed to leave there, she was beginning to scream and if they didn’t leave, she would be put to shame. She was glad she had no roommates. Her dad had insisted she took a room to herself in a private hostel. He didn’t want her experiencing the daily hustles and bustles of living in the school hostel.

            “So Shola, what do we do about our unborn baby?”

            “As I was saying Toju, it was just that once, you couldn’t have been pregnant. Plus I remember giving you salt and water immediately, that usually flushes out anything that could have been there.”

            “In other words?”

            “In other words, are you sure I’m the only one who has ever made love to you?”

She slapped him!

She had wanted to do so for a long time but had been too weak for any more fights that day. After his escapade that day, she had simply stood up, thanked him and left. He had just lain there panting from the ‘much fun’ he just had. She had not set eyes on him since that day.

            “You are so stupid for that statement Shola. You are foolish. What do we do about this baby for the last time you coward?”

She was screaming now, actually she was raging.

            “I don’t know Toju, please calm down. I’m not ready to be a father and I’m so sure you are not ready to be a mother”

            “So?”

            “So you have to remove it!”

He hadn’t even said ‘I’m sorry for taking you by force Toju’ yet here he was suggesting abortion. An apology with any excuse would have helped a little; even if he had said it was the devil. But no, other than an apology, he was suggesting the unthinkable. Actually, it wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of it too, but Shola certainly had no right to utter it.

            “I curse the day I met you, you bastard.”

She stormed out of her own room, she needed air. She thought about it and she knew she couldn’t go down the route of an abortion, not because of her religious beliefs because obviously, no one cared about her from that department either. It was because she just couldn’t bear the thought of killing another human being, an innocent one at that. She couldn’t tell her father this; he would be too ashamed of her. He would be disappointed and would probably hate her for the shame she would bring on his family and name. Her friends and colleagues couldn’t know either, she had been too much of a good girl and they would simply mock her since she couldn’t even tell them she had been raped. She knew what she had to do and went back to her hostel to get ready.

He had left the room by the time she got there; Shola hadn’t had the nerve to wait for her. She was completely alone in this and she knew it, she knew exactly what to do. She packed her bags ready for the journey home the next day, she had to pay her father a visit.

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“May I have the rings? Let us pray. Bless O Lord the giving and receiving of these rings. May Bryan and Aisha abide in thy peace and grow in their knowledge of your presence through their loving union. May the seamless circle of these rings become the symbol of their endless love and serve to remind them of the holy covenant they have entered into today, to be faithful, loving and kind to each other. Dear God, may they live in your grace and be forever true to this union. Amen. Now Bryan, read from that booklet filling your name where needed”

“I, Bryan Chike give you Aishat Bako this ring as a symbol of our vows and with all that I am and all that I have I honour you. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; with this ring, I thee wed.

Mr. David felt so weak and helpless as he sat in the front row watching his son get married to this strange woman in a pool of blood. Why couldn’t any other person see what he saw? She dressed and looked like an angel, from her eyes he could tell that Aisha truly loved his son but all he saw, was an angel soaked in blood. The white she wore didn’t help matters either; it made the red more pronounced, but he knew no one else saw it except him, his son was in trouble and there was nothing he could do.

            “I hereby pronounce you Man and Wife, you may kiss the bride”

The joy he felt knew no bounds, he had finally married his heartthrob. He knew his dad would be going through a tough time right on his seat. He had seen him when he walked into the church, they were already 30 minutes into the program, he saw him now and knew so well the look he had on; it was the look he always had when he was afraid. What exactly could his father be worried about? He has himself admitted that Aisha was like an angel, well trained and just the best woman for him so what exactly is preventing his father from enjoying this moment his only son was getting married? They had talked about this day for many years, they had made so many plans but now, enjoying the moment with him.

“Let us all rise as the latest couple dance out. Please, no one should leave until the couple have gone out. Let us sing the last hymn in the booklet as they go; hymn 4 ‘Blessed Assurance’.”

It was photo session outside the church; the makeup artist had rushed out to touch up Aisha’s makeup. Tim, the best man who was actually not Bryan’s best friend but had been chosen because the best friend was out of the country and couldn’t make it home for the wedding as planned, was on ground to carry out his duty as expected.

            “Couple with bride’s parents, couple with Akokites”

Click! Click! Click!

When they had called for the couple with the groom’s father, Bryan had made an excuse about his father having gone to pick up some of his guests. He knew what had happened; his dad couldn’t stand it anymore and had gone somewhere else. He was the chairman at the reception and he was going to have to give a speech. He had vehemently objected to it but Aisha insisted that was the least he could do. Bryan put on the boldest smile he could fake, but deep down he was sad, on his special day. Here was his angel finally wearing his ring and called his wife but there was his father, nowhere to be found.

            “A lowo majaye eyin le mo…

            “Awon to jaye lana da won ti ku won ti lo…

Husband and wife danced in with Davido’s song jamming in the background. Everyone was excited, all kinds of phones sprung out to take snapshots of the new couple as they danced into the reception hall. It was a small hall and their guests were less than a hundred. It was decorated all white and the lights beautifully illuminated the couple’s seat; it was simple yet gorgeous.

            “Wow! That was some grand entrance. Madam Aisha, you can release your husband’s hand now, he is not running away.”

Everyone burst into laughter as the MC teased Aisha and her husband. He cracked jokes as he coordinated the program, and the entire hall was filled with laughter.

            “Now let us invite the Chairman of this beautiful occasion who happens to be our groom’s father for his speech”

This was the moment he dreaded. He had practically run out of the church after the priest announced Bryan and Aisha as man and wife. It was done and there was absolutely nothing else he could do. He had left his car in the church premises and walked to the reception hall which was just a stone throw, he needed to clear his head. He knew he wouldn’t have been able to feign any laughter for the pictures, it was better he left.

            “Let’s give a round of applause to Mr David Chike as he comes forward to deliver his speech”

He took the mic from the MC, faced the friends and family that had come to celebrate with his son. He saw some familiar faces in the crowd. Mrs Benedicta had been his wife’s close friend; he hadn’t invited her so he wondered how she knew. He saw the MD of his former work place and a few others from his office. He had had to invite them when one of his church members had come to greet his colleague at work. She saw him and congratulated him in advance. That was how the whole office knew about his son’s wedding. They accused him of hiding it from them but he lied that he still had plans of announcing it to them.

Now, here he was, standing in front of everyone to give a speech about how happy he was that his only child had gotten married to the love of his life. To advise them on how to have the best home and to show how happy he was with the addition to his family. He had a rehearsed speech. He knew writing it down would have been inappropriate so he had spent the past 3 days rehearsing in front of his mirror. He had his lines by heart so all he needed to do was feign some sort of happiness in delivering them.

He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to talk but what came out was certainly unrehearsed. As soon as he looked towards the pair of fours eyes he had been avoiding, he once again saw Aisha in that all too familiar pool of blood. At that point he couldn’t suppress it anymore, his son was certainly in trouble and he felt so helpless, he couldn’t do anything at all and at that point, right there and then, with all eyes on him, he burst into tears!