Although I visited home a few times, even on those rare occasions, I couldn’t stay.
On one of those visits, my mum wanted to know why I found
it hard to spend time with my family; I attributed it to the challenges of the internship
and how Deola’s uncle was not cutting us any slacks as he claimed to be
preparing us for the future.
I didn’t see Deola that much either. I only bumped into
her at functions or parties that our men were both invited to…however; we talked
on the phone regularly.
I sent money home from time to time and it was assumed
to have come from my salary and other goodies that Deola’s uncle showered us
with for being hardworking.
Living with Captain was almost like being married…being
married to the sweetest man in the world. He was everything one would want in a
good husband and some more. So caring and thoughtful, I used to wonder what
made his wife leave.
I learnt how to drive during that time and Captain gave
me the key to one of the cars in the house to drive around if I needed to go
anywhere.
After about 3 months with him, there was a day he said he was considering taking me to
his main house, I wasn’t sure I wanted to, so I told him not to worry about it.
“What are you
afraid of?
With the future I
see, you won’t only know the place…you will live in it.Just keep making me happy” was his response.
I didn’t know I had invested so much, emotionally, until the day Captain got home and said his wife had called him earlier in the day.
It was as if a knife was driven through my heart…I became
cold almost immediately. I knew he was married alright, but in the process of
living with him; he was already planning to officially divorce his wife…he had
mentioned it a couple of times.
Before I came into the picture, he had tried severally
to fix things but the woman just wanted to be left alone…and I guess Captain got
tired of trying and decided to move on with his life. I had seen myself
strategically positioned in the new course he was charting.
“I don’t know
what she wants…I was in the middle of a meeting when I felt my phone vibrate.
I
checked to see who was calling and it was an international number so I picked
up. I told her I was busy and she said she would call back”
I didn’t respond…I just fixed my eyes on the TV.
Captain came to me and lifted my chin to look at him.
“Come on baby, you don’t even know why she
called. It could be something about the kids.
Don’t let your imaginations hold
you captive. Besides, have I said “You
are dismissed?””
He said some other things…just to reassure me but the
thought of his wife popping up left a sour taste in my mouth and I knew
something was about to happen…I just knew.
Things went back to normal after that, save the fact
that Captain stopped dropping his phone around carelessly like he used to…I
didn’t think too much of it. He also didn’t talk about his wife anymore; I almost
wanted to ask but decided to let sleeping dogs lie.
The day it was announced that our lecturers had called
off the strike was the day I discovered I had gotten pregnant.
I hadn’t been feeling too good for about a week and
taking antimalarial drugs didn’t seem to help, so Captain had one of his orderlies
take me to the hospital. The doctor ran a pregnancy test based on my answers to
his questions and it came back positive.
I wasn’t sure of how to feel about it. I was in my
third year, first semester and this could affect my education.
Although Captain had joked about something like this before
but there was no way to tell what his reaction would be. Even if he was happy
about it and wanted me to have the baby, how would my family take it?
They didn’t even know I was seeing anyone.
Captain called on our way back from the hospital but I
told him everything was fine. I didn’t want to say much because of the person
driving me but I sent Deola a text
“Hey girlfriend,
there is fire on the mountain o. Call me later in the day”.
She called almost immediately but I told her we would
have to talk later.
Captain got home about 30 minutes after us; he said he
had to leave work because I wasn’t sounding too good over the phone.
“So what exactly
did the Doctor diagnose?
I hope it’s not typhoid
Fever? I’ve always warned you about that liquid-death-in-a-sachet that you guys
call “pure water”
Did he run a Widal
test?
Did he prescribe
antibiotics?”
“No sir, he
prescribed antenatal care” I answered, as I handed him the test result.
He smiled and pulled me closer
“So that’s why
you are acting like the world is about to end?
Do I look like one
of those boys in your school that such news would give a cardiac arrest?
So you are
pregnant? Great…am I denying responsibility? Unless you want to tell me the
baby is not mine”
The look on my face definitely passed the message that
I didn’t find the last statement funny
“I’m sorry I was
just kidding…I wanted to lighten the mood a little bit
Don’t worry your
pretty head, I’ll take care of you and the baby” Captain said as he hugged me
“But…” I
tried to interject
“No buts, there’s
nothing that bothers you that I can’t handle.
I got you.
Now let’s celebrate”
Captain said, with his right index finger on my lips,
like he was trying to shush me.
