Baba T started to apologize…he said he needed to let me know that it was not an ‘arranged’ thing; that it
just happened and that he never knew I was a virgin...which was a good thing because I had just
cemented my place in his heart and he would go to any lengths to marry me.
I told him about
my chastity vow with Tunji and how I felt like a betrayer.
“Well, if I had been in your life for as
long as this Tunji guy, I would have closed the deal a long time ago to avoid
something like this. You are a very beautiful and intelligent girl, why would
anyone leave you for so long and not expect more serious suitors to take over?”
he said, trying to justify what happened.
“If you want me to, I can tell my folks to
come see your family as soon as possible and we will make it official. I told
you I was not here to play…I want you for keeps” he continued as he knelt
next to me.
All the sweet
words from Baba T wasn't really ‘do it’ for me anymore, as I felt really bad
and sad. He took me to Laide’s place after breakfast but I just wanted to go
back home at that point. He wanted to take me to Abeokuta but I rejected the
offer…I just wanted to be by myself.
I told him I would see him but I had to go
take care of a lot of things back home.
I got to Abeokuta
and the moment my mum saw me, she knew something had happened. She kept asking
if I was okay but I told him I was not feeling too good and I needed to just
rest. She said Tunji had been coming every day since I left and had even begged
her to help talk to me. Tunji had said something about taking out his
frustrations on me and getting me angry…I told my mum I couldn’t deal with that
at the moment and she let me be.
As soon as I got
in my room, I just started crying…the fact that Tunji had been trying to find
me to fix things between us even made it worse. After about an hour in the
room, someone knocked on my door…I hurriedly wiped my tears and cleaned my
face. I asked the person to come in and it was Tunji…before I could say
anything, he went on his knees and started begging me.
He said it was
because I never bothered to ask about his follow-up interview with the Oil
Company that he had been acting up lately. He continued that he never shared it
with anyone except me and he specifically told me the date of the interview;
but when that day came, I never said anything…I didn’t even wish him luck and
it was obvious I had completely forgotten (apparently, the interview had fallen
on one of those days that I visited Lagos to go see Baba T).
Tunji said he was
sorry for not communicating and for acting like a child.
“I could have just asked you or told you why I was angry but I chose to
be immature about the whole thing”
“I just can’t imagine my life without you,
fighting you was like intentionally choosing not to breathe. I tried but couldn’t
do it…I felt like I was fighting myself” Tunji said, as he looked straight
into my eyes. He paused for a moment…he could tell that I had been crying. He held me and told me he was really sorry for making me cry. It was as if he flung open the floodgates of tears with that statement. In my mind, I knew I was the one that should be apologizing, and here was this guy begging the person that should be begging him. The fact that I couldn’t tell him what had happened made me cry even more.
“I’m so sorry for hurting you…I’m really
sorry” he continued as he held me. After a while, I calmed down and asked
how his interview went. He said it was really great and they told him to come
back in about 6 weeks to find out. Tunji was with me for the rest of that day
as he was doing everything to make me comfortable and happy…I think he even
made me lunch at some point.
He asked how my
investment opportunity in Lagos was going and I told him I wasn’t sure I wanted
to pursue it…as it required moving to Lagos. Tunji said it was okay to move to
Lagos if that was what I wanted to do. He explained how Lagos had more to offer
than Abeokuta and how he saw himself moving there as well. He told me he moved
to Abeokuta solely because of me, he added that if he got the new job,
it could require moving to Lagos after the training in Germany.
I had a lot on my
mind and I finally decided not to tell Tunji what happened in Lagos…at least,
not yet. I would have to think of a way around this, as I was still torn
between the two of them but Tunji’ s approach to issue he had
with me (which was totally justified by the way) made me feel very guilty and the guilt, somehow bought some soft spot
for him.
I was still
nursing my conscience but would pretend to be fine anytime Tunji came
around…things were a little awkward between us and Tunji would apologize again and again, every time
he noticed this.
Because of the
weight of the guilt, I finally decided I would tell Baba T that I didn’t want
to date him, and everything that happened was a big mistake. I had thought he
would come over that weekend, as usual, but he didn’t.
I was a little
worried and angry that I had not heard from Baba T, it made me feel very cheap
and used and I had rehearsed how I would give him a piece of my mind, and some
more, anytime I saw him. I had a little something for Laide as well. About a week after this, Brother Kola came home to introduce his girlfriend to us and told me Baba T had to travel out of the country for some kind of emergency but he did not have the details
A couple of weeks
after that, I woke up with a terrible headache and was feeling nauseous. My mum
had to come check on me in the bathroom as she could hear me throwing up. She
asked jokingly if I was pregnant…
”How could I be?” I answered scornfully;
my period started 2 days before then and she was the one that bought me
sanitary towels. My mum gave me some medicine and advised me to stay at home for the day and rest. Tunji also came around when he checked on me at the Salon and was told I didn’t come. I wasn’t getting better so about three days later, I decided to go to the hospital…Tunji couldn’t come with me because of work and thank God he didn't. The Doctor asked a couple of questions and decided to run some tests…after all said and done, it was confirmed that I was pregnant.
I still did not
want to believe it and I showed the doctor the extra sanitary towels in my bag.
“My period started 5 days ago and should
end today…I can’t be pregnant. I am not even sure if I have really had sex
before” I protested
The Doctor
laughed at the latter part of my statement and gave me a lecture on the basics
of sex education. She also told me that it’s not uncommon to confuse bleeding
during pregnancy for menstrual period. She advised me against terminating the
pregnancy as she could tell I was not very happy about it.
I left the
hospital totally confused…what would I tell Tunji?
I had not even
seen Baba T for weeks, what if he denied the pregnancy?
I wasn’t sure if
I should tell my mum or not.
As sick as I was,
I decided to leave for Lagos the following morning. I figured Laide would be
the best person to talk to at this time. I told my mum and Tunji that the
doctor diagnosed Malaria and gave me some anti-malarial medicine. My mum did not
look convinced but I went straight to my room to avoid more questions. Tunji
wanted to stay but I told him I needed to rest and I would see him the
following day. I couldn’t tell my mum I was going to Lagos because she would
have kicked against it so I had to wait until she left the house and I took off…PART 12 PART 14
© 2016 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved
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