The lady was pensive for a while. I couldn’t tell what was going on in her mind but I hoped she was searching for a solution to my problem.
“Okay, I think I know what to do,” she finally said. “How old is the pregnancy now?”
“It’s almost two months old,” I replied, hopeful she had found a way out for me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Aunty, the doctor told me so,”
“Okay, fine. No problem,” she returned, her eyes suddenly coming to life. “You will give me a few minutes, I need to get to the chemist down the road, I will be back shortly with the drug that will finally get you out of this mess!”
I had never prayed like the way I did while I waited for Aunty Lisa to return from the pharmacy. She was my last hope. If anyone could help me at this critical time, its Aunty Lisa. And I was sure that she could keep my secret for as long as she breathed. She had always been one of the ladies I admired in the neighbourhood because of her beauty, confidence and poise but, my parents, and most parents in the neighbourhood for that matter, didn’t think she could make a great role model for any of their kids. And the only reason for this was because she was a single lady who seemed to be doing well for herself and couldn’t be bothered about what people thought about her. She also did a bit of business on the side and made a bit of money for herself. But still, many felt she largely survived living off men who ‘patronized’ her. My parents never really liked her. They didn’t want me to ever see her as the sort of lady I admired for any reason.
“Rose baby, I have got something for you,” Aunty Lisa finally arrived. She held a small paper bag in her hand, it obviously contained the drug she had bought for me.
“Oh, thank you very much, Aunty Lisa, God bless you,” I went on my knees to show gratitude.
She promptly pulled me back on my feet. “No, Rose baby, get up, its nothing. You’re like my own little sister and I am doing the same thing I would do for my own kid sister if she was in the same situation,” she said to me. “Now, take the drug, you must take this right away with boiled water. By tomorrow morning, you will go to the toilet and evacuate everything inside you and that will be the end.”
I brought out the pack, it contained a sachet of six tablets. “Am I supposed to take everything at once or separately?” I asked her. “You’re taking everything at once o, everything, but you must use it with hot water. Do you want to take it here or you’ll take it when you go over to your place?”
“No, Aunty, I will take it here,” I quickly told her. And immediately, she got up and boiled water for me.
“I feel so sorry for you, dear, after all that you have been through. But you must be very careful from now on, many of these guys you think are decent are actually beasts in human clothing. Please, be very careful, okay?” she advised me.
Soon, the water was slightly hot enough for me to use, she poured it inside a cup for and I blew it a couple of times before finally using it to down the tablets. I thanked Aunty Lisa profusely and she told me everything I needed to do once I went to the toilet to ‘abort’ the pregnancy.
That night, I could barely sleep. I kept tossing and turning. It was as though the whole of my tummy was on fire. I was sweating profusely. I went to the toilet several times but I couldn’t pass out anything. I couldn’t go out in the middle of the night to see Aunty Lisa to advice me on what to do. I had to wait till morning. But by the time it was morning, all hell had broken lose, there was blood everywhere!
I hadn’t slept well that night. It took a long while before I finally dozed off. My tummy was rumbling all through. I was in pains. Several times I went to the toilet thinking I was pressed but nothing came out of it. Yet, I was in discomfort. Hours after, just before the break of dawn, I dozed off. I was sleeping when I heard my mother’s voice, screaming at me to wake up.
“Rosemary! Rosemary! What is this on your body? What is this on your bed?” she shouted as she shook me vigorously from my sleep. I opened my eyes lazily and tried to waken up my senses so I could make sense of what she was saying.
“Wake up, Rosemary, what is this all over your body?” she said as I sat up on the bed. I looked at my body and saw my clothe was smeared all over with blood. The bed spread was also stained in several places with blood.
“What is wrong with you, my daughter, what is the problem?” mother asked me, palpable fear written all over her face. And just as I made the effort to speak, I felt a sharp pain gnaw at my tummy. It was intense. It was excruciating. I grabbed at my tummy and squeezed it with both hands.
“Ah! My tummy!” I moaned in pain, my eyes rolling in distress.
“Rosemary! Rosemary! What is wrong with you?” my mother cried out. She held me face in her hands and sat down beside me on the bed.
“Daddy Rosemary! Daddy Rosemary! Come o, come and see your daughter o!” my mum screamed.
“My dad was apparently preparing for work then. He promptly dashed out of the room.
“What is it? Why are you shouting?” he asked mother.
“See o, see your daughter! See your blood everywhere!” she pointed to the several blood stains. “She is in pain, she can’t even speak!”
“Rosemary, what is wrong with you?” I could hear my father talking to me. But I couldn’t speak. The pain was getting intense. I slid from the bed and lay on the floor. It was like life was slowly leaving me.
“Rosemary! Rosemary! Get up!” my father tried to lift me up.
“Ah1 Daddy Rosemary, help me carry her o! Let’s take her to the hospital” That was the last thing I heard. My vision became a blur. The images of my mother and father began to fade away before me as I struggled to keep my eyes open. But it was a futile effort. I couldn’t fight to stay conscious no more. And very slowly, my eye lids came together and were firmly shut as I blanked out completely. The only thing I could see in front of me was total darkness…
