I thanked him and he went inside the room with his wife. He called her Flo, short for Florence, I guessed. Hummnn..he really seemed like a nice and friendly man. I had been hoping her husband would not turn out to be somebody that will not like the idea of having a relation of his wife come live with them but only had to grudgingly agree probably because of pressure from his wife. But I could see he was nothing like that. That gave me a huge sense of relief.
I was starting to feel really comfortable living with Aunty and her husband. His name was Fred. That’s what Aunty called him. They fed me with good food. We all actually ate same food. Whatever Aunty cooked, we all ate. Sometimes she would tell me if I didn’t like the type of food she cooked, I was free to go into the kitchen and prepare something else for myself. And I had very little chores to do. They were really nice to me. The only thing that got me uncomfortable a few times was the way Uncle Fred looked at my boobs or my backside whenever Aunty Florence wasn’t paying attention to him. Apart from that little problem, everything was fine.
Three weeks after my arrival, I decided I needed to have a serious heart to heart talk with Aunty Florence. I needed to shed the euphoria of sleeping and waking up in their fine looking home, eating good food and face the issue that brought me to Lagos.
“Yes, dear, what is it you want to discuss with me?” Aunty asked, a puzzled look on her face. “Or are you not comfortable living with us?”
“No, no, not at all, ma,” I promptly responded. “Far from it. As a matter of fact, I am truly grateful for everything, Aunty. The love you and your husband have shown me is unbelievable, I am so thankful, Aunty.”
She smiled. “It’s alright, you’re welcome, I’m glad you like it here. So, what then is on your mind?”
I cleared my throat. “Aunty, it’s been three weeks now that I arrived here. I believe I have spent enough time taking in the excitement of living here in this magnificent house with you and your husband. It is about time I started addressing the real problem that brought me to Lagos.” I paused for a moment, cleared my throat slightly and picked my words carefully. “Aunty, the pregnancy in my womb is growing by the day. Already I could feel changes in my body. And I remember you told me back in the village that you could be of help when we get to Lagos. Very soon everyone around the house will begin to notice I am pregnant. I want to get rid of this pregnancy, Aunty, how will you help me?”
There was a long spell of silence. Aunty didn’t say anything. She was staring at me. At some point, I was wondering if she heard what I said or her mind had drifted away from our discussion. Then, slowly, she shook her head.
“I am sorry, Rosie, darling,” she’d said quietly, “there is no way I can help you, you have no other choice but to have that baby in your womb!”
It was as though a big bang went off inside my head. It was really loud and big. For a fleeting moment, Aunty’s face was a different picture inside my head. I thought I had heard wrong. That Aunty Florence didn’t exactly say what I thought she said. But in reality, she was sitting right in front of me, the look on her face matching every word she said to me.
“Aunty…I don’t under…I don’t understand……I thought you said you will….you will help me…” I stuttered nervously.
“That’s not the agreement I had with your mother, Rosie,” she quipped, looking from my face.
“But, Aunty, regardless of what my mother wants, you said when we get to Lagos, you would know what to do,” I returned. “You know what my mother is doing does not make sense. She is destroying my future believing she’s obeying God’s words. This is not a pregnancy I went out of my way to seek for, I was raped for God’s sake and everybody just wants to punish me for it, nobody wants to help me!” I paused. Aunty was not saying anything. She was feeling every word I said pricking at her conscience. “Besides,” I continued, “my mother is not here right now, she cannot stop you from offering any help you choose to offer me. All we will only tell her is that I lost the pregnancy, will she kill me if that happens? And if she chooses to kill me, let her go ahead and do so then, it’s even better for me to put an end to all these pain and misery and leave this world!”
Aunty Florence looked up sharply at me. That jolted her back to reality. She was scared I could go suicidal. “Look, Rosie, don’t you ever think about doing anything stupid to yourself, not under my watch, do you hear me?”
“Then, help me get rid of this bastard in my womb, Aunty, I do not want to be a mother, I want to go to school like my mates!” I’d thrown at her, my emotions all coming to the fore.
“But you can go to school after you put to bed, Rosie. Nobody will stop you from continuing your education and….”
“Aunty, don’t you get it?” I interjected before she was done talking. “I don’t want to be a student mother! I don’t want to be in school and be distracted by the responsibilities of being a mother! I do not want to be the mother of a child whose father raped me and whose father’s uncle took advantage of me! I don’t want to hold onto anything that will be a sad reminder of the darkest moment of my life! “ And the tears started to run quietly down my face. I tried to keep them away but couldn’t. The harder I tried, the more they came gushing down.
Aunty Florence reached for me and pulled me close. She held me in a warm embrace and tried to comfort to me. But being comforted would not solve my problem, what I wanted was a solution. What I wanted was for her to take me to a doctor who would get rid of this pregnancy for me, that was what she promised me back in the village.
“It’s okay, Rosie, stop crying, everything will be alright,” she tried to calm me. “See, my dear, I really would love to help you, but I also…. I also…..” her voice trailed off. She didn’t finish what she was saying.
“I’m listening, Aunty, please, go on, why can’t you help me?” I asked her, desperate to get answers from her. Then, to my shock, Aunty started crying. Her tears were far heavier than mine.
“I’m sorry, Rosie, you will have to have this child you’re carrying and raise the baby here in my house…..” And she let out the tears all over again.
“But, why, Aunty, I don’t understand…why do you want me to have a child that I don’t want to have?”
She wiped the tears from her face and tried to pull herself together. I was utterly stunned. Bewildered was more like it. Everything seemed like I was watching a movie. Only difference was, I was playing the lead role in the movie.
Then, slowly, Aunty Florence cleared her throat, pulled herself together and began to quietly drop the biggest shocker of my life…
”I have a confession to make to you, Rosemary, and I hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me after you listen to my confession….will you forgive me, my darling?”
READ ALSO: WHAT EVERY MUSLIM SHOULD KNOW ABOUT RAMADAN – CHIEF IMAM LEKKI CENTRAL MOSQUE
