FED UP

(...continued...)

  “What was that?” Mabel asked.

  “I don’t know.”

                They paused and listened. They heard the noise again. This time Mabel heard Cynthia call her name.

  “It is Cynthia.”

                They rushed to the room and almost collided with Cynthia at the door.

  “What is the problem?” Cynthia asked them. “Why are you running?”

  “We heard a noise,” her mother said.

  “And you called my name,” Mabel added.

  “I want to ease myself. I called you so you can help me fetch water.”

                They sighed.

  “I don’t even know what I thought was happening,” Mabel said.

  “I hit my leg on the foot of the bed, lost balance and supported myself with the chair. I think that was the sound you heard.”

  “Hope you did not wound yourself?” her mother asked touching her.

  “I am fine.”

  “Hold on,” Mabel said “let me fetch water for you and make sure the toilet is clean.”

  “I washed it in the evening,” her mother said.

  “Let me fetch water then.”

                Mabel took buckets and went to the borehole in the compound and fetched water. They stood at the door of the toilet waiting for Cynthia.

  “Don’t lock the door o,” Mabel told her.

  “This one you people are guarding the door, any problem?” she asked them

  “No problem.”

                They waited for her. When she was done, Mabel flushed it for her while her mother led her to the room. She lay back to sleep. They went back to the parlour.

  “What have your friends been saying about your issue?” their mother asked Mabel when they sat down.

  “They are calling and sending messages,” Mabel replied.

  “Have they been coming to see you?”

  “I am not in the mood to see them. Just one or two who I meet suddenly, like I met Maggie.”

  “You can’t really say who feels for you and who is happy for what you are going through.”

  “It is true. I don’t even know who to trust again. If Kemi could do that to me, anyone else can do worse things.”

  “What about the man who left you for her?”

  “All men are the same.”

                Her mother sighed.

  “I hope you did not call him?” she said.

  “Call who?” Mabel asked.

  “Segun.”

  “God forbid. For what? Why should I call him?”

  “Don’t worry about him? You are not supposed to call him.”

  “He should be the one calling and begging me.”

  “That’s true. No need selling your pride as a woman, and appear desperate. That was the mistake I made with your father. I appeared needy. I was in my early twenties at the time and he was the best man I saw. He was my everything. The things he spoke to me and the way he pampered me made me think he was for real. When he broke my heart the first time, I went running after him thinking it was my fault that he walked away. I found out I was pregnant for him and told him. He denied and abandoned me till I delivered you. My parents were ashamed of me. I was in school then so they could not do anything to me. It was one of my cousins who took care of me until I put to bed. Your father did not come. From time to time, I will still write letters to him. People told me to move on with my life but I thought I will never meet any man like him again.”

  “Eiya.”

  “I was really desperate to have him back. Then after a long time, he came back to me. I heard he had broken up with the other lady he was dating. I immediately took him back without questions. People were disappointed in me. I lost most of my friends because of him. Then he impregnated me again and ran. This time, he ran for real.”

  “You were still in school then?”

  “I had just graduated. I couldn’t continue doing my clearance in school so I got a menial job to take care of you and my unborn child.”

  “You really suffered o.”

  “My dear, it was not funny.”

  “So my father never asked after you?”

  “No. he did not even give me a dime to buy baby food. That was when my eyes cleared and what people had been telling me dawned on me. I took care of my medical bills from the money I saved from the menial job I was doing.”

  “What did his family say?”

  “They said they are not aware of anything going on between me and him. I think it was because I didn’t have a boy. They would have claimed him immediately.”

  “Your parents did not accept you?”

  “They eventually did. My mother convinced my dad. She told them that it was not my fault but that of the man who put me in the family way.”

                Mabel looked at her mother and she could see her eyes were teary.

(...to be continued...)

-Chinedu Isaac