I was born with a silver spoon,I don't know what wooden spoon looks like. Skipping meals or wearing tattered attire had no clear meaning to me. I have always gotten all I wanted at the time I needed it. Life wasn't so hard to me like what other people from other county preached.
I lost my mum,my demi~God. She had been the only family. She told me I was just four when I lost my father, the shock that I'm now an orphan was more than a bomb blast . Being the only child, my mum won't allow me stress my strength or go out of my limit. I practically can't do any chores and became lazy.
Just when I was mourning my dead mum alone,the bank came to seize the house claiming it was used as collateral. As if that wasn't enough ,my mum's account was also frozen by the bank for a reason I don't even understand.
I have not been a family keeping person. Mum will never allow me to pay them a visit while she was alive. The only one I knew was my grandmother, whom I have by chance seen when I sneaked out with mum's driver to drop her monthly food stuffs and money.
I can't make my way to the village alone ,then I thought of brother Dauda (mum's driver).
All I've gotten out of the house after the seizure was just a denim shirt and a leggings pant I was wearing with my ATM card. I remembered mum made a transfer of One hundred thousand naira into my account the night before she slumped to death.
I decided to look for brother Dauda with hope of getting to the village through him. I don't even know where he stays but I could remember the day he was sick and couldn't go come to work, my mum called him on the phone to send his address which he did but mum didn't later went to check on him instead she sent Auntie Flora . 'Badia' kept ringing in my head, I decided to go to a taxi park maybe they will know where on earth the place could be.
The taxi man I asked doesn't have an idea of where I was talking about so he referred me to their Chairman who was pointed to me.
I got to him,.he was a dark complexioned full grown man with a bald head,his back view almost like that of an hunch back. He was busy deflating the tyres of his yellow and black painted taxi.
I reached out to him with a tap and a call, 'hey sir'. He sharply turned his back and to my surprise he was just who I thought he was. It's you, brother Dauda, I jumped at him with a sense excitement. He also shouted my name with so much energy "Adeola". I answered him with a nod.
He held my hand and took me to his office as we passed by his taxi which was old enough to be replaced. We sat in his tattered office which was looking so unkempt and he ordered a drink for me. I told him I was just trying if I could get a taxi to take me to his area . Though he had resigned before my mum's demise. I told him how mum died and how the bank took the house . " eh yah! Pele Adeola. So what do you want to do now?". He asked me in soft voice.
"I want to go to the village and stay with mama, my grandmother ", I answered him.
"your grandmother? so your mum didn't tell you?! Your grandmother is dead " he pitifully said.
I felt this was the climax of what could happen to me. Brother Dauda told me to come and live with him if I don't mind. I couldn't say No, I followed him to his house in Badia.
It was a very dirty, shabby area. I imagined how I would cope with such vicinity. It was like a refuse dump. Brother Dauda was greeting his neighbours with a satisfactory smile which he was wearing on his face as I reluctantly walked behind him rotating my neck in 360 degrees to catch every sight of my new home.
We got into the small compound that harbours small cubicles which was assumed to be rooms. Each room was made with planks and covered with sheets that were almost worn out. I threw out spittle and almost threw up with the horrific odour I perceived as he showed me the way to the toilet and bathroom.
The toilet was more described as a soakaway itself. The whole of the wall was messed up with mucus and 'shits'. I filmed my luxurious room and tears rolled down my cheeks. A voice "this is where we cook" interrupted my thoughts. He pointed at his own corner out of the clustered large room which was having just a stove and a small table .
We got into his room though it was contrary to my expectations. It was small but pleasant one instead of the junkyard I was expecting. There was a TV set and DVD player. The ceiling fan made a noise that almost scared my heart out and a small bed which lied on the carpet rug on the ground. I felt relieved with that sight of the room as it seems manageable.
I started my new life with Brother Dauda. I got to do chores I was never used to. He taught me how to make different dishes and all I needed. I was becoming fond of my new life. I rapidly adapted and I felt all my worries had finally ended.
Brother came back from work on that evening. It was unusual of him to have been home so early because he had always loved to stay out with his friends till late in the night. I was almost asleep when I heard a knock. I stood up and got my wrapper on tightly and moved to the door side to open it.
Just when I opened the door, he gave me an heavy slap just like he has always done whenever he is drunk. I couldn't cry out because I've gotten used to the assault practically. There was even a time he had me beaten 'blue~ black' because I refused to tell him the pin to my ATM card. He became a monster from that evening, he had a carnal knowledge of me.
I have severally attempted eloping from the house in which he has always luckily aborted my plans. In fact I get into more trouble after every trial. He stopped giving me money for food even after he had withdrawn all the money I had. All thanks to mama Nkechi a next door neighbour who will give me food discreetly.
I woke up on a morning very weak that I couldn't even raised my hands from where they were lying. I became tired due to the all night unprotected sex he had with me. The symptoms persisted and he sent me to the local primary health centre where I was diagnosed pregnant. I was just seventeen, I don't want to be a 'baby mama'.
After some minutes of my cry and sobbering, I came out of my shell. What will I do to this thing in my belly? I asked angrily. He refused to give me an answer, took his shirt and left the house.
I kept asking the same question for four months. My belly was becoming bigger and glaring. Even other neighbours began to call me different names like 'iya ibeji', 'mama bonboy' etc.
He came back from work one night and I welcomed him with the same question. "What will i do to this thing in my belly?" He shut me up with a slap, not a blow this time. He dug his hand inside his pocket and brought out some pills. He gave them to me and went out to get me water. He has never been this nice since he took me as a 'sex~mate'. I asked what the drugs was for, to kill my curiosity.
"Take those pills,they were gotten from the clinic. The doctor said it'll make the baby grow", He said.
I don't want a baby! I cried out. He moved closer to me and said nice words to me which I didn't know they were lies. He said he wanted me to keep the baby and marry him. I was roaming 'No' for an answer on my mind but couldn't spit it out. I took the drugs after forcing myself to believe him.
I was sitting out in the room with Mama Nkechi when I begun to see blood from my private part. Mama Nkechi knew what it was and rushed me to the hospital. I was admitted immediately, that was all I knew.
I woke up after some weeks in coma while trying to open my eyes to see where I was, I sighted the Doctor beside me. I tried to get up but he made me go back to sleep.
Two weeks later, I've gotten so well that even the stitches I had below my stomach has almost healed. The doctor came in for the regular daily check ups when he told me that the woman that brought me hasn't showed up ever since she did. He then asked me why I tried aborting a child and who was responsible for it?. It was then I murmured, Brother Dauda. "Who's brother Dauda?" The doctor asked. I didn't even know my voice was loud enough to be heard.
I narrated my ordeal to the Doctor. He was touched. He promised to take up the case against Brother Dauda with help from his Lawyer friend but I insisted that I want no more problems and charging him for anything will do no good but compound my problems. Just like I'll a have the feelings that my trouble is over and new and worst ones will show up.
"Adeola, the drugs you took were very harmful. Whoever had given them to you wanted you dead but with the grace of God you're alive. But the sad news, you lost your womb in the process. It got damaged and we had to remove it. Which simply means you can't have a child of your own "The Doctor concluded sadly.
Haa!!! I exclaimed, I'm finished. So I don't have a womb?. I was getting highly disturbed now. He answered me with a nod. He gave me a note directing me to life coach for counselling .
I met Dr. Mrs.Shonuola, told her everything. She took me in as an ambassador for her NGO(HELP THE FEMALE CHILD).
I got back to school, graduated and became a lawyer. I have to adopt to live as a mother.
My life wasn't a relay but an hundred meter race.
BemZ's
