I don't know why I'm still shaking over an atrocity I consciously avoided. I'm watching a taped lecture yet a horror is playing on my mind. Terrified. My heart is rending into motes.
I decided to visit my friend today. We went our separate ways after over ten years of intimacy. Two years ago he gave me a distress call. I had come back from an over four-hour Pharmacology class and rushed into my toilet to empty my bladder. It was threatening to tear over a long-held urine. While relishing in pleasure of the deep ease, my phone kept ringing. Ringing. Ringing and ringing!
'If you like be Jesus Christ. I'm not gonna take it until I'm done with this bliss.' I swore. Yet it kept ringing. I carefully zipped up. I brought out my phone to see that KC had called me ten times. I was still holding the phone when he called again. He said he was coming to see me immediately. The dire desperation in his voice scared me. KC had never sounded that forlorn. He rather used to be rough and abusive in a sarcastic manner. At best, jovial to a fault.
Before I could open my door lock, someone was already running up the staircase. It was KC!
'Obaino, I'm in trouble!' He exhaled, profusely perspirating.
'Ify is pregnant!' He shouted before I could ask him why. 'Obaino, Ify is pregnant!' He repeated. 'Men, I'm finished!' He breathed again.
'Obaino, you must help me.'
He had been dating Ify since he came into the university. They moved in together after their first year on campus. He'd always said he would marry her. And by every compass, they both loved each other. So deeply and fondly so. It was evident.
I looked up at KC. We both knew how many times I had cautioned him of the possible consequences.
'I'm sorry, I can't help you. She has to carry the baby.' I said, so sternly. He threw me a sharp look almost immediately. It was like he read the response from the dark heart with which I spoke. Drops of is tears fell like rain on my floor. Without saying a word, he left.
I called him the following day but he didn't pick my calls. The next day, the same. And the next. His number never went through again.
Two weeks ago, a boy from his village told me that KC's baby would give me a hot slap. That the baby was already walking.
So I set out at noon today to visit KC. A journey of two hours, full of fear, remorse and regret. I didn't know the face I would wear before him, that of a beast, a monster or a contrite friend.
KC was on the top of a mango tree at the back of a somewhat detached compound, a little separate from the larger one. He was trimming the branches. He stopped cutting the moment he saw me. He threw down his cutlass and shouted my name with a broad smile, out of sheer astonishment.
'Who am I seeing? Obaino, Obaino! May today's sun never set!' He echoed repeatedly as he climbed down.
A door of the nearest house opened and a very fair, pretty baby staggered out. Such an epitome of pulchritude to behold. She kept holding the unplastered mud wall and staring at me until KC grabbed her, threw her up and caught her back. She smiled broadly, shouting: 'Daddy, daddy!' as she crackled in laughter and fear, revealing the pair of white incisors on her upper and lower jaws.
'I am so sorry, KC. I hope you'll find a reason to forgive me. I was too...'
'Come on! Obaino, stop it! You did me no wrong. While I pray for forgiveness, I have you to thank.' He said, cutting me short.
He brought out a wooden bench and a plastic table. He set them in front of the small hut. I knew it was his house.
'My oyooyo, asa m, baby m, oya go and call Mummy to come.' He teased the baby.
'No, come let me carry you.' I said. She was so quiet. She kept staring at my face and back at her dad's. Then I looked at her legs. Shockingly, I noticed her toes. They were all amputated up to the proximal phalanges, very close to her soles, her digital webs lost to the effect of teratogens. I lifted my eyes and it met with KC's. He looked down. At the same time a window slightly opened from the house and I saw a face I knew. It was Ify.
'Honey come and greet Doc!' KC called out aloud but no response came. I told him to stop. 'Please, don't force her to come out. Please.'
'Doc, I know you will think I'm angry with you. Maybe I was but that was a long time ago. Until I accepted a condition I couldn't change. All the means we resorted to, to abort her never worked. There was no herb she didn't take, until she nearly died herself. But the belle kept growing. I know it's the thing that did her legs.' He said.
'But Obaino, we suffered. Her people threatened to kill me. We both stopped school. But I couldn't let my wife stop hers.'
'Has she finished now?' I asked.
'She's waiting for her Youth Service. And I'll soon go back and complete mine.' KC said, as we both drank the two bottles of Malt he brought out.
'But how has she been holding up?'
'You mean my wife?'
'Yes.'
'Hmm, she's been strong and so caring. She loves me. Despite all, I'm a happy man. We all are. Obaino, I couldn't have wished for more.' He narrated, with streaks of weak smile.
'I'm so sorry, KC. You must forgive me.' I insisted.
'Noo, Obaino. Honestly, I'm so grateful for what you did. Remember it was the only thing you ever told me no. I'm glad you didn't break your good principles for my sake. I never called because I sold my phone at a point so that we could eat. Doc, everybody abandoned us.' He said, shaking his head. 'Now, I look at my daughter and my joy overflows. Esther is the only reason I sleep happy and wake up happy.'
'Esther is her name?'
'Yes, we named her Esther 'cos she's a child of destiny.'
I returned to my house an hour ago, after such a heartrending reunion. My phone rang thirty minutes ago. I recognised the voice almost immediately. She said she was Ify, and didn't speak another word. I pleaded with her for forgiveness. Then she said she was sorry she didn't come out to greet me. That she didn't know how she could face me. That she was sorry for everything. She was crying inaudibly.
'Ify, don't worry, everything is gonna be alright.'
'Doc, but did you see those her legs?'
'Yes, I did...'
'It's all my fault. Will she ever grow to forgive me? It's all my fault!' She broke into loud moans and the line snapped.
Now, my heart is ripping. I feel so awkward. This lecture video in front of me is just showing different pictures of me; how close I came to homicide, how I failed to aid my friend, and the fate of poor, pretty Esther. And I don't understand why I feel so responsible for everything even when I couldn't have acquiesced to my friend's request. I feel so broken.
I decided to visit my friend today. We went our separate ways after over ten years of intimacy. Two years ago he gave me a distress call. I had come back from an over four-hour Pharmacology class and rushed into my toilet to empty my bladder. It was threatening to tear over a long-held urine. While relishing in pleasure of the deep ease, my phone kept ringing. Ringing. Ringing and ringing!
'If you like be Jesus Christ. I'm not gonna take it until I'm done with this bliss.' I swore. Yet it kept ringing. I carefully zipped up. I brought out my phone to see that KC had called me ten times. I was still holding the phone when he called again. He said he was coming to see me immediately. The dire desperation in his voice scared me. KC had never sounded that forlorn. He rather used to be rough and abusive in a sarcastic manner. At best, jovial to a fault.
Before I could open my door lock, someone was already running up the staircase. It was KC!
'Obaino, I'm in trouble!' He exhaled, profusely perspirating.
'Ify is pregnant!' He shouted before I could ask him why. 'Obaino, Ify is pregnant!' He repeated. 'Men, I'm finished!' He breathed again.
'Obaino, you must help me.'
He had been dating Ify since he came into the university. They moved in together after their first year on campus. He'd always said he would marry her. And by every compass, they both loved each other. So deeply and fondly so. It was evident.
I looked up at KC. We both knew how many times I had cautioned him of the possible consequences.
'I'm sorry, I can't help you. She has to carry the baby.' I said, so sternly. He threw me a sharp look almost immediately. It was like he read the response from the dark heart with which I spoke. Drops of is tears fell like rain on my floor. Without saying a word, he left.
I called him the following day but he didn't pick my calls. The next day, the same. And the next. His number never went through again.
Two weeks ago, a boy from his village told me that KC's baby would give me a hot slap. That the baby was already walking.
So I set out at noon today to visit KC. A journey of two hours, full of fear, remorse and regret. I didn't know the face I would wear before him, that of a beast, a monster or a contrite friend.
KC was on the top of a mango tree at the back of a somewhat detached compound, a little separate from the larger one. He was trimming the branches. He stopped cutting the moment he saw me. He threw down his cutlass and shouted my name with a broad smile, out of sheer astonishment.
'Who am I seeing? Obaino, Obaino! May today's sun never set!' He echoed repeatedly as he climbed down.
A door of the nearest house opened and a very fair, pretty baby staggered out. Such an epitome of pulchritude to behold. She kept holding the unplastered mud wall and staring at me until KC grabbed her, threw her up and caught her back. She smiled broadly, shouting: 'Daddy, daddy!' as she crackled in laughter and fear, revealing the pair of white incisors on her upper and lower jaws.
'I am so sorry, KC. I hope you'll find a reason to forgive me. I was too...'
'Come on! Obaino, stop it! You did me no wrong. While I pray for forgiveness, I have you to thank.' He said, cutting me short.
He brought out a wooden bench and a plastic table. He set them in front of the small hut. I knew it was his house.
'My oyooyo, asa m, baby m, oya go and call Mummy to come.' He teased the baby.
'No, come let me carry you.' I said. She was so quiet. She kept staring at my face and back at her dad's. Then I looked at her legs. Shockingly, I noticed her toes. They were all amputated up to the proximal phalanges, very close to her soles, her digital webs lost to the effect of teratogens. I lifted my eyes and it met with KC's. He looked down. At the same time a window slightly opened from the house and I saw a face I knew. It was Ify.
'Honey come and greet Doc!' KC called out aloud but no response came. I told him to stop. 'Please, don't force her to come out. Please.'
'Doc, I know you will think I'm angry with you. Maybe I was but that was a long time ago. Until I accepted a condition I couldn't change. All the means we resorted to, to abort her never worked. There was no herb she didn't take, until she nearly died herself. But the belle kept growing. I know it's the thing that did her legs.' He said.
'But Obaino, we suffered. Her people threatened to kill me. We both stopped school. But I couldn't let my wife stop hers.'
'Has she finished now?' I asked.
'She's waiting for her Youth Service. And I'll soon go back and complete mine.' KC said, as we both drank the two bottles of Malt he brought out.
'But how has she been holding up?'
'You mean my wife?'
'Yes.'
'Hmm, she's been strong and so caring. She loves me. Despite all, I'm a happy man. We all are. Obaino, I couldn't have wished for more.' He narrated, with streaks of weak smile.
'I'm so sorry, KC. You must forgive me.' I insisted.
'Noo, Obaino. Honestly, I'm so grateful for what you did. Remember it was the only thing you ever told me no. I'm glad you didn't break your good principles for my sake. I never called because I sold my phone at a point so that we could eat. Doc, everybody abandoned us.' He said, shaking his head. 'Now, I look at my daughter and my joy overflows. Esther is the only reason I sleep happy and wake up happy.'
'Esther is her name?'
'Yes, we named her Esther 'cos she's a child of destiny.'
I returned to my house an hour ago, after such a heartrending reunion. My phone rang thirty minutes ago. I recognised the voice almost immediately. She said she was Ify, and didn't speak another word. I pleaded with her for forgiveness. Then she said she was sorry she didn't come out to greet me. That she didn't know how she could face me. That she was sorry for everything. She was crying inaudibly.
'Ify, don't worry, everything is gonna be alright.'
'Doc, but did you see those her legs?'
'Yes, I did...'
'It's all my fault. Will she ever grow to forgive me? It's all my fault!' She broke into loud moans and the line snapped.
Now, my heart is ripping. I feel so awkward. This lecture video in front of me is just showing different pictures of me; how close I came to homicide, how I failed to aid my friend, and the fate of poor, pretty Esther. And I don't understand why I feel so responsible for everything even when I couldn't have acquiesced to my friend's request. I feel so broken.
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