Chapter 11, Episode 3

Last updated on February 17th, 2024 at 09:31 am

Tochi and I didn’t speak until the next day.

“I’m so sorry, baby. Tell me you are not vexed.” I felt my stomach twist as he spoke softly.

“Tochi, I am pregnant.” Zabby had gone to her boyfriend’s place earlier and I had promised to tell Tochi before she returned.

“Angel, I don’t get.”

“Tochi, I missed my period. I tested more than five times and the result is positive.”

“Wait, what?! We used a condom. I used a condom.” He replied, not even bothering to mask his emotions. Disgust? Anger? Disbelief? I honestly couldn’t care. 

“Trust me, I have replayed that night a million times in my head.”

“Angela,” He said and paused. Then continued, “Let me call you back.” 

***

“Has Uncle Tochi called back?” It’d been three days since we last spoke and he hadn’t even updated his status as usual. WhatsApp celebrity down. 

“No o.”

“Hmm. Okay.” We both looked at each other and it was as if there was a silent conversation between us.

***

“Hi, Angela.” His voice was totally different. Firm? Detached? I looked at Elizabeth sitting quietly beside me and drew strength from her. The phone was on speaker. He had eventually called so I took it as a good sign. Elizabeth was already getting angry considering that we needed to know his stance before talking to my parents and he was wasting time. We both agreed that my parents’ support was the most important, so, we needed to face them.

“Hey, Tochi,” I replied with caution.

“So, I asked around and they said these results can be false.”

“Oh, okay. I sent you a picture of all the strips though.”

“Yes. Have you done a blood test?” If looks could kill, Tochi would be a dead man by now; Zabby’s eyes were not playing. 

“No.”

“Do it.”

“Okay. And if it’s positive?”

“We have to abort it.” I felt sick. I didn’t know if it was the pregnancy or Tochi’s attitude. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I felt betrayed by my body. I felt stupid. Zabby said it was a normal body function, but I thought it was a function of an over-enthusiastic body.

“Umm, Tochi, I don’t want to.” At the same time, he said, “Don’t tell me that crap!” He actually yelled. At this point Zabby was gesturing at the phone, she wanted to talk to him. I shook my head.

“Tochi, it’s my body. What if something goes wrong?”

“You sound like an illiterate. Too much Nollywood. Check the stats, my dear.” He sounded condescending. I shook my head and took a deep breath in.

“Tochi, please, let’s calm down. I know we are both upset.”

“No, it sounds like I am the only one that is upset. It’s as if you had this in your goals for the year.”

“Tochi!”

“Don’t Tochi me. If you have no future goals, trust me, I do. Angela, I do and it doesn’t include being a father at my age!” He said and hung up. I let the tears freely pour. Zabby’s hands came around me and pulled me into her chest. I had goals too. I had a plan for after service. We had done our POP and I wasn’t as excited as I should have been, but I already decided. I was confused about the whole thing, but this decision seemed like the most certain decision of my life.

“Angela, honey, just give him some time. You have also had your freak-out period, allow him to freak out too.”

“But but,” I said in between sobs, “ I didn’t yell at him or talk to him the way he did.”

“I know. Forgive me, but this guy is an asshole.” I didn’t have it in me to even scold her. He really was. “Still, let’s give him time to come around.”

***

“So, your end-of-service gift to us is pregnancy! Not even a job!” Ouch! Tochi still hadn’t called and it’d been over a week. Zabby and I decided to tell my parents instead of waiting for him. The initial plan was to make him speak to them on the phone so they would at least know that there was a responsible guy behind it.

“Shhh, Queen.” My dad said, flinching at my mum’s words. He turned to me and Zabby. The both of us had rehearsed this over and over, so I was prepared. I couldn’t deny that nothing prepared me for seeing my mum’s emotions up close. She seemed to be taking it worse than my dad.

“Where is the guy?” Just four words. Zabby sat up and talked now, “Uncle, he is having a hard time processing it.” She had barely ended her sentence when my mum cut in.

“Processing what? Is he crazy? Ina pu ala? Didn’t he know what could happen by having sex?” I moved closer to Zabby. The last time I saw my mum this angry was the night of the fight between my parents. I was close to tears, but I had promised Elizabeth that there wouldn’t be any tears until we finished the conversation. My dad gently rubbed my mum’s back whispering into her ear.

“Angel, we are disappointed. You can see how concerned your mum is.” Concern isn’t what I’d use to describe my mum’s actions, but I deserved it. He wasn’t done though, “Let’s take some time to think about it and we will come out when we are done.” Zabby and I nodded as they both got up and went into the room, holding each other.

“How are you?” Zabby whispered when they left.

“Upside down.” Zabby smiled and rubbed my hand.

…

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