I kept on crying in silence until I could cry no more. I just
sat there on the toilet seat and stared into space for as
long as five minutes until I heard the sound of the siren
which indicated long break was over. I heard two other
girls come into the washroom so I wiped my face with
my uniform, stood up from the seat, flushed the toilet
and came out pretending like I had just used the toilet. I
found out that the girls were jss2 girls and not my set
mates. I went over to the sink, washed my hands and
headed for my class.
When I got to the class, I found Anabelle sitting on her
chair and reading a book so I went over and took my seat
beside her. When I sat down, she looked at me and gave
a puzzled look. I looked at her hoping she wouldn’t start
with her questionnaires, then I asked why she was
staring that way.
“What took you so long?” she asked
I told her that I had a running stomach and she believed
without asking further questions. We had Introductory
Technology and so Mr. Alabi walked in, which shut
everyone’s mouth. All through class, I was just thinking
and thinking, I didn’t know what I would do next. If there
was anyone I was going to speak to about the child in my
womb, it would be uncle cheatmaster since he caused it
all. I needed to act fast and prevent my tummy from
growing bigger so people wouldn’t suspect.
I had heard when other seniors talked about how some
students had been expelled for getting pregnant. I didn’t
want my case to be that way. I am so sure that
throughout that day, I panicked a lot. My heart was
pounding and I didn’t think it would reduce. School ended
and the boarders left school for the hostel while the day
students went to their various homes.
When I got to the hostel, I went straight to the room, took
off my shoes, put my school bag aside and layed on my
bed without taking my uniform off. On a normal day, I
would have taken it off, washed it and possibly taken a
shower but I was in no mood to do all that. In fact, I was
very weak. I felt sick thinking about everything all over
again. In my mind, I was hoping I wasn’t pregnant and
that I was getting it all wrong. I forced myself to sleep
until I heard the bell ring for dinner. When I got to the
dining hall, I almost felt like throwing up because of the
strong smell the yam and egg possessed which was
supposed to be our dinner. I thought the egg smelled
rotten and so I instantly lost my appetite. I decided to go
back to the hostel and prepare for prep since it was
immediately after dinner. We usually had prep in school
and so I got my things ready and without waiting for
anything or anyone, I left the hostel for school. I got into
my class, went straight to the back and sat on one of the
chairs.
A few minutes later, senior Daniel walked in. I was
surprised because I didn’t think anyone would guess I
was already in school.
“What are you doing here all alone? Waiting for your
boyfriend abi” he said as he walked up to me and took the
seat in front of me. I’m pretty sure he was trying to make
me laugh or smile but I just shook my head and told him I
decided to come early for prep. He said he had asked
after me at the girls hostel and was told that they hadn’t
seen me until he found someone who told him she had
seen me going towards school with my school bag. I
didn’t mention not having dinner because he would be
upset with me and try to get me to eat something. He
was a nice senior but I just wasn’t in the mood to talk to
him. He saw that I gave him straight answers when he
asked questions and didn’t smile at his joke so he asked if
I was okay. I told him I was fine, just tired and again he
believed me so he came closer and hugged me. I already
got used to hugging senior Daniel and so I hugged him
back. I actually felt good hugging him. It reduced all of the
tension and pain I was feeling at that moment. I actually
felt loved but he was another person I wasn’t willing to
share my secret with.
“I love you, my baby!” he finally said and let go of me. He
told me to try to balance school and get enough rest so I
wouldn’t feel tired and weak all the time. I nodded and
held back the tears that were already forming in my eyes.
Why couldn’t I tell anyone about the real pain that I was
going through. I wanted to scream and tell someone that
I was being abused by uncle but I just couldn’t. He stood
up when we heard other students voices and told me he
would see me after prepDuring prep, I was asked to jump
by my school mother, senior Onome, who caught me
putting my head on the table to sleep several times. She
always tried to make sure I wasn’t wasting my time
during prep and so whenever I was caught doing
something else other than studying, she made sure she
punished me for it. I was really feeling sleepy and tired
but she wouldn’t understand any of that and so I kept
jumping until I was able to stay awake a few minutes
before prep was over. When we got to the hostel, I went
straight into the bathroom, washed my uniforms, took a
shower and went straight to sleep. I didn’t even talk to
any of mates throughout that night, including Anabelle.
Uncle Cheatmaster’s side of the story
It was a Friday morning and I was too tired to stand up
and prepare for work. I had slept late thinking of what to
say when I eventually call the girls hostel to speak with
Meso. I had collected the hostel information from my
brother’s wife so I could contact my Meso. I needed to
talk to her because since the night of my misbehaviour, I
hadn’t felt peace. I needed to hear her voice. I needed her
sincere forgiveness. I was quite shocked that she hadn’t
said a word to anybody because I thought that would be
the case but I already had a feeling she wasn’t going to
spill.
Later that Friday afternoon, I got home early and the first
thing I did was dial the hostel number. It started ringing
and before I knew it, a woman answered;
“Hello? Riverdale girls hostel, how may I help you” the
lady on the other end of the line said.
“Good afternoon, my name is cheatmaster, Meso’s…I
mean Mesonma’s uncle. Please, I would like to speak
with her”
“Do you mean Mesonma Okojie?”
“Yes please”
“Okay, please hold on. Let me get her”
“Alright thank you”
After about three minutes waiting, I heard my Meso’s
voice;
“Hello?” she said.
“Hello, Meso. It is cheatmaster. How are you?”
“I’m fine, uncle cheatmaster”
“How’s school?”
“fine”
“And the hostel? Hope you’re coping?”
“Uncle cheatmaster, there’s something you need to
know,” when she said this, I suddenly became anxious to
know what was up.
“Meso, what is it?” I asked.
“uncle cheatmaster, I can’t tell you on the phone.”
“You can’t tell me on the phone? why?” I asked squeezing
my face. “Did anyone hurt you? Because I’ll come over to
your school right now and give them a warning”
“No, uncle cheatmaster. It’s worse than that. Please just
come to school right now.”
“Meso, are you okay? what’s wrong? I’ll be there in a few
minutes okay? Please just be okay for me. I’m coming,” I
said as she replied with an okay before dropping the call.
What could be wrong with Meso? I thought. I didn’t
understand because it was Meso who barely wanted to
see my face and now she insisted I drive down to her
school. Has she told someone about what happened
between us? Is this some sort of plan? Something
doesn’t seem right. I finally told myself that it wouldn’t
get up to that extent. I called her and not the other way
round so there was no possibility of her snitching on me.
I took up courage and decided to drive down to her
hostel.
When I got there, I greeted the security officers that were
at the gates and told them I was there to see Meso. One
of the went inside and came out in about two minutes
with a woman. I was still standing at the gate because
they said they weren’t allowed to let unexpected visitors
walk in. I greeted the lady and told her I was there to see
Meso so she took me to her office and told me to have a
seat.
****************************
Meso’s side of the story
That Friday morning, I had decided to call uncle
cheatmaster and tell him about my situation. I didn’t want
to keep shut and allow my tummy grow bigger while I
was still in the hostel.
After school that Friday, I decided to call him after our
afternoon siesta, an hour of the day when every student
was to be in bed, sleeping and just resting. I was going to
tell him about my pregnancy but not long into our siesta,
one of the young house mothers called for me. I went into
her office and she pointed at the landline phone that was
on the table, saying my uncle was on the line. It was at
the corner of the room, the spot where one was to
answer calls from home so I approached the table and
picked it up.Hello?” I had said before uncle cheatmaster
revealed himself. He asked about my well-being and
school and all in which I replied but I decided to bring up
what I had planned on telling him but I couldn’t talk freely
because one of the house mothers was still in the office
with me. So I told him he needed to come to school. I
made it known to him that it was urgent and so he said he
would be in school soon before responding and dropping
the phone. I stood up from the chair I had been sitting on,
greeted the house mother with a thank you before
leaving. Not long after, she came to call me again and
this time as I got into the office. I saw uncle cheatmaster
in his corporate clothes sitting on the chair in front of the
house mother’s desk. I falsely smiled at him while he
stood up to hug me. The house mother then said I was
excused to talk to him since I knew him while she left the
office to give us some privacy. Immediately, without
beating about the bush, I told uncle cheatmaster that I
was pregnant. I told him that I hadn’t seen my period for
the past two weeks and I wasn’t feeling normal. I told him
I got irritated easily and didn’t have the appetite for the
meal we were being served at the hostel.
When he heard this, I could tell from his eyes that he was
shocked. He put his palm on his mouth and shook his
head. He was disappointed. I even almost burst into tears
because I knew this wasn’t a small issue. Despite it all, I
still saw my uncle cheatmaster as the man I loved like
my father but more like an elder brother, that was why I
didn’t want to tell anybody because I knew he would be in
so much trouble. He told me it was going to be okay and
that we would try to get rid of the baby. At first, I objected
and didn’t hesitate to show how scared I was but he
calmed me down and kept on saying it would be okay. He
hugged me and I hugged him back, the man who had hurt
me and gotten me pregnant at this stage of my life.
To be continued………
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