Walk Of Shame (On hold)

Part 3

Layla was tired. Of the cold shoulder she was getting from everyone. Even Safiyya stopped calling her like she used to. It's been six weeks and her stomach was significantly harder, the baby was growing. She still didn't know how to feel about it. She took her phone and sent a quick text before going into the bathroom.

She had just packed the last of the things she will need for a trip when the door burst open. It was her mum. She threw the bed sheets over the duffel bag and smiled nervously.

"Mama Ina kwana ( good morning)" she mumbled.

"Uncle Farouk is here" the woman says, completely ignoring Layla's greeting. Layla rolled her eyes inwardly, wondering what she was supposed to do with the information.

"Ya kawo gaisuwa" and just like that, Layla's world came crashing down. She had not been overthinking after all. They really were about to force her to marry a man almost three times her age. Tears instantly clouded her vision and she began to beg.

Her mom looked at he with irritation. "What did you expect? What do you want to happen? We should let you continue roaming about the city so the world can know we raised a prostitute? No you know thats not possible" to say her mother's words stung will be the biggest understatement of the year. The woman's words ripped her heart into a million pieces.

"So please wear something nice if you are coming out. But i prefer you stay inside." The woman said and left the room. If she wasn't sure before, she was sure as hell going to abort this baby now.

Ahmad was at the back gate in minutes. The back gate were he usually picks Layla up when they are sneaking out to parties at night. Layla slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and skillfully maneuvered her way out of the slider windows of her bedroom. There was a ladder waiting there, as always. She hastily climbed down and quietly out the gate without being seen. Ahmad's car was at a distance, almost in the bushes. Layla entered and Ahmad immediately started driving.

When Layla looked at Ahmad, she screamed. "What the hell happened to your face?" He was horribly disfigured. Both his eyes are almost swollen shut, his lips were bursted in so many places and there were cuts and dark purple bruises all over his face.

"I told you not to tell your stupid brother. You are going to pay for this" his threat sent a chill down her spine. Was he going to hit her? She was alone in a tinted car with him. He could very well kill her and dump her body and no one will know. She adjusted in her seat nervously, unable to say anything.

After almost an hour of driving, Layla finally asked "where are we going?" Ahmad ignored her completely. They got to the train station in Idu and Ahmad told her to stay in the car while he got the tickets to avoid being seen.

In another hour, they were on their way to kaduna. Ahmad sat five seats away from Layla. It stung, she could not believe Ahmad was treating her like a disease. She blinked her tears away and focused on the moving tracks outside the train window. In a few minutes, she fell into a troubled sleep.

Layla was nudged awake after what felt like twenty minutes. People were moving hurriedly out of the train. They had arrived kaduna. They drove another hour before they stopped at a dingy clinic. The paint on the walls had peeled off and were now almost non existent. The windows where wooden and a few were hanging on to their last hinges for dear life.

There were women, mostly elderly sitting outside the clinic doors. They look like they were ready to judge and Layla for the first time, was feeling insecure and afraid of judgement.

"Why did you choose this type of place? Couldn't we go to a place with a medical license at least?" Layla complained worriedly. Ahmad glared at her. "You want to risk being seen by your fathers colleagues and workers? Or the two million friends you have thanks to social media?" He said it slowly, with irritation. Like he was talking to a simpleton. Layla hated it.