VALLEY:The Trials Of A Girl Orphan

CHAPTER 9

“She’ll be fine ma.” I heard someone say. I tried opening my eyes. My head
ached so much. I was very weak. I could hear two people communicating. I
wanted to open my eyes but I was very tired to. I finally succeeded in opening
them. I discovered I was in the hospital. I saw the doctor standing beside me and
talking to an old woman of about 70 years old.
“Oh, hi. How are you feeling now?” The doctor asked smiling broadly.
“I am so weak, sir” I said.
“Just calm down. You will feel extremely better soon” The doctor said and left.
The old woman was going out early that morning and had seen me lying
lifelessly in the bush. The louts had dumped me in the bush when they discovered
that I had fainted. She had rushed me to the hospital when she saw that my body
was still warm. I stayed in the hospital for 5 days. Iya Agba, as I used to call her,
used to bring me food every day. We got along pretty well. We used to talk for so
long. After hearing my story, she decided to allow me stay in her one- room
rented apartment with her. She paid my hospital bills with a loan she obtained.
We lived at Mokola area together. My whole life was getting tiring to me. The
rape incident caused me to always feel sorry for myself. Iya Agba was always
there to comfort me.
*******
Mrs Sola Owolabi (Iya Agba) was a very dutiful woman. We used to make beans
cake to sell together. Her story was a very pitiable one. She was very lucky to get
married at 24. As she explained to me, she and her husband love each other very
much. They had known each other for 6 years before finally tying the knot. They
were extremely find of each other. They were very happy together. Her husband,
Mr. Babatunde Owolabi was a very reputable man. He was a rich business man.
He was very caring and loving. However, any marriage without children was
always sweet- sore one.After 3 years of waiting, her in- laws started their problem. They complained.
Her marriage began to be sour. Despite all these, her husband still reminded
every day that he loved her and al he wanted was her happiness and not children.
They went to different hospitals but they kept telling them everything was fine
they just needed to be patient.
Alas! Her husband died 20 years after their marriage. He died in a plane crash
on his way to a business meeting in Toronto, Canada. Her whole world came
crumbling down. Her in-laws sent her away from the house. She shared a bank
account with her husband so she was not able to get her savings. His family
already restricted her access to the account. She was a full house wife. There was
really no source of income for her. She started menial jobs and she finally settled
to frying beans cake for sale.
I was bad luck! I am sure of it. How would I explain that Iya Agba died two
months after my arrival? I had gotten up early that morning and went to grind the
beans for Iya Agba to cook. I got back about 20 minutes later and still found her
sleeping. I discovered that she was not breathing. It was a very great loss for me.
It was back to the street. I couldn’t afford the house rent. I was so devasted but
there was nothing I could do.
********
“Keyshia! Keyshia!” I heard as someone tapped me. It was Aunty Kemisola.
“Good morning Aunty” I said as I stood up and picked my mat up.
“How are you, dear? How was your night? Hope the mosquitoes didn’t disturb
you too much?” She asked smiling as she cleaned the white plastic chair in the
shop. I helped her carry the chair out.
“No, ma. They were a little nicer throughout the night”
Aunty Kemisola was an amazing young lady. She was about 27 years old. She
was of average height. She was very pretty. I met her few days after living Iya
Agba’s house. I had gotten to her shop that day and pleaded for just a meal. She
brought me in and gave me food. I finally pleaded with her to allow me sleep over
at her shop every night. She was initially scared of thieves and the likes. Shecouldn’t accommodate me in her house as she didn’t leave alone. She stayed with
her friends and she didn’t have much influence as one of her friends was the
owner of the house. I would have been happy if thieves could invade the shop. At
least I would have pleaded with them to kill me. I was already tired of the kind of
life I was living. Aunty Kemisola eventually agreed to allow me stay. I helped her
with one or two things in the shop and she used to feed me. She was a
hairdresser.
Something shocking happened later on. I was sweeping the shop. Aunty
Kemisola was arranging something inside. Suddenly, I felt dizzy. That was the last
thing I remembered, I just felt someone sprinkling water on my face and I woke
up. Aunty Camisole helped me to the chair.
“Keyshia, are you sure you are fine? This is the third time this week. Don’t you
think we need to go to the hospital?”
“No, aunty. I don’t think it is anything serious. I will be fine.”
“Keyshia, we can’t continue to say that. Tomorrow morning, we will go to the
hospital together. We need to get to the root of this.”
The big clock on the wall kept ticking. It struck 12 noon. The antiseptic smell of
the room made me feel like vomiting. The wailing of a little child filled the
corridor. Poor kid. He was probably in so much pain. Aunty Kemisola was seated
beside me in the doctor’s room.
“Good afternoon” The doctor said as he came in and sat in front of us.
“Good afternoon” Aunty Kemisola and I said in unison.
The doctor gave me the test result. I didn’t really understand what was written in
it.
“Sir, I don’t understand what is written in here.”
“Ok, miss. The test result shows that you are ten weeks pregnant.”
Ha! Pregnant! I couldn’t believe it. I could barely fend for myself not to talk of a
baby. Tears flowed down my cheeks. I couldn’t decide what to do. Abortion? Yes.
I couldn’t think of anything better.“Sir, s…i…r, can I get an abortion?” I asked stuttering.
“Abortion? Keyshia? What are you saying?” Aunty Kemisola said.
“Aunty, please, I can’t think of anything now. I can’t keep this baby. I can’t.” I said.
“This is why premarital sex is not right. You can’t keep the baby? Why did you get
involved in anything that would lead to pregnancy? This should be a lesson to
other girls around.” The doctor said.
I stood up. All the pain and sorrow in me had turned to anger. I couldn’t hold back
the tears as I talked angrily to the doctor.
“You have no right to question my values. Don’t judge me without knowing the
truth. Do you think all young girls that get pregnant are happy with it? Do you
think it’s all their fault? Some of us are just victims of circumstances. What could I
have done? There were two of them. I was raped. I tried to avoid being molested
by my boss but I got into more trouble. I was raped by two thugs. I am not happy
with my life but what do you expect me to do? I don’t even understand how I fell
from grace to earth. You shouldn’t just accuse people like that. I am just almost
20 but I have been a victim of many things I never wanted. What should I do?” I
said with tears and stormed out of the room.