Her Mistake

∆ FORTY THREE ∆

Dedicated to dammmmmmmy

I watched carefully as Seun mixed the ingredients. At every ingredient she added into the cup, chills went up my spin. I cringed in disgust at the color and smell of the mixture. The brownish color reminded me of the herbs the hoodlums in my vicinity took in little transparent nylons.

"What's that you're adding?" Anna asked, her eyes on the powered substance Seun was pouring in the bottle.

Seun closed the bottle and shook it vehemently. "Potash."

Simultaneously, we all gasped. What wasn't in that mixture? I was starting to have mixed feelings about it but I shook it off. I watched as Seun shook the bottle vehemently while Anna packed the ingredients into the black nylon.

"Don't do it." Zara's eyes were pleading. She took my hand then said again, "don't do it."

"I don't have a choice! It's either I have this baby and let my life get ruined or I get rid of it."

"Think about it, Tobi."

She was talking like I was doing something wrong when in actual fact the baby inside of me was the wrong thing and luckily I had found a remedy. I needed to do something about it fast, I was already having a bump,  unnoticeable but it was growing nonetheless.

I needed the baby out of me, it wasn't welcomed inside of me. It caused pain whenever I remembered an alien was inside me, an invader I had to get out by any means necessary. The pregnancy was a scourge for me, causing constant pain.

When Mr Audu, our biology teacher called me to his office yesterday, I hated the baby more. My academics were failing and it was due to the invader inside of me. Who could concentrate on anything when you were faced with a quandary such as mine?

"There is nothing to think about." I told her; she nodded.

"Drink everything." I collected the bottle from Seun and opened it immediately the smell of the concoction made me gag and move it far away from my face.

"It smells horrible." I told her, cringing in disgust. I couldn't decide which smelled worse: the old toilet or the mixture. Nonetheless, I chugged down the content of the bottle. The taste was  bitter. Horrible.

Nothing happened after I took the  mixture. It was like I had taken a drug without side effects. I was expecting blood as I had seen a couple of times in movies but nothing happened.

"Are you sure there's no pain?" Zara asked with so much concern. I shook my head in the negative.

Seun crossed her arms,"I told you girls it wouldn't hurt but you all think I was lying. Besides, give it time. In a few hours, the baby will leave."

"We just have to be extra careful." Zara shrugged. "It's lunch time, let's go to the cafeteria." We all nodded agreeing to  Zara's suggestion.

We made our way to the cafeteria and bought our food and snacks. Seun joined her friends in their table, Zara went to another table while Anna and I sat on the same bench.

"You're feeling alright? No pain, no blood?" Anna asked, throwing chinchin into her mouth.

I pushed my food aside and sighed, "nothing. I need it out of me before it's too late."

"Maybe you should just accept your fate. It has happened let's just look for a way forward."

I hissed, getting pissed at the nonsense she was uttering. It wasn't her fault anyway, she wasn't  in my shoes. "See, just shut up if you have nothing to say."