As I illustrate my story {AIIMS} 3——-

 

Etim has eyebrows meant only for a lady. As if they weren’t full enough, they even had the right to be well-trimmed and properly shaped. I remember how they drew together whenever he was cross, the same way it must has drawn when or if he knew about Femi Fadayini, FF.
DS scoffed, pulling his hand off the car he suddenly discovered was dirty; he dusted his hand together and crossed them above his big chest, all the while, his face… blank.
“I stopped by at Etim’s place this afternoon on my way from the tailors’. Agaptus was cleaning the car, he told me Etim and Bundo were at the pool side, so I walked over to meet them.” He took an irritating pause, and then heaved.
“Etim was asking her what it was she intended saying to him. And sincerely Jola, I wanted to walk in on them, but I just thought to stay put.”
How could a grown man, a successful and daring dude like DS, be incapable of hitting the nail on the head? I dropped my bag on the dirty car and my glasses followed. I wish I could push my hands down DS’s throat and fish the words out. How could he sound so calm when I was in so much trepidation? I tried to get a grip, knowing I was dealing with the very astute DS.
“Luckily for me their backs were to me so I was able to stand and listen to them without being spotted.” His eyes pierced some more. “Then Bundo asked Etim if he was aware of the child you and Femi got rid of because of your parents.”
My mouth just won’t shut and my eyes were watery. DS just looked away.
“What? What child?” I mumbled. No reaction from him still. “Whose? What do you mean? Hold up, cos I’m confused here, DS. Did you say you heard Bundo telling Etim I …?”
Now his looks had gone from blank to interest, and then it occurred to me that he was actually waiting for an explanation from me.
Nothing.
“Is this a joke Deji. O de bami soro naw.”
“How can you even suggest this is a joke Jolaade?” He leaned back, resting on the giant poles supporting the church terrace.
Anyone looking at us from a distance will wonder why I was so tensed and jittery when the person talking to me couldn’t have been ruffled.
“I wouldn’t for the life of me joke with something so serious. Or how else could I have known who Femi was. And how his baby’s life was truncated?”
I almost gagged. There was fresh hate in Etim’s best friend’s eye. All the regards and humor he minutely shared with me was gone.
“I left immediately I heard enough and called you immediately.” He said finally.
Exactly how much was `enough’?
“Oh, so now you’ve made your conclusions, right?”
“Why not just tell me who this guy is and what transpired between you two, cos from the look of things, your ‘supposed’ husband-to-be is unstable.”
I was in shock.
“I spoke to him some minutes ago and he was so apprehensive. You want to hear what he said when I asked him about you? ‘Who knows?’”
“What did he mean by that?” In my confusion I asked.
The look he gave me spelt `are you a dunce?’
I began to cry and talk at the same time. it is so not cute to see this combination on me. DS helped me with my bag as he walked me to his car to sit. There I narrated all I knew.
“Bundo was the closest friend I grew up with. We go way back from our Bode Thomas days. She was clearly the elder sister I never had and naturally she became family to me. There were times when I was not around she would come over and my parents would let her in; and same for me with her parents. There was nothing I could hide from Bundo, and she was always willing to listen and proffer a solution.” In February 2002, I attempted to kill myself.” I burst into fresher tears.
DS reached for his box of tissues and offered me. His actions expressed sympathy, but his face? Hell no!
I sent Bundo a mail because I really did miss my time and I thought I was pregnant. She was the only one I could talk to. I hadn’t even told FF.”
“That’s the father of the child, right?” He rubbed it in.
“Yes.” At this time I sat facing DS to get his attention, yet he wasn’t moved.
Clearly I remembered the incident surrounding this whole fracas. Bundo was then in New Jersey while I was studying at UTA (University of Texas Arlington) we were just phone calls away from each other.
“Yes, I was dating Femi. The day I sent Bundo that mail was the same day I first met Semirah at UTA. I was crying there at the visitor’s parking lot at DuSable hall that afternoon. My fear didn’t let me think of her as a stranger before I opened up and explained my ordeal. After so many questions and persuasion she took me over to her room and ran a quick pregnancy test on me. I wasn’t pregnant! I went to my doctor for proper confirmation and he said my body system had adjusted to my other roommates since adaptation to a new body and environment also does affect our menstrual cycle.
“I remember how happy I was when it eventually came. I had taken Semirah out for lunch and it had been mad fun. We were two Naija girls who just discovered each other. She was my kind of person so it didn’t take too long before we became BFFs.
DS was wearing a brand new scoff. Everything about Semirah just irked him. “So?”
“Apparently Bundo didn’t see my mail, but she called me two days later and I told her what happened. She kept on repeating.
“Are you sure, that was all that happened, you know you can tell me anything.” but I didn’t suspect she thought I had actually had an abortion! Even before Femi and I broke up, I vowed to Bundo that I wouldn’t sleep with Femi again because of the fear I passed through. DS you have to believe me. I can’t explain how she concluded that I had an abortion.”
He looked a little, just a little bit sorry for me now, almost like I just finished a touching testimony.
“You have to understand me DS I swear to you, and on the love I have for Etim, I was NEVER pregnant with Femi’s child I’ve never been pregnant before. Never. I did tell Etim about Femi but I didn’t think going into details was necessary, moreover he didn’t want me talk about it”.
DS heaved again.
“This happened well over five years ago so why would she bring it up now?
DS remained quiet for a few seconds, shoved back his glasses on and looked away.
“Do not speak to anyone until I talk to Etim. Not one single soul, including Semirah.” Still crying, he pulled me closer, raised my chin with his left hand and looked me in the eye, as tears trickled down my eyes.
“Mojola…” He muttered but the words died on his lips,
He made an attempt to try again but it didn’t work and then he just advised me to calm down and pray. He saw me off to my car, and by the time he hugged me, I knew DS finally believed me.
If marriage was going to be about crying myself restless before the D-day, then it wasn’t looking like fun anymore. I got so restless by the time I got home and kept watching my phone waiting and wishing for a ring from Etim. If mum got wind of this one, she’ll breathe fire so I put on my best act of pretense. Dad was already beginning to feel funny about the last incident, of course mum eventually told him. I decided to call since he was calling. When he picked up the phone, all he asked was how my day was and what I was up to. He sounded so irritatingly calm. I declined his invitation to dinner and he even teased me about starving myself just so my gown will fit. There was no reason to bring up the issue, since his mood already soothed my nerves, but I reminded him of how much I loved him and when he made that deep chortle, I knew it meant “me too”.
DS told me not to bring it up since Etim hadn’t mention it, especially to him and that he in fact, sounded much better than before. I told daddy, begging him not to tell mum. He advised that I talked about it with Bundo and Etim. Bundo had to be first, I just knew it and so I invited her over to my place for lunch.
Amidst all DS said, I still didn’t believe Bundo said it, but when I asked her and she surprisingly flung her hair back and stared me straight in the face, I just broke down. From the corners of my left eye, the tears stained my cheeks. Her deception didn’t even hurt me as much as the carefree way she was reacting.

“Well… I just needed to know the truth and since you weren’t forthcoming, I had to ask Etim, especially since FF and I are now an item.” She popped some cashew nuts into her mouth, careful not to smear her lip gloss. I was shell-shocked.
“FF and you?” Can this get any worse?
“Well we’re dating now and each time I bring up the issue to discuss with Femi, he’d act like I just said the most abominable thing. If there’s ever a chance of my being happy with Femi, then I owe myself the duty of finding out the truth whichever way I was going to get it.
I tried to maintain some calm. “When did you and Femi start dating and why didn’t you tell me?”
She was silent. She just stared at me.
“You didn’t believe me and you felt the best person to ask was Etim? Bundo, are you thinking? Are you considering other people besides you?” I sat back in my chair when from her looks I knew she wasn’t going to walk out in anger or apologize. As I stared, deep in thought, into the quiet night, the only sound I heard was Bundo’s fingers scratching the saucer as she picked more nuts. I sighed.
Then I studied her as she took a long drink. “I have a family emergency to attend to and wouldn’t be returning before the first of September.”
I smiled, nodding my head. And then she walked away.

I didn’t need to look too far before getting a replacement for Bundo. There was Modele, my cousin who was, like I expected willing and excited to be part of the bridal train.
The last fitting was going to be a week to the wedding, we still had time. All that needed to be done was alter Bundo’s dress to fit Modele, which really was no big trouble.
I got a call at about a quarter past 5pm, just few seconds after I got off the phone with Modele. It was Etim’s mother.
“My dear, bawo ni? Jo mo fe ri e ni irole yi” Please I’d like to see you this evening. I replied her saying,
“No problem ma. shey everything wa okay?
“Just so all can be well and we can prevent the unseen is the reason I need to see you tonight.
“Okay ma, should I come over or do you want me to meet you somewhere?”
“Ose dear, you just meet me at Cactus in another hour’s time. Shebi o mo be, abi? O le mu cab, ti oo ba mona o. (You know the place, don’t you? Better still take a cab). However, if you choose to drive, please don’t speed but try and get here soon. That was my soon to be mother in-law, Mrs. Remilekun Ubon-Israel. Her name explains to you why she speaks fluent Yoruba.
Don’t speed, yet get here soon. What was the hurry? I wondered. I tried to figure out if I still remembered my way as I slid into the Third Mainland Bridge from Ogudu GRA to Ozumba Mbadiwe in one hour. It was a good thing traffic was light to the Island at that time, but I still had to call Etim for directions as I got to the traffic light. I gave myself a quick once-over and was convinced I looked good in tank and a pair of jeans. Etim wasn’t picking so I had to settle for Uncle Dapo who just about knew every single place in Lagos. My mother in-law sat in a corner of the restaurant. We hugged as I knelt down half way to greet her. She apologized for asking me to meet her on short notice and asked if I wanted anything to drink. I said yes. The panic of what I didn’t know was enough to strip me off moisture. I asked for a lemon drink and she sipped water she had already ordered. Some irrelevant questions later, she tapped my arm.
“I want you to follow me to Baba Buray’s place tomorrow, and you must not eat or drink anything at all, also you can’t tell anyone, not even my son. The moisture zapped off.
“Ma, who is Baba Buray?
“He’s the head of my family, our olori-ebi and he’s like a father to Etim, so it will be great for you to meet him before you get married.”
I don’t know why I suddenly started feeling funny but I agreed to meet her. Traffic was bad so I quickly excused myself, promising to see her tomorrow. I was almost getting off Ozumba Mbadiwe when my phone rang.
I plugged in my ear phones. “Hello?”
“Don’t go anywhere tomorrow, and if you must, do not take off your shoes or show your……”
“Hello?…. I can’t hear you. Who is this, hello?”
I called the number back only to realize …………….
AmOy