CHRONICLES OF THE HELPS: PART 9

Amina lay face down on the bed, feeling as if a truck ran over her. Her temperature shifted between hot and cold every thirty seconds. Her tummy hasn’t been able to hold down any food, be it solid or liquid, for three days straight. What’s wrong with her? She missed Deji. She hasn’t seen him in days. And Lianate has been watching her like a hawk. Due to her malady. There was no way she would be able to sneak out and see him. Even if she succeeded, she could barely walk ten steps without feeling like sitting down. Her total body system felt alien to her. She wished everything could go back to normal.  
 
“Oh…” she said out loud.
 
“How are you feeling now?”
 
She heard Lianate’s voice. She thought the woman left the room hours ago. She didn’t even notice her return.  
 
“I don’t feel good.”
 
Lianate sat on the bed. “I have a meeting this evening with some clients. My husband will take you to the hospital… hopefully, this isn’t something serious.”
 
The girl turned on her side. She liked the way the woman’s brown trouser suit hugged her body. She looked pretty and smart, like one of the female CEOs she had seen in a Korean TV show.
 
“I will take Adanne along, while the twins will stay with our next door neighbour.”
 
“Okay…”
 
“You will be fine. This is probably malaria fever.”
 
Amina watched her leave the room. Her tired gaze drifted to the wall clock hanging above the cabinet. It was a quarter past two. She wondered what Deji was doing at that very moment. Since the day he completed his service year, he had been job hunting. He didn’t fancy teaching jobs. His eyes were glued to offers from financial institutions and the likes.
 
“Can you get up?”
 
Ike’s voice brought her out of her reverie. He stood by the doorway, watching her with a worried look.
 
“I think so…”
 
She mustered all the strength she possessed and pulled her weight up.
 
“Let me help…” before he could finish the sentence, the girl slipped while trying to alight from the bed. “Amina!”
 
xxxxxx
 
When Amina opened her eyes, she discovered that she was in a strange room. Her initial panic weaned when she saw Ike a few feet away, talking to a woman in a white coat.  
 
“She is awake,” Ike met her gaze.
 
“That’s good. You can take her home whenever you are ready.”
 
“Thank you doctor.”
 
The woman grinned and walked out.
 
Amina wondered how she got to the hospital. The last thing she remembered was falling from her bed.
 
“You do not have malaria or typhoid or any other sickness,” Ike came to sit by her side. “Thankfully, you are not sick at all.”
 
The girl blinked in confusion. If she wasn’t ill, then why was she feeling as if her body system was rioting against her very soul?
 
“Amina, you are eight weeks and a couple of days pregnant.”
 
She stared back at him, wide-eyed, shocked to her marrows. She was pregnant! Eight weeks? Her thoughts drifted to the day she shared a kiss with Deji. Things had definitely gone out of hand that evening. He apologized and apologized for one week straight. She wasn’t too happy either because she had always dreamt of getting married as a virgin. They both prayed and asked God to forgive them. Promising him that it would never happen again. Now, she was pregnant!
 
“Amina?”
 
“Sir,” she could barely meet his sad gaze.
 
“Whose is it?”
 
She swallowed hard. “Deji.” She heard him hiss loudly.  
 
“Let’s go home.”
 
xxxxxx
 
Her heart began to hammer against her chest like a locomotive engine when Ike parked outside the WIlliams’ home.  
 
“Get down…”
 
Amina obeyed without saying a word. She followed him into the large compound, prayering a storm.
 
She saw Mr. Kola Williams and his wife, Bisi, sitting at the front porch of the house. Her frightened eyes searched for Deji, but he wasn’t sitting with them. He was probably indoor, or absent.
 
“Ike…” Kola got up to greet his friend.
 
“How is it going my brother?” Ike shook hands with the man.
 
“We are pushing it.”
 
“Are we? And you are adding weight per second?”
 
Kola started to laugh.
 
“Evening madam,” Ike smiled at Bisi.
 
“Evening, Mr. Briggs. How is our wife and the children?” She smiled back at him, then glanced at Amina who was standing several feet away.
 
“She is good, the children are well, we thank God.”
 
“Good evening ma, good evening sir,” Amina murmured.
 
Bisi raised an eyebrow. “Evening,” wondering why the girl looked troubled.
 
“How are you, Amina?” Kola settled back on the sofa beside his wife.
 
“Fine sir.”
 
Ike sat on the chair next to the sofa. “We need to discuss a very important issue and it involves Deji and Amina.”
 
Kola and Bisi exchanged glances.
 
“What is this about?” Kola looked at Amina, then back at his friend.
 
Ike breathed out loud. “Amina is pregnant. And she says Deji is responsible.”
 
Kola frowned. “Is she sure?”
 
Bisi clapped her hands and started to shake her head.
 
“Deji is the only man I have seen with Amina. The girl is a hundred percent sure.”
 
Kola met his wife’s angry stare. “You know these youths of nowadays. You can never tell…”
 
Ike cleared his throat. “Let’s not over flog this issue. Please, let us speak with Deji.”
 
“Are sure that Deji is the only person you have been with?” Bisi eyed the girl. “Hope you are not trying to pin a bastard on the poor boy?”
 
Amina shook her head, hardly able to find her voice.
 
Kola glared at the girl. “I will not tolerate that kind of behaviour. Thank God for DNA tests and other scientific procedures. If you are lying, we will find out.”
 
“I am not lying,” the girl whispered.
 
“She is not lying…”
 
Everyone turned at the sound of Deji’s voice.
 
“I didn’t mean to, but I am the one who took away her virginity. And it doesn’t matter if she is pregnant or not. I have already decided to marry her.”
 
Amina trembled with relief. She was glad that the one who stole her heart didn’t deny her or their unborn child.
 
“What?!” Kola got up immediately. He could hardly believe that his well brought up younger brother had put someone’s child in the family way.
 
Deji walked up to the girl he had grown to love and held her close. “I have already informed dad and mum. They can’t wait to meet Amina, their future daughter in law.”
 
Ike started to laugh. He was happy the issues he anticipated had been resolved.
 
Kola and Bisi stared at the young man as if he had lost his marbles.