The moment Chief stepped into the house, the look on his face alone told Doris there was trouble. She knew someone had talked and that hell was about to let loose. She jumped up on her feet and reeled out a hasty welcome.
“Hey, don’t just honey me,” he snapped, a murderous look in his eyes. “So you mean to tell me you couldn’t keep an eye on just one girl, just one girl,” he asked, raising a finger for emphasis.
“Chief, please calm down,” she said as she stretched out her hand to relieve him of his portfolio, but he held back.
“Will you shut your dirty trap, idiot?” he snarled viciously. “Do you see what you have done? Gosh! I have always known you wanted to ruin me. I should have known it runs in the blood. Just imagine what people will say. This will completely nail me. To think I wanted to abort the fool,” he raged.
Doris recoiled as those malicious words stumbled out of his mouth. “I’m sorry, honey,” she apologized again.
Jessica, who was listening from the keyhole, heard all the venoms coming out of her father’s mouth and she died a little inside. So he never really wanted her? He’s as much as said it himself, she thought as she felt the bile rise a shade higher. She hated him the more.
“And where is the bastard?” he asked, racing upstairs. “Where is the fool? I’ll just kill her with my bare hands before she kills me.”
Jessica retreated further and further into the room as she heard his footfalls coming towards her room. Seconds later, she heard a big bang on the door, and it flung open violently. She jumped up in fright. For a minute, she thought he was going to kill her. She could not look at his face. It was distorted with rage and his eyes burned like hot embers. She could feel the hatred he has for her oozing out.
“You little slut, so you couldn’t keep your pants on, eh? So you couldn’t resist jumping from sheet to sheet. Well, that’s not bad but at least I thought with all the condoms and contraceptives available, that you will protect yourself. But no, you won’t do that because you want to ruin me. Gosh! I’ve always known you will end up like this. You are a big mistake, a regrettable one for that matter, do you hear me? And I sincerely regret not having aborted you. Just get your ass up, tomorrow you are removing that nonsense,” he said and turned to leave.
“I’m…I’m sorry, dad, I’m not aborting anything. I’m keeping the baby.”
“What was that?” He asked coming back into the room. “Did I hear you say something, you little, cheap blackmailer?”
“I said I’m not having any abortion,” she repeated.
“Very well then, I’ll teach you how not to play the game.” With that, he descended on her and beat the living day lights out of her.
The next day, her mother had come into her room after her father had gone to work and applied hot water and balm on her bruises.
“I’m sorry angel, but don’t you think you should change your mind? I mean, there’s just no point in keeping the baby. It’s just not necessary. Please, listen to me, I’m your mother.”
“No, mum, I’m keeping it. It’s already too late. You should have told me the right thing to do earlier.”
“But angel, are you blaming me? Of course, you are not serious. I gave you all the information you needed. Besides, there was condom and other birth control pills at your beck and call.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Well, maybe you did but a hell of information it was; a disease containment, immoral and misguided information. Well, it was safe sex and here I am.”
“I’m sorry baby, but you’ve got to listen to me. Think of what the scandal will do to your Dad’s reputation.”
“I don’t care, mum, I don’t care.”
Her mother, who is eager to be the first lady, watched helplessly as her dreams threatened to evaporate into the thin air. But she didn’t want to give her only daughter the impression that she sincerely didn’t care about her. She closed her eyes as she felt like crying. There and then she realized she failed as a mother. “Please, Jessica, reconsider your choice, please,” she begged.
“There’s no point, mum. My mind is made up. I’m keeping the baby. I’ve made my mistake and I’m not making another one.”
“Please Jessica. Even doctors say it’s extremely difficult for teenagers to survive childbirth.”
“They should have known it is equally dangerous for teenagers to have sex,” she retorted.
Her mother bit her lip in frustration.
Jessica could see the look of desperation that she saw in the principal’s eyes some days ago and in her father’s eyes yesterday in her mother’s eyes too. She wondered why they were so desperate that she aborts the baby.
After trying unsuccessfully to make her change her mind, she gave up in frustration.
When Senator Nnamani came back in the evening the next day and discovered she refused to go for the operation with her mother, he was livid with rage. Immediately, he stormed into her room and as usual, after pummeling her with hot, wicked words and had beaten her blue black. For two days, he locked her up in her room without food or water. He had meant to starve her and her little bastard to death.
On the second day of her incarceration, her mother could not take it anymore. So as soon as Chief left for the office, she retrieved the spare key and brought her out. She nursed her wounds and gave her something to eat. As a mother, she was naturally worried and being an abortion victim herself, she was really bothered about her fears. She knew the emotional, psychological and physical trauma of abortion but her obsession and romance with being the first lady put a cold damper on her maternal instincts.
“Please, honey, just do it and everything will be okay again.”
“No mum, it wouldn’t. It will only get worse or get differently. Here you are now making out abortion is safe. You are thinking what is necessary to justify abortion because you want to conceal the evidence, but don’t you see how justification of abortion will lead to a whole lot of other problems. The right to life of every individual should supersede every other right, interest or reason.”
While they were still talking, Chief came back unexpectedly and ordered them into the car and straight he took them to one of the family planning clinics in town. As soon as he parked the car, he got out hurriedly and made straight for the consulting room with her mother and herself trailing behind reluctantly. Her dad was so anxious and in a hurry to get it over soon that he didn’t even bother to see if she was coming with them.
Jessica looked around the hospital anxiously as the realization of what they were going to do to her dawned on her, and she began to panic. She hesitated as she thought of the next step to take. She felt trapped and wanted to run away, but she hasn’t the vaguest idea of where to run to. As she took more hesitant steps after her parents, she realized they were going to force her to have an abortion. Without thinking, she turned and broke into a run.
“Stop her, stop her,” Chief shouted as he ran after her. “Don’t let her get away,” he was panic stricken.
Jessica continued to run. Her young feet darting along the narrow path to the hospital gate effortlessly, occasionally looking back to measure the distance between them.
“Catch her,” Chief shouted breathlessly. “Don’t let her get away.”
Jessica kept on running; she was running as fast as her feet could carry.
A couple of folks, obviously being entertained, watched with fascination.
“Catch her,” Chief shouted breathlessly.
Jessica, hell-bent on getting away, looked back instinctively. She could see her parents running after her and shouting. ‘Catch her, catch her’ and on turning, she collided with a middle aged man, knocking down his files and sending them flying in all direction. She stopped momentarily. “I’m so…so sorry, sir,” she stammers breathlessly, stooping to pick the papers up.
“It’s alright,” the good natured, middle aged man said. “Don’t bother yourself,”
The man was understanding and a complete gentleman, she thought. She had expected him to burst into anger and call her all manner of names. But he didn’t do any of those things. Then she looked up and saw her parents covering the distance between them and she panicked, hesitating, she left the man and his papers and took to her heels. “I’m sorry, sir.”
When Chief found out he had lost the race, he was furious and transferred his aggression to his wife.
“I asked you to keep an eye on her, didn’t I?”
“Haba Chief, but it’s not my fault.”
“Whose fault is it then, mine?
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for yourself, just go and get her and don’t come back home without her,” he barked, and with giant strides, he headed back to his car and drove off on a screech of tires, leaving his wife behind. The dust he left behind equating the confusion in his mind. He was so mad with himself and could hardly get a grip on himself.
“If I lay my hands on …on her, if I can only lay…,” he muttered to himself, “I swear, I’ll kill her.”
Meanwhile, Jessica kept running. She wanted to get as far away as possible from her parents. She just wanted to disappear into the thin air. She did not mind where she was running to as she ran from one street to another in her mad quest to get away. After making sure no one was coming after her, she found a quiet corner in an ever busy street and contemplated her grim future reflectively.
‘Where will I go from here?’ she asked herself again and again. ‘What does tomorrow have in store for me? What will I eat?’ She was so grief stricken, tired and hungry that she broke down and wept bitterly. She wished she could find somebody that can help her. She was still bemoaning her condition when she dozed off.
A few minutes later, she woke up and was startled to find herself in a strange, unfamiliar place. Then she started to remember. Reluctantly, she stood up and started wandering the streets aimlessly. She was jumpy and searched every face that came close to her. Everyone was now a perceived enemy and she didn’t trust anyone as she felt she could be arrested any minute. As she roamed aimlessly along Nnamdi Azikiwe Avenue, she contemplated her dismal future realistically. She tried to see where she went wrong but she couldn’t put her fingers to the pulse. She could remember how her parents used to encourage her to sleep with the crowd with condom and how her teachers used to show them pictures of naked men and women making love and how they used to encourage them to go ahead and do it so long as it was protected and consensual and she sighed at the injustice and moral confusion. She wondered why the same institutions that okayed safe sex and made it seem as if sex was for all and having and a must- have- social symbol were now exploiting and abusing her instead of commiserating with her because the safe sex failed.
Then an idea occurred to her; why not sue them? Yes, sue the bastards; sue them for deceptive business practices and breach of the Freedom of Information Request Act. As the idea occurred to her, she felt a beat of pure bliss enveloping her. She felt alive again. The quest for vindication and justice was so strong that she felt like living again.
“Sue the bastards!” she cried as she punched the air in ecstasy. For once in over a week, she felt truly at ease and happy with herself. A car passing by hooted noisily, jarring her. For hours, she roamed the streets until she saw one. Following the direction on the sign post, she climbed the two story building to the chambers.
“Good afternoon, Ma,” she greeted the heavily painted lady sitting behind the receptionist’s desk. “Please, Ma, is…is this Greenland Chambers?”
“Good afternoon, yes it is. What can we do for you?”
“Em…em … I …I …want to sue somebody,” she stammered. “I need a solicitor.”
The receptionist was about to say something when the door of the inner office opened and a young man in his early 30s, dressed in a lawyer’s garb came out.
“Please keep this file for Engineer Bolaji Ayo. He’ll be coming to pick it up any moment from now. Tell him it’s the Hillcrest’s file. I was supposed to wait up for him but I can’t wait. I have an urgent meeting to attend now,” he said hurriedly, handing the files over to her and turned to go.
The receptionist stopped him. “Excuse me, sir, but…but this young lady here wants to see you.”
He stopped and turned towards Jessica, seemingly noticing her for the first time. “Yes, young woman, you said you wanted to see me? What is it? Do, I have no time to waste.”
“Good afternoon, sir. Em…em…I want to sue the Ministry of Health. I want to sue the Ministry of Education, I want to sue…”
“Hold it,” the barrister stopped her, looking at her disdainfully as he sized her up. “You want to sue the Ministry of Health?” he asked mockingly, letting out a short laughter. “My dear girl, this is not where you practice your harlotry. This is a law firm. Please, find somewhere else.” And with that, he was gone.
Jessica was undeterred in her quest as she went from one chamber to another and as usual, she met cold reception again and again. Meanwhile, the night was fast approaching and she began to wonder where she would spend the night. Then she remembered Aunty Grace but she changed her mind. She didn’t want to go close to any place her dad will suspect. She wandered around for a while, taking the back streets and walking under the shadows, she casts doubtful, furtive glances at faces around her, expecting to be caught any minute. Desperately, she tried to control the impulse not to break into a run or to stare hard at people.
As she wandered from street to street, wondering where to spend the night, she came to Ijora Motor Park. As usual, it was a beehive of activities. There were hundreds of cars and buses and a thousand and one people milling around. Some were traveling or had come to see their friends and relatives off while others simply loitered around. There were hawkers everywhere too, hawking from ordinary sachet water to virtually everything. There were also hundreds of luxury buses loading to every known destination in the country. Their big engines were running, making one hell of a noise. Occasionally too, they will blare their horns. She checked her time; it was a little after 8:00 pm. She felt confident under the cover of darkness and in the teeming crowd. Her dad definitely wouldn’t think of looking for her there.
Motor park touts, mistaking her for a traveler, went after her with voracious ferocity.
“Come and join our bus,” said one. “You’ll be in Konga by 5:00 am.”
“Don’t mind him,” said yet another. “All their buses na jaga jaga. Come join better bus.”
One was quite arrogant or was it impudent? He emerged from nowhere and without saying anything to her, grabbed her hand against protests and dragged her forcefully to their loading bay. “Give her a ticket,” he commanded the ticket master.
“Where you dey go, sister?” the ticket master asked her.
“Leave me alone, I’m not going anywhere. Don’t you hear me,” she cried, pulling away from him.
“Oh! So na man you come find, abi?” the boy sneered. “Too early, baby. Come back later.”
“Shuo!” another shouted. “O boy this one correct jo. Omo school ni.”
“Theo, leave omo school alone, na time for work. Go find passenger.”
“You’re right, Tom, after work.”
For a while, she wandered aimlessly around the motor park and at a little after 10:00 pm, she realized she was hungry and she remembered the crumpled 1,000 naira note she found in her pocket. She walked over to the woman selling mama put and ordered white rice and fried plantain. But she could not eat the food because it was cold and badly prepared. However, she managed to eat some of the half burnt plantain. Around midnight, disguising as a stranded traveler, she found a space to squeeze in.