The chilling wind slid through Bassy's mind, the echoes of Akpan's angry words ringing in her ears non-stop. Having nowhere to go, she wandered through the empty streets, each step heavier than the last, bringing vivid memories of the moment Edu was rolling his waist on top of her in bed into her head. Tears streamed ceaselessly, filled with deep regret as to why she gave in to Edu's suggestions, realizing sex wasn't just for creating a bond but something deeper.
Wandering aimlessly through the silent streets, she wished for Edu to come and rescue her from the darkness surrounding her at the moment. The thought of Edu coming to refuge her reminded her of how kind Edu's mum had always been to her. She contemplated whether she should go and beg Oyo to house her for a while and later came to the conclusion since that was the only option at the moment.
Her mind raced with fear and uncertainty walking on the dark and lonely streets while heading to Edu's house. She hastened her pace to arrive quickly as everything she saw seemed like ghosts.
A dim light was spotted through the window as she entered Edu's compound, a sigh of relief washed over her upon seeing light after a long while of walking in darkness.
Tears blurred her vision as she knocked and knocked on the door gently, continuously without any response. She sat on the corridor to have a little rest before she continued knocking again. Due to exhaustion, the world around her gradually faded into darkness as her mind drifted away from the hardship and distress of the day. The whispers of the night lulled her into a peaceful sanctuary, enveloping her in the warmth of sleep's embrace as the moon cast its sparse glow upon her.
As the first break of dawn enveloped the horizon, Oyo prepared herself to start going to her farm as usual. As soon as she unbolted her door to step out, she was amidst puzzle and fright seeing someone lying at her corridor lifelessly. She quietly dropped the lamp in her hand to check who it was and what she was doing here.
Oyo was extremely bewildered, realizing it was Bassy.
"Bassy! Bassy!" She called out, shaking her body roughly out of fright.
"Don't be afraid, it's me," Oyo lowered her tone, looking into Bassy's eyes, confused as she jumped up terrified from her slumber. She was about to ask what she was doing here before realizing she was with a bag of clothes.
"What happened to you?" She asked puzzled.
Bassy choked for a moment as tears rolled down her eyes, regaining consciousness back to this unfair world. She wished she never woke up again; all she felt at the moment was to join her parents in the land of the dead, but unfortunately for her, that option seemed far from the solution.
"My Aunt threw me out of the house last night," was all she could say with a choking voice.
"Why? What happened?" Oyo became more confused. "What did you do to her, my child?" She placed her hand on Bassy's face with a kind gesture.
Bassy became speechless as she couldn't air it out that it's because she's pregnant for her son.
"It's okay, my child, we can talk about it later," Oyo noticed her sense of paralysis while trying to speak out and decided not to force it on her. She held her into the house together with her bag.
Oyo made food for Bassy and herself to eat that morning. She treated Bassy nicely before heading to her farm to harvest garden eggs and okro. Although she was wondering what could have happened between her and her Aunt that led to throwing her out, she felt good that Bassy considered her as an option and decided to come to her house.
When she was back from the farm, she came home to find Bassy sleeping deeply in Edu's room where she took her bags. She asked her to rest, then prepared herself and went to the market to sell her goods, deciding not to bother waking her up as she seemed really exhausted.
When Bassy woke up from her sleep, she couldn't shake the memory of Edu and her lying on that same bed off her head. She wished she could reverse time and ask Edu what if she gets pregnant. She felt really stupid for not realizing that having sex could lead to pregnancy, mostly unprotected sex.
Navigating through how she can say it out to Oyo that she's pregnant, she thought it would be a good idea to reach out to Edu on a mobile phone first and tell him about her predicament. But, on the other hand, Oyo hearing it from someone else first instead of her is the last thing she wants.
She decided to go to Zoe's house since it was nearby and tell her to help call Edu after deep thought of searching for solutions. Thank goodness Zoe's parents bought her a small phone on her last birthday; it was as if that phone was bought for her sake as she imagined what would have happened if Zoe didn't have a phone.
She promptly stood up and rushed to Zoe's house without any delay.
She could tell Zoe and her parents had just arrived from church as they were well-dressed. They lived in a cottage, with the kitchen and bathroom detached from the bedrooms and setting room.
"Good Afternoon, Ma, good afternoon, Sir," she greeted Zoe's parents with a bend of her knee as soon as she appeared at the door. The door was widely open for ventilation so there wasn't any need for knocking since Zoe's parents had already seen her walking down from the compound entrance.
"Good afternoon, Bassy, how are you?" Zoe's parents replied to her greetings with a warm smile.
"I'm fine, thank you. Please, is Zoe around?" she replied with a choked smile.
"Yes, she's in the kitchen preparing food. We are just coming back from church," Zoe's mum answered, directing her to the kitchen with her eyes.
Bassy's stomach rumbled upon hearing Zoe's mum say sorry, Bassy, I heard what happened to you yesterday in the market, as soon as she turned heading to the kitchen.
She stood startled for some seconds not knowing what to do or say, wondering what she had heard about her before whispering thank you, Ma.
"That's one of the biggest disadvantages of living in the countryside; if you cough, laugh, or fart, everyone will hear about it, mostly in a worse-case scenario like Bassy's that it cast in a public place, like the market. Well, I wasn't so surprised because I knew her gist was going to be everywhere, of course," she thought.
"Bassy!" Zoe greeted her with a warm hug, dragging her hands into the kitchen as soon as she saw her.
"Is it true?" Zoe looked at her sympathetically.
Bassy faced down shamefully, "Yes, please, can you help me call Edu? I seriously need to speak with him," she said, avoiding further questions.
"Okay, fine, let me get my phone from the room," Zoe promptly went inside to get her phone. Bassy called out to the number Edu had given to her before he left for the city to dial.
After dialing the number for over 12 times, someone finally picked up without saying a word.
"Hello, Edu, can you hear me?" Bassy said repeatedly, before hearing a response finally.
"Yes, how are you?"
The voice didn't sound like the Edu she used to know. She wanted to ask him if he's okay, but Zoe had already told her to talk because she doesn't have enough call credit and the call might end soon.
"I'm pregnant," she closed her eyes, airing the awful word she's trying to erase from her mind out. She didn't even stammer or dumbfound while saying it because it's too hard for her to believe herself.
"I see. For who?" the voice asked strictly, making a drip of tear drop from her eye due to how mean he sounded.
"For you," she said with a tearing tone, her voice barely audible.
"Now listen, young woman, you can't be pregnant for my son who left the village over three months ago. Go and look for who got you pregnant since you've been sleeping around with men. Never in your entire lifetime dream of calling this number again. Well, it's a good thing Edu is never coming to the village again," he yelled. Bassy was about to say, "Please, sir, can I at least talk to Edu for once?" when he hung up the phone on her.
Tears streamed down Bassy's eyes non-stop, realizing it was Edu's father she was talking to, not Edu. Zoe glanced at her sympathetically, not knowing what to say after overhearing everything Ali had said cause the phone was on speaker.