The Wife I Never Married

Episode 35

Those are not feasible anymore.

A sixteen year old girl who is pregnant for her own uncle? What good can come out of such a girl ever again? She has lost her dignity, her self-esteem, her self-worth, and also her academic pursuit.

“Tell the members of the class that I’m so sorry for disappointing them.” Laibe cries on Helen’s shoulders while hugging her.

Helen was crying bitterly too. In fact, the latter’s tears superseded that of Laibe. Helen’s driver brought her to the hospital on the demand of her mother. The older woman has been telling Helen about an interesting patient of hers she should meet. So it’s more like she’s been looking forward to this day; the day she would finally come to her mother’s office – where she visits once in a blue moon. Her parents practically forbids her from leaving the house, let alone coming to any of their work places, not as though they are always around to start with. She was so eager to see this girl her mother told her so much about, also that the girl was eager to see her too. She didn’t believe her eyes on getting to the office to see her father and the young man that frightened them with car about two months ago. They were actually both stunned, herself and Omachoko that is, so much so that they held each other’s gaze absentmindedly for many minutes. It was her father’s attempt at introduction that interrupted the stare. One thought came to her mind, and that’s to call Laibe’s aunty that she had seen the guy again.

The guy seemed dangerous, at least, her friend’s life seemed to have turned in disarray since they saw this guy. It’s even safer that he appears to be working with her father – that way they can pin him down if he attempted escaping. All these were carefully undergoing synchronous calculations in her head till she got to the ward room to see that the girl she has heard so much about was Laibe.

“Laibe!” she had screamed and her mother quickly pulled her by the arm and out of the room.

“Do you know her?” Her mother had asked curiously, sounding like she was whispering. Well, it’s an intensive care unit.

She explained everything to her mother, and they all waited for Laibe to wake up. Laibe didn’t look happy waking at all.

It was truly a suicide attempt.

“I’ll miss you, Helen.”

Helen wiped at a tear dropping down her soft skin.

“Laibe, stop talking like you are going to die.”

Laibe chuckled in spite of herself,

“Am I not dead already, Helen? Everything has been taken away from me. What more should I live for?” The questions came out so deep that Helen’s heart broke while hearing it.

“Sometimes we feel like just dying and letting the pain all go away, but then we need to stay alive… that’s because we have to see how the story ends.”Pg 13 The familiar voice came through the door.

[b] “’Choko?” Laibe exclaimed tiredly, and as though his name carried onions, more tears gushed down her face.

Everyone had left Laibe and Helen alone, and have been waiting back at Halima’s office for them. Oga Jude left a while ago though, after he got a call. So Omachoko has been in that office with the two women, Halima and pastor Lydia. It was Halima that asked him to go check the girls as they appeared to be taking so much time. The poor psychotherapist was afraid of another attempted murder.

“Laibe, I need you to be strong now.”
He quickly wiped a teardrop off his own face.
Grabbing Laibe’s feeble body, he bent over to hug her. He has never seen his beautiful girl breakdown in tears this way before, except when her mother died.

Even the tears then wasn’t as deep, as painful and as sorrowful as this. This felt like a dagger was passed through her chest and she was screaming at every painful drill.

Helen held the handkerchief firmly to her nose as she stood somewhere there watching the duo cry in each other’s arms. It is true now that this fellow loves her friend, and he wasn’t a sign of danger as she had thought him to be. Something to be grateful for today.

Laibe quickly jerked off the hug. Omachoko would have fallen backwards if he wasn’t much bigger and heftier than her.

“Helen, please call your mum and mummy Lydia.” She signalled to Helen, avoiding Omachoko’s eyes as much as possible. She was sure he couldn’t wait to decipher what she was up to and why she was sending for those women.

In a flash, the door opened and Helen led the two beautiful women into the room. Laibe is just noticing the resemblance between Helen and her mother, Halima. Whatever made her not notice earlier, though?

Pastor Lydia came to sit down, while Halima hurried over to her.

“Are you OK, baby?” Her voice was shaky.

“I am.” Laibe manages a fake smile.

Laibe sat still for a long time. It felt gloomy in there. Everywhere was extremely quiet and heartbeats from everyone in the room came out loudly, like the characteristic traditional drums from the ogani festival. Those, and the whir of the fan above them produced the little sound heard in the deafening silent room.

“Lee, why did you ask I call them then?” Helen couldn’t hide her apprehension anymore.

Laibe carried pain struck eyes from one person in the room to another. She did it so slow that fifteen rounds of cardiac cycle would be completed by the time she was able to move her eyes to another person.

Haven done that, she took in a very deep breath.

“I… I…” she stammered.

If the eyes pointing at her carried guns, she would have been shut dead, over and over again, by now with their stares.

“I want Omachoko to… I want to … I mean, I…want to go back to Ofabo.”

“Ofabo?” everyone screamed as she let out the bombshell.

They screamed it, at the same time, as though planned.

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“Please have your seat, ma.”

Udale moved her curious eyes from the doctor that just spoke to the seat offered her. She stared so intensely at the seat, as if she was trying to gauge its capacity to carry her with her eyes, before finally bringing herself to sitting on it. She sat up, with her hands resting on the desk in front of her. She is as much afraid as she is scared… well, there may not be any difference between these two words but to her right now, the news should be at least better than worst.