Dedicated to dammmmmmmy

I watched carefully as Seun mixed the ingredients. At every ingredient she added into the cup, chills went up my spin. I cringed in disgust at the color and smell of the mixture. The brownish color reminded me of the herbs the hoodlums in my vicinity took in little transparent nylons.

"What's that you're adding?" Anna asked, her eyes on the powered substance Seun was pouring in the bottle.

Seun closed the bottle and shook it vehemently. "Potash."

Simultaneously, we all gasped. What wasn't in that mixture? I was starting to have mixed feelings about it but I shook it off. I watched as Seun shook the bottle vehemently while Anna packed the ingredients into the black nylon.

"Don't do it." Zara's eyes were pleading. She took my hand then said again, "don't do it."

"I don't have a choice! It's either I have this baby and let my life get ruined or I get rid of it."

"Think about it, Tobi."

She was talking like I was doing something wrong when in actual fact the baby inside of me was the wrong thing and luckily I had found a remedy. I needed to do something about it fast, I was already having a bump,  unnoticeable but it was growing nonetheless.

I needed the baby out of me, it wasn't welcomed inside of me. It caused pain whenever I remembered an alien was inside me, an invader I had to get out by any means necessary. The pregnancy was a scourge for me, causing constant pain.

When Mr Audu, our biology teacher called me to his office yesterday, I hated the baby more. My academics were failing and it was due to the invader inside of me. Who could concentrate on anything when you were faced with a quandary such as mine?

"There is nothing to think about." I told her; she nodded.

"Drink everything." I collected the bottle from Seun and opened it immediately the smell of the concoction made me gag and move it far away from my face.

"It smells horrible." I told her, cringing in disgust. I couldn't decide which smelled worse: the old toilet or the mixture. Nonetheless, I chugged down the content of the bottle. The taste was  bitter. Horrible.

Nothing happened after I took the  mixture. It was like I had taken a drug without side effects. I was expecting blood as I had seen a couple of times in movies but nothing happened.

"Are you sure there's no pain?" Zara asked with so much concern. I shook my head in the negative.

Seun crossed her arms,"I told you girls it wouldn't hurt but you all think I was lying. Besides, give it time. In a few hours, the baby will leave."

"We just have to be extra careful." Zara shrugged. "It's lunch time, let's go to the cafeteria." We all nodded agreeing to  Zara's suggestion.

We made our way to the cafeteria and bought our food and snacks. Seun joined her friends in their table, Zara went to another table while Anna and I sat on the same bench.

"You're feeling alright? No pain, no blood?" Anna asked, throwing chinchin into her mouth.

I pushed my food aside and sighed, "nothing. I need it out of me before it's too late."

"Maybe you should just accept your fate. It has happened let's just look for a way forward."

I hissed, getting pissed at the nonsense she was uttering. It wasn't her fault anyway, she wasn't  in my shoes. "See, just shut up if you have nothing to say."

She went mute and carried on eating her snacks. The cafeteria was beyond noisy and the chattering and bad eating manners I saw most people doing irked me.

Using her head to give a sign by bopping it, Anna whispered; "turn around." I frowned and did as instructed. There he was, the person responsible for my present predicament. Daniel was with his group giggling. What particularly was of interest to me was  his arm around a girl in SS2, I couldn't remember her name, it was either Tife or Tiffany. We had interacted a few times and she was nice but seeing Daniel's arms wrapped around her stealthily made me brew hatred towards her.

I made eye contact with Wale. Seeing me, the grin he had on wiped off immediately. He nudged Daniel who looked at him and then with his eyes he looked at me with contempt. Like it was my fault I got pregnant. He hissed then whispered something into the ears of the girl in his arms, she giggled then he flashed a smirk, one of mockery at me.

My forehead very winkled, I whipped my head back to it's position and brought my food back to me and began to stab the yam and egg I bought with a fork. "What is that girl doing with him?"

"You're worried about the girl?" My frown went deeper then she said. "You're here knocked up and you're worried about the girl he's with?" Anna scoffed.

"That girl is with my boyfriend and they're in an inappropriate position. Can't you see his arm around her?" I watched as the fork went deeper into the big chunk of yam, cutting and mashing them into smaller pieces then averted my sight to Anna's face. She batted her long lashes with a disbelieving look.

I couldn't tell them about the text. They were going to  make fun and tease me about Daniel leaving me at a crucial time like this. I was going to get him back after I had aborted the baby.

"This is infatuation, Tobi." She shook her head while muttering some words I couldn't decipher.

"It's love. You're speaking this way because you've never experienced it."

"It seems like the slap Zara gave you that day didn't do anything to reset your brain. Isn't it obvious he used you and has dumped you with your problem?" She pointed at my stomach obstructed by the huge wooden table keeping us apart.  "Even a baby would notice it."

Why Anna was spewing nonsense  I didn't know but I had always had this feeling she was jealous of me. There was a certain way she stared at Daniel, she probably liked him and was jealous he liked me and not her. This was her way of trying to get us to break up.

Narrowing my  eyes, I asked, my frown still prominent."You like him, don't you?"

She laughed, throwing her head back and hitting the table attracting stares to us. I rolled my eyes. Drama queen.

"Are we talking about Daniel or Wizkid?"

I gripped the table, my face squeezed as a sharp pain jabbed my lower belly. The pain disappeared right away and I sat up. "Who else are we speaking about? Anna, just admit it, you like him."

"Honestly, acting suites you. All these nonsense you're saying definitely has to be from a script."

I rolled my eyes and gripped my stomach. "You're jealous."

"Of Kim Kardashian's body, I totally am but not that ewu you're in a relationship with." She hissed, took her snacks and left our table  to meet the other girls.

Every one thought they knew better than I did and it was frustrating. Zara and Anna thought they knew better than I did. They weren't in my shoes and so they didn't know what was going on with me. No one could understand how I was feeling.

I squeezed my stomach at the familiar pain. The pain was an excruciating one but disappeared right after. I ate from my yam, I was probably just hungry. I didn't have the appetite but I guessed the stupid baby was.

A few forks to down and the excruciating pain came again, this time spreading to my back. My whole body went numb for a second before responding to the pain. I took my bottle and downed the water.

Sweat broke on my forehead as the pain came again. Worse this time. I groaned as my forehead creased and I pushed the food aside. An excruciating pain took over my body. I felt like my stomach was being stabbed, my legs were numb and my hands could barely move. My sight went blurry.

Taking my bottle, I poured the water on my face as my breathing seized. I felt the cafeteria grew four times smaller and the numerous windows disappeared, my uniform became drenched with sweat. Oxygen wasn't reaching my lungs and I needed it. The pain hit me once again and I hit the table. I attempted to unbutton my already soaked white shirt but failed at it.

I let out a loud cry and everyone surrounded me. It was either my nose got smaller or the crowd that formed around me made the air around reduce.

"Tobi, are you alright?" A voice asked, I couldn't figure whose voice and it wasn't of interest to me. All I did was respond with a shrill of cry. I was in  pain. A pair of hands gripped me, I pushed the  person away. I heard a thud.

My panties got wet with a familiar liquid. My nails dug in my palm as the pain got worse at every moment. I could hear whispers but I couldn't care at this time.

My vision went completely blurry and the only time my vision was clear, I saw in twos. A warm liquid rolled down my legs and the more I cried the more the whispers increased.

A hand grabbed mine and tried pulling me. The figure looked like Anna,I wasn't sure. She pulled me but I couldn't move. I was stuck to the chair. The more I cried, the pain doubled. For a split second I saw his face. The cause of my pain.

Numerous hands helped me up but my legs couldn't move. I was in too much pain.  I looked down at my legs and saw my own blood, I got frantic. The sight of it made my heart throb faster.

My vision got worse and my legs felt like jelly. My heart throbbed faster like it was in a competition with Usain Bolt. I couldn't breath and if not for the hands holding me in place my wobbly legs would have given out.

"Are you alright? Tobi, I'm scared o."  I could hear the fear in the  voice. "Let's get to the nurse as quick as possible."

My legs gave out but someone caught me just before I could fall to the ground. A pair of hands carried me bridal style as everything went black.

Glossary
1) Ewu -  It means goat in Igbo language.

A/N

Happy  International Women's Day!

To every lady out there: you're strong, beautiful, brilliant and amazing. Don't let anyone tell you or make you feel less. You're loved!

Has a movie ever made you cry? If yes, what's the title?