Summer Days and Dark Clouds

The traffic on Ajose was murder. She left the office at 5pm on the dot and even though she knew that was the peak of rush hour she felt she had a head start. An hour later and she'd barely moved 10 feet past her office. She was frustrated. She turned on the radio but the noise from the radio advert jingles didn’t help to ease the tension she felt. This was not going well at all, she looked at the time on her dash board 18:15 and she was still heading to Oju Olobun. She had let the driver go today because she was meeting up with Dipo and they decided there was no point in having both drivers and both cars today since they'd be going home together. She kept punching at the radio dials and it was like the universe was somehow determined to make this trip to meet up with her husband hell. She got tired of looking for good music and slipped in an Asa CD. As the music filled the car, her mind drifted to her loving husband who was tired of the overly hectic schedule they both had.

"When was the last time we went out together, just us. No obligation to friends or family, just us having a good time".

"No time nah! When do we want to do that? “She had replied as she kissed him that morning and told him they would plan something soon.”Not this weekend though! We have prayer breakfast on Saturday morning and you know Iyke and Bimpe's baby's christening is in the afternoon. I don't want to become enemy of the state if we don't go abeg".

"Na wa oh! So we've become those people who just live under the same roof and don't spend time together. I didn't sign up for this oh" He was laughing when he said it but the way he avoided her eyes told her he wasn't happy. She wasn't happy either but they led busy lives. She walked back to where he was standing by the wardrobe and held him from behind "Darling, we can do brunch at Southern Sun after church on Sunday ok?" she pressed her cheek into the back of his crisp ironed shirt. He smelt so good. She knew she had to leave now or she'd be late for work.

"I really gotta go now. Speak to you later?"

So when he'd called to say they should meet up after work today, she knew it was important to him. All she really wanted to do was go home, have a warm shower, sink into the covers and sleep. She’d been having terrible stomach cramps all day and had winced in pain as she ate her lunch. This had been going on for a while now. The pain came intermittently but they always stopped after a while. They were akin to menstrual cramps but she couldn't be too sure since she didn't have them too often. She cranked up the volume of the music player and started singing along, something, anything to distract her from the sharp pain that was coming from within her. She was going to do everything within her to make sure this dinner with her boo was totally enjoyable.

They had been married for three years and they were like two peas in a pod. Sometimes their friends teased them that they finished each other's sentences, they didn't even realise how much in sync they were.

They didn't have any kids; but Kauna, her late cousin's daughter, often spent her holidays with them. Initially it was because they needed to solidify their financial base before they had a child. Now, they were just waiting for it to happen. The prospect of a baby tickled Hadiza to no end. To raise a family with her best friend, the man she loved and cherished so much. They agreed that if they had a boy he would be called Ethan, and if they had a baby girl, she would be called Emmanuella.

As she drove into the empty parking slot in front of Yellow Chilli, she looked at the clock 07.25. Over an hour just to get around the Island, her husband who'd come from the Mainland probably got here in 45 minutes. She sighed and wearily dragged her tired body out of the car. She felt the earth tilt slightly as she planted her feet on the ground but she held onto the car. She was dizzy. She needed to sit down and have a glass of water as soon as possible. She walked into the restaurant and quickly looked around for Dipo. She saw his head buried in a paper and smiled.

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Life is a funny place. One minute it's a life of promise, hope and love; and the next it's dark and grey and bleak. At times, it’s like a roller coaster -- one second, you’re filled with excitement at the prospect of getting on; and the next, dread and trepidation fills your heart as you embark on the ride with its tumultuous turns and rapid bends. At other times it's just downright mean and vindictive, like surviving a plane crash and then being run over by a bus driver on your way home. If you were the praying sort, you prayed when the crisis hit and you wait for the avalanche of pain to pass, hoping that it leaves a minimal level of damage in its wake. Sometimes you look around you and it appears everyone else has it all rosy, but until they tell you their own story you don’t know they are on a life trip of their own, just masked as best as they can beneath pretty clothes and a beautiful smile.

He sat there in the waiting room, head bowed low. His face was buried in his hands masking the fear that coursed through him. It had been an exhausting 12 hours and he was not sure what lay ahead of them.

He had been waiting for her and the next thing he heard was noise, the restaurant peace had been disrupted. “Somebody get help, this woman has fainted oh!” He got up to find out what the problem was and to see if he could help. The feeling in his chest when he looked and saw Diza lying there was indescribable. It was fear, and concern and shock all rolled up forming a big lump in his chest. “Her name is Hadiza, and I am her husband” Nobody asked him, too many people were trying to help pick her up and put her in a car, any car to get her to the hospital, any hospital. He was nervous and it was hard not to show it. Someone took his keys from his hands “sir, I think you should just stay in the back with her, I will drive. Do you have a hospital of choice? Or should we take her to the general hospital in Marina”

“Our hospital is Reddington. Please take us to Reddington” The trip to the emergency room was a blur; he held her hand and kept praying, willing her to open her eyes. It didn’t happen. He felt for a pulse, it threaded weakly beneath her skin. He needed her to be alright, he tried to will her awake, he bargained with God, he needed her more than anything and he was willing to trade his breath for hers.

He had been there in the waiting room for 12 hours. Two hours after trying to find out what was wrong came back with their diagnosis. Diza’s uterine wall was lined with fibroids and she had also been pregnant. It was an ectopic pregnancy. They needed his consent to take out the fibroids and if they needed to, take out the affected tubes. How was he supposed to take a decision about her body without her? How was this fair? How ironic that they were trying for a baby and now they had one he had to make the decision to take it all away, even worse, reduce her chances of bearing a child of her own

“Save her. Do all you can to save her”

Tears rolled down his face into his hands. He was tired and exhausted, but he knew the road ahead was long and bumpy. They tried to get him to go home but he wasn’t going to leave until he could talk to her. As if understanding his misery and pain one of the nurses from the night before tapped him on the shoulder “Oga, I think she’s awake now. You can see her. She is asking for you”.

Wearily dragging himself up, he walked in the direction of ward. He lacked the words to tell her that he’d given consent for her tubes to be taken out. The extent of the fibroids was also bad but the doctor had told him that they didn’t need a hysterectomy. She had a tired smile on her face when he walked in, and in a groggy voice she said “Baby you look so tired”

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The lights in the room were turned off but the glare of television kept the room dimly illuminated. She heard when he opened the front door and she knew from habit that he‘d go into the kitchen to look for food. She instinctively picked up my cell phone to look at the time. 11.50pm. She closed her eyes and hurriedly put her phone under the pillow to avoid the backlight bringing attention to her side of the bed. She heard him bang across the rug towards the wardrobe, he was hanging his jacket. He was going to turn off the t.v and slide into bed. She had an acute sense of his every movement.

"I left some food for you in the oven. There's chicken wrapped in foil in the fridge"

"Thank you"

There was an awkward silence. There was always an awkward silence between them, that is why she preferred having the TV on. Something, anything to dispel the discomfort that had settled in their home. He sat up on the bed and stared straight ahead.

 "Do you wanna talk?"

"No. I just want to sleep" He was trying to reach her and he was running out of ideas.

She had become so cold and distant. He thought staying away would help, it didn’t. She spoke little or no words to him at all. He was waiting for her to absorb the news, to fit it into their lives. He wanted her to become his once again. It was not happening. A week turned into a month and a month into two, and then a third. She blamed him; he knew she blamed him so he stayed away. Working as late as he could, knowing words failed him every time he tried. He wanted to talk to her, to tell her it didn’t matter, nothing mattered but her and their life together.

She heard the slight hum indicating he had fallen asleep and she opened her eyes. This feeling inside of her was not going anywhere; she nurtured it and allowed it to fester. It was the pain of loss and somewhere in here laid guilt. For the past three months, Dipo tried to reach her. He soothed her and she balked, he tried to calm her down whenever she got hysterical. He reassured her of his love over and over again.

“I love you with all my heart, baby or no baby. I swore to love and honour you, in sickness and in health. I love you, … you ‘Diza, just you”

Tears of shame filled her eyes; he was totally selfless in his love for her, she wanted to hold him but she pushed him away and went into the room. She could tell he was at his wits end but she had created the wall and she didn’t know how to pull it down. She looked at her phone again to check the time, and she saw the message icon. A message from her mother

“Deez my love, I think it is only right and proper that you tell him the truth. We have carried this lie on for way too long and I admit I am ashamed of my complicity in this matter. I don’t want this to break you, and so I believe you should talk to Dipo. Stop pushing him away. His only concern is for you. I love you and I am always here for you”.

She blinked as she read the message. Tell Dipo the truth? Tell him that Kauna wasn’t her late cousin’s daughter living with her mom but her own child? Tell Dipo that she lied for so long and even continued lying? How did her mother expect her to save her marriage by telling her husband that she had a child but she would never bear one for him? She pulled the duvet over her head and wept. The truth held no promise for her.

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This story was originally written in 2011 and published on BellaNaija.com