CRY FOR ME: Part 11 – The End
Part 20
Franca Uwuigiaren
“Hello Clair, I trust you are doing great.” Alex asked when Claire finally picked her call.
“I am and you?” She asked
“I am not. Infact I saw you. Exactly the way you were when I first sighted you.”
“What is wrong with you Alex? How can you see me. What are you talking about. Alright Alex can you calm down and talk to me?”
He could feel her genuine concern for him.
“The child I rejected would be eighteen years old November thirteen. Four months from now.” He said and he could feel her uneasiness and silence. “Everyday of my life, I ask God for mercy and I still don’t know if I have obtained mercy”
“Why are you talking like this tonight?
He broke down and started crying.
“I am the reason you dumped our child that would have been eighteen years. I refused taking responsibility.”
“I take all the blame Alex. No excuse was enough to dump my child. I should have protected her. Everything is fresh in my memory. I still hear her cry in my head. I just can’t stop it. I am dying slowly Alex” she said crying.
Both of them cried and cried.
“I think I have seen her. Infact I saw her.”
“You can’t see her Alex. She’s dead. I dumped her and ran away but when my heart couldn’t take it, I ran back to pick her and she wasn’t there.”
“She isn’t dead Claire. I saw her exactly the way you were eighteen years ago.”
Claire heart started beating fast.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I saw her. In my company. I don’t know what she came to do. Since I saw her, I haven’t recovered.”
Susan started screaming.
“I am sure I frightened her with my action.”
“I don’t understand everything you are saying.”
She ended the call, opened her fridge and brought out a chilled bottled water that she gulp at once.
She moved to her dining and sat on the chair confused.
“Whatever Alex is saying doesn’t make sense. I must find time to visit him tomorrow at his work.”
When she discovered she was pregnant, she panicked. She put a call through to Alex.
“You have to do something about it Claire. I am a student for God’s sake. I can’t take responsibility for that pregnancy. Do something fast about it.” He told her.
“Please Alex, I know my parents will kill me but if we meet my parents together and ….”
“I can’t! My parents will disown me. Infact my dad will bury me alive. “Go to your parents and tell them whatever you like without involving me. If you mention my name I will deny you.” He warned.
Claire cried. She couldn’t sleep. What broke her heart more was when her father called.
“Do you know Deacon and Deaconess Eze’s daughter?”
“I do dad!.”
“She’s pregnant. The wayward girl is pregnant. I Know how many times I advised her to emulate you but what did she do? She brought public disgrace to her parents. On Sunday, her parents will be ex-communicated from the church.” He told her.
Claire had no mind to abort the pregnancy because she was scared. When the pregnancy could no longer be hidden, she rented an apartment where no one knows her and registered in a hospital. When it was time, she delivered a baby girl. she returned from the hospital two days later, carried her bag when it was dark without the knowledge of the landlord or tenants and disappeared. She dumped the child in a refused and walked fast. When she got to the bus stop, her heart couldn’t take it. The cry of the child filled her head and she went back. Unfortunately, the child was no longer there.
She wept as she returned to school. In the bus, some of the passengers tried to console her.
“Wetin happen na. See the way you dey cry”
“I lose somebody. My heart is heavy ” she explained still wailing.
“E don do. At least you dey alive. No matter how much you cry, the person nor no wake up na. Clean your eyes.” An elderly woman told her.
Whenever she goes home for holidays, she tried to avoid Alex. The thought of what she did tormented her. Looking at it now, there was no excuse for that wicked act. How many nights have she wet her pillow or ask God for forgiveness. She could have faced the consequences. She wondered what happened to the child. She wondered if the child survived or she was devoured by an animal.
It took two years for Alex to confront Claire. He put a call to her.
“You keep avoiding me Claire. You refused forgiving me because I asked you to abort the pregnancy. It’s been two years Claire. Let’s forget what happened and start afresh. I die each time you refused talking to me whenever I go home. I am mature now. I see life differently and I have genuinely surrendered to Jesus.” He told her.
“You know nothing about Forgiveness. I can’t forgive you for denying me Claire. You raped me, impregnated me and you refused to take responsibility. Do you know what I did. I delivered a baby girl and dumped her in a refused dump” she said screaming.
Alex stood with mouth opened as he stare at his phone.
“You did what? He asked shaking. He rake his hair with his hands. He went on his knees and apologized.
“If you can see through the phone, I am on my knees please. Forgive me.”
“Even if you roll on the floor, I will never forgive you. I trusted you but you ruined my life.”
“I am sorry.”
“Sorry is not enough for what i did. Alex, God will never forgive me for my terrible sin.”
There was a big silence as both of them sat on floor and wept bitterly. Alex kept tapping his feet on the floor. While Claire on the other side stretched her legs.
“We cannot hide this Claire” Alex said wiping his tears. I will have to go to your father and tell him everything. I won’t even hide it from my parents.”
“No. Alex please NO. My parents will be disappointed in me. I am sure I will be disowned.” She said
“We can’t hide it. The guilt is too enormous to carry.”
Both of them returned to their parents home that weekend. Alex told his parents and they were so furious. They went to Claire’s father and narrated everything their son told them.
“God” the man of God screamed. “You rapped my daughter and impregnated her?
Alex and Claire prostrated on the floor in tears.
“I brought you up very well Claire. Atleast you would have told me.” Claire’s mum shouted.
“Aaah! You waited for two years to give me this bad news. If anyone told me that my daughter would have the guts to throw away a baby, I would disagree.”
“This is beyond me” Clair’s mum cried
There was a great silence in the house. Alex and Claire still lay prostrate on the floor. Alex parents spoke extensively with apologies here and there until the General Overseer forgave them.
“I forgive you both. The deed has been done and I can’t turn the hand of time. But I can’t stop the pain.
I am just disappointed in my daughter. Let this be a secret between this family. I don’t want anyone to get wind of this.
“Settled. We can’t say this out because it’s a shame to the family.” Alex father assured him.
Both of them returned to school to face their studies yet the pain was still there. They never forgave themselves. Alex would dream of a crying baby every night keeping him awake.
They struggled emotionally until they graduated from the University. Claire managed a big pharmaceutical company owned by her father while Alex as the only son took over his father’s construction company.
Both of them are doing great except that they refused to get married. Claire thirty seven years old wasn’t even praying for any man neither was Alex thirty nine interested in any woman except Claire..
The guilt of what happened would not allow them move forward. They call each other on the phone Once on a while but nothing more. All feeling were bottled up….
CRY FOR ME: Part 11 – The End
Written by Franca Uwuigiaren
Inspired by the Holy Spirit
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