THE EXCHANGE
Episode 19
The fire of the argument raged on through the next day; my mum argued that she knew her husband would not have supported having an ab0rtion either.
“Tí edá ò bá gba kádàrà à gba kodoro(people who struggle against the tide of fate, end up drowning)” my mum argued.
Brother Kola stepped in & said as the eldest son & heir to my father, he gave his support & blessings. My other brothers had to hold Brother Dipo down as he was ready to fight our eldest brother, in the middle of the brouhaha, my worst nightmare came true… Tunji walked in and I could tell that he knew what was
happening. The look on his face said more than a thousand words could have said.
Somehow, Brother Dipo in his anger had visited him (not knowing he was out of town) & left a note at his house telling him what happened, & he (Brother Dipo) wasn’t part of it.
The sound of his voice when he entered & greeted brought such absolute silence in the room, that one could almost hear hearts beating… as I saw Tunji, I let out a shout & collapsed.
I must have been out for some minutes but when I opened my eyes, Tunji was cradling me in his arms & at the look in his eyes, I began to cry.
He wrapped his arms around me & said, “Please tell me it’s a joke… tell it’s a dream & I would wake up at some point” but I could only cry as he continued, “Tell me you are not leaving me for another man…tell me it’s all a figment of my imagination. Tell me we can go back in time & fix this…tell me there is a way around this.Tell me this is not the end…it can’t be, it just can’t.
I was told love conquers all; tell me Love can conquer this. Tell me life is worth living…tell me my ‘Ajike’(a pet name Tunji called me) is not becoming someone else’s”.
When I still didn’t respond he got up & knelt before me with his arms around my waist, he pulled me close & said “Okay, tell me the pregnancy is mine…please do, nobody has to know it’s not. I promise never to tell anyone” at this time, he was crying…he sobbed like he was having a panic attack & I sobbed with him.
Before long my cloth was drenched in his tears…I just couldn’t console him, I didn’t know what to say to him so I just sat there crying with him, while he knelt down before me, holding me to himself.
“When I met you, I promised myself that life had taken enough of my loved ones and nothing would take you away from me.
Please don’t leave me, I will do my best to also make it in life…I will take care of you. Àjíke má se bá yi (Àjíke, don’t do this)” He turned to my mum & started to plead.
“Mummy, E bá mi bee (plead with her on my behalf) I know she listens to you. Tell her it’s me Tunji…tell her to say something, anything… tell her to talk to me. If it’s because I delayed marrying her, I will marry her right away. I can even marry her tomorrow” My mum did not know what to say or how to respond to him. She was only able to say “Tunji ní sùúrù (Tunji calm down)” “Don’t tell me to calm down ma… look at where being ‘calm’ has led me. E kàn bá mi bee ni (just help me plead with her)”
Tunji turned to my brothers too & started to beg them, promising to never make them
regret supporting or vouching for him. They were equally stupefied while Brother Dipo stayed aloof from us all “You just have to be a man” Brother Kola said as he tried to pull him up.
“Don’t let me be a man sir…I just want to be with Àjíke. Let me stay like this…E má je kí n’dìde sir(don’t let me get up sir)” Tunji
responded…sobbing, slobbering & panting.
It was so sad watching him go through this but I didn’t have anything to say. I couldn’t even make a sound…I only had tears running down my cheeks. I knew this day would come but I didn’t expect it to go like it did. My mum had said we would think of a way to break the news to him but we had not even started thinking, so it was shocking & I was totally unprepared for.
In the middle of this, my dad’s immediate younger brother walked in.
He had been knocking on the door but nobody heard him. He had gotten my mum’s message & had come to meet with her so they could discuss. He was one of the family members who already knew Tunji and was taken aback by what he saw. It wasn’t long before he was brought up to speed & he looked at me, shook his head; then he pulled Tunji up. He said he had thought I was getting married to Tunji after he got my mum’s message but notwithstanding; he was not in the position to influence whoever I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. My uncle started to talk to Tunji & somehow he listened maybe because he was coming from an elderly man or because he could see genuine empathy in the way my uncle spoke. My uncle said a lot, trying to make Tunji see that this was not the end of the world. “Tunji, these are some of the things that makes you a man to welcome the toughness of manhood.
Somethings we see as evil just seem so, they are really good in disguise. I want you to see this as God’s will & believe that He, in His sovereignty, has something better for you because when the road gets too tough, it could be an indication of God’s disapproval; oju ti o b’ani k’ale, kii taaro s’epin(an eye that’ll take a man till his old age should not be infected from infancy). You are young, you are good looking, you are educated, you have a bright future ahead of you, don’t allow this to bring you down.
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