CHAPTER 59

Apart from the reasons that Mrs. Austin gave her husband for not wanting her son to marry Amaka, there were also personal reasons. After hearing Amaka's story, it reminded her of her younger sister. After her husband helped in liberating them from her aunt, her younger sister was not pleased about it because she has come to like the kind of life that they were leaving and she blamed her elder sister for getting the police to arrest their aunt. Mrs Austin tried everything that she could to convince her sister that they could do better with their lives than ending up as sex workers but her sister refused to reason with her.

After so much talk when her sister decided to agree with her and they came back to the country, their parents rejected them as they felt that the girls will bring a bad name to the family. That rejection made her sister to go back to the kind of life that she was used to living and when Mrs Austin tried to bring her back, she told Mrs Austin that not everybody is meant to be good on this earth. Her sister told her that not everybody can cope with change because some people are already used to the kind of life that they are living and even when they try to leave that kind of lifestyle, the world do not give them the chance to do that so she will go back to surviving the only way that she knows.

Seeing Amaka now, makes Mrs Austin to ask herself if Amaka can really change from her ways and not go back to how she was living before just like her sister. She feels that she is doing her son a favour by separating him from a woman who could break his heart without a second thought but instead of being appreciated, she is rather being seen as the evil stepmother.

Every time she thinks about her mother-in-law's rejection, it hurts her a lot but not as much as her parents rejection hurts. Sometimes when she looks at her mother in law, she can't blame the woman because she always ask herself why her mother-in-law should accept her when even her own parents have rejected her. She has reached out to her sister many times but her sister never wants to speak to her because she still blames her for bringing them back to the country to be rejected by their parents.

Although after that period, she didn't know how her sister stumbled upon some money in which she used to leave the country once again.

 Zoe has been thinking of how to tell her parents about her pregnancy for a while but she has not been able to come up with any ideas. She doesn't know what her mother will say or do to her when she finds out about it. Zoe is not worried about her father's reaction because she knows that her father is a very understanding person but her mother will never understand anything as she feels that everything should be done in her own way but she doesn't know that not everybody can live up to her standards.

 Zoe recently broke up with her boyfriend after she discovered that she is pregnant and unfortunately, it is not for her boyfriend. A few months ago, she met a guy called Bobby and they became friends. Bobby was always telling her about his secondary school love who traveled to the United States and he never heard anything from her again.

On one night when Zoe had issues with her boyfriend and her workplace, she and Bobby decided to share a bottle of vodka while telling each other their deepest sorrows. Bobby kept wishing that he could set his eyes on the girl who stole his heart and that was the last thing that Zoe remembered because the next morning when they woke up, they realised that they have crossed the line.

It was after Zoe got pregnant that she came to know that she is older than Bobby. She thought about what to do for days before she arrived at a conclusion that she should tell her boyfriend and her parents the truth. Bobby looks like a matured young man so she never bothered to ask his age and it was only after everything that's happened that she realised that Bobby is five years younger than she is. Zoe has never thought that she will be this embarrassed in her life someday, but the truth is, what is done has been done. She has been trying to speak with her parents for a few days now but every time she tries taking a step, she meets them quarreling over her elder brother and his lover's situation.

Although Zoe feels bad for everything that has happened but she still blames her mother because if her mother has not forced her to start working at the company where her life was turned into a living hell, she wouldn't have met Bobby let alone becoming friends with him to the point where they get drunk and do what they were not supposed to do. When Zoe was doing her remote journalism, she rarely goes out as she was always trying to snoop into other people's lives and see what she can get out of them.

Bobby who is twenty years old does not have any issues being with Zoe because after that night that they had sex, he has come to accept reality that he and Lota were not meant to be because if they were, fate wouldn't have allowed him to meet Zoe let alone have sex with her. He knows that Zoe feels embarrassed to be with him because she is older but Bobby has always told himself that if older men can be with younger ladies, what stops older ladies from being with younger men? 

He had already told his mum about Zoe and her pregnancy but he doesn't want his mum to pay a visit to her family because he has promised Zoe that he will give her some time to break the news to her family and see how they accept it. For a few days now, his mum has been worried because they have not heard anything from Zoe yet. His mum wants them to pay a visit to her family as she told Bobby that maybe Zoe has chickened out because she couldn't tell her parents so they need to make a move before she goes ahead to terminate the pregnancy.

Indeed Zoe has considered terminating the pregnancy but after Googling risks of abortion and reading the results, she decided not to go ahead with it. She considered many options and even thought of running away just like her brother and Amaka but none of those options was appealing to her as she has always been a person who likes to stand and face her fears instead of running away from them. She knows that no matter how long it takes, she must definitely tell her parents but how to tell them is her biggest problem.

Everyone thought that Zion and Amaka have left the country but nobody thought about checking within the country for them. Zion wanted them to leave the country initially Amaka told him that that is what everyone expects them to do so they should change they are iirection and instead of traveling out of the country, they decided to tour within the country as they began to go from one state to another seeing different tourist sites. The only thing that they did was switch off their phones so that nobody will be able to contact them or get their location.

Just as Amaka has said, nobody could predict their movement and everyone thought that they had left the country.

Zion agreed to power off his phone just as Amaka suggested but there was another phone with him that he did not power off and he never told Amaka anything about it. He and his sister have always communicated with that phone. They have had this pact for many years as they once agreed that they will have a special communication line that they can use to reach each other even if others cannot reach out to them. He knows that if he tells Amaka anything about that phone, she will not rest until she makes sure that he powers it off. It is true that Zion wants to stay away from his mother because of the threats that she issued and also from his father because he never spoke up for him but he can never stay away from his sister. Despite ignoring her sometimes and making her understand that she has made a mistake when she makes any, Zion loves his sister so much and he will never exchange her for anything.

Sometimes Zion wonders why his father allows his mother to rule the house and make decisions. He has always felt that his father is the head of the family and he should exert his authorities sometimes instead of letting his wife do everything because it seems his mother is becoming power drunk as she is making every wrong decision that she can make. Right from his childhood till this day, he has never seen his father countering his mother for certain decisions that she has made wrongly rather, it was always his grandmother who was countering his mother. On the day that his mother was threatening Amaka's life, his father was also seated on that table but said nothing as he watched his wife make those decisions without asking for his permission even once. This attitude of his father has always made him question many things as he kept asking himself if his father was really the one with the money or his mother? He has always told himself that it is true that he loves Amaka but he will never sit, fold his hands, and watch her take wrong decisions about her and other people's lives just as his father was letting his mother.

He noticed that his secret phone was having a notification so he told Amaka that he wants to visit the men's room and will be back soon.

When he got into the men's room he, brought out his phone and looked at the notification. He only checked for the sake of checking because he already knows who was calling him as she's the only one with the number to call this phone. As he was contemplating returning the call, his phone began to ring again. "Hey, I hope it really you that's calling me and not our parents using you to try and know my location." 

 Zoe replied from the other end of the phone and she said "Zion, I just wish that I can see you now because I have gotten myself into a problem and do not know how to tell Mum and Dad about it as I am very scared of what Mum can do to me.

 Just cal down and speak to me slowly. I can't understand what you are trying to say so can you speak up? And don't tell me stories in parables because I have difficulty understanding those. I will ask again Zoe, what have you gotten yourself into that's making you scared of approaching your own mother?

"A few months ago I ran into a young man named Bobby and to cut the whole long story short, I am pregnant for him." 

"Zoe, you and I know that you are no longer a child so how did this happen? Even if you had unprotected sex, you are supposed to know what to use because you are a lady. Okay let's leave all that aside. Did the young man reject the pregnancy or has he absconded?"

Zoe sighed and her brother heard the sound from the phone as he asked himself the kind of trouble that she has really gotten herself into. He was very happy when their mother forced Zoe to work at the company because he knows that very soon, she will attract trouble to herself and the family if she is allowed to continue with her blog. Zoe is very sweet but sometimes she is more annoying than a raccoon.

"He did not deny the pregnancy or absconded rather, I am the one who wanted to get an abortion but changed my mind. Do you know that I am five years older than the father of my baby? The fact that I'm pregnant for a guy who is not my boyfriend, is one, but getting pregnant for someone who I am older than is another and that is the reason why it's difficult talking to mum. Amaka who's not even pregnant is not getting it easy from our mother, let alone I who is." 

Whatever you have to say to them just go ahead and say it because waiting will do you no good. If they are still quarreling because of my disappearance, I guess you should add this bombshell to it so that everything can be discussed at once. I want you to put your mind at peace because there is nothing that our mum can do to you. But really, what did you see in a twenty year-old that made you get yourself attached to him to the point of having sex and being pregnant? What about your boyfriend is he aware of this new development and what kind of eye is he using to look at you? Do you know that you have cheated and ridiculed your boyfriend and you need to apologize to him?"

"I have apologized to him already but he's still hurt. It wasn't something I did intensionally.It was only a mistake but an expensive one that has cost me my joy, love, and peace of mind. I wish that mum was not so scary that I could talk to her easily. I promised Bobby that I will talk to them, so he should do nothing for now. Zion I'm really confused and scared. Do you know that mum will look at me with disappointment as usual because there's nothing I've ever done that pleases her. I really wish that you were here, at least I'll know that I am not alone. I don't know why mum has turned herself into a mini god and dad allowed her. Zion, I am twenty five and not a child anymore.  I know that she did not push me to Bobby or forced me to have sex with him but I can say that everything that happened to me was her fault because, if she had not forced me to work for the company and has just allowed me to continue my remote journalism, I wouldn't have been so frustrated to the point that I would have met Bobby let alone becoming friends with him and allowing what has happened now to happen. My whole life was perfect and planned out until I started working for the company.