I Am Willing To Help

“Osalobua Oh! Itohan! Hey! Itohan!” The old lady wailed. It was as though the reality of all that Lanre was saying was only just hitting her. It had hit her hard like a glacier had been thrown on her face. It felt cold and painful at the same time. She kept screaming her child and saying that the gods has not dealt well with her. She beats hard on her breast and wept bitterly. Lanre tried to comfort. Family members who lived in the compound came running to know what was wrong. All she kept shouting was Itohan’s name.

Lanre felt bad that she was the one who had brought bad news to the old woman that has made the woman to cry like a little child calling for his mother. The old lady was consoled. She could not be comforted for her lose but she had to stop wailing. She later got to ask someone to prepare a room for Lanre and Eno to sleep. And then a separate room for Tega.

That night, Eno’s maternal grandmother gathered a few of the family members and thanked Lanre for helping their grandchild. They talked about a lot of things especially who will take Eno’s custody. They concluded that Lanre could take her with her. But she would let them contact her to know about her well being. And she would come visit the grandmother occasionally. This Lanre agreed to.

The following morning, after spending some time with the old lady, they left for warri. Before they left, Eno’s grandmother told Lanre reduce the rate at which she travel around for the sake of her pregnancy. She told her it was not that good for the baby as road was mostly bad in some places.

“Eno, is it obvious that I’m pregnant? I wonder how your grandmother knew I am pregnant even with a test result.

“She is an old woman who is experienced in the system of women. Some of them can tell if you are pregnant even in the first two weeks or first week”. Tega said to Lanre. Lanre told him she knows and turned her face towards the road.

It took them a few hours to get to warri. And then, they found their way to Chidinma’s. Lanre was welcomed by Pearl with open arms. Pearl tried to make your own personal taste change. They soon got to sharing nothing around nothing.

Lanre was happy seeing Chidinma and pearl again. It has taken her a lot of stress on the way. Hopefully, Lanre felt okay talking to the sisters after some time of not communicating.

They had a general chat with Lanre. After that, Pearl and Lanre went aside to discuss. Lanre told Pearl what had happened so far. She pointed out to her that she needed assistance.

“I am willing to help”. Pearl said to Lanre. Lanre smiled at Pearl. She told her it was not going to be easy but if they could make it through, then they would have made Ebube proud.