Øgbanjé. Part 2.
My pregnancy was already two months old. I was advised not to stress myself to avoid having a mîscárriage.
Obiageli was already in nursery one. My pregnancy didn’t stop me from taking care of her. I still loved and cherished her because I see her as my lucky charm.
No matter what I did for Obiageli, she will always cry and nag. Always throwing tantrums and became really disobedient. This behavior started when I got pregnant.
“It’s because we are expecting another child. She’ll come around. Children are always like that when their mom is pregnant with another child”. My husband said.
I decided to give her extra love and attention, still no change. She only got worse.
All of a sudden, I started having terrible nightmares almost every night.
In the dream, children will be chàsing me. I mean battaliôns of children screaming at the top of their voices and running after me angrily.
This made usually scared of going to bed. Most nights, I try my best not to fall asleep but according to the popular aphorism “you can’t cheat nature”, sleep will eventually get the better part of me.
One night, the same dream started repeating itself. But this time around, the children were few, it was just about ten children.
I decided to fîght them. I overpowered the children and was about winning when the other children appeared from nowhere and they all covered me up like swarms of flies.
“Help! Help!”. I screamed.
The more I screamed, the more the children kept pressing me whilst laughing.
“Help! Help”. I kept on calling for help.
“Honey! Honey! Are you having another nightmare?”. My husband asked.
I woke up immediately panting and gasping for breath.
“Honey, I’m scared”. I said crying.
“All will be well. Nothing will happen to you and the baby”. My husband said.
After a while, I stood up to ease myself when I noticed that I was blééding.
I screamed.
My husband came and rushed me to the hospital. In all this, I still remembered to carry Obiageli with me.
When we got to the hospital, the doctor announced that we’ve already lost the baby.
I cried nonstop. My husband tried to console me but I was completely inconsolable.
After the miscarriagè Obiageli became the sweet baby she used to be. She became really obedient and very sweet. “What a sudden change”.
With time, I moved on from the pain.
I got pregnant again, and same thing happened until I lost the pregnancy. It became a vicïous circle.
I knew something was wrong somewhere but I couldn’t place my hands on it.
When Obiageli was five years old, her principal teacher summoned me to her school. I was so worried.
“Madam, there’s something I want to discuss with you”. She said.
“What ma. Hope all is well?”. I inquired.
“Hmmm!”. She exclaimed. Adjusting her glasses, she continued;
“There’s something wrong with Obiageli”. She said without flinching.
“With all due respect ma, what are you insinuating”. I asked angrily.
“Don’t get me wrong, she’s a very intelligent child but the problem is that whoever offends her usually ends up with one problem or the other”. The principal said.
“I don’t understand”. I asked.
“The other time, her teacher flogged her and her hands got paralyzed. Not only that, any child she fights with usually end up sick the next day”. The principal said.
“How is it my child’s fault? Have you heard of anything called coincidence?”. I queried.
“This is beyond mere coincidence ma. I think she’s possessed”. The principal dropped the bombshell.
“I won’t have you say trash about my child. I will forgive you just once. I won’t be this friendly next time”. I said and left angrily.
I took Obiageli from her class and we went home with her.
The next morning, I heard that the principal slept and never woke up 😭.
To be continued
My name is Judith Onyoyibo
