Young & pregnant

The Re-union

     Susan's mother has had to help her poor daughter get past the ordeal of the past weeks. She opted to selling her wrappers and accessories to help lift the family out of portending hunger. Susan's baby bump was increasingly large with just barely six months into the pregnancy. Susan could no longer carry herself like she did. The energy was gone, her hope for ever seeing the light if her dreams was very deem as she seems to drift farther away from the reality. Susan thought about her time in the church, when she sang and saw heaven open. It was such a blissful moment. Everyone loved her and they would bring foodstuffs to the house and tell her mother "give it to that your daughter, the oyibo". Her mother was becoming very concerned by the gestures. They even made her the head of Women fellowship in the church but everything began to turn sour as Susan's pregnancy became a public spectacle. No church member came around anymore, Susan was relinquished from the choir and stripped from being the choir mistress. Her mother had her own fair share of the shame being relegated to being just a member of the fellowship. They had to live the church in shame.
            As Susan sat brooding over her past, kemi runs to her, there were visitors around and wanted to see her. " do you know them"?. Susan asked out of curiosity hoping it might be Femi. The little girl nodded in affirmation. "Who?". Susan asked.
      " sister just follow me". Little Kemi takes her sister by the hands. "Mummy says you should come".
      Susan enters the living room in a hurry to quell her curiosity. She sees brother Segun standing with his funky self. His jerry coil were never in doubt. His nicely fitted suit and razor sharp gator trousers made him quite a spec of a man. Every teenage girl admired him in the church and wished to befriend him despite his age. At twenty-five, brother Segun was quite an achiever haven carved a niche in the entertainment industry. Everyone admired him except Pastor Chad who didn't like anyone sharing his place as the most sought after in the church.
       The case of sister Jumoke, as Susan is called in church, getting pregnant had sparked off some rift in church. Pastor Chad on an emergency meeting made it public for the first time. Brother Segun was surprised and didn't think it was true. Pastor Chad blamed him for not monitoring the spiritual life of members of his unit. Brother Segun erupted in anger. He didn't like Pastor Chad's blame games. Pastor Chad open accusations made Segun really pissed, he decided to spit out his grievance. He made it known that pastor Chad was always the last to live the church and a girl is always with him in the office. This was quickly denied by Pastor Chad with an unconvincing gesture. "Do you want me to prove it? Sugun asks confidently. Pastor Chad sat back not sure how much information he has. Brother Segun continues " I don't mind stepping down as the Music director but I must tell the truth here and now".
     Pastor Chad quickly shuts him insisting he is being disrespectful and insulting. The elders agreed that Segun was too small to banter words with Pastor Chad. They refused listening to him and pushed him out. Susan could never imagine to see Brother Segun standing in her small living room. He was her first ever crush.
        When she joined the choir as a new member, all she wanted was to use her voice to glorify God. There was always small arguments in their group gathering among teenagers and young adults on who they thought brother Segun likes and who he didn't like. It was so intense that small fights usually ensued. Then it became Pastor Chad in a smaller group gathering, Pastor Chad or Brother Segun, who did they prefer. Susan's innocent mind could not process the abomination these girls uttered but she stayed aloof and idled herself through the meetings and small gathering. Her problem began the day brother Segun pronounced her the Choir mistress. She could not stand the spiky stares that pierced through her thin skin. They murmured emphatically amongst themselves,
       "How can a newcomer head us"
       "She has been sleeping with the MD"
      "What does she have that we don't?"
These statements were audible to Susan but brother Segun holding her hands for the first time made her feel like nothing in the world could harm her and that was when she began to fall innocently for him at age sixteen while he was just Twenty-four. The age didn't matter, what mattered was the chemistry that surged deeper than the ocean and pervades her like the sky covering the earth. "Could that be love". She wondered to herself.
        Those feelings rekindled seeing him in front of her, but she wished it were in a different circumstance. Her condition brought in a tinge of shyness. Susan fixes her gaze on the floor. Her mother excuses herself from the living room like it was a setup. They are now alone but Susan overwhelmed in shame couldn't look at him. " Hello Jumoke" Segun says in a lofty tone. Susan refuses to sit turning away from him. She was not giving any chance for any feelings to arise again haven just recovered from Femi's disappearance. Segun holds her by the arm with an assuring tone that all will be well. Those hands, that touch, she felt it again and breaks down completely in tears. Segun holds her in his embrace.
           Segun and Susan spent the next couple of hours alone at the back of the house with sad expressions in their countenance. Susan's mother had given Segun a synopsis of the episodes that characterized Susan's ordeal but hearing it in details, Segun breaks down in tears as well. Susan inquires of pastor Chad and the church. Segun explains his experience as well. He was long out of there and had since settled else where. "Oh that is good". Susan says shabbily suggesting she wished the haze that surrounds her could settle quickly as well so she could realize her dreams.
        " I am here for you" Segun says sharply with a concentrated look. Susan adjusts and for the first time looked deep into Segun's eyes. "In all I have achieved, I still felt lonely and this has been so for months now until I discovered I could have left something behind. I have always loved you from the day I set my eyes on you. But I didn't want to cloud my sense of reasoning with infatuation so I waited to see if you merited my plan to make you the choir mistress. Those other girls are rotten by their ill manners and sheer lack of decency but in you I saw the attribute of a virtuous woman, a pure soul, enshrouded in a modest look and decent appeal".
         Susan is touched by the heavy words that made her very uneasy but she believes he could not be in his right senses. How can a guy like him be in love with a pregnant girl that was abused. Segun insists, he promised to love and care for the child.
Susan is flabagasted, there was too much going on in her life and she needed to know what was happening to her. Why the continuous surprises from unlikely sources. She was still in love with Femi, even though he is no where to be found. She likes Segun but it was all a teenage fantasy which could still be the case but life has not been fair on her despite her age. She refused any affair with Segun and he sauntered away with the promise not to give up. Susan's mother always made the decisions for her. Things had not really panned out well and so she allowed Susan decide this for herself.
  Segun kept coming, something of a relief to their sore. He made Susan's family smile again. Her siblings were consistent with school, her mother started a trade. Susan was still not sure it was the right decision marrying Segun. She struggled to keep her feelings for Femi intact but Segun gradually swept through her changing her mind on the issue. She agreed to marry him after three weeks of persistence. The marriage plans began in earnest and plans were made to visit Susan's paternal home.