Jasmine - Episode 8

 

Three months later, and things hadn’t been any easier.
Though the morning sickness had reduced, I always had abdominal pain now. When I called Dr.
Chris, he said it was normal and I instructed me to visit the nearest hospital for proper check-ups.
Of course, I didn’t bother to go since mum didn’t force me.
My Dad kept his word and reported the rape case to the Police. As expected, nothing much was
done . They arrested and released him later that same day when Samuel denied ever meeting me
before. I wasn’t surprised at all, I already knew the kind of person he was.
My dad made sure he put his words in writing and signed that he never raped me and therefore,
the baby I was carrying was not his.
I was posted to Schlumberger for my I.T. and Kemi was posted to Baker Hughes. We wanted to
be in the same place but it didn’t happen like we hoped. I was posted offshore for my first three
months and I was really exposed to a lot of practical skills on the rig, but after 3months, because
of my condition which was already so obvious, I was sent back to the office.
Accommodation was made available and they also paid a token as allowance. I knew many
people were wondering why I was already pregnant, and some asked me if was married.
Unfortunately for me, a few of my Faculty mates were also in Schlumberger and the rumour of
my pregnancy spread like wildfire

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/jasmine

. Almost everyone in my Faculty already became aware that I
was pregnant and sometimes it made me feel depressed and alone. I couldn’t just wait for it to be
over; I keep counting down to my delivery day.
On a particular day, I woke up feeling so refreshed; I had my quiet time and headed for my
office. We normally resumed by 7.30am and just before I entered the office we shared as interns,
I overheard them talking about me.
“Ehn hen, Tobi come here you and Jasmine are from the same school now, so gist us what kind
of person is she? Is she a ‘runs girl’ or what?” Ada asked. Ada was a student from UNILAG, and
she was the most outspoken person among the interns.
“Ada you too like ‘akproko’, always poking into others business, well for your information,
Jasmine is not a ‘runs girl’, though we weren’t close in school, we just say ‘hi’ to each other
from afar because we are not in the same department, but the little I know and have heard about
her is that she is a lovely and easy going girl, always smiling and she is very intelligent too. I am
also so surprised to see her with a protruding tummy, and am sure she isn’t married” Tobi
replied.
“It may be one of the guys like you that deceived her and got her pregnant and later dumped her,
I really pity that girl” Cynthia cut in. Cynthia is also an intern from University of Benin, studying
chemical engineering.
“Hey! Abeg o, I am not one of those guys that sleep around with girls in the name of love, I
believe in abstinence”, Tobi replied.
“Abstinence my foot, which guy does not like sex in this generation or you think I don’t see how
you use to look at Alice whenever we are having lunch in the dining hall? Mr. Abstinence.” Ada
teased.
“But I pity Jasmine too, that girl too fine pass all this things she is going through, I wonder why
she didn’t abort the pregnancy in the first place. If na me o, I will just flush the baby sharp
sharp” Ada added.
“Do you think everyone will be like you, don’t you know that abortion is murder? And you can
lose your life through it too” Cynthia said.
“Abeg leave that one Cynthia, na the doctor do the abortion, no be me.” Ada replied and
laughed.
“Both the doctor and the person aborting and the boyfriend that supported it are all guilty of
murder” Tobi cut in.
“Are you God? Why you dey judge?” Ada asked defensively.
I didn’t know when tears started rolling down my face.
“How can people just sit down and start debating on a matter that doesn’t concern them. People
keep assuming things that doesn’t exist. I ‘runs girl’?” I thought and shook my head.
“How can they even think I am a runs girl?”
I couldn’t enter the office straightaway; I turned back and went to the toilet.
I washed the tears off my face, sat on the water closet for about five minutes and thought about
my situation. I left after a while and headed for the office, I met Ada on my way, and she was all
nice and cosy, greeting me with a smile. I couldn’t believe it was the same person talking behind
my back. I wasn’t myself for the rest of the day; I wish there was someone I could pour my heart
to and who could encourage me, but I found none.
It was time for lunch and though I didn’t want to eat, I remember the doctor and my mum’s
words of advice and so, I went to the dining hall hoping to eat some vegetable salad and
sandwich or any other light food and get out. It was just as I hoped for, I ordered for sandwich,
with some vegetable salad and I sat at a corner where people didn’t like sitting. I just wanted to
eat my food in peace.
And then, I noticed that someone had been staring at me for almost 5 minutes, I didn’t want to
look up and see the person’s face so I just focused on my food. I was about finishing the food
when I noticed that the person was coming closer.
“Who could this person be, and why is he coming closer” I thought.
‘Jasmine, is this you?” The person spoke. I looked up, and it was a young tall dark and handsome
guy, he looked so fresh. The face looked familiar but I couldn’t place where I had seen him
before.
“Who is asking?” I asked with a straight face.
“You look as beautiful as ever” he said and smiled, “It’s me, Dave, your childhood friend and
neighbour”
“Dave….Dave….” I called out the name as I try to remember his face and the number of Dave
that I Know.
“It’s me Dave Olateju….” I recalled the name and face before he could finish introducing
himself
“Dave Olateju! Are you for real?” I asked.
I couldn’t believe it was Dave; we used to live in the same neighbourhood at Bodija, when we
were very young, our house was just opposite each other and we attended the same school Bodija
international School. We were both inseparable then and our parents usually teased us, calling us
husband and wife.
He was so short then, I couldn’t believe he had grown so tall and handsome. His family moved to
London when he was in JSS1 over ten years ago and we had lost contact since then.
“Yes it is me for real, what are you doing here?” he asked.
“I should ask you the same thing, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in
London?”
“I came to Nigeria for my internship; I am going to spend six months. I am a Petroleum
Engineering student at Imperial College in London, I have always wanted to come and visit
Nigeria and this internship was just a good opportunity to do so” he replied. “So you too, what
are you doing here?”
“I am also here for my internship, this is my third month though and I have three months left, I
am studying Electrical Engineering at University of Ibadan” I replied.
“Wow! So you really studied engineering, just like you said years back that you would be an
Engineer. That is so good. I can’t believe that I am seeing you, I was thinking about you when I
was planning to come to Nigeria, but I never thought it would happen easily, I don’t have your
contact or address but God answered my prayers” he said.
He couldn’t stop staring at my stomach, a lot of things must had been running through his mind.
But he didn’t ask me about it.
“So how is mum and dad and your siblings” he asked instead.
“They are all doing fine” I replied.
“And your family too, did they come with you?” I asked him.
“No they didn’t, I am the only one who came”
“Hope everyone is fine over there too, Daniel, Dorcas and Daniella” I asked.
‘Wow! So you still remember all my siblings’ names?” he asked surprised.
“Of course, I remember“
“They are all fine, though Daniella as gone to be with the Lord” he said.
“What! When? How?” I could hardly believe it.
“You know she had sickle cell, she died about 8 years ago during one of her crisis” he explained
and looked away.
“I am so sorry for your loss” I said.
“It’s a long time already, and we have another Daniella in the family again too” he said.
“Another Daniella, how?”
“My parent adopted her as an orphan from North Korean, and so we named her Daniella, though
her name used to be Kim Geum Ji. She was 7 years old when we adopted her three years ago”
“Wow! That is so nice, can I see her picture?” I asked.
He showed me one of hers pictures on his phone, and she looked so adorable and cute. But I
couldn’t believe Daniella was dead, she was my friend too, we were age mates and we used to
play together when they were still in Nigeria. We talked about old times and I couldn’t stop
laughing when he reminded me of how we used to act dramas and mimic our mum and dad, and
how they caught us one day mimicking them. We ran as fast as we could, so afraid we would get
the beating of our lives.
Dave’s eyes rested on my belly again and he finally asked, “So are you married Jasmine”.
“No, I am not.“ I replied with low voice.
“I can’t see a ring, but I can see you are pregnant” he added.
“Can we talk about something else” I said, trying to change the topic.
“No. You need to answer my question Jasmine, I know we are just meeting after a long time, but
we are not strangers to each other, you can tell me anything” he assured.
“Not today, Dave, maybe some other time. Today is not a good day to talk about it, let us just
continue catching up” I replied.
“I am still the old me Jasmine, I won’t leave you alone today until you tell me exactly what
happened, I won’t take no for an answer” he said.
And as he said, he kept pestering me to talk, we left the dining hall and he was walking me down
to my office, and then he brought up the question again
“Jasmine, tell me what happened, because I can’t just figure it out, I know you are not the kind of
girl that will get pregnant before getting married, and I know your parents trained you in the way
of the Lord too, so explain to me”
“Okay okay… Where should I start the story from” I asked, finally giving in.
“From the beginning, I have all the time to listen to you”, he replied.
“It is a long story, I can’t say it while standing, unless you want me to collapse beside you” I said
jokingly.
“So I promise to tell you next time we see. Okay?” I added.
“As if I have a choice; so where is your office?” he asked.
I pointed to the building and his office was also in the same building. We entered the building
together and found out his office was just few meters away from mine.
“This is just perfect, Jasmine. Your office is a stone throw from mine, so I will always see you”
he said with excitement.
We parted and went to our different offices, the day ended so fast and before I could dodge Dave
and go to my room, he was already in my office offering to walk me to my room.
“So tell me now, what happened to you while I was away, who did this to you?” he asked and
pointed at my tummy.
“I was raped” I said simply and looked straight at his face.
“What! When? Who? How?” he asked.
“It doesn’t really matter now, the incident is not something I love to remember, I am only telling
you because I know you will not rest till you get an answer”
“Was it in school, do you know the person, is he at least in prison now?” he asked the questions
quickly and drew nearer.
“No, he’s not in prison, and I don’t think he can ever be?” I answered.
“What?! What do you mean, didn’t you report to the Police, or is he from an influential family
because I know the law is not for the influential and rich in this country.” he was already getting
angry at the situation.
“I wish I can at least meet that bastard, punch his face and break is nose, or even castrate him”,
Dave shouted angrily.
“Calm down, Dave and just relax. I am fine now and I just want everything to be in the past”, I
said, trying to calm him.
“I guess you didn’t go to the hospital immediately it happened, because if you did you wouldn’t
be pregnant for the idiot” He said, still boiling with anger.
“Well, I didn’t; I wasn’t thinking straight then, and when I discovered the pregnancy I couldn’t
just abort it” I added.
“Well you made the right decision dear, I can’t imagine how you will feel and what you are
passing through because of that animal that cannot control his desire, but I can see you are as
courageous and strong as ever”, he said as he gave me a hug.
“For the next three month that we will be here together, I want you to know that I will always be
by your side, call me anytime you need help” he said and we exchanged our phone numbers and
went to our rooms.