It was a scorcher of a Tuesday afternoon, in Lagos and the sun was beating us with oppressive intensity, as if in a race. I was in my tiny one-room apartment, cooling off with an old magazine using an handfan because NEPA had taken the(light) electricity. The regular fan which was always by my bedside table was no more than an item now. I had just finished eating a plate jollof rice and plantain and was going to lie down for a nap, when my cell phone rang.
The call was from my childhood friend, Ayo. We grew up in the same neighborhood in Ibadan, but life had taken us in different directions. It had been a long time since we last we spoke, and so I snatched up readily on first finding it was just a spur-of-the-moment call.
"Hey Ayo, how far now? Long time!" I said cheerfully.
She hesitated for a moment. Chioma, I have something to share with you," she whispered, her voice shaking.
Immediately, my heart began to race. What could it be? Was she in trouble? Did something happen to her family? I sat bolt upright, phone clasped in my hand. "What is it, Ayo? You’re scaring me."
"I’m pregnant."
I froze. Those three words felt like a heavy blow. Ayo? Pregnant? It was the most surprising thing to hear from her. Ayo was the careful one, the planner, the one who used to say she wouldn’t even think about having a child until she was 30, married, and settled in her career.
"But... how? I mean... Tunde?" I stammered.
"Yes, Tunde," she replied.
Tunde was her boyfriend of two years. He lived in Abuja and went to Lagos only rarely. Ayo always said their relationship was serious, but marriage was still far from their plans. My mind was spinning. Was she ready for this? Would Tunde support her? What about her strict parents?
"I don’t know what to do, Chioma," Ayo said, her voice breaking. "I’m so scared. Tunde hasn’t even proposed. My parents will be so disappointed. You know how my mum is. She is going to scream and shout, insult me and probably kick me out of the house. I feel so lost."
I could hear her sniffling, and my chest tightened. Ayo was more than a friend to me—she was like my sister. Hearing her in so much pain broke my heart.
"Ayo, listen to me," I said, trying to stay calm even though I was panicking inside. "It’s not the end of the world. First, you need to tell Tunde. This is not something you can handle alone. And your parents, as mad as they will be, they love you. They’ll come around eventually."
"What if Tunde doesn’t want the baby? What if I have to do this alone?" she whispered.
I did not have the complete answers, but I did know that she needed to be reassured. "Even if he doesn’t, you won’t be alone. I’m here for you, Ayo. We’ll figure this out together."
That conversation marked a turning point in Ayo’s life. She told Tunde, and while it wasn’t smooth, he eventually stepped up. At the outset, her parents were very upset, but after a while they became more understanding. Ayo gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and though her life didn’t go the way she had planned, she found strength she never knew she had.
It was a bombshell that shook her world, but it also revealed her resilience and courage. Ayo found a new joy and a new way of life, when she became a mother.
